Page 9 of Protecting Silver
“So, what do we do now?” Amber asked.
“We wait.”
Chapter 5
“The images are up,”Steve the CT technician said to Patch as he looked at the screen in front of him.
Patch whipped around from his spot standing at the window staring in at Silver, and hurried over. He bent down to put his hands on the table and watched as the images of the inside of Silver’s head slowly began to appear on the screen. His breath rushed out of him when he didn’t see any brain bleeds, but before he could relax, Steve reached out with the pen in his hand and pointed to several fractures in the region of the cheekbone. Patch pulled his cell phone of his hip and dialed. Fifteen minutes later another surgeon entered, and Patch only pointed to the screen as he stepped out of the way for the newest arrival.
“Shit,” Jacob Johnson said as he removed his glasses, and bent down so that his nose practically touched the screen. “I’m not blind.” He looked at the others. “I want to get a good look at the fractures.” He continued to study them, until he was satisfied.
“What do you recommend?” Patch asked, and looked up when Silver was brought out of the machine.
Dr. Johnson followed his line of sight, and sucked in his breath, swearing softly, “Domestic dispute?”
“Don’t know, she was out with friends, and they found her like this.”
“Shit, so it could be a possible date rape?”
“She woke enough to tell me she wasn’t raped, but I’m ordering a kit anyway. What do you want to do about her face?”
“There’s nothing I can do at this time. Just let it heal on its own.” He pointed to the screen to explain further. “See, it’s only hairline fractures, the bones didn’t shift. As long as she keeps the jaw still, she should be fine.” He frowned, then leaned in closer. “Want me to wire it shut?”
“Why?”
“Here,” he ran a pen over the jaw on the screen. “Fractured jaw, now this will need to be stabilized, and she’ll be on a liquid or very soft foods until it heals. By then, the cheek should be healed.”
“Okay, I’ve done all I can, why don’t you take her? And her name is Silver Roundtree.”
“You know her?” Dr. Johnson looked at him in shock.
“I do, she’s friends with friends of mine.” Patch looked at the other doctor, then sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay, fine, I was going to ask her out on a date on the next day I had off. I’m interested in her.”
“Not to sound like a dick or anything, but would what happened to her hinder you from asking her? And again, not being a dick here, but if she said she wasn’t raped, and there are no indications she had been, why put her through the trauma of a rape kit? Or is that for your own peace of mind?”
“You’re right, it’s more for her peace of mind, and no this won’t prevent me from asking her out. Now that I’m not going to do a rape kit, I’ll take her back to the ER, so you can get an OR ready for her.”
“Give me an hour,” Dr. Johnson said, then patted Patch on the shoulder as he walked away.
Patch went into the hall and told the orderly where to take Silver, then he followed the gurney, and told the nurses and interns what they were going to do. He stood off and watched, until the phone on his hip rang. He looked at the number, and frowned when he didn’t recognize it. He was going to let it go to voicemail, but at the last minute, he answered, “Atwal.”
“Is this Douglas Atwal?”
“It is, who’s this?” Patch had stepped out into the hall to take the call, and made his way down to a room that he knew would be empty this time of day. “Please give me a minute,” he said into the phone, and opened the door, made sure there was no one in there, then actually locked the door behind him. “Sorry, I needed to go someplace that was quiet.”
“No problem. I’ll get right to the point. You don’t know me, and I don’t know you. However, we have a mutual friend.”
Patch pulled the phone away from his ear and frowned at it. After putting it back, he asked, “Who?”
“Guy by the name of Wolf. I’m his computer guy from the East Coast. I’m Tex.”
“Oh, hey, thanks for getting back to me.”
“Sorry it took me so long, but I was working another case. I’ll admit that I haven’t even looked into yours yet, but when Wolf talked to me, it intrigued me. Could I get it directly from you what you want, or what you’re looking for?”
Patch sat on the side of the bed in the on-call room, and revealed the dream he’d had three weeks prior. He then went on to explain to Tex about growing up in the foster-care systems in two different states. “So, I was just curious if Merrick did that to me, how many other children had he done it to? Ripped them away from families that wanted to adopt them. It also makes me wonder if anyone else was involved, or if it went further.”
“What do you mean further? Further how?”
