Page 12 of Mending Fate
The older one glanced up. “Do you have contact information for her legal guardian?”
“I do.” I reached for my bag. “I have her case worker’s number too. Should I call them both?”
With something to focus on, I was able to give the paramedics as much information as I had, and by the time I finished, I was in the ambulance with them and on the way to the hospital. After confirming that it’d be okay to make a couple calls, I reached out to Brie first. She didn’t answer.
“Hey, Brie, it’s Lumen. I’m with Soleil on my way to the hospital. She showed up at my place beaten up pretty badly. I’ll call Josalyn too. I’ll stay at the hospital until you get there.” I double-checked the hospital name and gave that as well before hanging up. I then tapped Josalyn’s name. She answered on the second ring, and I repeated pretty much everything I’d just said. After muttering a few choice expletives, she said she’d meet me there.
With that done, I put my phone away and focused on holding Soleil’s hand and telling her that she was going to be okay.
I hoped that, at some point, I’d start to believe it too.
* * *
Six.Seven. Eight.
Turn.
One. Two. Three…
I counted each step with deliberation, as if focusing on a number, a place to turn and start walking again, would keep me from wondering and worrying about what was happening in the back.
Because I’d come in with her and was able to answer a few questions, I’d gotten more information than I probably would’ve if I’d come in separately, but I knew they would probably give me the ‘sorry, you’re not family’ line from here on out. I understood it, and I agreed with needing laws to protect patients’ privacy. It just made situations like this, where family didn’t necessarily meanfamily, more difficult.
“Lumen, thank you for staying.”
I turned to see Josalyn hurrying toward me, heels clicking on the linoleum. “They took her straight back, and I haven’t heard anything since.”
“Did she say what happened?”
I shook my head, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. “She said my name when I first saw her, but after that, not a word.” I shivered, suddenly all too aware that my clothes were wet and clammy. “It looked really bad. Blood everywhere. Clothes torn. She looks like someone beat the shit out of her.”
Josalyn’s mouth flattened into a line. “Fuck.”
“That pretty much sums it up, yeah,” I said dryly.
She didn’t say anything for a minute, those intelligent eyes studying me. Then, finally, “Do you want to wait with me until we find out what’s what?”
I rolled my neck, hoping to relieve a bit of the tension. “I told her I wouldn’t leave her.”
“Excuse me.” A tired-looking woman in green scrubs came into the waiting room. “You’re the one who came in with the girl a while ago, right? Are you family?”
“She doesn’t have family,” Josalyn said. “Soleil Artz is a ward of the state. I’m her caseworker, Josalyn Brodie. This is Lumen Browne, the young lady who found Soleil.”
“Are there foster parents?”
“A foster mom,” Josalyn said. “We’re still trying to get ahold of her. For now, you can speak to me.” The doctor glanced at me. “It’s all right. She can hear it too.”
The doctor nodded and then gestured at the chairs. “We should sit.”
My stomach fell. Shit. The doctor’s face was expressionless as the three of us sat down, and that scared me. The worse things were, the more people tried to pretend they weren’t reacting at all.
“Miss Artz has multiple lacerations and contusions,” the doctor began, “all consistent with being beaten, most likely with fists. A few of the injuries could have been caused by a leather strap, possibly a belt.”
My nails dug into my palms.
“Four of her ribs are broken. The zygomatic bone on the left side is cracked in two places.” The doctor touched the side of her face to show us what she meant. “Two of her fingers are fractured. Her wrists and ankles are rubbed almost completely raw, as if she’d been bound.”
My stomach lurched, and I pressed my lips together. I didn’t want to hear the rest, but I had to. If I was going to help Soleil through this, I had to know it all.