Butterfly Effect

5: Weird feeling

Carina's Pov

The day that I saw my Maya crying on her office's floor, her pain became my pain and I realized that I needed to let things happen and focus on my family. Cps had our contact information, so if something would change, they would let us know. It wasn't worth worrying about something that might never happen.
That morning I woke up with the annoying sound of my alarm clock, feeling a weird sensation tingling in my stomach and making me dizzy...
I didn't know why, but I thought that it was a sign. That day I would have gotten new informations about Benedetta. That day was finally the day...
I got dressed quickly, spending a little bit of time drinking my coffee and looking at my reflection in the mirror. That weird feeling in my stomach became stronger with every minute that passed.
I drove to work, and my morning was non-stop. It looked like every single baby in Seattle wanted to be born that day. I didn't even get the time to eat something because they kept paging me.
At one point of my really long and tiring day, I was in the emergency room treating a pregnant woman who had a bad fall, when I heard a familiar voice screaming against someone. It was a scream of fear, pure panic and terror...
"Get your hands off of me! Don't touch me!".
I explained calmly to my patient that both her and her baby were completely fine and then I followed the sound of those screams to a small exam room.
Owen Hunt was trying to get closer to a girl that was terrified and covered in bruises, and that was also crying and shaking, gasping for air.
"Doctor Hunt, what the hell are you doing?" I said raising my voice, my accent a little bit stronger in that moment. "Why didn't you page someone from my department?".
"Why would I page OB? She's not pregnant" he spatted back and I looked into the girl's eyes. The air got stuck in my throat when I realized that the girl that he was trying to treat, the girls completely covered in bruises, was Hailee. She was beaten up so badly that I could barely recognize her.
"No, but she's a sexual assault survivor and she clearly doesn't wantyou to touch her... So now she's my patient. You can leave now, and please, page doctor Wilson for me" I argued back, and then he left without a word.
After closing the door, I turned to face the girl.
"Hi Hailee..." I said softly, trying not to scare her even more. "Can you sit on the bed for me? The floor doesn't seem so comfortable...".
She looked at me with tears in her eyes as she shook her head no.
"It hurts when I move" she simply said in a whisper and my heart broke at her admission. I knew that kind of pain and I wanted to take it all away.
Before I could even try to say something, Jo entered the room, looking at me in shock when she noticed Hailee's position on the floor and her bruised face.
"Hailee, this is Jo Wilson and she's gonna help me to take really good care of you, and I bet that she's not gonna be offended if you use her first name" I said and Hailee looked swiftly at Jo, nodding a little.
"In a little while, I will have to ask you for some informations, but can you start with telling me what happened?" I asked and she stared directly into my eyes.
"He... Again and again... Punches, slaps, yelling, kicks... But tonight... He wasn't happy with using me as a punch ball, so he..." she stuttered a few words "He did it, You know... All night long. This morning I just came here because I can't do it again... I'm so tired of everything, Carina...".
Jo and I were speechless hearing Hailee's story. How could someone do something like that to a kid?
"What do you want to do Hailee?" I asked "You already know what I'm legally required to advise you. But what do you want to do?".
"I want to do it... The kit. Do it, I don't want to live with him anymore, and that is the only way" she whispered and I looked at Jo.
"Okay. Jo can you prepare the things that we need for a sexual assault evidence kit? And call child protective services please. We have to report to them everything regarding her medical condition" I asked and she left the room without saying anything.

Hailee's Pov

When Jo left that small exam room, I found myself alone with Carina and her kindness was making me feel weird. I wanted that comfort, her comfort, but I didn't feel worthy of it. I felt disgusting...
"Can you tell me your full name and your birth date? I need it for the kit and your chart" she asked and I nodded.
"My full name is Hailee Rose Donovan and I was born July 22nd 2006" I answered and something in her eyes changed.
"How long have you been in the system?" she asked again but her confidence was gone, replaced by doubt and a shaky voice.
"Since I was born, I've never met my parents" I said and she gasped.
"Carina?" I called her when I noticed that she wasn't focusing on anything in particular, playing with her necklace "Are you okay?".
"Yes Hailee, I'm... I'm just very sorry that this happened to you... More than once" she answered.
In that moment Jo came back with everything that was needed for the kit, preparing the stuff, and then she gave me a piece of paper to sign.
"We will ask you for your consent for every single step of this exam, and you are free to say no at any point of it. You are in control today" Jo said firmly but with a glimpse of kindness, so similar to Carina's.
"And you can say no just to one point of it or to several ones, we won't ask questions... We'll just do what you say yes to" Carina jumped in, looking at me kindly in the eyes.
"Your consent will have to be written and oral. We want you to use your voice and say where and when you want us to stop, don't be scared to speak up. Okay?" she said and I nodded.
They looked at me waiting for something that I couldn't actually understand, then it clicked in my mind and I did a sort of embarrassed half smile.
"Yes, I get it".
"We're going to start now. Do we have your consent?" Jo asked.
"Yes, you have my consent".
They were just three letters, just a simple yes, but they were the beginning of one of the worst things that had ever happened to me.
Jo and Carina were two saints, they were doing everything in their power to make this experience as less painful and uncomfortable as possible, but all of it was just horrible.
I've never cried so much... I was feeling so many different things that I could only express them with tears and sobs. Sobs that were hurting my broken heart and my bruised ribs.
After a while, even Carina had to stop for a moment with tears in her eyes, and I felt a wave of guilt rush all over me. She was crying because of me...
"Carina?" I asked unsure.
"I'm okay Hailee" she sniffled "The next part of the kit is a pelvic exam. Do we have your consent for that?".
I looked around the room, taking in where I was and what was happening to me, remembering that I was doing this for myself, my freedom and my safety.
"Yes, you have it" I answered confidently.
After my answer, Carina started the exam, making me scream in pain. This was too much for me. Way too much...
"Stop! Stop! Stop!" I yelled and Carina froze immediately "I can't do it, I'm sorry... I can't".
"You have no reason to be sorry Hailee. We can stop the kit or we can just skip the pelvic exam. It's your decision..." Jo reassured me.
I swallowed my sobs and I looked at them.
They wanted to help me, they didn't want to cause me more pain or hurt me. They were treating me like a human being, and that was something I wasn't used to.
"I want to finish this kit and never look back, but skip the pelvic exam" I decided and they nodded.
The next twenty minutes were endless and really uncomfortable, but when they finally finished, I felt like a weight had been lifted from my chest.
"I'm gonna take this out of here. See you later Hailee" Jo said from the door with a sad smile. I was glad that she was there with Carina during the kit, she seemed like a wonderful doctor and a nice person.
"Bye Jo. Thank you" I responded to the sound of the door opening and closing.
"I want to do another blood test, just to check and be more sure. Can I do it?" Carina asked and I nodded.
She put on a new pair of gloves, and with delicate hands she started to take a little bit of my blood with a cold silver needle.
"I'll bring this to the lab" she started "I'm going to be around here for a while, but if you need something, get them to page me".
"I will. Thank you Carina" I said and she looked at me with a hint of hope in her hazel eyes.
"You don't have to thank me Bambina" and with that, she left.

A.N. Hi, I want to say that I'm not a doctor, and everything is based on research. I also used as a reference the episode 5×15 of Station 19, so please, keep it in mind.
What do you think about the chapter? What will happen next?