Dr. Billings looked directly at Ruthie and said, "I need you to tell me how this happened."
Ruthie didn't answer.
He posed the question one more time, "This is very serious. If you did this to yourself on purpose, I need to know."
Again, Ruthie just stared straight ahead.
With slight frustration, Dr. Billings announced, "If you don't tell me that this was an accident, than I'm going to have to assume that it was intentional. If that's the case, than I need to make sure that you get the help that you need."
Ruthie remained silent.
"Very well then." Dr. Billings responded.
He picked up the phone and dialed.
"I'm going to need a psychiatric consult in ER 5" he firmly stated.
When the doctor's back was turned to her, Ruthie's eyes began to widen. WHAT was she getting herself into?
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Dr. Billings stepped out into the hallway. He was greeted by a group of anxious and fearful faces.
"How's Ruthie?" Eric anxiously asked.
Martin's eyes were fixated only on the doctor.
With a knowledgeable look, he answered, "Physically, she's going to be fine. I need to numb up her hands and remove the glass shards. A few of the cuts may require some stitches but the wounds will heal nicely."
He sighed and then continued "Unfortunately, emotionally I'm not so sure."
Annie nervously questioned, "Did she tell you that she did this on purpose?"
"No, she didn't." the doctor stated matter of factly. He continued, "The problem is that she won't deny it either. I've asked her several times and she won't answer either way."
Eric boldly asserted, "Look I KNOW my daughter. She's bright, she's responsible...she's wise beyond her years...she'd NEVER do something like this to herself!"
The doctor agreed, "I tend to believe you, Reverend Camden. Her wounds aren't consistent with a suicide attempt."
Martin finally was able to breath a sigh of relief. That was, until, the doctor completed his thought.
"However, her wounds ARE consistent with someone who is trying to hurt themselves...someone desperate...and someone who is crying out for help. Yet...they're also consistent with a plain old accident. The problem is that without Ruthie's explanation, I don't know which way this incident happened. I've called for a psychiatric consult to help me make this decision." he regretfully explained.
"A PSYCHIATRIST?" Kevin loudly questioned. "Ruthie is NOT crazy! She doesn't need this. Give me five minutes with her and I'll straighten this whole mess out."
The doctor shot Kevin an annoyed look and responded "I'm sorry Mr. - "
"Kinkirk" Kevin immediately answered. "I'm Ruthie's brother-in-law."
Patronizingly, Dr. Billings said, "Yes, Mr. Kinkirk. I'm sure you're very close to your sister-in-law and you think you know her best. However, I'm bound by law to investigate this further."
Kevin knew the law and he knew the doctor was right. He backed down.
Tensely, Annie asked "What happens next?"
Dr. Billings calmly explained, "I'll begin working on Ruthie's physical wounds. Dr. Rainling, our staff psychiatrist, will be in soon to talk to your daughter."
"Can we be with her ?" Annie asked.
"You're welcome to come back in now." he kindly answered.
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Annie and Eric walked back into the examining room. Ruthie didn't even glance at them.
Annie walked over to Ruthie and kissed her on the forehead. She whispered to her "It's okay, baby. Everything is going to be okay."
Ruthie turned her head away.
Her coldness stunned Annie.
Dr. Billings called in a nurse. She draped a small, sterile, white sheet over Ruthie's arm. He injected her with lidocaine and then began the tedious process of removing the shards of glass from her right hand. The ones he could pull out with tweezers came out easily. However, there were a few deeply embedded that required him to break open the skin and dig out. Despite the numbing medication, it was a gruesome sight and it was all Ruthie could do to keep her composure. When the doctor finished stitching up her right hand, he repeated the painstaking procedure on her left.
Dr. Rainling arrived as the last stitches were being sewn in.
Dr. Billings excused himself.
Dr. Rainling was a young doctor. He looked to be no older than Matt. His age concerned the older Camdens.
"Hello." he introduced himself. "I'm Dr. Bill Rainling. I'm the attending psychiatrist in the ER tonight."
