Chapter 18
(disclaimer! I want everyone to know that I do not know exactly how the hospital/foster care system works. That being said this is fiction! I am sorry if the information not being factual bothers you, but if that is the case this may not be the story for you!)
(Phoebe's POV)
Tomorrow is the Fourth of July. I am currently at home with Nathan. Our place is covered in things for the party tomorrow. We rented out the rooftop. I have a bunch of food being delivered. I am so excited. This is my first holiday I am hosting.
"Bee, where do you want these?" Nathan asks holding a tray of red white and blue Jell-O shots. They are my favorite.
"Anywhere you can find room in the fridge," I say and he nods.
I am currently decorating mason jars for the table arrangements. I could have bought them, but it is so much more fun to make them. I also made s'more kabobs for people to make before fireworks.
"You have been working so hard on this. I am so proud of you," Nathan says and I kiss him. He has been such a huge help. Like the biggest help ever.
As we kiss my phone starts to ring. I see it is the hospital. Shit. Something has to be wrong for them to call me on my day off.
"Phoebe Moore," I answer.
"Phoebe, it's Jen. I am sorry to call on your day off," she says.
"Jen don't worry about it. What is going on?" I ask.
"A patient of yours is back in the hospital. She is asking for you and normally I wouldn't call, but the only psychologist here is Tim and she freaked out when he walked in. She also has been asking for Dr. Moore," she says and she doesn't even have to tell me who it is.
"Claire Williams?" I ask.
"Yes," she says.
"We are on our way," I say. Nathan looks at me confused.
"Are you sure? You know you don't have to. If you could just give us some advice that would be beneficial too," she says and I tell her we will be there in 25 minutes.
"Claire is back in the hospital and asking for both of us. Grab the keys," I say and Nathan doesn't question it. He grabs the keys to the car and we head out. We are both in casual clothes, but technically it doesn't matter since we aren't on duty.
"Did she say what happened?" Nathan asks.
"Nope," I say and he nods. Nathan speeds to the hospital and parks in his assigned spot. We both rush into the ER.
"Where is she?" I ask Jen.
"16, here is the case file for today's visit. Police and detectives have already interviewed her. She just refuses to be examined. She also is being placed into a foster care home and she is refusing to do that," she says and I nod. Gosh this poor girl.
We read through. Her brother and his friend got high and beat her to a bloody pulp when she finally got back to him. He was pissed, she told on his friend for raping her. I look at Nathan and can see he is fuming.
"I'll go in first. I'll come get you when you're okay to come in," I say. He nods and squeezes my hand.
I knock and walk in. I have to hide the shock on my face when I see her. She has two black eyes, a cut lip, and what looks like a broken nose. Her arms are covered in bruises. She looks like a completely different child.
"Hi Claire," I say gently. "Is it okay if I come in and we talk?" I ask. She nods and I sit down.
"The nurse said you weren't here," she says.
"I came in," I say and she nods.
"You are probably feeling very frustrated right now," I say and she nods.
"Can you tell me why that is," I ask.
"Because no one is listening to what I want," she says. Tears roll down her face.
"What is it you want, Claire?" I ask.
"I just want to go back to my house," she says.
"Claire, our job is to keep you healthy and safe. That's a child protective services job too and the police's job. We aren't trying to keep you from where you want to be. But we do know that you get hurt when you are there and we don't want you hurt. The child protective services worker, Lia is going to put you somewhere where we know you are safe," I say.
"I just want to go back to my house," she says.
"I know, Claire. I understand that and I am sorry that you feel out of control about that. But this is for your safety," I say. She wipes her eyes and sighs.
"I will be with you every step of the way," I say. She nods and takes a tissue wiping her eyes off.
"Claire the nurse said you didn't want to be examined," I say.
"I don't want that lady to come in here. She wasn't nice and wasn't telling me what she was doing," she says. I nod and know she is talking about Haley the nurse on staff.
"You need to be examined. So who would you feel most comfortable with doing the exam?" I ask her.
