Ecie & Esme II: Another Day Like This

Four

'Oh my god what happened?' Esme cried running up to Denis. 'What happened?'

'They had to take her in for an emergency operation,' Denis replied. 'She was hurt pretty bad.'

'Calm down Es, it's okay,' Taylor said cradling Esme. 'It's okay.'

'What happened?' Esme asked again. 'Dad's on his way over now.'

'I found her really messed up,' Denis replied not wanting to say. 'She was covered in blood and she looked dead.'

Fresh tears poured from Esme's eyes as she hid her face in Taylor's chest.

'Where was she?' Taylor asked holding Esme closer.

'She was in Ellis' apartment,' Denis said. 'She was lying on his bathroom floor.'

'Ellis?' Taylor said. 'What was she doing with him?'

'Her boyfriend,' Esme mumbled. She looked up at Taylor then at Denis. 'She told me that she had a boyfriend, but she didn't tell me who it was.'

'What did he do to her?' Taylor asked.

Denis looked down at his shoes. 'You guys were right to call me to follow her,' he said. 'I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't shown up.'

'So what's going on?' Taylor asked as Esme cried into him.

'I think she had internal bleeding,' Denis replied. 'I got escorted by this cop and he's talking to the doctors and stuff. I think he might want to take a statement from me.'

'Ellis beat her up?' Taylor said. 'What the hell is up with him?'

A few moments later, Jonathon ran down the corridor followed closely by Ross and a young woman with long brown hair.

'Where is she?' Jonathon asked. 'Where's Ecie?'

'She's in surgery,' Denis replied. 'They had to operate on her.'

'Why? What happened?' Jonathon ran his hands through his short hair frantically. He bit the bottom of his lip and stared at Denis. 'What happened to her?'

'She got... beat up,' Denis said slowly.

'By who?' Jonathon stared at Denis with tears in his eyes.

'Dad,' Ross said. 'Ecie's going to be fine. She'll be out soon then we can start asking questions.'

'Esme?' Jonathon said looking at his other daughter who was sheltered by Taylor. 'Esme, honey.'

Esme left Taylor and clung to her father. She continued sobbing into him.

Esme, Taylor, Denis, Jonathon, Ross and the young woman waited for a couple of hours for any news on Ecie.

'You should go home,' Ross said to the young woman. 'This must be a little crazy for you.'

'No,' she replied. 'I want to stay here with you and your family.'

Esme looked at the brunette woman with wet eyes.

'This is Emily,' Ross said. 'She's my girlfriend.'

'Your sister is going to be fine,' Emily said smiling at Esme friendly. 'They have the best surgeons here so I know she'll be okay.'

'Did you call mom?' Ross asked.

'She's on holiday with Eric,' Esme replied. 'I couldn't get through but I left her a message.'

'I'll go get us some coffee,' Emily said getting up. 'I think that there might be a Starbucks near.'

'She seems nice,' Esme said when Emily had left.

'Yeah well I told her not to come,' Ross replied. 'This is all a bit much.'

A surgeon dressed in dark blue scrubs stepped out and Denis and Jonathon stood up.

'What happened?' Jonathon asked.

'My name is Dr Gallison and I am the Attending responsible for Miss Ecie Woodrow-Thurgood,' he said. 'Are you...?'

'I'm her father,' Jonathon said. 'What happened?'

'She had some internal bleeding and her spleen was ruptured,' Dr Gallison replied. 'Some of her other organs were bruised and she has two broken ribs. We had to relieve the pressure on her skull...'

'What?!' Jonathon exclaimed.

'It would appear that your daughter was severely beaten up and that she is extremely lucky to have gotten here when she did,' Dr Gallison continued. 'Had she been brought in any later and I'm afraid she would have died.'

'She's going to be okay?' Esme cried standing up.

'She should be just fine,' Dr Gallison replied. 'My team did an excellent job, but she'll be in intensive care for a few weeks while she recovers.'

'Can I see her?' Jonathon said. 'I need to see my daughter.'

'Of course,' Dr Gallison nodded. 'Are you all her family?'

'Yes,' Ross said.

Emily returned with some polystyrene cups filled with coffee.

'Emily?' Dr Gallison said. 'What are you doing here?'

Emily looked at Dr Gallison. 'I came here with Ross...'

Dr Gallison nodded then showed them to where Ecie was.

When they walked into the room they found Ecie lying on a bed with tubes coming out of her body. She was bandaged up and her face was purple and very swollen.

'We shall have her under twenty-four hour surveillance,' Dr Gallison said. 'We shall also be monitoring her to make sure that she's okay. These next twenty-four hours are crucial, but there is nothing more that we can do. The rest is up to Ecie.'

Dr Gallison left the room and closed the door behind him.