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“All right,” Sarah said, nodding her head. “Can you open my lollipop for me?”

“Of course.”

Just as Tessa opened the lollipop, the curtain was drawn back once again. This time, it was Sarah’s mother.

“Sorry for the wait, doc,” she said in a half-hearted apology. “So, what I miss? What’s wrong with her?”

I glanced at Tessa. “Thank you, Tessa. Can you give us a moment?”

“Sure thing, Dr. Sholly,” she said, and then made her exit.

CHAPTER 7

Tessa

“Yes, she’s seven-years-old and has suspicious markings on her wrist,” I said over the phone. “And she seemed a little bit uncomfortable with her mother. She was just here a couple hours ago. She was suffering from a viral infection and fever.”

“Thank you so much for filing the report, Ms. Kennery. We will be investigating the case shortly.”

“Okay. Thank you.” With a heavy sigh, I ended the call just as Molly entered our break room, carrying her lunch with her and looking like she wanted nothing more than for the day to end.

“How’s it going, Molly?” I asked.

“I was about to say it’s going too busy, you look even more worn out than me. What’s wrong now, doll?”

I crossed the room and sat beside her at the table. “I just had to report a case of possible child abuse. I was just on the phone with Child Protective Services.”

“Oh no. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. This sweet little seven-year-old girl has scarring on her wrists. I just saw her this morning. I was assigned to help Dr. Sholly again, and he was examining her. She was brought in for her fever.”

“It’s always hard when you see kids getting hurt. Any idea who’s abusing her?”

“Not really, although she did seem a little uncomfortable with her mom. Her mom wasn’t even in the room with most of the time though.”

“Where was she?”

“I’m not sure. I didn’t get a chance to ask. She eventually returned and Dr. Sholly sent me out.”

“Well, rest assured you did the right thing.”

“I know. The important thing is making sure she’s going to be okay.”

“Exactly.”

“Guess I may as well take my lunch too. Be right back, Molly.” I stood up and headed to the refrigerator to get my lunch.

“So—you were assigned to Evan again today, eh?” Molly called out to me in a teasing voice.

I tried unsuccessfully to suppress a smirk as I made my way back over to the table with my lunch. “So.”

Molly laughed. “So did the two of you behave today?”

“We had no choice. The little girl was there.”

“Oh sure. Blame it on her.”

“You saw how he treated me yesterday. What else do you think contributed to his sudden ability to be cordial?”