Charity Case (Scarlett Johansson)

14

{Unedited}

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No One's POV

"Alright, I'm going to have to pull out the little shards of glass from your palm with tweezers Kenz," Lizzie softly informs the teenager getting a hold of her hand. Kenz nods staring blankly at the fireplace in front of them while Scarlett softly dabs a warm cloth on her face.

"Tell me if it hurts too much, okay?" Lizzie grabs a hold of one of her hands. "I've been through worse, I think I'll be okay," Kenz's voice turns monotone, and Lizzie shoots a glance at Scarlett who does the same. 

McKenna went from spilling her feelings to her numb state making everyone in the room worry. No one has voiced out their concerns but it's obvious what they were all thinking. They all would rather have the teenager angry or sobbing because that would mean she's letting herself feel. Being numb to the situation tells them that she's shut down and everyone knows how dangerous that could be in the long run.  

Robert and Chris managed to clean the living room in a short amount of time, wanting to get rid of all the aftermath from the abuse. Lizzie had briefly informed the two men in a hushed tone what had gone down when she went to grab the first aid kit. Both men's blood boiled and they only hoped that they had made it over to Scarlett's place before Colin had left to give the poor excuse of a man a piece of their mind. It boggles their mind how someone can do something awful to a human being, let alone a child, but they were angrier than anything and they're trying their best to stay put; not drive over to wherever Colin may be to make him feel a punch or two on his face, maybe even a few kicks to his ribs. 

Scarlett continues to clean McKenna's face as softly and painlessly as possible. She anticipates for McKenna to flinch every time she goes over any open gashes but to no avail. Scarlett had read through McKenna's file that the adoption home had given her and it never said anything about McKenna being hurt which only makes Scarlett angry. She had kept up with McKenna's life and had always been updated every time she was put in a new home or returned to the adoption home. McKenna's social worker had always given Scarlett a logical reason therefore the blonde was never worried about her daughter's wellbeing. The workers had always told Scarlett how happy McKenna was and they would send her pictures in the mail to support their claims, but only now is Scarlett finding out how fabricated that was. 

If Scarlett had known what was truly happening, she would have pulled McKenna from that god-forsaken place sooner rather than later. McKenna had only briefly mentioned being abused growing up, never going into details, and as much as Scarlett would like to ask for the specifics, she knew that McKenna will tell when she's ready or if she's ever ready. 

Lizzie applies some ointment to the now cleaned hand and moves to McKenna's other hand, carefully cleaning the long gash on her palm before going back to pulling the shards of glass that stuck. Lizzie had only known McKenna for a short amount of time but she had grown to deeply love and truly care for the young one. Technically speaking, Lizzie isn't actually McKenna's aunt but no one cares for technicalities. Blood might be thicker than water but love is thicker than anything. The love Lizzie has for McKenna is something no technical title could ever wash away, she sees the teenager as her own, and the blonde vows to continue to treat her as such. Seeing McKenna in this state hurts Lizzie just as much as it hurts Scarlett and she promises to protect McKenna to the best of her abilities. 

Lizzie applies a generous amount of ointment to the open wound on McKenna's palm before placing a clean dressing over the entire wound, then she carefully but efficiently wraps the hand with a roller gauze. 

"Your hands are now clean, Kenz. We have to make sure to clean and change your bandage on that left hand of yours periodically. It's a pretty long open wound but it's not too deep to ask for stitches. I've also dabbed a little bit of ointment on the smaller ones to prevent infections," Lizzie says softly glancing at Kenz while she puts away the items she was using. 

"They'll leave scars on my palm, will they?" McKenna looks down at her open palm analyzing the tiny scars. "The long gash most definitely will turn into a scar and as well as some of the little ones, but not all," Lizzie informs her and McKenna only nods in understanding. 

"Mama, are you done with my face?" McKenna meets Scarlett's gaze who nods in return. "You're face is all done, love. There's a lot of bruising but those will fade over time. You have a couple of scratches on your cheek but that should heal soon and it shouldn't leave a scar."

McKenna looks forward again and nods. No one says anything for a few beats until Scarlett talks again, "take some painkillers if you find anything hurting too much or if you feel sore. If that doesn't help then please let us know and we'll take you to the doctors to get checked up okay honey?" 

McKenna nods and clears her throat slightly, "Can I take one now? I'm feeling a little sore." 

"Of course," Scarlett says and was about to get up to fetch some Advil with a glass of water but Robert beats her to it. "Here you go," Robert hands a glass of water and places an Advil on McKenna's open palm. Kenz whispers a small thanks before swallowing the pill down with water.  

McKenna looks up at her mom with her tired eyes, "can I go upstairs? I would like to get changed and rest in bed." 

"You don't have to ask, honey. Come on," Scarlett gets up and moves the items on her lap to the couch. McKenna gets up and turns to Lizzie placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, "thank you, for everything." 

Lizzie places her hand over McKenna's that's resting on her shoulder and gives the teenager a small smile, "you don't ever have to thank me for that, bubba." McKenna gives her aunt a tight-lipped smile before turning around and walking up the stairs with her mom by her side. 

The people left in the living room doesn't dare to move or say anything, all in their little world trying to wrap their head around the situation. 

Robert wracks his brains for the best lawyers that he knows and makes mental note to contact them as soon as possible. He wants everyone who has ever laid a hand on McKenna and everyone who has enabled those abusers to pay and suffer for as long as they can. Money to pay the best lawyer they can get is not an issue for him and he knows that everyone else would pitch in if it was really necessary. 

On the other side of the room, Chris was resting his back on the kitchen island with his arms crossed and his jaw clenched. He was trying his hardest to not drive to wherever Colin was and break his face to the ground. The anger he has for the SNL worker was through the roof and everyone would've been impressed at his self-control if they weren't so consumed by their own thoughts. 

Lizzie who stayed seated on the coach couldn't help but blame herself for what happened today. She curses herself for not listening to her gut and investigating more into the situation when she walked in on Colin gripping McKenna's arm several weeks ago. She tries to convince herself that if she would have done something then or told Scarlett about what she walked in on then maybe it wouldn't have led to this. 

Meanwhile upstairs, McKenna asks Scarlett's help in changing into new clothes. McKenna opted with not voicing out the true extent of the pain she was feeling, not wanting to worry anyone any more than they already were. But Scarlett was already worried seeing McKenna struggle to even lift her arm a few inches high. Not wanting McKenna to shut her out, she doesn't voice out her concerns and trusts her daughter to come to her if the pain becomes unbearable. 

After struggling for twenty minutes, McKenna was finally in her comfy clothes with the help of her mom. McKenna sees tears pool in Scarlett's eyes when the bruises that littered around her body were out on display and she was very thankful that her mom doesn't make a single comment on it. Scarlett helps McKenna get under the covers and kisses her forehead softly, the blonde turns to leave but was stopped with a weak grip around her wrist. 

"Stay? Please?" McKenna whispers looking up at Scarlett who gives her a loving smile. The older woman doesn't say anything but gets under the covers on the other side of the bed and moves over to her daughter carefully wrapping an arm around the teenager's waist from behind. Scarlett slightly tightens her arm protectively around her daughter and relaxes once she feels McKenna relax. The blonde kisses the back of McKenna's head and whispers, "sleep, my love."

I'm going to kill Colin, was Scarlett's last thought before allowing slumber consume her. 

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A/N: What are your thoughts, friends? 

What would you like to see in the future?