Chapter 2: At the Hospital
Good Samaritan Hospital was alive with the usual hustle and bustle of everyday life in New York City. Nurses and doctors rushed here and there, the phones were ringing almost non-stop, papers rustled every now and then as the nurses went through different medical records, and the beeping of the medical machines could be heard almost every second. One nurse in particular; a young, pretty Indian girl in a blue scrub outfit; lead Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler down one of the many long hallways of the hospital.
"What have we got?" Olivia asked, referring to the emergency call they had just received.
"Caucasian female, age 14, brought in about an hour-and-a-half ago by the EMT's. She had extensive scarring and bruising all over her body, especially in the pelvic area." the young nurse replied, looking over the jumble of papers on her clip-board.
"Did you do a rape kit?" Elliot asked.
"Yes. We found traces of semen, vaginal bruising, and an anal tear." the nurse replied, "This girl was raped and tortured."
"What's the girl's name?" Olivia asked.
"Uh....Payton Biscayne." the nurse answered.
"Her parents here?" Elliot asked.
"Her mother is. They're in room 314 just up there and to the left." the nurse said, stopping and pointing up the hallway.
"All right. We're gonna need the rape kit and the clothes she was wearing when she was found." Olivia said.
"Yes, ma'am." the nurse said, walking off down the hallway.
Olivia and Elliot walked up the hallway to room 314 and Olivia knocked on the door.
"Come in." a woman's voice said.
Olivia opened the door and took a quick survey of their surroundings. The room was small but comfortable. The floor was layered in white tile, the walls were painted a pale blue color, and the ceiling was white. Directly in front of her was a hospital bed and beside it was a chair. Behind the chair was a small, wooden dresser with clean towels, clean washcloths, and a pink, plastic wash-pan. Beside the head of the bed was a table on wheels for the occupant of the room. The room was lit by three dim lights in the ceiling and a lamp on the dresser. On the bed lay a pitiful-looking girl. Her face was thin and she had a gash on her right cheek and a bruise around her left eye. Her hair had been smoothed a little and it didn't look as messy. She was wearing a traditional hospital gown that fit loosely around her. A soft, white blanket lay over her from the waist down and the head of the bed was leaned up slightly. The girl had an IV inserted into her left hand and it fed vital fluids into her weak body.
"Mrs. Biscayne?" Olivia asked the black-haired woman sitting in the chair beside the bed.
"Yes. Who are you?" she asked, wiping tears from her red, puffy eyes.
"I'm Detective Olivia Benson, this is Detective Elliot Stabler. We're from Special Victims Unit." Olivia explained, "We would like to ask you and your daughter a few questions."
"Honey." the woman said softly to her sleeping daughter, "The detectives want to talk to you."
The girl groggily opened her eyes and moaned.
"Mrs. Biscayne, I was wondering if we could talk outside?" Elliot asked.
The woman seemed resistant to leave her daughter, but she complied and stepped outside with Elliot. Elliot closed the door quietly behind them, leaving Olivia alone with the girl. Olivia's face softened as she turned back to the girl. She had worked with many other children before and she knew how to make them feel comfortable talking to her and to remember things they wouldn't otherwise have remembered.
"Hey." she said softly, walking over to the bed, "What's your name?"
"Payton." the girl answered in a small voice.
"Payton? That's a pretty name." Olivia said, sitting down on the edge of the bed, "How old are you?"
"Fourteen." Payton answered.
"You're really growing up, aren't you?" Olivia said, "What grade are you in?"
"Tenth." Payton answered.
"Wow. You doing good in school?" Olivia asked.
"I guess so. My art teacher says that I'm really creative." Payton said, starting to open up a little.
"Payton, what can you tell me about what happened to you?" Olivia asked.
"I don't.....I don't remember." Payton said, feeling her eyes starting to burn, "I'm-I'm sorry."
"It's okay. The painkillers the doctors are giving you are probably just fogging up your memory right now." Olivia said, patting her gently on the leg, "We can still talk about something else if you want."
"Like what?" Payton asked, rubbing at her eyes.
"Well, let's talk about you. What's your favorite color?"
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Outside the room, Elliot and Monica Biscayne were talking. They sat in two chairs just beside the door.
"She looks like she would be a sweet girl." Elliot said.
"Oh, she is. Just about the sweetest girl you could meet." Monica said.
"Where's her father?" Elliot asked.
"Her father--Robert--was killed in Iraq.....about two years ago." Monica answered, wiping tears from her eyes with a tissue.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Elliot said, "How did Payton get her name?"
"She's named after Robert's favorite football player: Payton Manning." Monica answered
"When did you notice your daughter was missing?" Elliot asked.