"The nurse said he wasn't here, but Dr. Moore," she says. I nod and tell her that he is here now
"He is?" she says.
"Yes," I say. She breaks down crying and I take her hand in mine.
"Claire, what is going on?" I ask her.
"Take a deep breath," I say and she does. She takes a couple deep breaths.
"You guys came in because I was being a pain," she says. Oh this girl.
"Claire, Nathan and I had to come in. Do not worry. You were not being a pain. You have a right to feel comfortable when you are here. We want you to feel comfortable. If that means you want Dr. Moore and me then we are here," I say and she leans forward hugging me. I try not to do this with my patients because of boundaries. But I know she needs this. I hug her and rub her back.
"Can I go get Dr. Moore?" I ask her. She nods and lays back. When I walk out Nathan is waiting for me.
"She is in a very fragile state. We have to be very careful. Maybe a little talking before we go into the exam. They gave her pain meds so she isn't in a lot of pain. She's freaking out about foster care placement," I say and he nods.
"Poor girl," he says and I nod.
I knock and when we go in she has her head in her hands crying. "Hi Claire," Nathan says and washes his hands. I stand by her.
"I'm sorry," she cries.
"What are you sorry for?" Nathan asks.
"I'm sorry for crying and you came in today but you didn't have work," she says and is sobbing. I remind her to take a deep breath.
"Claire, remember last time when we talked about how I love my job and coming into work. I want to make sure you are healthy. And you do not need to apologize for crying. Everyone cries. It is a normal thing to do," he says and I nod.
"I know, I just I just am scared," she says and is crying.
"You don't have to be scared here. This is a safe place," Nathan says. She nods and takes another tissue. We watch her wince as she touches her nose.
"Is your nose hurting?" Nathan asks. She nods and tell us it is.
"Would it be okay if I checked it?" Nathan asks. She hesitantly nods. I put my hand out in case she wants to hold it. When Nathan lifts the bandage she squeezes my hand.
Nathan looks around and touches it. "We are going to need to X-ray that," Nathan says and I nod paging radiology.
"It really hurts," she says.
"I know, you can put the ice back on it," Nathan says and she nods. She places the ice back on her nose.
Nathan checks her eyes and her lungs. He checks her wrists and her legs. Her ankle is still swollen. This poor girl. I know nathan is going to have to check her stomach and ribs.
"Now Claire, we need to check your ribs and stomach. If you aren't comfortable taking off your top, I can have Nurse Haley come back in," Nathan says. Claire begins to cry and I bend down to her level.
"Claire, sweetheart. Tell me what's going on?" I ask her.
"I'm so scared," she says.
"Why are you scared," I ask.
"You are going to judge me," she says. Oh this poor girl.
"Sweetheart, we are not going to judge you. Dr. Moore and I think you are so strong. We just want to make sure you are healthy," I say. She nods and wipes her eyes.
"Do you want a female doctor to come in and check your chest and stomach?" I ask her. She shakes her head no.
"I want Dr. Moore," she says and I nod.
"Okay Claire, whenever you are ready you can slide your sweatshirt off for me," he says and she nods. She does and I can't believe it. Her stomach has stomp marks and her back is covered in bruises.
"Will you lay back for me?" Nathan asks. She nods and lays on her back. Nathan presses on her stomach. After her checks her ribs. He then has her sit up and checks her back.
"Okay Claire, good job," he says.
"Did anyone touch you under your pants?" He asks.
"My brother was in there," she says and he nods. He writes down a bunch of information. Someone knocks on the door and Cara from radiology comes in.
"Hi Claire, I am here to take you to get a couple x rays," cara says.
"Oh okay," Claire says. There is a wheel chair in front of her. Claire moves over and sits in the wheelchair. When she starts getting wheeled away she yells stop.
Nathan and I run over. "Why aren't you coming?" She asks.
"Dr. Moore and I aren't apart of the radiology team. We will be here when you get back," I say. She shakes her head crying.
"No, I don't want to go," she says and starts to freak out. Cara looks uncomfortable.
"We can go," Nathan says.
"Yeah Claire, we can come with you. We are sorry we didn't think of that," I say.
"I'm sorry," she says and I shake my head.
"There is no need to be sorry, let's go," I say.
We walk down to radiology. When we get there we have to explain to Claire that we can't go into the MRI room with her. But we will be in the room watching her. She seems apprehensive at first. Nathan tells her that we can talk to her through the microphone and that eases her mind.
She has found comfort in us. It is quite endearing. I think she sees Nathan as someone who can protect her and me as someone to talk to.
We stand and watch as she gets her MRI. "Hey Phoebe can you come out here for a second?" The nurse asks and I nod. When I come outside 2 social workers are standing there.
"Hi," I say.
"Good news," Lia says.
"What's up?" I ask.
"We found Claire's aunt. Apparently the brother didn't have a good relationship with the uncle, so when the parents and uncle died he cut off the aunt. She is more than willing to take Claire. We made sure we have proof. Claire should remember her. It seems as though they were close," relief fills my body. I will be in there when they tell her.
"The only problem is the aunt won't be home for another 4 weeks," they say.
"Um why," I ask.
"She is taking a month to go to Israel for religious purposes," they say and I nod.
"Well what happens until then?" I ask.
"Foster care or staying in the hospital," they say. Shit that can't happen.
"Is there any other options," I ask. They look at each other.
"Not unless another family member steps forward," they say.
"Shoot, okay. Thank you guys for your good work," I say.
I head back in. I fill Nathan back in on everything. He agrees she can't go to a random family. That will push her to a breaking point.
"Come here," I say and take him in the hallway.
"What is wrong?" He asks.
"You're going to say I'm crazy," I say.
"I highly doubt that," he says.
"Well, I just. I don't know what's happening but I feel drawn more than usual to this patient. I don't want her to go to a random foster home where she can risk being traumatized again. You and I both took the foster parent training and have done all of the extensive training. We know what it is like," I say.
"That's okay that you are feeling more drawn to her," he says. "This is a hard case," He says and rubs my arm.
"What if," I say. I wait for him to stop me. "What if we took her," I say. He stares at me waiting for me to finish.
"What if we took her for those four weeks. We both have the training and she knows us. It's only four weeks," I say. He smiles and kisses my head.
"Bee we both work," he says.
"We can take some time off. I just don't know what I'd do if she got hurt," I say. He nods and holds my hand rubbing it.
"I don't know if that is legal," he says.
"And so what it's legal to have Henry sitting in the hospital for weeks on end waiting for someone," I say trying not to cry.
"I'm sorry," he says and hugs me knowing he struck a chord.
"Do you not want to?" I ask.
"No I thought about it too," he says.
"It can be our practice," he says. I smile and hug him tightly.
"I'll talk to Lia," I say and he smiles. We aren't allowed to kiss here so he squeezes my hand. I page Lia.
"Do you want to walk her back while I talk to Lia?" I ask.
"Yes," Nathan says. He heads back in and I go talk to social work.
When I tell Lia and Jade what I am proposing they both look dumbfounded. It scares me a bit. "You both have had the training?" She asks. I nod.
"And you both want to do this?" They ask. I nod again.
"Okay yes, we just have paperwork you need to fill out," they say.
"That… that's it?" I ask.
"Well you both are respectable people. We have absolutely no foster parents willing to take trauma kids currently in the state of Washington and she would have to go to an all girls center," she says and I am dumbfounded now.
"Well have to do a home check on the fifth, but then she is all yours. She can stay at the hospital until then," she says and I am shocked. Is this how bad our foster care system is? I can't believe this is happening. I expected to come here and have to fight.
"Um okay," I say and nod.
"Well do you want to be there while I talk to her," she asks.
"Okay yeah, I will what's her aunts name?" I ask.
"Susan, Susan Walk," she says and I nod.
"Okay thank you," I say and she nods.
That was so strange. When I head back to the ER, I walk into Nathan and Claire. He is checking her blood pressure. "Hi guys," I say. Claire looks fragile as ever.
"Hi," Nathan says to me.
