(Cody P.O.V)
Walking through the doors of the hospital, I was met with the usual smell of absolute cleanliness and chemicals. Nurses hurried past and anxious families lined the halls, waiting for news on their loved ones. I opened the door to my office to find, as per usual, a giant stack of paperwork on my desk. The little light on the phone flashed, telling me I had a message. Sighing, I went over and pressed play.
"Dr. Martin, this is Dr. White. I received a call this morning from Calico and Sons law firm. The family of the patient who died on Thursday is wanting a meeting with you over the cause of the death. Could you give me a call when you get this?" The machine beeped and shut off. I groaned, rubbing my eyes. I knew which family Dr. White was talking about. A month ago, I'd done surgery on a young man who appeared to have been on the road to full recovery so I let him go home. Then, last Thursday we'd received a call saying that he'd died. A knock on my door startled me out of my thoughts.
"Come in."
"Dr. Martin? Room 23B is asking for you." A young nurse told me, poking his head through the door.
"I'll be right there." I quickly changed into my scrubs and made my way towards room 23B where a young girl with her leg in a cast sat waiting and beside her was none other than Bailey.
(Bailey P.O.V)
I gasped as I looked at the back of the young girl in front of me. A series of bruises covered the majority of her skin.
"Eva, where did you get these bruises?" I asked, turning her to look at me. Tears formed in her eyes but she remained silent. "Eva, you need to tell me." I pressed and she looked at me.
"Do you promise not to tell anyone?" She asked.
"I can't promise you that sweetie. It may be that I have to tell someone but if I do, I promise, I will only tell exactly who needs to be told." She thought that over and seemed to accept it but still didn't say anything. "Eva, please tell me so I can help you."
"My step-dad hit me. He told me I was a bad girl and needed to be punished. He said that he was punishing me because he loves me." Eva told me and it really seemed like she believed what the man had been telling her.
"Eva, is it okay if I call someone to have a look at these bruises?" The girl nodded and I quickly stuck my head out the door, grabbing the attention of a passing nurse.
"Can you get Dr. Martin down here please?" I asked and he nodded, hurrying off to do what I'd asked. It wasn't long before Cody pushed open the door and looked at me in surprise.
"Bailey. What's going on?" He asked, coming over to me.
"Eva, this is Dr. Martin. He's going to have a quick look at your back, okay?" The girl nodded and I motioned for Cody to come around to where I was standing and I heard his stifled gasp as he saw the bruises.
"She said her step-dad hit her." I explained. He gently ran his hands over her back, feeling for welts or other damage that might have happened.
"Eva, saying that your step-dad hit you is a very serious thing. Are you completely sure that's what happened?" He asked her and she nodded.
"Yes."
"Okay, Bailey can you call the authorities up here? Make sure they don't contact her parents yet. They'll need to get the full story before anything happens." I nodded and left the room, leaving Cody to carefully examine the girl's injuries. At the nurse's desk I picked up the phone, pushing the speed dial for CPS.
"Hello?"
"Hi, this is Nurse Bailey from Massachusetts General Hospital. I'm calling in regards to one of my patients who has made a domestic abuse claim against her step-father."
"We'll send an officer over immediately."
"Thank you." I hung up and went back to the room to find Eva lying on her stomach, her back almost completely bare. Cody was still investigating a mark on her back and jumped a little when I approached.
"CPS is on their way."
"Great. What do these look like to you?" He asked, gesturing to several faded scars that crisscrossed her back. Leaning closer, I gasped.
"They almost look like belt whips. You don't think…?" I trailed off in shock.
"I do." He said grimly.
"Eva, did your step-dad ever hit you with a belt?" I asked, bending down so I was at eye level with her.
"Oh yes. That was the best way to get me to behave. I didn't like the belt but when I was really naughty I had to stand against the wall and get ten hits with the belt." I could hardly believe the tone in her voice. It was as if she just accepted what had happened to her as something that happened to all children. Over her back, I looked at Cody.
"Oh my god." I mouthed to him and he nodded, his mouth set in a grim line.
