All of Me (21 page)

Stella patted the
woman’s shoulder and forced a smile.  “We’re going to take care of you.  We’ve
got you now, okay?  Everything is going to be okay.”

The woman tried to
speak, but her lips were busted and swollen. 

Another nurse,
Adriana, leaned closer.  “What did you say, honey?”

This time, they
managed to make out, “My daughter, my daughter.”

Adriana smooth
back the woman’s matted hair off her forehead.  “We hear you.  And we’re going
to take care of your little girl too, okay?”

The woman nodded
and her swollen eyelids closed.  Or maybe she’d finally passed out.

Adriana cursed in
Spanish.  “Can you handle the little girl?” she asked Stella.  “I’m sorry,
Stell…I just don’t think I can handle it right now.”

Adriana had a four
year old little girl at home and, while child abuse cases weren’t easy for
anyone, Stella knew they were especially hard on the moms.

“Of course.  I’ll
send Debbie to help.  You guys take care of mama and I’ll take care of her
baby,” Stella replied. 

Adriana gave her a
quick hug.  “Thank you.” 

Stella jogged back
to the bay in time for them to wheel in the second stretcher.  She took a deep
breath and braced herself for one of the hardest aspects of her job. 

Eduardo the EMT
looked like he’d seen a ghost.  “Female.  Five years old.  Multiple contusions
and most likely a broken collarbone.  Nothing life-threatening as far as we can
tell.” 

Stella patted his
arm.  “I know.  I got her.  Thanks, Eduardo.”  She did a visual on her newest
patient as she wheeled her into a room.

The yellow stuffed
dog she was clutching nearly did Stella in. 

She forced her
face into a smile and petted the stuffed dog.  “What’s your puppy’s name?”

“Rainbow.” 

There were a few
bruises darkening on her face and her collarbone was clearly broken, but she’d
taken the majority of her beating on her little arms and legs. 

“That’s a
beautiful name,” Stella managed to eek out through her tight throat.  She
assessed the little girl’s pupils without her realizing it.  “And what’s your
name?”

“Isabella.” 

She winced when
Stella peeked through a patch of matted hair looking at a shallow, but heavily
bleeding cut.

“You have such
beautiful blonde hair,” Stella said, how trying to gauge how close her
collarbone was to poking out of her skin.  “You know, a couple months ago, I
had no hair.”  When the little girl’s eyes widened, Stella nodded.  “It all
fell out.  And I looked really funny.”

“Why did your hair
fall out?”

Stella gingerly
assessed the little girl’s bumps and bruises.  She saw one of the ER docs,
Jensen, making his way over.  “I was sick.  But I came to this hospital and
they made me all better.”  Stella stroked the little girl’s hand before turning
to grab the IV supplies.  “So you can be very sure we’re going to make you and
your Mama all better, okay, Isabella?” 

She nodded
solemnly. 

“Good,” Stella
said with a smile.

Dr. Jensen, a
ruddy-faced guy who was as round and jolly as Santa, approached the exam room. 

But before he
could say anything, the little girl whispered – to her puppy more than to them
– “My daddy did this to me.”

Stella and Doc
Jensen met eyes.  He shook his head, clearly as upset as Stella was.

He cleared his
throat and whispered to Stella, “Nothing urgent?”  At Stella’s shake of the
head, he said, “I’m gonna go order an x-ray for that collarbone.  Be right
back.”

ER doc or not,
some people didn’t have the stomach for this shit.  Not that Stella blamed them
one bit.   

Stella sat down on
the edge of the bed and gently held one of Isabella’s hands.  “Isabella, you
are so brave and so strong.  This isn’t your fault…it’s important you know
that.”

“That’s what mommy
says,” she said, again to the puppy.

“Well, she’s
right.”  Stella struggled to find the right words.  Were there really right
words?  “We are going to take such good care of you and Rainbow and your
mommy.  I promise.”

The curtain pulled
open again and Sydney, a nurse tech, popped her head in.  Her face fell when
she saw Isabella. 

“Hey, there’s a
police officer here asking for you, Stell.  You go and I’ll sit with this
little sweetie until Doc Jensen gets back.”

Nathan was doing
another pop by.  And it couldn’t be better timing for Stella because she
desperately needed a hug and maybe even a thirty second cry.

Stella found
Nickelodeon on the TV and handed Sydney the remote.  She told Isabella she’d be
right back and went to find Nathan, but bumped into Danny instead.