"Um.....about two weeks ago. It w-was the last day that the swimming pool was open and she had begged me to let her go with some of her friends. At first I had said no, but she kept asking. The pool was just a mile down the road and I thought since she was in a group, she would be okay." Monica wiped more tears from her eyes and sniffled, "I-It was a little chilly that day and I kept telling her to take a jacket with her, but she was so excited to get to go by herself, she forgot it. She was supposed to be back for supper, but she never came home. After about an hour, I was frantic and I practically ran all the way to the pool, but she wasn't there. I called the police, but they didn't have anything to go on. I just sat there by the phone, holding the jacket she was supposed to have taken with her. My heart broke every time I thought of my little girl wandering around New York City in just her swimsuit.....it gets cold at night and all she had was her swimsuit.....oh, God....."
"Hey, it's gonna be all right." Elliot said, placing a hand to Monica's shaking shoulder, "We'll find the creep that did this to your daughter."
"I hope whoever did this rots in hell!" Monica cried.
"I know this is hard for you, but do you think you could answer a few more questions?" Elliot asked.
Monica sniffled loudly and wiped at her tears with her tissue and nodded her head.
"All right. Does Payton have a boyfriend?" Elliot asked.
"Heavens no. I told her she could not date until she was sixteen." Monica answered.
"Where does she go to school?" Elliot asked.
"Pine Grove High." Monica answered.
"I'm not familiar with that school. Where is it?" Elliot said.
"It's um.....about two miles from where we live in Queens." Monica said, "It's a special school for kids that are.....more gifted than others."
"Define 'gifted'." Elliot said.
"Payton is a really wonderful girl. She loves photography and art and music and graphic design." Monica explained, "Pine Grove has many extra classes that teach these things. Payton takes five extra classes in addition to the standard school classes and she excels in all of them. She's one grade ahead of most girls her age."
"She sounds like a busy girl." Elliot said, "What other classes does she take other than the standard ones?"
"Let me see....she takes photography, art, music, graphic design, and karate." Monica answered.
"Okay, I'm gonna need a list of all her teachers and the principal at her school." Elliot said, holding out his small notebook and a pen.
Monica took it and scribbled down the names of all the teachers of the classes that Payton took.
"Thanks." Elliot said as Monica handed the notebook back to him, "Have you noticed any of Payton's teachers or anyone else at her school paying any particular close attention to her lately?"
"No, not that I've noticed." Monica answered.
"Do you know of anyone that might want to hurt Payton?" Elliot asked.
"Heavens no. She's such a sweet girl." Monica answered.
"Has she ever gotten in trouble at school?" Elliot asked.
"Only once. It was a few weeks ago.....this older boy was teasing her about not having a father and saying ugly things and Payton beat him up. She's sweet, but she's really headstrong and tough like her father was." Monica answered.
"What's the boy's name?" Elliot asked.
"I don't know." Monica said.
"All right. I think we have enough for right now." Elliot said, closing his notebook.
"Can I go back in and see my daughter?" Monica asked.
"Sure." Elliot said.
Monica quickly turned and entered Payton's room. She saw Olivia sitting on the edge of Payton's bed and Payton was smiling slightly as they talked.
"How are things going, baby?" Monica asked, walking over and sitting down beside the bed.
"Okay. Olivia is really nice." Payton said.
Monica smiled.
"Payton, we have to go now, but we'll check back in on you tomorrow, okay?" Olivia said.
Payton nodded.
"If anything changes, call us." Olivia said, looking at Monica.
"All right. The doctors said that they were going to keep her here overnight for observation and if things were okay, they were going to let her go home tomorrow." Monica said.
"Good." Olivia said, "You just hang in there, sweetie."
Payton nodded as Olivia and Elliot turned and left. Elliot closed the door behind him and he and Olivia walked down to the nurses' station where the Indian nurse stood with a plastic box on the counter beside her and she was filling out some forms.
"Oh, here are the things you requested." she said when Olivia and Elliot neared her.
"Thanks." Olivia said, taking the box.
"What'd you find out?" Elliot asked as he and Olivia walked down the hallway, heading to the elevators.
"Not much about what happened; the painkillers are making her a little groggy." Olivia answered, "You?"
"Well, her mom said she was a very sweet, intelligent girl who's a full grade ahead of everyone else at her school." Elliot answered.
"Elliot, we've got to find out who did this to her; I won't be able to sleep till we find who hurt that poor girl." Olivia said.
A/N: See, told you I'd make the next chappy longer. Really hope you like it. Anybody got any ideas for anything in the story?