"Claire, my friend Lia is going to come talk to you, Nathan and I are going to be here the whole time," I say and she nods.
"Is my nose broken?" She asks Nathan.
"Your x rays should be here any minute," he says and she nods.
"What happens if it's broken," she asks.
"It depends how it is broken," he says and she nods.
There is a knock on the door. When it opens it is Lia and Jade. They come in and sit down introducing themselves to Claire. She is laid back in her bed. Nathan got her a new ice pack for her nose.
"I don't want to go to a foster home," Claire begs as soon as she knows who they are.
"Claire, we found your aunt. When we contacted her she said she would love to have custody of you," they say. Claire looks so confused.
"I don't have an aunt," she says.
"Aunt Susan," they say and Claire's mouth opens.
"Aunt Susan left," she says and shakes her head.
"No she didn't, your brother cut off contact with her after your uncle passed away," they say. She begins to cry.
"You mean she really wants me," I am trying my hardest not to get emotional.
"Yes, she lives here so your schooling would not change. She is very fond of the idea," they inform her.
"Is she here? Can I see her?" She asks.
"No, she is in Israel right now. She will be there for 4 weeks, but when she gets back and we check her house and background check her that is who will have custody of you," they say. She smiles so big. My heart is pounding against my chest.
"But where will I go for three weeks," she asks.
"Well we have to do some background checks and look through their house, but Phoebe and Dr. Moore have offered to let you stay with them," she says. She looks at us and then shakes her head putting her hands in her head crying. Oh no.
"What's wrong, Claire?" Lia asks.
"I feel so bad. I already made them come in on their day off," Claire says shaking her head.
"Claire, dr. Moore and I would love to have you stay with us," I say.
"I just feel so bad," she says.
"Claire, you do not need to at all. Phoebe and I are so excited," Nathan says and I nod.
"Am I going today?" She asks.
"Unfortunately, we still do have to check Phoebe and Nathan's house so because of the Fourth of July we will be doing it the fifth so then you can go there," she says and Claire nods.
"Are you sure?" She asks us.
"Claire, we are 100% sure," I say. She reaches forward hugging me tightly. Oh this girl.
"I'm sorry," she says and I shake my head.
"Don't be sorry," I say. She yawns and we all look around. She obviously needs sleep. She looks exhausted.
"Claire why don't you lay down for a bit. We are going to sort out some paperwork," I say and she nods. I squeeze her hand as she lays down.
We go up to the social work office and sign a bunch of papers. Nathan and I keep glancing at each other smiling. This is so weird. We are going to have a 15 year old.
"Okay, we will be there first thing on Tuesday," Lia says. They just have to clear the space and make sure it is safe.
"Can you believe it?" I ask Nathan in the elevator.
"With you phoebe Moore. Yes I can. We owe this to Claire. This way we can make sure she is safe," he says and I nod. I lean forward hugging him.
We head back down. Claire is asleep. Her xrays came back and her nose is not broken. "Well Dr. Moore. Our work here is done," I say. He nods and smiles.
We head back home. We have to get our guest room ready. "Should we get new sheets and a comforter?" I ask.
"Phoebe, she is 15 our guest room is grey and white. I highly doubt she wants anything else," he says and I nod.
"You are right, we need to have the house cleaned up fast after the fourth," i say.
"We have the cleaning crew coming," he says. Oh right.
"Don't be nervous, Bee. We are better than any girl home she could be sent to," he says and I nod.
When we get home we head up to the penthouse. My hand is still in a brace. With the craziness of today I forgot about it. 4 to 6 weeks my ass I want this off now. The unfortunate part of having a doctor husband is whenever I try to take it off he makes me put it back on.
"I'm exhausted." I say and Nathan nods.
"I am too," he says.
"So, can we go to bed," I ask and he nods laughing.
"We are going to have to tell our parents tomorrow," he says and I nod.
"I know," I say. "But that's tomorrow's problem," I say crawling into bed with him.
"I love you," he says kissing my head. I just nod laying my head in his chest. I am out for the count.