"Is there anything else he hit you with?" Cody asked.
"Mostly his hands. He used a cane once but my mom told him that it would leave to many marks, so he didn't use it again." The girl had completely changed her mood from when I'd first seen the bruises. It now seemed like she would tell us anything.
"Okay. We're going to get you to sit up for us." Cody instructed and helped her into a sitting position.
"Is everything okay, Doctor?" She asked innocently.
"For now sweetie. I'm going to leave you in Nurse Bailey's care okay? I have some things to deal with." With that, Cody waved at us and disappeared out the door, leaving me with Eva. In silence we sat waiting for the CPS officer to arrive.
(Cody P.O.V)
I couldn't believe the day I was having, first Bailey had called me in to help with a domestic abuse case and now I was sitting in a stuffy office with the angry family of the deceased patient and a bunch of lawyers. Apparently, the family was wanting to put the blame on my surgery for the death.
"Something must have been infected. He was completely healthy before the surgery." An older man with grey hair and an unkempt beard said.
"I'm sorry, but it can't be true. I always ensure that everything is disinfected to the absolute max before it is used in surgery." I countered. It was true. Before I went into surgery, I would always meticulously disinfect any and all instruments that could be used.
"Well something went wrong because there's no way he could have just died." A red haired woman said from where she sat next to the old man.
"I was cautious before the surgery as this is a very complicated operation and the utmost care had to be taken. If anything went wrong, it was afterwards during the recovery."
"I can assure you if any of the rest of our family need surgery of any kind, we will be requesting you not to be in charge or even in the room if this is what happens to your patients." The woman said and although I felt horrible, I knew when I started working that there would be people who wouldn't like me for whatever reason.
"That's fine by me." I told her, wishing I was anywhere but here. I couldn't stop thinking of Bailey and the case she was dealing with.
"I think that's enough discussion for today. Dr. Martin, we will require you to appear in court over this matter. We will send you the details within a few days." The red haired woman's lawyer instructed, extending his hand across the table formally. I shook it carefully, not wanting to provoke any more argument than would be necessary. The two people and their lawyers left the room, followed shortly after by my own lawyer, leaving me alone. I sighed and leant back in my chair, rubbing my hands over my eyes. After a moment I got up and left too, heading back to my office where I quickly packed up my things and headed out to my car to go home. On the way, I picked up Kimberlee, Karlee and Lachlan from their day-care centre and stopped for an ice-cream but we still beat Bailey home. I set the kids up in the basement watching TV while I went into the kitchen and started putting together a batter for chocolate cake.
It was about an hour later that I hear the garage door open and soon Bailey joined me in the kitchen. Upon seeing her face, I quickly wrapped her in a hug, letting her cry into my shoulder. We stood there for ages, just holding each other.
"I don't know what to do, Cody." She finally whispered.
"What do you mean? I thought CPS was taking care of it."
"They were but her mother intervened and said that nothing was wrong, that she'd simply had a fall. She couldn't let them get close enough to see the welts."
"Oh my god."
"I know. I don't know where to go from here."
"Don't worry, Bails. We'll figure it out together." I didn't bother telling her about the court case I was in, not wanting to upset her even more.
"Thank you Codykins."
"It's what I'm here for sweetie." After that we made dinner together, eventually calling the kids up from the basement and we sat down together, talking about the kids' days to distract ourselves from the drama going on at work.
Preview: Cody continues to fight his case in court and a truth is revealed. Meanwhile, Bailey struggles to find what she can do to help Eva.
A/N: Sorry, sorry. I know it's been ages since I updated but I've been so busy with school, the teachers seem to think that piling all the tests on us at once at the end of the semester is a good idea. Holidays are coming up soon and I'll hopefully be able to put up a few more chapters before I have to disappear again for a while because it'll be my last full term of high school and I really need to use all my focus on school. Hopefully, I'll be back before the end of November, but if I'm not, feel free to send me an IM to remind me :) Hope you enjoy this chapter and if anyone has any helpful hints on how the American legal system and CPS works, please let me know :) R&R