Butterfly Effect

2: You promised

Carina's Pov

Vic told me on the phone that Maya was going to be late, and that was odd. Maya was never late. Our jobs were extremely unpredictable, so I didn't think much about it, but instead of walking home, I decided to surprise her at the station.
While I was walking there, I started to play with my necklace. It was simple, a golden string with a little "B" on it. It was the most important thing that I had...
Ten minutes later I was entering from the familiar front door of the place that has become my second home in all these years, saying hello to Vic and opening my wife's office, finding it empty. Why was it empty?
"Vic, where's Maya?" I asked my friend who looked at me with her usual contagious smile.
"She's in her bunk with the kid" she answered casually, and I was confused by that statement. Kid? What kid?
"What kid?" my voice showed the confusion that I was feeling inside.
"A girl came here hurt and looking for help. Your wife became her comfort person... You know what that means..." Vic explained and I made my way into her office.
I knocked lightly on her bunk's door, opening it after a few seconds of silence. The scene that I witnessed inside was heartwarming...
Maya was sitting on her single bed, asleep with her back against the wall, while a teenage girl's head was on her lap. She was also asleep. Maya's hand was protectively on her back and the girl was relaxed in my wife's embrace, snoring lightly.
That was my dream. Having a family with my wife, coming home every day to scenes like this one. But we were currently at our seventh try of IVF with no luck, and I was not going to lie, but I was slowly losing hope.
Maybe me not being pregnant was a punishment for my actions, for how selfish I had been when I was younger...
Trying to snap out of my head, I looked at Maya and I gave her a kiss on the forehead, watching her wake up slowly.
"Carina? What are you doing here?" she mumbled still half-asleep.
"I came here to surprise you because I didn't want to go home alone... But who is this girl?" I asked, watching her move a lock of hair from the girl's face. I had seen my wife this sweet only a few other times before. It was mesmerizing.
"She's a sexual assault survivor, or at least that's what I think... She came here looking for help and saying that she didn't do anything and that he did it... She also begged me not to let her go back to her foster father" my wife said sadly and I looked at the girl. She seemed so little next to Maya... She was skinny, with beautiful tanned skin, now full of bruises, and chocolate hair.
"Maya..." she mumbled, starting to wake up "Are you really still here? You didn't leave".
"No Hailee, I'm here, I'm not leaving" she whispered back.
Seeing her act like this gave me a crazy idea that was going to change everything. Maybe I didn't get pregnant because fate wanted me and Maya to help this girl, maybe that was what I was supposed to do to be forgiven...
"Hailee, I asked someone to help me..." she said looking at me, expecting me to play along with her story. Of course I would do that for her.
The girl froze for a moment, still curled up against Maya. She was scared of everyone except Maya, and that was incredible to see.
"Do you remember my wife Carina? I talked about her..." she asked and the girl nodded slightly, turning her head toward me.
She was so beautiful, with wavy brown hair, full lips and rosy cheeks full of freckles. But the most memorable thing about her was her gaze. One eye, the left one, was hazel with drizzles of honey in it, the other one was light blue like the Mediterranean sea.
The air got caught in my throat. I had already seen something like that before... Unconsciously, I started to play with my necklace while Maya was looking at me confused by my reaction.
"Don't touch me" she said and I snapped out of my trance.
"I promise you that I won't. I know exactly how it is when people touch you, it's like your skin is burning and all you want to do is to crawl into a hole and never come out again... So I won't touch you, but I want to help you" I said quietly, seeing the realization in her eyes.
"It's her" she exclaimed to Maya "The person you were talking about before. The one that went through the same hell as me. it's her, right?".
"Yes, it's her. And believe me when I say this, you can trust her like you trust me" Maya answered, sending a small smile to me.
"What- what do you have to do now?" Hailee asked us with panic in her fragile voice.
"We're gonna call social services and explain to them what had happened, then you are gonna come home with us. If you want..." I said and Maya looked at me like I was crazy.
"I can't ask you to do that... No one wants me, you don't have to pretend for my sake. I'll be fine on my own" she said and something inside of me started to make me feel like a jerk. It was the exact same feeling that haunted me for sixteen years.
I looked at Maya, begging her with my eyes to be on the same page with me.
"You are not asking Hailee, we are offering" Maya said, taking her hand in her own. "If you don't want to stay with us it's okay, but we want you to be safe".
"I want to be safe..." she whispered and I knew that this moment would change our lives completely. I went out of the room and I called child protective services, explaining quickly the situation. After twenty minutes, a woman with a serious look on her face passed through the door, entering the station.
"Hi, I'm Elizabeth Sanderson from CPS. I was called for a girl that had run away from her foster father" she said firmly.
"Hello, I'm doctor Deluca and I was the one who called you for Hailee... She was raped" I said back to her, noticing how she didn't care about what I had just said.
"There is a rape kit to confirm her story?" she asked and looked at me like I was an idiot.
"No, she didn't want to do one. She wasn't comfortable with the idea" I explained, hearing a scoff in return.
"With no proof I have to take her back to her foster home" she responded and I felt the rage boil in my veins. Was the system really this broken?
"She was raped and you don't care? You are willingly letting her go back to a place where she would be in danger!" I almost yelled, shocked by the situation. It was unbelievable...
"There is no proof, Miss Deluca".
"It's doctor Deluca. I'm the head of the ob/gyn department at Grey Sloan memorial hospital" she was unimpressed by my title.
"Well, doctor, then you should know how important that kit is for us. And before you start screaming, remember that I'm just doing my job... Maybe you should have done yours".
Saying that I was pissed wasn't enough, I was fuming. It was because of people like that, that victims stayed silent.
It was hard enough to talk about it when you trust who you are talking to, but when you are forced to talk, it seems like you are just an animal in a cage with everyone looking at you.
"I'm sorry, but violating a traumatized girl without her consent is not doing my job! I will not put her under more stress just because you think that's what is right to do. Trust me, it's not what they teach in med school! they teach you to respect who's in front of you, whatever they decide to do" I started to yell, conscious of the fact that this woman didn't know how powerless you feel when they touch you without your consent. She didn't know how worthless you feel...
"Carina, what's happening?" Maya asked, coming out of her office with Hailee. I had just fucked up everything.
"I'm sorry that I yelled, but something happened..." I started to talk, but I was rudely interrupted by the social worker.
"Hi Hailee Donovan, I'm Miss Sanderson and I'm here to take you home to your foster father" she explained and the color faded rapidly from Hailee's face.
"No" she said in a whisper "No, I don't want to go back there".
I was heartbroken and scared for her, thinking of the possibility of it happening again and again. They were supposed to protect her, but no one cared in the system... Suddenly a wave of guilt fell on me with all its strength.
"Come on Hailee, let's go" the social worker said and the girl just shook her head.
"Maya and Carina said that I could stay with them..." she choked out between sobs "They promised".
"Well, they shouldn't have" she spat back coldly, looking at me directly in the eyes as a challenge.
The social worker grabbed her arm and she started to walk toward the door, meanwhile Hailee was trying to free herself from that firm grip with no luck.
I wanted to stop her and take her home with us, but I knew that there was nothing that I could have done for her at that moment. I could just pray for her...
"Maya! Carina! Please!" she screamed with all the air she had in her lungs "Please, you promised... You promised... You promised...".
You promised. They were just eleven letters, but they were like knives in my soul, cutting every last inch of it and leaving scars that were not going to heal.
The door closed behind them and I heard God's laugh. I thought that helping Hailee was my chance to be forgiven, but there is no such thing as forgiveness for people like me.
I wasn't worth of it.

A.N. As usual, let me know what you think.