Voight and the Intelligence Unit are working to bust a major drug ring. Nothing new, they've seen this all before. Only this time they discover that 14 year old Cordelia is stuck in a life she didn't choose. Abused and neglected by her drug addicted...
Throughout the rest of the week Cordelia and I looked for therapists she might work well with. This turned out to be quite a struggle though because when it came to meeting new people Cordelia was incredibly terrified. She barely spoke and seemed even smaller than she normally did.
I know this is an important step, but I'm not sure she's ready just yet. She hardly opens up to me so why would she open up to someone she doesn't even know. I'm afraid it will only set her back more if I keep trying to push her into this so soon.
Another thing that's been weighing on my mind is school. I don't want to send her off every day, but she can't just sit in the district for the rest of her life. I decided I would talk to Kim about it when I get back to work as she's had to figure out school for her daughter Makayla. I don't want to bring it up to Delia yet because I'm afraid it'll scare her.
When we got to the district this morning I had Kevin show Cordelia around all the interrogation rooms and our different equipment rooms and things so I had a chance to talk to Kim.
"So was Makayla already in school when you adopted her?" I asked.
"Yeah, her previous foster mother had her enrolled, so it made things a little easier on me." She said with a chuckle.
"Why what's up?"
"Cordelia should be in school still shouldn't she? I love having her here with me I just know she can't come sit here everyday, right? She needs to be learning, and I'm probably the farthest from qualified to teach her everything she's gonna need." I said.
"Yeah I guess you're right." Kim said with a smile.
"How old is she again? She's probably going to be at the school Makayla will be at after this one." Kim said turning her computer on and waving me over.
"She's 14, I think that's middle school still right?" I asked.
"Yep I'd say she's about 7th or 8th grade depending on where she was last." Kim says pulling up a list of schools.
"Look Carter is only 8 minutes from here, that's where Makayla will go when she's old enough." She says pointing to the screen.
"Oh that's perfect, I think I could handle it if she were only 8 minutes away." I say.
"Have you talked to her about this?" Kim asks me.
"No." I say sighing as I sit down.
"I was afraid it would upset her too much so I wanted to have a plan ready. She seems to do better when she has all the information up front. I also didn't want her to think I don't want her around because that's not the case. I just know she needs to be in school and learning with kids her age not sitting here all day." I say.
"You're sending me away?" I hear behind me and I whip my head around to see Cordelia with tears in her eyes.
"Delia, I didn't know you were standing there." I said in complete shock.
"So you are?" She says before she turns around and takes off down the stairs.
"Cordelia! Sweetie no! Wait!" I call after her, but she's already down the stairs.
"Shit." I say to myself.
By the time I get downstairs she's already out the door.
Of course Trudy wasn't here today or she would've stopped her.
I ran up to the desk and tried to see if the cover officer saw where she went, but he was no help.
"Did she leave the building?!" Kim asks running up behind me.
"She had to have." I say taking off towards outside.
"Hailey wait! I'll drive, we'll have a better chance of catching up to her yeah?" Kim says grabbing ahold of my arm.
I nod and walk towards the jeep she was assigned today. I'm sure everyone must think I'm such a great mother after how many times they've watched me totally screw up so far.
"We're gonna find her Hailey. Everything will be okay." Kim says rubbing my arm.
I can't help the sinking feeling in my stomach though. That sweet little girl out here on her own again. Even if only for a few minutes until we find her. The thought absolutely breaks my heart and I feel tears running down my face.
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"Do you know of anywhere she might go?" Kim asks pulling me out of my head.
"No, no I have no...yes I do." I say when I remember the park Cordelia had shown me.
"Make a right up here, go to the park on Wells." I say and Kim gives me a confused look.
"It's something she's talked to me about that has to be where she went." I say as we turn the corner.
When we pulled up my eyes immediately found her on the swings. I almost didn't even have to try and look for her, it was like I just knew where she would be.
I stepped out of the car and slowly made my way over to her doing my best to keep her from taking off again.
"Thought we'd find you here." I said sitting on the swing next to her.
"You remembered." Cordelia said quietly.
"Of course I did. I want to remember and learn every little thing about you because you mean the world to me Delia." I say as I brush her hair out of her face.
She looked up at me with big teary eyes and pulled me into a hug.
"I love you Cordelia. So much. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to you. You can't just take off when you feel scared or upset anymore. We have to be able to work through these things in some way okay? And that's something we can figure out together yeah? You aren't alone anymore sweet girl." I say before I kiss the top of her head.
"I love you too Hailey. I'm really sorry. I promise I'll start working on it." Cordelia says and I pull her back into a hug.
We sat for a minute in silence as we swung back and forth before Cordelia spoke up again.
"So you're not sending me away?" She asked looking over at me with a smile.
"Of course not silly. I would never do that. Kim and I were just talking about getting you back into school. You need some sort of education, and all I can give you is how to track down and bust drug rings, or how to make arrests, and that's not gonna help you pass algebra so it's probably best you're with an actual teacher." I say and we both laugh.
"Okay." Cordelia says as she holds my gaze.
"Okay?" I ask her.
"Yeah, I'm okay with that." She says smiling and I can't stop the massive grin that spreads across my face.
"Come on, we should probably go back to the car before we freeze to these swings." I say as I stand up.
"Pretty sure that's not how it works." Cordelia says with a chuckle.
"Oh really?" I say putting my arm around her as we walk back towards the jeep.
