Disclaimers are still with chapter one. (I still don't own the ER characters.)
1.4. Go Home
With that, Wendell and Ray left, and Sam took the little girl's blood. She didn't flinch at that needle either. Ray told Wendell what Samantha had told him. Wendell nodded and pursed her lips, knowing the type of situation all too well, then stepped back inside. Sam had just finished dropping the needle into the sharps container and was showing Samantha her band aid options.
"Ohh trucks! I want the bulldozers!" I love it when the little girls ignore the Disney princesses in favor of the trucks.
"Bulldozers it is," Sam said, placing the band aid over the needle prick. "Now Wendell is going to talk to you okay?"
"Uh huh."
Wendell sat down on the stool where Sam had sat a few moments ago, and Samantha immediately grabbed her arm to start "casting" it.
"Let's fix you up!" Samantha did her best impression of Ray. Wendell and Sam smiled at her, Ray chuckled.
"We are going to leave now, Samantha," Sam said and gave a small wave. Ray smiled at her again. The two of them then stepped outside, but remained at the door, looking in the glass window.
Sam looked up at Ray. She could see hurt and anger in his eyes.
"It'll work out Ray. She'll be okay."
"How could someone not love that child? How can she make anyone feel anything but happy?" They were both watching Wendell talk to Samantha. It looked like Samantha was slightly more interested in bandaging Wendell than talking, but Wendell was taking notes with her other had, apparently still getting useful information.
"Honestly Ray, I have no idea. I understand anger at a child, frustration, but I also understand that hurting yourself hurts your child." She glanced up at Ray. "Samantha's mother obviously doesn't."
After a full minute of silence, "Do you remember that little girl a few weeks ago…absolutely beautiful child…," those words sounding odd, unusually sad and tender, coming out of Ray's mouth, she looked up at him, "named Dina? …she had a broken arm, I think…suspicion of abuse?"
"Yeah…"
"Her sister." As he answered, it clicked for her too.
"Shit! I knew that mother looked familiar. And those two girls can't deny they're related with those wide eyes and brown curls!" Sam now sounded angry. "After the follow up, social services said they had no idea why we suspected abuse." This was followed by a few minutes of tense silence. "Wow." Anger at a person who wasn't there filled the space.
"This sucks." Ray's response caught her off guard, and she half smiled, he looked down at her with the same, sad half smile. The hurt and anger from before was still in his eyes, but fatigue was quickly pushing out the other emotions.
"Ray, go home. Wendell will get this taken care of. You look exhausted. You want me to call you if we find out anything else?"
"Yeah, that'd be great." He answered, knowing she had asked the question out of formality and that she would of course call him with any development in the case.
"Will do. And you're off tomorrow too right?" She reached up and squeezed his arm. "Have a good night."
"Yeah, and thanks Sam. I appreciate it." He stepped back into the room, glancing at Wendell, and mouthing 'sorry' for the interruption, he asked if there was anything else they needed. Both shook their heads, Samantha's curls bouncing again with the movement. "Okay, I'll see you later Wendell. Samantha I hope you feel better! Keep practicing with that bandage and you can show Dina how good you are at it." She nodded vigorously. That brought smiles to everyone's faces.