Chapter five
Two weeks and three days later- March 16th 2012
20 weeks and 4 days pregnant
Alex sighs as he walks up the two steps to reach the front porch of his house. Today had been exhausting, both mentally and physically and all he could think about was relaxing on the couch with a beer in his hand.
He walks over to the front door and flicks on the porch light. In the corner of his eye he notices somebody sitting on his porch seat. He walks over and notices it was Jo. Her head was down so he couldn't see her face, but he recognised that hair from anywhere.
"Look, I just want to leave you alone, that you have made so very clear on many occasions. But now you're showing up here at my house... that makes it very hard to stay away," Alex vents.
Jo looks up at him with tears running down her cheek. As she looks at him she exposes a shinny black and blue bruise covering her left eye. She was rocking back and fourth with her arms covering her stomach.
He rushes over to her, "Jo, what happened?" He asks shocked.
"I...I...I'm sorry. I...I...I didn't know where to go," she replies weakly.
"No, I'm glad that you came here," he replies.
"I'm cramping. I'm loosing the baby aren't I? That's What I get for not wanting to have a baby. I was going to be a crap mother, it might as well start from before birth, right?" Jo asks in a panic.
"Cramping can mean a lot of different things..." Alex begins.
"He.. he hit me on the stomach," Jo cries.
"Okay, let's get you to the hospital," Alex says as he extends his hand to Jo.
Once Alex assists Jo into the car he drives the ten minutes to Grey Sloan in silence. They then proceed to walk up to an exam room where Arizona was waiting for them. Given the complex situation in this case, Alex wanted somebody with a lot more experience then he had. Jo lays down on the exam table.
"Jo, this is going to feel a little cold," Arizona says. Jo lifts up her shirt, exposing three large bruises on her abdomen. The black and blue colour indicated that they were very new.
Arizona and Alex share a concerned look as Jo nods her head to single for Arizona to begin the scan.
"Is the baby okay?" Jo asks while taking deep breaths.
"This right here, this is your baby," Arizona says as she points to the screen.
"So the baby is okay?" Jo asks.
"I'd like to keep you in for observation given that you have been cramping. It's just a precaution," Arizona adds as she pauses the scan. She places the Doppler back onto the the machine. She cleans the gel from Jo's stomach and Jo then sits up.
"Jo, what happened?" Alex asks concerned.
"We... we were fighting. I'd made the wrong thing for dinner. He said that I hardly ever cook dinner, usually the cooks do, and the one time I do I screw it up. I also didn't get the house all clean today... I had the whole day off. We started to fight. It got physical," Jo says as she begins to cry. "He pushed me and grabbed me by the hand. He said that I had to make it up to him by having sex with him. I didn't want to... I said 'no' so he forced me on the bed and that's when he hit me," Jo says through her tears.
Arizona and Alex look at Jo sympathetically. They didn't know what to say, no words could make this okay, so they just looked at her with their hearts breaking.
"I...I... I have no place to go... no place to stay. I'd stay with Stephanie, but he'd find me there," Jo panics.
"Well, you'll be safe guarded here. We'll have security standing in front of your door and we will call the police. And when you get discharged tomorrow you can stay with me," Arizona replies.
"You have Sofia. I can't risk him finding me and hurting you or Sofia," Jo says shaking her head.
"Well then you can stay with me. And I won't take no for an answer," Alex insists.
"Okay, Okay," Jo says with a faint simile while nodding her head slightly.
"Jo, the police will want a report listing the extent of your injuries. You'll need an exam, are you comfortable with either one of us giving you the exam?" Alex asks.
"Arizona," Jo says quickly,
Arizona nods her head, "Okay. A second person will need to be in the room, for authenticity and to ensure that this exam is bias free. Would it be okay if Kepner was in here?"
Jo nods her head slowly.
Scene break
"Arizona, hey," April smiles as she sees her friend walking towards her in the hallway.
"I need you to come with me," Arizona orders. April looks at her curiously and Arizona takes her hand and pulls her.
"Oh, okay," April says as she's being pulled away.
"You need to be desecrate. Nobody aside from the very few that already know needs to know that she's here," Arizona explains.
"Who is it? What's going on?" April asks.
"It's Josephine Stadler. She's in the hospital because her husband beat her. We're doing an exam," Arizona says quietly.
"Oh my god," April says shocked.
They rush back to Jo's room, where she was laying silently on the bed and looking up at the ceiling.
"Jo?" Arizona questions gently.
"Have you ever noticed how dirty these ceilings are? They're supposed to be white but they're ore like an off white now. We need to look at getting them cleaned... or repainted. It doesn't provide the best impression to patients," she rambles.
"Jo honey, I know you want to distract yourself and pretend like this didn't happen. But it did happen and you're here. Once we've don't the exam then the police will come in to question you and take your statement," Arizona says gently.
"I'm not pretending that it didn't happen. I'm here, I know it happened. Stuff like this happens and I'm built for it. Distraction helps me cope. It's been my coping mechanism for years. When he'd force me to have sex I'd look at the small hole in the roof and think about how a hook had fallen out and made that hole. When he'd hit me I'd stare into the distance and picture a field of flowers. It's how I get through," Jo explains while being on the cusp of tears.
"It's okay, Jo, it's okay, you can cry," April says gently. She places her right hand on Jo's left shoulder.
Jo nods her head as tears roll down her face. They begin to fall faster and faster and the sounds of her sobs got louder and louder.