Page 11 of Heal
Beau wasn't sure if he could or not. Having Lisa want him around for everything was a surprise. For some reason, she trusted him, which was good, but he couldn't be the one to help her through all of this. She would be out of his care soon, and while he could follow up and visit with her, she was going to end up being placed back into the system. "I don't know. I'll be there if I can."
She nodded as she rubbed her stomach. "You're sure I'm pregnant?"
"Yeah, we're sure." He sighed. "Jenny is good to talk to if you need someone to discuss this with."
"Can't I talk to you?" Lisa looked worried as she stared at him.
"Of course you can. I just meant that sometimes it's easier to talk to a woman about these kinds of things."
Lisa shook her head. "I know not every woman is going to hurt me, but I just can't talk to them right now. I try not to be scared, but…" Tears started to flow again.
"It's okay, Lisa. I'm here for whatever you need. I won't make you talk to anyone you're not comfortable with. We're going to get through this together. You can ask me anything, tell me anything." He pulled his wallet out, found one of the business cards he seldom used, and wrote his personal cell phone number on it. "This is my number. You can call me any time of day if you need to talk or if you get scared. The only time I won't answer is if I'm treating another patient, but if you leave a message for me, I'll get back to you as soon as I'm done." He handed her the card. "I promise, you won't go through any of this alone or with anyone you don't trust."
She took the card and stared at it a moment before lifting her gaze back to his. "Will Jeff have to talk about what happened to him?"
Beau nodded. "They will ask him to, and it will help if he can, but if he doesn't want to, they won't force him to. He's going to need to talk to someone about what happened. A psychologist or counselor of some kind. He shouldn't have to deal with his feelings alone. I know he has you, but there are some things that you can't talk to your sister about, right? Just like you have things you'd never tell him."
"I don't want to tell him about the baby." Lisa ducked her head.
"That's okay. It's why I brought you in here to talk alone. No one is going to tell him unless you want to." Beau hoped that was true. "With you two sharing a room, it is going to be hard to keep your secret, but we'll do the best we can. Hopefully, you won't have to stay here too long and can go somewhere safe to live."
Lisa shook her head. "Nowhere is safe. Not in the system. I already told you there were others. How can you be sure they don't send us to one of them? How do I know they won't try and split Jeff and me up this time?"
Beau didn't have the answers. He couldn't promise her anything. "I don't know, but I promise I will do my best to help make sure you two stay together, and no matter where they take you, I'll check up on you. I'll make sure you two aren't being hurt again." He'd make certain his team made sure any family that took Lisa and Jeff in was safe and not going to harm them.
"I wish I could stay here." Lisa took an unsteady breath as she wiped her eyes.
"I'll keep you here as long as I can, but that won't be more than a week probably." Beau hated not having the answers she wanted. "How about we get you back to your room? I'll go order an ultrasound so we can find out how far along your pregnancy is, then you and I can talk later, once we find out more?"
Lisa nodded as she reached for more tissue. "I can't look like I've been crying. Jeff will ask why."
"You just tell him we were talking about what happened. He doesn't need details." Beau hated that these kids had to even know this horrible stuff went on in the world. "I'll try and distract him with talking about food or something."
Lisa grinned. "He likes food."
"I think most of us do." He stood, opening the door as Lisa blew her nose. "So, is there some food you two might be craving? I can get burgers or something and bring them in for dinner if you want."
Lisa's eyes went wide. "Nuggets from McDonald's. Lots of sweet and sour sauce."
Beau laughed. "I can do that. Let's go find out what Jeff wants. You'll have to suffer through whatever Jenny gets you for lunch, but I promise for dinner I'll get you McDonald's." It was a little thing to do so that they could be comfortable and happy. He'd get them steaks if that was what they wanted.
As they walked across the hallway, back to the hospital room, he tried to think of what else he could do to make them comfortable.
"Beau?" Lisa asked.
Beau turned to face her, surprised to hear her call him by his name. "Yeah?"
"Thank you." She gave him a very quick hug, not holding on to him very tightly or for long.
It was enough to cause his chest to tighten. "You're welcome." He reached over and tugged on a strand of her hair. "It's going to get easier, I promise. No one should go through what you have. I'll do whatever I can to help make sure you and your brother are happy."
She gave him a small smile and a nod before she pushed the door open and headed back to her brother.
As he watched her run to her brother and hug him, he swore to himself no one would ever hurt these kids again. He didn't know how he'd make sure, but he'd find a way. They'd faced enough already in their short life. It was time they found happiness.
CHAPTER FIVE
Parson yawned as he slowly walked down the hallway of the hospital. It was already three and he had yet to eat lunch. He was exhausted and hungry, but the job came first. He'd tossed and turned all night, thinking about the kids he'd seen in the emergency room. He couldn't get the tear-stained face of the young boy out of his mind. No child should ever know that kind of pain.
