Temporary Homes in a Deep and Dark December

Madeline Series One-Shot #3

By Danielle Smiley-Face

~*~*~*~

After meeting with Sydney the night before, Miss Parker called out of work for a few days to get this Madeline situation dealt with. They’d stopped at the grocery store on the way home, the battered young woman staying in the car while Miss Parker bought some much needed food. Madeline had spent the rest of the day eating and sleeping, getting about 14 hours straight sleep.

First thing the next morning, they headed back to the Centre’s fully equipped medical wing. Parker hadn’t wanted to bring her to a “normal” doctor because of all the questions her multitude of bruises would bring up; plus the inevitable police involvement.

Miss Parker had been going to a doctor at the Centre her whole life, with the exception of being away at college. The soft-spoken doctor she’d been seeing the last few years could probably help put Madeline at ease.

They showed up without an appointment, but once the receptionist told Dr Black that Miss Parker was waiting, she quickly began to rearrange her busy morning.

“Don’t they have to call the police for child abuse?” Madeline worried as they sat in the upscale waiting room. All she wanted was for the pain to go away and to find a safe place to live- possible justice wasn’t anywhere on her radar just yet.

“Not if I tell them not to.” Miss Parker answered brusquely.

Madeline wasn’t sure how the woman could influence the doctor like that if the law said she had to file a report, but even with less than 48 hours together, she’d already begun to learn that people don’t question Miss Parker. She still didn’t even know the woman’s first name!! She hadn’t volunteered it and no one else had used it in her presence yet. She supposed it didn’t really matter since this living situation was only going to be temporary.

When the nurse called Miss Parker’s name, Madeline slowly got to her feet, hissing out a painful breath. She didn’t hurt nearly as much as when Parker found her, but bruised ribs were slow to heal. The nurse ushered them into the nicest exam room Madeline had ever seen and motioned her to the scale. She recorded the alarmingly low number and instructed the girl to the table.

Madeline noticed the apprehensive glances the nurse, who was considerably older, kept shooting Miss Parker’s way, increasingly curious about her savior. Miss Parker seemed more than willing to take the lead answering the nurses questions.

“What can we help you with today?” the nurse began as she took Madeline’s temperature and blood pressure.

“She was beat up a few nights ago and we need to make sure nothing’s broken. I also want a complete blood workup and physical.”

The nurse made a few notes in the chart and hurried from the room without another word. Only a few minutes later, the doctor knocked and entered.

“Hello, Miss Parker,” she greeted with a small smile, “You must be Madeline.”

Madeline nodded and tried to work up a polite smile, but didn’t quite have it in her. The small amount of physical activity she’d already done since waking had sapped her strength.

“Those are some considerable bruises, Madeline, how did you get them?”

Miss Parker spoke before Madeline could open her mouth, “Her stepfather beat her up night before last. She say’s nothing’s broken but I want x-rays to be sure.”

“Madeline, has he broken bones before?”

“A couple ribs, I think, maybe six months or so ago. It doesn’t hurt that bad this time, though.”

“Is it alright if I do a physical exam now?” at the girl’s nod, she continued, “Would you like Miss Parker to wait outside?”

Miss Parker was all for avoiding further knowledge of the injuries, but when Madeline said she wanted her to stay, she found herself unable to say ‘no’ to those sad hazel eyes.

Once Madeline changed into the luxurious exam gown, the two older women came back. Dr Black began by examining Madeline’s face, carefully probing at the bruises and gashes for signs of breaks.

“It doesn’t feel like your eye sockets or cheekbones are broken but I’ll get an x-ray of the area to be sure. How long has the abuse been going on?”

“Almost two years.”

“Was there sexual abuse as well as physical?” the doctor asked gently.

Madeline took a deep breath before answering, “Not by my stepfather, no, but he um, pimped me out to his friends.”

Dr Black listened to her lungs and heart, then asked her to open the robe to examine her ribs and collarbone for obvious fractures. The Centre doctor didn’t seem fazed by the bruises or ribs sticking out, but Miss Parker caught one glimpse and had to turn away. Her blood was boiling and she wanted nothing more than to beat the man responsible to death. She called to mind her father’s many lectures about avoiding emotional attachments and reminded herself that the girl would be moving on as soon as Broots could track down a long-last relative or the MIA godparents.

“You clearly haven’t eaten enough for quite some time.” the doctor observed.

“Anthony’s drugs were more important than my food. I usually just had to hope someone would give me a little extra money and I could sneak to McDonald’s or something.” Madeline explained somberly.

“You need to reintroduce food into your system slowly. Start with blander foods, small quantities every few hours throughout the day. I don’t need bloodwork to know you’re going to need a vitamin supplement so I’ll give you a prescription for a high-dose one before you leave. I want to check on you again in a week to make sure you’re gaining weight and everything else is returning to normal.”