“Hey, did you come
in this time too?”  She looked around.  “Where’s Nathan?”

“I don’t want you
to freak, but he’s in Exam Room 6,” Danny said. 

“Why…wait…did you
guys bring the little girl and her mom in?”

Danny nodded. 
“And the fucking asshole degenerate that beat the living shit out of them.”

“Is that where the
guy is?  Exam 6?”  Stella brushed past Danny, but he gently grabbed her upper
arm and pulled her back.

“No, they’ve got
him in 11.” 

Stella didn’t
think about things long enough to put all the pieces together.  All she knew in
that moment was that the guy who’d beaten his wife and child was in Exam Room
11. 

And that’s all she
needed to know.

She yanked her arm
away from Danny and walked/jogged to 11.  She made it as far as the doorway and
saw him lying there…all 6,’ 200 lbs of women and child beating white trash. 
She was very happy to see he had a busted lip. 

“You monster!”  He
tried to focus his drunk-ass vision on Stella.  She lifted her hands.  “Come
on!  You’re so tough –“  Danny grabbed her around the waist and hauled her
backwards; Stella kicking and fussing and trying her best to break free.

Danny laughed low
in her ear.  “Don’t make me arrest you, brawler.”  When Stella got him in the
solar plexus, Danny stopped laughing.

“Stella!” 
Christopher ran over and grabbed her by the shoulders.  “Stella, stop!”  To
Danny, he said, “She does this every time there’s something like this.  Usually
we can head her off.”

“Kind of
unprofessional, huh, Stella?”  Danny said, the laugh back in his voice. 

But Stella was
beyond everything but making that dude pay for what he did.  “Let. Me. Go!”

“Stella.”  At the
sound of Nathan’s voice, Stella stilled and turned.  He was standing outside of
6. 

And he was hurt.

Danny dropped his
arms and Stella pulled away from Christopher.  She ran over to Nathan.  “What
happened?”  She gestured down to his bloody hand.  And then she visually
scanned his face and body, taking in a few minor facial abrasions and his
rumpled uniform.  “What happened?  Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“He might have a
broken hand,” Lisa, another nurse, said as she appeared from inside of 6. “I
tried to look at it, but he insisted it was nothing.”  She gave Stella a sly
smile.  “Maybe he wanted a different nurse.”

Stella dragged
Nathan into the exam room.  After a brief exam, she knew his hand wasn’t
broken, but possibly fractured.  It had to hurt while she was manipulating it,
but Nathan didn’t say a word or move a muscle. 

“We’re gonna need
an X-ray.  I don’t think it’s broken, but it might be fractured,” Stella said. 

“It’s fine.  I’ll
ice it when I get home.”  Nathan tried flexing it to prove his manliness and
the validity of his claim, but the wince that popped up didn’t help his case.

“Did you struggle
with that guy you brought in?”

“Something like
that.”  Nathan’s face was as inscrutable as ever.  “It’s nothing.  How are you
doing?”

She threw herself
against him, careful not to bump his bad hand.  “I am so glad you’re here,” she
whispered into his ear.  He wrapped his arm around her back and pulled her in
tighter. 

He kissed her
temple.  “Stay away from that guy, okay?  Let us handle it.”  When Stella
grunted, he pulled back and met her eyes.  “Promise me you’ll stay out of
trouble.”

After a ten second
pout, Stella finally exhaled a loud sigh.  “Fine.  But-“
   Nathan leveled his glare. 

“Fine!  Fine.” 
She gave him another quick hug and pulled away.  “I’ve gotta go.  I’ve gotta
get back to that little girl.” 

His expression
darkened.  “Is she going to be okay?  Nothing too serious?”

“Physically, yes. 
But I can’t imagine her life has been or will be easy.”  Stella readjusted her
stethoscope with a sigh.  “Anyway, I’m going to check on you in a little while
after the x-ray.”  She poked him in the chest.  “Be my good little patient and
be compliant, Officer Drazek.  Get the X-ray, okay?”

He nodded.  Stella
planted a kiss on his cheek and went back to check on the little girl.  When
she reentered the room, the little girl was smiling courtesy of goofy Nurse
Tech Sydney. 

“Doing okay in
here?”  Stella asked and Isabella nodded. 

“She’s doing
great.”  Sydney stood up to leave.  “I promised her extra Jell-O, pudding, and
ice cream cups, so don’t make a liar out of me, Stella.”

“No problem.  I’ll
get right on it,” Stella said.  Sydney left and Stella sat down next to
Isabella on the bed.  “So, besides Jell-O, pudding, and ice cream, is there
anything else I can get you?”

Someone else had
already started Isabella’s IV and Stella was guiltily relieved.  The last thing
she wanted to do was cause this little girl any more pain – even if it was for
her own good.

“Is the policeman okay?” 
Isabella suddenly asked Rainbow.

“Which policeman?”

“The policeman who
punched my daddy.”

Stella was taken
aback.  “Was the officer really tall with dark blonde hair and a face like
this?”  Stella arranged her features into her best Nathan imitation – all
seriousness and scowl. 

Isabella nodded, a
little smile pulling at her lips.

“That officer…he
hit your father?”

Isabella nodded
again.  “In his mouth.”

Stella was
simultaneously shocked and elated.  “I’m sure he had a reason to.  But that was
probably still scary, huh?”

Isabella shook her
head.  “The officer was big, but he wasn’t scary.  He was nice.  And daddy
deserved it.”

Hell, yeah, he
did.

A little while
later, Isabella asked how her mommy was doing and Stella went to check.  She
snuck a glance toward Nathan’s room, but it was empty.

When she turned
around, Danny was standing there.

“You are the
biggest sidler, do you know that?”  Stella said with a laugh.  “You sneak up
all stealthy.  You should be a ninja, not a cop.”
   Danny grinned.  “Maybe in my next life.  I’m just wondering how the little
girl and her mom are doing?”

“I’m about to
check on mom.  The little girl is hanging in there.  Kids are tough.  Much
tougher than we are.  It’s amazing what they can endure.” 

A weird look
passed over Danny’s face.

“Hey,” Stella said,
whispering.  “What happened with Nathan and that dirtbag?  The little girl told
me Nathan punched him?”

When Danny went
all radio silence on Stella, she almost punched
him
.  “Really?  What,
you think I’m gonna turn him in?”

Danny looked
around like the Internal Affairs was lurking just around the corner.  “Nathan
doesn’t handle these abuse cases well.  At all.”  Danny grinned.  “Kind of like
someone else I know.”

“He’s not going to
get in trouble is he?”

“Nah.  We pulled
him off the guy before he could do any real damage.”

“He was that
angry?” 

“Oh, yeah. 
Ballistic.  But we all get really grabby on these calls.  Pricks who put their
hands on women and kids have no rights as far as we’re concerned.  But don’t
repeat that, of course.”

Stella sealed her
lips.  “It’s so weird that Nathan broke the rules like that.  We both know how
fond of those he is.”

“He has his
reasons.”

Stella eyed him. 
“What does that mean?”

“Like I told you
before, that’s Drazek’s tale to tell.”  Danny looked over his shoulder again. 
He leaned in and whispered, “But can I give you some advice?”  When Stella
nodded, he said, “Don’t back off him.  Push him harder.  You’ll never get
anywhere any other way.  You get me?  He’ll fight you tooth and nail, but you
can’t let it scare you off.”

Stella scoffed. 
“I’m not that easily scared.”

Danny gave her
admiring look.  “I know.  That’s why you’re so good for him.”  He stepped back
and looked over Stella’s shoulder. 

She turned around
to find Nathan walking toward them.  He didn’t look happy. 

“Is it broken?” 
she asked.

“No.”  He leveled
a glare on Danny.  “Let’s go.”

“Is it fractured?”

“It’s fine,
Stella,” he said.  “Swollen and needs ice, like I said an hour ago.”  To Danny,
he repeated, “Let’s. Go.”

Danny winked at
her before walking away, which only made Nathan even more irritated.  Stella
was pretty sure he muttered “asshole” under his breath.

“Wanna come to my
house tonight after work?” Stella gave his badge a little adjustment.  She
smiled up at him. “I can ice your hand.”

“Not tonight,” he
said.

Stella was
stunned, although she had no idea why.  Would it be so outrageous if he
actually had some kind of life? 

“Oh…okay…did you
already have plans or…”

“I can’t tonight,
Stella.  I’m sorry.”

She waved off his
apology. “No.  No problem.  So…”  When he didn’t say anything, Stella nodded. 
“Okay, well…”

“Good-night,
Stella.  Be careful driving home tonight.”

Ow…ouch…yikes…this
was hurting.  It wasn’t what he was saying, it was how he was saying it.  Such
an ugly, detached tone.