Eric and Annie introduced themselves and Ruthie.
Ruthie remained ever silent.
"So, Ruthie, can you tell me how this happened?" he asked.
Ruthie looked at the floor and didn't answer.
"Okay." he said with a clap of his hands. He turned to Eric and Annie and said "Well, Reverend and Mrs. Camden could you tell me what happened to Ruthie?"
Annie and Eric told Dr. Rainling all that they knew...the part about Martin...and about Martin and Sandy...and about Ruthie's crush and Ruthie's friendship with Martin...which admittedly was all that they really knew . They didn't know anything about how Ruthie ended up like this.
Dr. Rainling asked for a few minutes alone with Ruthie.
Again, Eric and Annie left the room.
Bill Rainling studied Ruthie. She was a mess. Both hands were completely wrapped in bandages. Her soft turquoise sweater was spattered with blood stains. And black mascara stains covered her face. Honestly, it was the state that he saw most of his teenage patients in.
He chose his words carefully.
"It must have been a shock tonight when you learned about your friend." he said softly.
She noticed Dr. Rainling's voice was deep yet gentle.
She moved her eyes from the floor and onto him. It was the first time she had looked at him. He was gorgeous.
That was the only response he got to his statement.
"Well, at least I got you to look at me." he commented.
"The thing is, Ruthie, that I'm supposed to figure out how this happened." he confided. "And I can't figure that out unless you talk to me. If I can't walk out of here and say confidently that it was an accident, than I'm going to have to admit you to the hospital... into the psychiatric unit."
Dr. Rainling knew this was the speech that would crack most teens into talking. He'd done it hundreds of times now. The threat of hospitalization scared the kids to death! It usually worked on your average teenager - but there was nothing average about Ruthie.
Dr. Rainling confidently proceeded, "So Ruthie, now that you know the choice that I have to make...would you please tell me how you cut your hands?"
Ruthie's eyes fell off of him and back onto the floor.
He decided to give it one last crack, "Okay Ruthie, well you leave me no other choice. I'm going to write the orders to section you into the Gosner wing for 72 hours of observation. We use this time to determine whether you are not a threat to yourself or to anyone else."
An unseen smile washed across Ruthie's face as it pointed towards the floor. She was laughing about the part of being "a danger to other people." They were smart to lock her up. She couldn't be held responsible for what she might do the next time she crossed paths with Martin or Sandy.
Dr. Rainling had no other choice than to admit Ruthie.
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Dr. Rainling exited Ruthie's room and walked into the sea of Camdens. He regrettably explained what needed to happen next. As expected, the Camdens were outraged.
"Is this REALLY necessary?" Kevin exclaimed. "I'm telling you that Ruthie is NOT suicidal. I WORKED on the GlenOak police force. I KNOW suicidal and Ruthie ain't it!"
Dr. Billings had warned Dr. Rainling about an uptight brother-in-law.
"Mr. Kinkirk, if you were an officer, than you undoubtedly know the law when it comes to attempted suicide. We can't release Ruthie until we know that she is okay." he calmly explained.
"But I'm telling you that Ruthie is NOT suicidal!" Kevin cried out.
Dr. Rainling couldn't help getting sarcastic with Kevin.
"And you're basing your opinion on WHICH of your medical degrees?" he chastised.
Kevin immediately took offense.
Dr. Rainling realized he had been unprofessional. He may be experienced but he certainly wasn't polished.
"I apologize Mr. Kinkirk. However, you know that if I released Ruthie and anything else happened...I would be responsible. I'm just not convinced, yet, that this was an accident. I need to be convinced before Ruthie is allowed to leave." he said sternly.
Dr. Rainling explained what would happen next to Eric and Annie. They took an extreme dislike to the fact that she could have no visitors for the first 24 hours. The doctor explained it as an uninterrupted settling in period. The Camdens protested but the rules were the rules.
