Page 7 of Heal
"Like working for the State."
"I'm helping people." Parson was not in the mood to defend his job choice to his father. It was something his dad never would understand. Then, how could he? He was never around when Parson was growing up. He didn't know what Parson wanted, what he felt. His parents had been more than happy to leave him with the nanny as they traveled the world working on one movie or another. He'd been lucky to see his parents on his birthday or holidays.
"I have several charity organizations you can work with. You don't need to suffer working some mundane job. You know I have positions open you would be wonderful at."
Parson closed his eyes as he pressed his head back against the seat. "Dad, I'm happy doing what I do. I don't want to work with you. I'm not interested." He bit his lip, trying to imagine himself working with his father.
Growing up the son of two of Hollywood's elite had never been easy. He hated the attention that followed them wherever they went. As much as he hated his parents for never being home, he was grateful that the media didn't ever bother him when he was with his nanny. They only seemed interested in him when he was out with his parents, which had been and still was a rare occasion.
"Parson, do you know how it looks to people to have my son working some office job?" his father pressed.
"The difference between you and me is that I don't care what people think. I'm happy doing what I do. I'm sorry you don't approve, but I'm not going to give up my job just to keep you happy. Listen, I need to go. Tell Mom I love her and that I'll give her a call soon." The lie came easy. He wouldn't rush to call either of his parents.
"Son—"
"Got to go, Dad. Bye." Parson hit the button, ending the call.
He blew out a long breath, hoping his dad didn't call back. He hated the relationship he had with his parents. They weren't bad people, but everything was about image to them. It was always about the fame and how much money you were making. It was a lifestyle that Parson had been happy to get away from. He'd left for college over ten years ago and never looked back. He made his own way now, refusing the handouts or gifts his father always tried to give him. He didn't need their money, especially since they wanted to tell him how to spend it. No, he might not make a lot of money, but at least he was happy.
It pissed his parents off that he wouldn't touch their money. He had a trust fund worth millions, but he didn't want that. It wasn't a lifestyle he wanted. He liked being normal, loved being out of the limelight. It was something his parents couldn't understand, but he would rather make his own way in the world than to live off his parents' money.
He put it all from his mind as he pulled out onto the road and headed home. He had bigger things to worry about. His family issues had been around for years, and that wasn't going to change. Right now, he needed to figure out what it was about this case that was bothering him so bad. He'd dealt with abuse cases before. There was something different about this one, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. He trusted his gut. That meant he had to dig deeper and figure out what was causing him to think there was more than he was seeing.
Once home, he'd go through the case files again and give them a second look. He was missing something. Either way, he was going to make sure that these kids didn't fall through the cracks in the system. They'd been through enough. This was why he had this job. He wouldn't let the system fail them again. He would find them a good home even if that meant visiting daily to make sure it stayed that way.
CHAPTER FOUR
Beau stepped off the elevator and headed down the hallway of the hospital, dreading what he was about to do. How was he supposed to tell a young girl that she was pregnant by her rapist? This was a first for him. He'd told many teens they were expecting, but most of them had come to the emergency room with morning sickness, mistaking it for a stomach virus. They had all been in relationships or at least willing participants in what had gotten them pregnant. This time, he was sure that Lisa hadn't agreed to anything that had been done to her.
He paused at the nurses' station, waiting for the hospital counselor to show up. He could handle answering any medical questions, but he wasn't about to pretend to know how to handle a teenage girl being told something so traumatic.
Again, he thought of Faith, and said a quick prayer of thanks that she hadn't had to confront the same issues. He couldn't imagine Faith having to face the choices that Lisa was now going to have to make.
"Dr. Maddington?"
He turned at the sound of his name and smiled at the older lady who approached him. "Jenny, good to see you." He liked the counselor. She worked with him often when abuse cases came in. She was good with children, and he hoped that the fact she was female wouldn't be an issue for Lisa. He didn't want to wait for another counselor or try to handle this himself.
"Just once I wish it was for something happy." Jenny sighed. "I read the case file, do you have anything more to share with me?"
Beau motioned for her to follow him to a small room off to the side where they could speak privately. "She has issues with females. I'm not sure if that means she'll refuse to speak with you, but last night, she insisted on a male nurse and doctor, and wouldn't even let the phlebotomist, who was female, draw blood. I'm hoping she's had time to calm down overnight, but you need to be prepared she might not like you."
"A female abused her?" Jenny sounded disgusted.
Beau nodded. "Obviously, the male did too, but from what Lisa said, and from the injuries I saw, the female abused her more often." Beau's fists tightened at his side. He really wished the STK team could get hold of these people. Having them arrested wasn't enough this time. "She's also very protective of her brother, Jeff. He's got the worst injuries of all of them. I put them in the same room last night. Lisa wouldn't relax until she was with him. It was easier to let them stay together."
Jenny wrote down a few notes on the clipboard she was holding. "How long do you think you'll keep them here?"
Beau rolled his shoulders, wishing he could keep them here, safe and protected. "Honestly, Lisa could leave today, but I know she'll refuse without her brother. I'm not going to be the one to force her to go. Jeff is going to be here a week probably, and the other two, Chad and Krista, they will be able to leave tomorrow if you think it's okay."
"I hate making that call." Jenny sighed.
"Me too, but there is nothing physically that will keep them here. Some cuts, some bruising, but nothing demanding a hospital stay." Beau's stomach tightened at the thought of sending the kids back into the system.
"I'll see what I can do once I interview them." Jenny took a long breath. "Let's get this over with. No reason to put it off any longer."
Beau agreed. The sooner Lisa knew about the baby, the sooner she could make the hard choices that she would need to. As they headed down the hallway to the room, he tried not to feel as if he was about to ruin a young girl's life.
He paused outside the door, knocking softly before slowly pushing the door open. "Lisa, Jeff, it's Dr. Maddington, can I come in for a few minutes?"
