B E T T Y | Grey's Anatomy

9

Themes of child abuse. Sorry. I'll write a happy book one day.

The air hangs heavy between the two women at Betty's sudden admission. For once, Betty feels able to steel herself and look Amelia directly in the eyes.

"Look, it's really not that bad."

Betty's calmness jolts Amelia back to the present. A million scenarios, past and future, run through her mind, yet as a doctor she is able to compartmentalise and save her worrying for later. What Betty needs now is a stable adult in her life, and it seems like Amelia Shepherd is going to have to pull it together long enough to be that for the child. 

"I need to be the judge of that."

"You really don't." Betty scoffs. 

"You've been in pain for weeks. All from this?" Amelia kicks herself for not recognising the signs. The jitteriness, long sleeves, insistence on keeping Amelia 2 metres away from her at all times. "Why didn't you say something?"

"Because...... " Betty searches for her words. "You've got your own shit..... you don't need mine too."

Amelia feels the sick need to laugh. She simply can't believe what's being told to her. 

"How many times has he spanked you?"

Betty loses her confidence under Amelia's raised eyebrows and the eye contact falters. These 3 minutes may very well be their record though. "I don't know.... 6?"

Amelia feels sick. Her stomach literally lurches and she has to take some extremely deep breaths to stop her body from exploding. "You're 17." Amelia sighs lowly. "That's not okay. It's not okay at any age.... Betty, this is abuse."

"No!" Squeals Betty. "You do not get to tell me my Dad is abusive! It's...it's... just the way we do things."

Amelia has to take a minute. Possibly more like 20, making sure she stacks the dishwasher extra loudly to mask her hitched breathing and occasionally whispered swear words. It's very possible some of her bowls and plates are scratched with the vigour she piles that dishwasher. Eventually, the doctor runs out of dirty crockery to abuse and she has to face the teenager who is scrolling through TikTok on her couch. She figures though, she can take a few more moments to just lean against the door frame, hands buried in the sleeves of her burnt orange cardigan while wrapped around one of her infamous cups of caffeine-free tea, wondering if this will be the last moment of calm in her household for a while. The way Betty is sat breaks her heart into fragments of anger, betrayal, sadness and overwhelm. Betty shield's herself with the arm of the couch, perched on an angle to avoid pressure on the injury that Amelia still hasn't sussed out. In retrospect, Amelia wonders if it was smart to halt their raw conversation and hide in her kitchen. The teen has recovered from the emotion of the original admission, and seems to think Amelia leaving the room means she's forgotten, or is choosing to ignore what's she's said. Betty has changed, but Amelia still thinks that her reaction under the threat of candid honesty will be the same as it always used to be. 

The teen has three coping strategies that Amelia knows of. 

Shout.

 Shout so damn loud that the painful words are drowned out, even the beating of your heart is silenced in surrender to your lungs. 

Run.

 Amelia hopes she doesn't choose that option, given the track honours Betty holds, yet the Childs injuries may mean Amelia may have the upper hand on that element. And finally, and possibly most likely. 

Dissociate. 

Betty seems to have the skill of literally turning off her brain. Pulling the metaphorical rip chord as it were. She becomes so unreachable inside her head and it can be impossible to pull her out of whatever serene nothingness she's travelled to. Amelia wonders whether it's cruel to even try.