Miss Parker couldn’t resist turning back at the pained intake of breath as the doctor probed a particularly nasty bruise on Madeline’s abdomen. She desperately tried to tune out the conversation about how and when the bruises occurred but wasn’t very successful.

“I’ll give you a prescription for the pain. What other injuries can you remember?”

“I got hit so hard on the side of my head a couple times that my ears bled.”

“Both sides and both ears?”

Madeline stopped to think, “I think the right only bled once but the left was a couple times- Anthony’s right handed so he usually hit me on the left.”

“Was there any ringing in your ears, or did you notice any hearing loss?”

“Umm, no, there was too much going on for more than an ‘oh shit, that can’t be good’.” Madeline shrugged apologetically.

“That’s ok.” Dr Black assured her, “We should definitely run a hearing test, though, because you’re right- bleeding isn’t a good sign.”

“How much is all this gonna cost? I don’t have health insurance anymore.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Miss Parker answered in the kindest voice the doctor had ever heard her use before. She wasn’t quite sure of their connection, but knew The Centre rumor mill was sure going to be busy talking about this!

Madeline opened her mouth, “But-”

“It’s taken care of.” Miss Parker snapped, although not with her usual ferocity.

“Before we run the tests and take blood, we need to do a gynecological exam to make sure there’re no internal injuries. Is that ok, Madeline?”

The girl’s thin face blanched slightly, but she nodded, aware of the importance of the exam.

Parker definitely did not want to be around for this and took a few quick steps towards the door.

“Don’t go!” Madeline felt panic begin to rise up. She’d never been clingy, not even as an infant, but the thought of the cold brunette leaving the room filled her with anxiety. For some reason, Miss Parker’s presence had a calming influence on her and was making this whole ordeal bearable. She could see her about to protest and added a beseeching, “Please.”

Muttering under her breath, Parker moved back into the room. She positioned herself at the head of the table, back resolutely to the doctor to give Madeline as much privacy as possible.

At the doctor’s instructions, Madeline positioned herself at the edge of the table, then closed her eyes. She began to breath deeply in and out, using the calming method her mother had taught her early on in her gymnastics career. Even with Dr Black’s warning, the first touch inadvertently made her jump and tense up.

A single tear escaped her less bruised right eye, the first Miss Parker had actually seen her shed. Parker instinctively reached out to take her hand. In the few seconds it took her to realize what she’d done, Madeline had taken such a firm grip of her hand, she probably couldn’t have pulled away even if she really wanted to.

Despite the fact that it felt like an eternity for both, the exam didn’t really take that long.

“All done.” the magic words were met with great relief, “You can sit up now. We’re going to step outside so you can get dressed. Then the nurse will come take some blood and I’ll call over to get an abdominal ultrasound, x-rays, and hearing test..”

“Thanks,” Madeline managed a small smile and slowly began to get off the table.

“How long is she going to be with you?” the doctor asked Miss Parker once they were out in the hall, mostly out of curiosity but figuring she could pass it off as professional.

“Until I can track down her family. I want female doctors to do all those other tests.” Parker stated firmly, then fixed the doctor with her patented glare, “Do not say anything to anyone about this.”

“You know doctor-patient confidentiality prevents that.” she recited nervously.

Miss Parker laughed wryly, “But this is the Centre and we all know things like that aren’t exactly encouraged around here. Just be sure to keep it quiet.”

“Of course, Miss Parker.”

Few people at the Centre intimidated her as much as the woman before her, and she doubted those few would care about some girl Parker had picked up off the street, so she felt confident she could keep the promise without fear for her life, “I’ll go get the nurse and make some calls.”

The nurse entered a few minutes later with a small cup of water, the pain reliever, and vitamin. She instructed Madeline to take two of the pain reliever now.

The blood draw was slightly more difficult than normal because Madeline was so dehydrated. Miss Parker’s increasing glare with each unsuccessful attempt didn’t help the young nurse, either. Madeline was stoic during the ordeal, though, a few poorly positioned needle sticks were nothing compared to other things she’d recently undergone.

Once done, the nurse led them to audiology. Miss Parker sat silently in the chair next to Madeline as she explained the head injuries she’d sustained.

“Have you had hearing tests in the past, before all this began?”

“Quite a few over the years, but I always passed with flying colors. Hearing problems run in my family.”

“How so?”

“My mom’s mom was deaf, ad well as her, umm, uncle or something. And dad was losing his hearing in the last few years before he died… I don’t remember what it’s called, but I think it started with ‘m’.

“Meniere’s disease?” the doctor suggested.

“Yes!” Madeline replied instantly.

“Have you had any trouble with your balance, vertigo, dizziness, recently?”

“I don’t really think so. It’s hard to remember for sure.”

