Page 22 of Heal
After taking a drink and setting his glass down, Parson met Beau's stare. "At least you know you are helping. You're making a difference. Me, I'm stuck in a shitload of regulations and can't do anything. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I thought I'd have some leeway to change things a bit, to do things differently."
"Not if you plan on keeping your job." Beau sat forward. "I have news that is going to make your job even harder."
Parson frowned.
"This needs to stay off the record for the time being, but I thought it only fair you are aware of everything that might affect the placement of the kids. Lisa is pregnant. We did an ultrasound today and she's about five months along," Beau said.
"Fuck." Parson shook his head. "How's she taking the news?"
"Better than I expected. She's scared and worried, but she's not as freaked out about it as I thought she would be. Maybe it just hasn't hit her yet. We've discussed options a little, but I figured it was best to let her have some time to absorb the news."
"I can't even imagine. Being sixteen and pregnant is hard enough, but to carry your rapist's child has got to make it so much worse. It makes me wish I could get my hands on the motherfucker who did this to her."
"Trust me, I know. The woman abused her worse than the man did. I want to kill them both with my bare hands for what they did. The hardest part for me is that Lisa doesn't want to talk to anyone else about it. She's only discussing things with me. It's not unusual for the kids I treat to connect with me and trust me instead of others. I'm usually the first person who's treated them decently in years. I just don't know how to help a pregnant girl in her position. I'm trained to heal the body, not so much the mind."
"It must be working for her though if she continues to confide in you." Parson was glad that Lisa had Beau there to help her. He was sure the state wouldn't worry about her other than the fact that she was pregnant and they'd have to deal with her child also. "I'm not sure on the procedure in dealing with this kind of situation. I'll have to look it up."
"As I said, I'd like to keep it off the record for a day or two if we can. Her brother is still being treated for his wounds, and as long as he needs to stay in the hospital, I'm keeping her with him. To split them up would do more harm than good. The other two I should be releasing tomorrow or the next day, if all the tests I ordered today come back okay. You can meet with them in the morning if you like. You said you'd like to talk to them before finding them placement."
"Thanks, I do. Honestly, I can tell you that I'm not comfortable putting them anywhere. I look at the families and I swear there is something with each one that makes me hesitate. Don't get me wrong, there are amazing families out there, but they are the ones who get the kids, keep the kids, sometimes even adopt the kids. The ones left are the ones where the kids run away or have issues and jump from one foster home to the other. The agency is quick to blame the kids, but I don't think it's the kids they should be looking at." Parson sat back as the food was delivered.
"I tend to agree." Beau reached for his silverware once the waiter walked off. "Each time I have to release a child back into state custody, I cringe. It's when I see the same kids coming in again just a few months later that I really start to lose my mind."
"How is a kid supposed to ever recover after all that abuse? The state is supposed to protect them, not hand them over to the pedophiles. It makes me sick to think that there are sex parties going on in the system. How is that even possible?"
"I've thought about that. The only way I can see a connection is through a caseworker, someone like you placing the kids with certain families that he or she knows is part of this pedophile ring. They'd have other pedophiles go through the approval process, then once they got the children, they'd bring them all together." Beau cut into his steak.
"But I looked into links. None of the abused kids share a caseworker."
"That you know of. That just means the abuse hasn't been reported yet."
"True." Parson stared at his food, not really hungry after having this conversation. "So, I just dig deeper."
"Having Lisa look at photos is a good step. If she is willing to help us, she might be able to at least give us a lead where to start looking. It's the only thing we have to go on right now. I know you'll watch your cases closer, but you're one of many. Whoever is doing this has covered their ass up until now. It won't be easy to uncover." Beau set his silverware down. "Enough about this. We both know we're at a standstill until we get more information. Tell me more about you. I'm assuming you grew up here in California, being who your father is."
"Mostly here. Dad's got a place in Boston and a few other small vacation houses. I spent a lot of time in Boston though. It's where my grandparents are. I went to college there." For once in his life, he didn't feel ashamed of having come from money. Beau would more than understand what it was like growing up well off. Most of the time he was embarrassed that he never had to work for anything when he was younger. It was part of the reason he was so determined to not live off his parents now. He hardly made anything working for the state, but at least it was his own money.
"I love Boston. Haven't been there in years. Last time was for a conference. Do you have brothers or sisters?" Beau seemed genuinely interested.
"No, it's only me. I have cousins back in Boston, but no one I'm close with. As far as family goes, other than my grandparents, I stay away as much as I can. Mom and Dad call, but it's just to remind me how I've let them down, not to see what I'm doing."
Beau nodded. "My relationship with my parents isn't horrible. Dad always thought I'd grow up and follow his footsteps. When I told him I was going to go to medical school, he nearly had a heart attack. I think it's just panic. He's old school. Thinks a man is supposed to run things, so it's hard for him to imagine handing the company over to my sister, but Beth is amazing. She'll do a great job when it falls into her hands. I've just got to help Dad see that. Mom doesn't get involved. She is the complete socialite. She throws her parties, has her dinners, and gossips with the other wives, but leaves the business to Dad."
"I don't talk about my family with people much." Parson ran his finger down his glass, gathering the condensation off the glass. "They don't understand why I don't flaunt my parents, the money, the lifestyle I could have. It's just not who I want to be."
Beau smiled as he nodded. "I understand completely. I hate not being able to do anything without it making the news. I show up at the clinic downtown to volunteer my time and the media suddenly thinks I'm doing humanitarian work and there are cameras all over the place. It's more of a hindrance than a help to have me around sometimes." Beau leaned in a bit. "I can imagine if we're seen together, the press will have your family and mine working on some new business deal. They'd never believe we're just two friends having dinner." Beau grinned.
Parson liked hearing that Beau considered them friends. Even if they'd just met, there was a comfortable feeling about sitting with Beau and talking. They seemed to have a lot in common, and Parson wondered if they might come out of this as friends, continuing to talk once the case was over. He sure hoped so. "My father would rejoice if he found out we were talking. He'd think I'd finally decided to accept that side of my life."
Beau sighed. "Isn't it sad that the media and our parents would rather make up a story about why we are having dinner together than hear the truth? If we told them about the children, it would be too dark for the press or too boring. They'd still make something up."
"Sadly, you're right. I'm a little amazed this hasn't caught any media attention. You'd think four children being abused in the foster system would at least get a mention."
"The police and government agencies are experts at controlling the press. Besides, this is Los Angeles, if it isn't juicy Hollywood gossip, they don't care." Beau picked a green bean up with his fingers and popped it into his mouth.
"How do you do this? You must see hundreds of kids a year who are going through something like this. It would drive me insane. I've dealt with abuse cases before, but mostly verbal abuse, maybe a few beatings, but this, the sexual abuse, it's so much harder to handle. I can't stop thinking about the kids. It's like a nightmare replaying in my mind. It has to be worse for you, you see so much more, you are forced to deal with the injuries."
Beau sat forward. "First, I'm not forced to deal with anything. I could walk away from this anytime and open a nice, quiet private practice and deal with sore throats and runny noses all day. I choose to do this. You're right, it's not easy to deal with, and that's why there aren't a lot of pediatricians who would take my job. When the nightmares start for me, and trust me, they do, I remind myself that I'm the one there collecting evidence that will help lock the sick fucks up. I'm there helping a child who in many circumstances hasn't had anyone care about them in a long time. I'm fixing their physical pain, reminding them that not everyone in the world is out to hurt them. I might only see the children for a few days, but in that time, I make a difference."
