Case D13

Chapter 1

I take a deep breathe. Eyeing up the house in front of me. This was it. This was the house of nightmares. My first major case as a social worker. I didn't know what to expect. I'd read the file and new vaguely of the mothers lack of care for the children.
Possible murder of the first baby, a son, but no evidence to point at her having a boy, only rumours. The second baby, a girl, had just been born when the baby being its curious self tugged at the mothers hair. The mother responded with back handing the baby.
Now baby number 3. This is where it gets complicated. There isn't much in the file apart from they let her walk out of the hospital with a newborn. 1 week later and here I am sitting in my car opposite the house. The father called up just an hour ago in panic. There had been an accident. No one knows for sure what happened, or they're not telling me so that I'm not scared but I know that I have to wait for the ambulance to arrive. Baby 3, Elizabeth as they have named her, may be in a serious condition and need urgent hospital care.

A screeching reaches my ears. The siren signals the arrival of the ambulance but to my great surprise a police car has arrived as well. This isn't good, this isn't good at all.
I step out of my car and walk over to the new arrivals. My heart thumping, breathes shaky. Never in my life have I been on a case that needed an ambulance or police help let alone both. This was highly unheard of, not completely uncommon though. The few cases that I have heard of and researched always ended up with a violent criminal. Whether it is the parents or the child.

"Be alert. Remember we don't know the severity of the incident at this very moment. Our priority is the baby. Whatever happens we can not put her life at risk. And remember prepare for the worst." Asserted an officer. I didn't need telling twice. I was currently shitting bricks. What had I got myself into. No names had been exchanged. We had more important things, or shall I say thing, to worry about.
Turning to face the house we all solemnly walked up to it and knock on the door. Clearing my throat I opened my mouth to state that it was me and I meant no harm but was just checking in to see how things were, when the door was yanked open in front of me. There stood a short, chubby man with ginger hair and brown eyes. He looked like he had seen a ghost. He was pale and his eyes were wide and glistening with unshed tears.
"Oh thank god you're here. I was getting worried. I didn't know what to do. Luckily she hasn't been anywhere near Elizabeth since. I must warn you it's not a pretty sight." He shakily spluttered out trying to control his breathing. It was clear he was terrified. He beckoned us to follow him as he went down the hallway to a door slightly ajar. "She's in there. I don't know if she's alive. She's not moving and there's blood. A lot of it. Mainly around her head though." He pointed in to the room.
I stepped forward and pushed the door fully open. Nothing could've prepared me for what I was about to see. There she lay. Crumpled up at the bottom of a wall, laying in her own blood. Elizabeth, barely a week old. As I tore my eyes away from her and looked at the wall above I noticed a small dent with speckles of blood in it. I was in too much shock and so were the police officers. Luckily the ambulance crew were use to seeing a lot of blood and so they jumped into action and poured around me into the room. They started to check the baby. All her vitals and more.
Soon the police came to their senses and took the gentleman to the side to question him further as their key witness. Sadly I couldn't get over it. Who would do that to their own baby.
Closing my eyes I took a deep breathe and walked towards the ambulance crew to see how things were going. One of them turned to me and smiled weakly. "Lucky little thing here. Just a few hours longer and I think she'd be a goner. We need to get her to hospital as soon as possible though as we believe there is some internal bleeding and a cracked skull. Is it ok if we move her now?" Swallowing the lump in my throat I nodded weakly. And suddenly everything was a blur of activity. I didn't know what was happening but I somehow managed to get to the hospital. The police officers were going to meet me here later with their findings which I would then have to write up and create a plan of action for my boss. Looking around the hospital corridor I noticed a few seats just a bit down from her room. I sat down with a heavy heart knowing that this was just the beginning.

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I know it's a short chapter but I just really want to set the mood and what's to be expected. Hope you enjoyed it. Constructive criticism appreciated.

Much love and respect,
Anonymous xoxo