“I’m going to get you set up in the booth. I’m sure you’re familiar with the drill- just raise your hand when you hear a sound in that ear.”

Madeline nodded her understanding and entered the soundproof booth. The audiologist handed her some large headphones, pointing out which side was right and left. She then headed to the control booth outside. Through the glass window, Madeline could see Miss Parker standing closely behind the doctor. She wondered briefly why her temporary guardian was so feared in her own workplace but couldn’t think of it too long because the testing quickly began.

Her right hand went up time and time again in response to the tones. She was surprised that the audiologist was only testing one ear at a time- all her previous hearing tests had been a random mix of both ears.

The doctor and Miss Parker had a short, but heated, conversation and then Parker was opening the door, pulling the headphones off Madeline’s head, and putting them over her own ears. She raised her eyebrows impatiently at the audiologist but the look was quickly replaced by a more somber expression. She took the headphones off and was out of the booth before Madeline could ask what was going on.

“The left side is working.” she admitted begrudgingly to the equally somber doctor.

Madeline had trailed after her asking, “What’s going on?”

“You didn’t pick up any of the tones aimed at your left ear.” the audiologist explained gently.

Madeline’s jaw dropped and she felt like she’d been kicked in the gut, “I just thought you were testing one ear at a time.”

“I’m afraid not, Madeline. We need to run some more tests to be sure, but it looks like you’re profoundly deaf in your left ear.”

“What about the right?” Miss Parker asked.

“She missed a few tones, but nothing too alarming.”

They lapsed into silence, giving Madeline time to process the news.

“If it is profound, what then?”

Miss Parker was impressed, and relieved, the young woman was being so calm about the whole thing.

“We can discuss your options more after the other tests. We could probably do them later this afternoon if that works.”

“That’s fine,” Miss Parker answered, “We still need to go to radiology and then get lunch.”

“Okay, I’ll set it up. Do you have any more questions?” she looked to Madeline.

Madeline shook her head and managed a wane smile as she followed a silent Miss Parker out the door. Parker seemed to know her way to x-ray because she confidently led the way without a guide.

Before they began, the x-ray tech asked if there was a chance she could be pregnant. It was a possibility Madeline had always tried her best to avoid.

“Maybe a small chance,” she admitted with difficulty, “Anthony made me take the pill, but condoms weren’t really enforced.”

“Did Dr Black have bloodwork and a urine sample taken earlier?”

“Yes,” both women replied.

“Let me call the lab and get a rush on the pregnancy test. I’ll be right back.”

The middle aged woman stepped into her small office and closed the door.

“Is the Percocet helping yet?” Miss Parker asked out of curiosity.

“Yes,” Madeline smiled gratefully.

They stood in silence until the x-ray tech returned, “Good news- you’re not pregnant!”

Madeline let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding for months. X-rays were taken of literally her entire body, while Miss Parker waited impatiently in the office. The tech may have been a few decades older than her, but the scrutiny caused her hands to start shaking slightly.

“I don’t see any current breaks, but I’ll send them to be read by the doctor.”

“Where’s ultrasound?” Parker questioned.

The x-ray tech led the way across the hall and gladly handed Miss Parker off to someone else.

That unlucky someone else realized with dismay that the intimidating brunette wasn’t going to leave the young girl’s side so she instructed Madeline to lie down and lift her shirt up to just below her breasts. She performed a complete abdominal ultrasound, looking for any possible problems. She actually went over the entire area twice because she didn’t want to miss something and incur Miss Parker’s well-known wrath.

She was tempted to go over things a third time, but Miss Parker had begun impatiently tapping her foot, so she decided not to push her luck.

“I don‘t see any internal bleeding, but I’ll send the images to the doctor.”

~*~

During lunch in between all of yesterday’s tests, Madeline had mentioned how she hoped to enroll in school as soon as possible to begin catching up on all she’d missed. She agreed, with considerable disappointment, that she needed to wait until her bruises healed.

The next morning, Miss Parker left Madeline at home to run a quick errand. Somehow, in the short hour she was out, she had been able to procure a set of freshman level textbooks and the corresponding Blue Cove curriculum.

Madeline spent the rest of the day in her room catching up on more sleep in between small meals, while Parker made calls in an effort to track down someone to take the girl off her hands. Broots was given the majority of the workload. Unfortunately for the already-stressed tech, it meant that Miss Parker was calling him repeatedly throughout the afternoon; each time, more and more irate over his lack of results.

~*~

The next day, Miss Parker had to head back to work to follow up on a lead on Jarod and wasn’t sure what to do with Madeline. The Centre certainly wasn’t a place for a child to hang out, she thought ironically, especially if they had to fly to one of Jarod’s lairs.

“I can stay here if that‘s ok- get a head start catching up on all that schoolwork.” Madeline nodded towards the pile of books sitting at the end of the kitchen counter.

