Page 59 of Three Souls Who Break

I’d just stepped out of the break room when Autumn came rushing toward me. I knew I had a patient, but she said they were complaining of dizziness. That wouldn’t cause her to run like she was.

“Cody’s in the waiting room. He’s frantic and demanding to see you. Toby’s trying to calm him down, but I’m not sure if he can.” Toby was the security guard working this shift. He was a nice guy, but he would only be pushed so far. Plus, he had to take the safety of the other patients and staff into consideration.

“Can you check on our patient while I go see Cody?” I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I couldn’t have him starting something with Toby.

Autumn nodded.

I rushed down the hall until I got to the doors that led to the waiting room and opened them. Toby was talking to Cody, but they’d drawn the attention of a few people who’d arrived in the waiting room.

“Cody,” I said, walking swiftly toward him.

“Dr. Dove.” His shoulders relaxed, all the tension bleeding from him. “I’m so glad you’re here.” The closer I got, the easier it was to be able to make out the tears in his eyes.

“It’s okay, Toby. I know him. I’m going to take him in the back with me.”

Toby looked from Cody to me, no doubt trying to assess whether he was a threat or not. I’d known Toby long enough that he knew I wouldn’t put patients in danger. “If you need me, call.”

“Thank you.”

Taking Cody’s arm, I gently guided him toward the door and swiped my card to get through. I went to a consulting room, brought him inside, and closed the door.

“Tell me what happened.”

His bottom lip started to tremble. “My aunt. She came to the house and tried to get me to go with her.” He lifted his sleeve and showed me the mark on his bicep where a bruise was already forming. “I told her no. That I’m eighteen and she can’t force me. She was yelling about money and how she needed me to come with her so I could work to help pay the bills. That my sister cries all the time and asks for me. That Livy costs too much. When I refused again, she swung for me. I’m not sure if she was trying to punch me or slap me. But I didn’t see her, Dr. Dove.”

“Please call me Corbin. You didn’t see who?”

“Livy. What if she hurt her? What if Livy’s scared and needs me?” Tears started rolling down his cheeks. “I shouldn’t have left her. I was selfish, thinking only about myself. She’s my sister and I let her go with that bitch. I should have fought her, made her leave Livy with me.”

“Cody, that’s not how it works. You wouldn’t have been able to keep your sister. There was a will.”

“She needed me, and I wasn’t there.”

The next thing I knew, Cody launched himself forward and was in my arms, his tears quickly soaking my shirt. I held him close, my hand soothing up and down his back as his body shook with his sobs.

When he finally was able to catch his breath, he relaxed but didn’t pull away. “I didn’t know who else to go to. I don’t trust anyone.”

“So, you came to me?”

He nodded against my shoulder. Cody was almost the same height as me, but his body was thin, too thin. I should have given him money the last time I saw him, though he wouldn’t have taken it. He had wanted my help, not my charity.

I couldn’t believe it was me he trusted. The doctor who couldn’t save his mother. The man who couldn’t give him what he wanted to get his sister back. And now what? If his aunt could bruise him, could she hurt his sister? I needed to place a call so Olivia could be checked on. But if his aunt was here…

“Where’s your aunt now?” I asked.

“She was at the house. I shook her off me and ran down here. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“It’s okay. You did the right thing.”

He leaned back to look at me. His eyes were red; his face was splotchy. He was tearing my heart from my chest. “I’m sorry,” he whispered brokenly. “I shouldn’t have treated you like I did last time. I didn’t mean what I said, I promise. I was angry and worried about Livy. I knew you did what you could to save my mom.”

I put my hand on his shoulder. He stopped talking and sucked in a big breath. “It’s okay, Cody. We all say things in the heat of the moment. You’ve dealt with a lot in a short amount of time.” I needed to try and lighten the subject so he was calm enough for me to step away and call someone who could do a welfare check. Maybe his aunt was still at his house and hadn’t left. “Were you able to graduate?”

He gave me a small smile. “I was. It was hard going to the ceremony knowing my mom and dad wouldn’t be there. Or Livy, even though I was hoping my aunt would bring her. She didn’t. It was this past Friday. My friends cheered for me though.”

The crushing guilt that hit me was enough to have me stumbling back to put my hand on the wall so I could hold myself up. I should have been there. He needed someone in his corner. To not have family in the audience, no one to take his picture after, to take him out to dinner, to celebrate... I could have been there for him.

Cody shook his head. “While I would have loved to see you there, I wouldn’t have wanted you there out of guilt.” Shit, I must have said that out loud.

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