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TW: MENTION OF RAPE AND ABUSE

One

When Luke was told his new patient was raped, he expected to see someone in their teens or twenties, but walking in and seeing a seven year old sobbing from a crowd of nurses and a doctor who couldn't care less about the child broke his heart. Instantly, he stepped in and took control over the situation with his friend, Michael.

"Back off, give her room," he demanded.

"Hemmings, this isn't your patient," Dr. Thomas scoffed.

"She is now, you're out of control," Luke took the chart from him. "I was the one paged, you just showed up," Dr. Thomas stormed off as Michael paged Ashton to come help and calm her down while Luke read through the chart, then handed it to Michael to read.

"Hi princess, I'm Dr. Hemmings, but you can call me Luke. What's your name?" Luke asked the little girl.

"Kemper," she barely got out.

"Oh that's a beautiful name," Luke complimented her. "This is my friend Dr. Clifford, but he just goes by Michael," Luke gestured to Michael, who stood there with a smile, but deep down felt pain from looking at Kemper. She had a black eye, her shirt was bled through from a cut, she had more bruises down her arm, and she looked like she was in so much pain and so confused.

"Kemper, we're not going to do anything yet, we're waiting for someone who can help you through this," Michael told her. "His name is Ashton, and you can hold his hand or talk to him while we get you all set up, ok?"

"Why is she still doing something?" Kemper looked over at the nurse who was messing with her arm.

"She's giving you an IV, it's going to help you hydrate and relax while we check out what's wrong," Luke explained to her. Ashton quickly entered the room, taken aback when he saw a child laying in bed in pain. Again, he expected someone older.

"Hi sweetheart, I'm Ashton," Ashton introduced himself, "What's your name?"

"Kemper,"

"Wow, you have such a cool name," Ashton complimented. "Kemper, would you rather me pull up a chair and sit next to you, or sit on the bed with you?"

"On the bed," Kemper replied. Ashton obeyed, going to the opposite side of where there was bleeding. He sat next to her and Luke put on a pair of gloves along with Michael.

"Kemper, we're going to lift your shirt up to check out the cut, ok?" Luke told her and Kemper nodded. Slowly, Luke lifted the shirt to observe the cut that was a lot deeper, meaning she would need stitches.

"How did you get that cut, darling?" Ashton asked as Kemper held his hand tightly. Kemper didn't reply, observing Luke look at the cut and telling Michael to get supplies for stitches.

"It was from a knife," Kemper told them quietly.

"Did someone cut you with it?" Ashton asked and Kemper nodded.

"Glenn did,"

"Who's Glenn?"

"My foster dad," Kemper looked over at Ashton. "He's gonna come here and do it again,"

"No," Ashton firmly told her as he rubbed his thumb over his hand. "He won't baby, I promise,"

"He'll find a way," Kemper whispered.

"We won't let anyone who shouldn't come in here through that door," Luke promised her. "Kemper, do you have pain anywhere else,"

"Right here," Kemper pointed to her lower abdomen.

"Can I take a look?" Luke asked and Kemper nodded.

"It was bleeding really badly in the amulence," Kemper told the two, making them chuckle.

"You mean ambulance?" Ashton questioned.

"Is that the truck with the flashing lights and hospital stuff?"

"It is,"

"Then yes, I mean that," Kemper nodded. Ashton smiled at her as Luke gently pulled down her shorts to take a look at all the bruising and dried up blood around the area. Ashton could tell Kemper was uncomfortable, so he did his best to get her mind off of it.

"Do you have a favorite food, Kemper?"

"Ice cream," she said. He continued to ask questions as Michael came back, but before he could give her stitches, was asked to take a look at what Luke was looking at.

"I think we should call Sierra," Michael told him. "She will probably have a better idea than what we do," Michael told him. So as Michael began stitching the cut, Luke took a minute to relax but also find out what happened once Michael was done.

"Is it going to hurt?" Kemper asked as Michael numbed the area.

"Not right now, you're not going to feel a thing. And if you do, stop me so we can fix that," Michael explained. Kemper nodded as Michael began to stitch and Kemper watched, leaning against Ashton who whispered encouraging words to her as she panicked through the whole thing. "You are so brave, Kemper," Michael complimented once he was done. Kemper giggled happily as she looked at Ashton, who was grinning ear to ear.

"That didn't even hurt,"

"Not even putting the numbing cream on it?" Luke asked, kind of surprised that she didn't even flinch with that. The cut was deep, he thought she would be crying.

"A little but not bad," Kemper told him.

"Kemper, can you tell us what happened?" Luke asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed.