Chapter 41 - Kayla
Trey, Cat, and Valerie headed to the hospital in Trey's truck. Cat sat in the middle with both of them holding her hands. She was worried that seeing these children in awful shape may break her, and she would be useless in helping them. What if she made it worse?
"Valerie, what if I go in there and freak out? I may make it worse for the children I'm supposed to be helping." Cat squeezed Valerie's hand as she looked out the window, not seeing anything.
"I have faith in you, and I know you're strong enough to do this. Don't underestimate yourself." She looked over at Valerie, who was giving her a sympathetic smile.
"Alright, I won't let you down." Cat took some deep breaths to calm herself and leaned over to put her head on Trey's shoulder. Touching him as much as possible was comforting to her. Atlas purred, trying to do his part to help their mate.
Trey looked down at Cat leaning on him and frowned. The last thing he wanted was to cause her any more hurt. He knew how much these kids needed someone like Cat to relate to, but at what expense to her?
When they pulled up to the hospital, Cat felt a little nostalgic and not in a good way. It wasn't long ago that she was brought here in a similar condition as these children. They walked into the ED, and of course, the first person they see is Millie.
"What are you doing here? I thought you didn't work here anymore." Cat glared at Millie; she'd never cared for her.
"I don't, but I'm here to help the police with the children that were brought in. Can you tell us where they are?" Cat ignored the fact that Mille was getting redder and redder in the face with anger. She didn't know why she was so mad, nor did she care.
"You have no business here. You're not a police officer. The three of you need to leave before I call the police because you're trespassing." Millie sneered at them.
Trey was done with this stupid woman's attitude. He hadn't forgotten how she had been with him when Cat was near death.
"Listen, here I am, the police. If you don't take us to the children right now, I'll arrest you for impeding a police investigation. Now, do you want to show us, or do you want me to call a patrol car?" Any other time Cat would have laughed at how white Millie's face got once, she heard what Trey said, but now she had work to do.
"I suggest you do as my boyfriend says before you get to spend the night in jail. Everyone already knows you're a bitch. You don't have to rub it in our faces." Cat glared at her again, waiting for her decision.
Millie looked like she wanted to say something else but didn't. Instead, she turned on her heel and started walking down the hall. While the trio followed her, Trey and Valerie looked at Cat in shock. Neither of them would have thought such vicious words would come out of sweet little Cat. She noticed them staring at her, and she blushed.
"When I worked here, I never minced my words. They know I speak my mind when I have something to say, so why stop now?" Trey put his arm around her shoulders while thinking his mate sure had a fiery side to her.
When they got to one of the back halls of the ED, Millie didn't say anything as she pointed down the hall before walking back to the front. Cat looked for a nurse and felt a wave of relief wash over her when she saw Diane.
"What are you doing here?" It surprised Diane to see Cat, but she was pleased. She'd thought about her a lot and hoped she was doing okay.
"I could ask you the same thing. Why aren't you in the ICU?" Cat gave Diane a small smile.
"We have a bunch of children who just came in who were abused, and they wanted all hands on deck. There's supposed to be some people coming to talk to them." Cat smiled at Diane and winked.
"We are those people. You already know Trey. This is Valerie; she's a child therapist, and I've been where these children have been." Diane's eyes widened in surprise before she nodded her understanding.
"There's a girl I think you may be best for. We believe she's around ten years old, but she hasn't spoken yet. She doesn't want anyone to touch her, so we haven't been able to examine her. Can I show you to her room?" Diane didn't know where Cat found the strength to help others after all she'd been through, but she was glad she was there.
"Yes, please." The three followed her to the girl's room. Cat turned to look at Valerie and Trey.
"I think I should go in alone. I know from experience that too many people will make her shut down even more. Valerie, I know you have other kids to talk to, but Trey, can you wait out here for me?" Cat took his hand in hers, seeing he didn't want to let her go in alone. She knew the girl most likely wouldn't say anything if a man was in the room.
"Okay, I'll wait here. If you need me, let me know, okay?" Trey leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"I will. Thank you for believing in me." Cat gave him one last smile and then walked into the room.
When she got inside, the room only had one dim light on. There was a single bed with a chair next to it. Cat looked at the girl on the bed who was curled up in a ball with her back toward the door. She could see she had short blonde hair, and if they thought she was around ten, she looked small for her age.
Cat walked over to the chair and pulled it over to the other side of the bed. The girl was looking out the window, and Cat held back her gasp when she saw her face. She could tell she was pretty, with a little upturned nose. Most of her face was covered in various shades of bruising.
From what Cat could see, bruises also covered her arms. The girl had light blue eyes that seemed to be staring far away with a look of despair. Cat held back her tears, seeing her in this condition.
She reminded Cat of herself when she was that age. The girl had not acknowledged her, so Cat started talking after she sat down.
"Hello, my name is Cat. I'm here to talk to you. Whatever you tell me will stay between you and me unless you allow me to tell someone else. When I was little, I had terrible things happen to me too. Probably some of the same things that happened to you. I know what it feels like to have a bunch of people trying to touch you when they don't understand how much it hurts. I know how upsetting it is when others ask you questions about things you can't explain. Most people don't realize that people like you and me haven't had anyone treat us kindly for so long that we forget what it's like to have anyone care. I can tell you there are people that care. I care about you, and I want to help you."
Cat stopped talking when she saw the girl blinking rapidly, trying to stop her tears that had started falling. She knew for her to be crying, she was getting through to her.
"When you're ready to talk, I'll be here. I'm not going to force you to say or do anything, and I'm not going to touch you. You're safe now, and if you let me, I can help you. I know everyone has been treating you like a victim, but I won't treat you like that. I don't see a victim; I see a survivor. I'm not going to pretend to know everything you went through, but I know to live through it makes you strong. When you're ready to talk, I'd like to know your name so I know what to call you. I'm not going to say anymore, but I'm also not leaving."
Cat stopped and waited. She would stay there as long as she needed. If she had to sit there all night, she would. She watched the girl's face and saw tears running from her pain-filled eyes.
After about half an hour had passed of them both being silent, Cat saw her tears had stopped. She seemed to relax a little and stole glances at Cat. She didn't say anything, but she didn't seem scared either.
Cat watched as she rolled over onto her back and stared into Cat's eyes. She immediately recognized what she was doing; Cat did the same thing with people she met. The girl was trying to see if she could trust her. She knew that the eyes held the truth.
The girl sat up in the bed and continued looking at her. She then took a deep breath and peered out the window. Cat could tell she was trying to decide something, and when she had made up her mind, she looked back toward her.
"My name is Kayla."
