Page 18 of Heal
"Maybe." He laughed. Truth was, he'd probably have let her continue if not for the way her dad was freaking out. Matt let Faith do a lot of things, but he wasn't happy about her grabbing medical supplies and settling in to throw a few stitches in Kasey's hand.
Faith had practiced stitches more than once. Never on a human, but Kasey would have been the perfect person to let her try. He was patient and calm, more than happy to let Faith mend his hand. Matt, on the other hand, had freaked the fuck out seeing his daughter take control of the situation. When Beau had walked into the room, the relief on Matt's face said it all. He'd grabbed his daughter and pulled her aside, insisting that she let Beau handle it.
Faith would make an amazing doctor someday.
"So how old are the kids?" Faith asked.
"The boys are three and ten, the girls are twelve and sixteen." Beau stepped aside as they wheeled a patient down the hallway.
"Three?" Faith sighed. "So young. Is he okay?"
Beau nodded. "He will be. They all will be in time."
"Not for a long time." Faith took a deep breath.
"If you don't want to visit with them, you can go up to oncology and hang out up there," Beau offered. "I've got to go with the sixteen-year-old for about an hour, but then I'll be back and we can do whatever you want."
"No, it's okay. I don't mind." Faith pushed away from the counter.
Beau went with her, going to the elevators that would lead up to the patient rooms. "So how's school going?"
Faith shrugged. "It's school. I'm doing okay in most of my classes."
"Most?" Beau glanced over at her.
"I'm passing all of them. Don't worry. It's just hard to be there. Someone found out about me, about what happened to me. The rumors started getting around school. It's been hard."
Beau stopped walking down the hallway and turned to her. "Do your dads know about this?"
Faith shook her head. "I don't want them to worry. You know how Dad is, he'll feel like it's his fault, and Xander, he'll want to go to school and kick everyone's ass."
Beau laughed. She was right, that was exactly what would happen. She'd told him instead of her fathers because she knew he wouldn't interfere unless she asked him to. "Can I do anything to help?"
"No, it's calming down. Some of the girls are mean about it. They've said some stuff, made up stories that aren't true, but I've tried to ignore it. Carrie told the guidance counselor about it, and they called me into the office. I just don't want them to make a big deal out of it or the rumors and gossip will get worse." Faith sighed. "Some of the boys have started asking me out now. I think they think I'm easy because of what happened."
Beau kept his temper in check. He wanted to rush to the school and handle this for her, but he couldn't. It was something she had to face. Like she said, if a big deal was made, it would only make things worse. "Are you okay? You're not being bullied or harassed, are you?"
"No, just whispers about me. You know, they just stare at me all the time and whisper. It's not as bad as it was a few weeks ago. I promise I'll tell you if it gets worse. I just wish no one knew about it."
Beau pulled Faith into a hug. "Me too, but you have nothing to be ashamed of. What happened wasn't your fault." He wished he could somehow delete all the old articles and news reports of her abduction from the internet.
"I know." She pulled back and smiled. "Don't tell my dads, okay?"
"You know anything you tell me stays between us unless it puts you in danger. Just promise to come to me if you need anything. You know I'll handle this for you if you need me to." He didn't have a clue how, but he would use every resource he had to protect her if it came down to it.
"I know. I'm okay. I wasn't even going to mention it."
"Faith, you know you can talk to me about anything. I know there are some things you can't talk to a guy about or even an adult, but I like to think that I'm not on the same level as your dads or the others. I hope you know I'm your friend first, before anything else," Beau told her.
"I know, and I tell you pretty much everything."
"Good, now about these boys asking you out, have they met Xander?"
Faith laughed. "Xander picked me up from school the other day and it was funny watching people move out of his way as we walked past. I think the guys at school know not to mess with me."
Beau started back down the hallway. "Any boys you are hoping ask you out?"
Faith shrugged. "There's a couple that are nice, but I'm not ready to date yet. I still have some problems with trust."