Parker fixed her with a hard glare while she thought about it, “Fine, but don’t go in my room.”

“Sure.” Madeline replied, still not the least bit intimidated by her guardian. She finished her second bowl of cereal while Miss Parker prepared to leave.

Miss Parker came off as a bitch, quite frankly; but Madeline knew she was a good person, even if she tried to hide it behind glares and derisive comments. Why else would she have taken a cold, battered girl in and given her the first sense of security she’d had in more months than she cared to count?

“I’ll call and check in later.” Parker said before firmly shutting her bedroom door and leaving.

“Bye!” Madeline called to the woman’s back, then glanced at her pile of books. She sighed, not quite ready to start in on the seemingly insurmountable workload so early in the morning. She glanced around the kitchen as she tried to motivate herself and decided to do a little cleaning first. She didn’t have any money so it was the only way she could think of to pay Miss Parker back for her kindness.

She washed the dishes from the last few days that had been piled up in the sink and then cleaned the sink and kitchen counters. After a quick search, she found the cleaning supplies and grabbed the broom. It wasn’t too painful so she thought, Why stop at the kitchen? and moved on to the rest of the downstairs, save Miss Parker’s room. The living and dining rooms didn’t look too bad, but she figured dusting couldn’t hurt.

All the activity wore her out so she grabbed the cordless phone and went upstairs to lay down for a little while. After a brief nap, she made herself a light snack and decided she couldn’t put the schoolwork off any longer, so she started with her favorite subject, history.

Madeline worked diligently at the kitchen table until the phone ringing caused her to jump. After assuring Miss Parker she was fine and being told she‘d be home by 7, Madeline contemplated vacuuming but ultimately decided she didn’t want to risk somehow ruining the extremely expensive-looking rug that took up the majority of the living room floor.

She made herself a turkey sandwich for lunch and continued plowing through her history text. She only paused for a brief visit with the white bunny in the corner of the living room.

Miss Parker drove home that evening in a bad mood courtesy of everyone’s favorite escaped lab rat. Add to that the fact that Broots still hadn’t found anyone to take Madeline off her hands. She stopped short when she entered the house, trying to figure out what smelled so good.

“Madeline?” she called. When she got no reply, she called louder, “Madeline!”

“Hi!” the girl called from the kitchen, getting up to meet her halfway.

“Are you cooking dinner?” she asked harshly, out of habit.

Madeline bit her lip, looking worried, “Um, yeah, I hope it’s ok. It‘s, um, roasted chicken and garlic mashed potatoes. It‘ll be ready in about half an hour.”

“It smells good, thank you.”

The empty sink and sparkling counters behind Madeline caught Parker’s attention.

“You cleaned, too?!”

“Yeah, it’s the least I could do after all you’ve done for me the past couple days.” Madeline shrugged self-consciously, then quickly added, “I stayed away from your room, though!”

The rest of the evening helped improve Miss Parker’s mood considerably. The home cooked meal was delicious, plus Madeline had a natural ability to make Parker laugh and smile. She was sure the serious brunette could use more of both in her life, but she could have no idea how rarely either happened.

The next week passed quickly for the two. Miss Parker and Broots’ search for someone to take Madeline was as fruitless as the continued hunt for Jarod. Dr. Black was pleased with Madeline’s progress when she went in for her one-week checkup. Madeline filled her days with studying, cooking, and cleaning, plus a good deal of restorative sleep.

As they were finishing up supper one night early in the second week, Miss Parker brought up the subject they’d both been expecting with growing dread.

“We haven’t been able to find your godparents or any relatives for you to stay with.”

Madeline’s heart sank and she spoke in a rush, “Can I stay here? I’ll pay my way cooking and cleaning until I get caught up with school enough to get a job. Please?”

Parker was silent for a minute as what she wanted to do and what she thought she should do fought for dominance.

“Fine, you can stay.” she finally allowed grudgingly.

“Thank you, thank you!” Madeline jumped up and ran around the table for a grateful hug. Miss Parker uncomfortably allowed it for a moment before getting up to bring her dishes to the sink.

“Since I’m staying, does that mean you’ll tell me your first name?” she asked mischievously.

Miss Parker raised an eyebrow in warning as she cautioned, “Don’t push your luck, kid! We need to set some house rules.”

Madeline instantly grew serious and resumed her seat across from Parker, waiting expectantly while the older woman gathered her thoughts.

“My room is still off-limits, even for cleaning. If you do something stupid enough to get arrested, I’m going to make you spend the night in jail and bail you out the next morning.”

“Fair enough.” Madeline broke in.

“I go on a lot of business trips, but don’t even think about throwing a party. One or two friends can come over occasionally with my permission. Are we clear?”

“Absolutely.” she waited a beat to see if Miss Parker had any more before returning to her meal.