Dr. Rainling observed a young man in the group who looked beyond ruined. He correctly guessed that this young man was the one and only "Martin." As the heartbroken Camdens began filing out, he pulled Martin aside and asked if he could speak with him for a few minutes. Martin's father surrendered the car keys insisting he'd get a ride home with the Camdens.
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Dr. Rainling led Martin into a comfortable and private lounge. Martin sat nervously on the couch, tapping his fingers together.
It was clear that it wasn't just Ruthie on the edge here.
Bluntly, Dr. Rainling asked "So, what do you think?"
Martin was taken aback by his question. He wasn't even sure why Dr. Rainling wanted to talk to him.
"What do you mean?" Martin questioned.
Dr. Rainling explained, "I mean - do YOU think that Ruthie tried to hurt herself on purpose?"
Martin's eyes darted all around the room.
He quietly answered "No."
He paused and then added with confusion, "At least I don't THINK so. I don't know. I thought that Ruthie and I were friends - best friends."
"And?" Dr. Rainling questioned.
"And..." Martin answered with bewilderment. "Tonight, Kevin told me that Ruthie has had a crush on me for like a year. He accused me of leading her on - and LIKING it! The truth is that I must be the STUPIDEST guy on earth because I've gotten a girl I detest pregnant on the first date...AND I had no idea that Ruthie was interested in me. REALLY, I didn't!"
Dr. Rainling made a mental note that this Kevin guy was a problem.
Sympathetically, Dr. Rainling observed, "Looks like you have a lot on your plate right now. It must be overwhelming."
Martin replied with frustration, "I THOUGHT it was overwhelming before...but now...after tonight...look, I don't know how I'm going to be able to live with myself if it turns out that Ruthie did this on purpose. If I knew...if I had any idea that she felt that way about me I would have..."
Dr. Rainling tried to finish his sentence with a question. "You would have...what...not told her about the pregnant girl?"
"No." Martin shook his head. "It was just a matter of time before she found out. Everyone else already knew...her family, our friends...the entire school."
Dr. Rainling took special note of that statement. He correctly surmised that this was the cause of Ruthie's intense anger.
Dr. Rainling tried again. This time more boldly. "Okay, so if you had known about Ruthie's feelings for you...you would have...acted on the ones that you have for her?"
Martin's eyes fixated on the doctor.
He weakly protested, "No, it's not like that. I lived with the Camdens for almost two years. Ruthie was like a sister to me."
Dr. Rainling stated the obvious, "But she ISN'T your sister."
Probing a little more he said "And I noticed that you used the words "was like a sister to me"...what changed...why isn't she like that anymore?"
Martin didn't like being pushed into a corner. He threw up his hands.
He exclaimed, "Look, I don't know what I'm saying. I'm in a MESS here. I'm going to be a teenage father with a woman that I can't stand. And my best friend is about to be locked into a psych. unit - maybe because of ME...I'm probably not going to be much help to you."
"Quite the contrary, Mr. Brewer. You've been very helpful. You know, if you ever feel like you need to talk to someone - to help you sort this whole thing out - I can give you a referral." Dr. Rainling said sincerely.
Martin thought the last thing he needed was one more person giving him an opinion about what he needed to do with his life. He politely declined the offer.
Martin was unsure if he should even ask the next question. But he HAD to.
"When do you think I can see Ruthie?" he asked timidly.
Sensing Martin's fragile state, Dr. Rainling answered, "Well, as you know, she can't have any visitors for 24 hours. So, go home and get some rest Martin."
Martin rambled, "I just need to TALK to her. I want her to know how sorry I am. I NEVER meant to hurt her like this."
The doctor reassured him, "You'll get your time. This is just a temporary situation, Martin. That's what I want both you and Ruthie to realize. Life is constantly changing. What seems horrific on one day can turn into something beautiful the next. Teenagers don't have the gift of this insight. It only comes with age. So, you'll have to trust me on this. Everything will turn out fine, Martin. Don't worry - and get some rest."
Defeated, Martin turned and began the long walk to the car.