10. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Davina

"What does that mean?" My voice shook as I smoothed my daughter's hair back from her forehead. It had grown so much already, even though it felt like I gave birth to her just yesterday.

"We're concerned about Coral's health and safety…"

"So am I. That's why I brought her in here to find out why this is happening," I explained. The look of disdain on Dr. Markham's face angered me and I couldn't even understand why. Something was happening that I just hadn't pieced together yet. There were two nurses in the room with us, instead of the one that was usually there.

My heart fluttered in my chest as the door to the exam room was opened and a woman in a sleek, but rumpled business suit stepped inside. As my attention was drawn to her, one of the nurses swooped in and grabbed Coral from my arms.

"Stop!" I yelled. "What are you doing?" I reached to pull my daughter back into my arms when Dr. Markham grabbed me and pulled me forcibly to the opposite side of the room.

"Heather is going to take your daughter to another room," he muttered in my ear.

"No! Why are you taking my daughter?"

As soon as Heather left the room with my daughter the door opened again to reveal two police officers.

"What is going on?" I asked as tears flowed down my cheeks and my heart hammered a panicked beat against my ribs. "Where are you taking my daughter? What is happening right now?" I begged someone to give me answers as the female officer moved forward, grabbed my arm, and twisted it behind my back.

"You are under arrest for child abuse and endangerment of your daughter, Coral Rose Perrish. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you by the court."

"What are you arresting me for?" I asked again.

"Child abuse," was the simple answer, but I didn't understand.

"I don't understand. My daughter… Where are you taking her? I brought her here to get help and you're taking her away and arresting me? This doesn't make any sense."

"Dr. Markham contacted me about suspected abuse of your infant daughter." The woman in the business suit looked smug as she spoke down to me like I was garbage.

"Suspected abuse? I brought her here because she keeps getting bruises all over her tiny body for no reason. If I put them there why would I bring her in here to find out why it was happening?" I yelled at her.

She simply looked down at the tablet in her hands and typed something in. "Coral will be remanded to the foster care system for now. Don't worry, she'll actually be taken care of while she's there."

"Excuse me? What? You can't put her in foster care. I was in foster care, and they did awful things…"

"Maybe you should have gotten some therapy then, so you wouldn't do those awful things to your own daughter," the woman snidely remarked.

"Now, Sandra, that's not necessary," Dr. Markham corrected the woman. How was what he had done any better? I'd brought my daughter to him in the hopes of figuring out why her skin kept bruising for no apparent reason. I put her down to sleep at night and in the morning, she would have more bruises.

"Something is terribly wrong with my daughter and instead of helping her, you're having me arrested?"

The officers escorted me out of the office via a back door, no doubt to keep me from making a scene in the lobby. "I need a phone call. I need to call my lawyer," I demanded.

The male officer laughed, as if someone like me couldn't have a lawyer on retainer. He'd be right if I didn't work for one.

"You'll get the opportunity to do so once you're booked into the system."

It took twenty-four-hours to get me out of jail and back home, but my daughter still wasn't there with me. She was in an undisclosed foster home, where she would remain, until our court date.

"Okay, sweet girl, don't worry, we're going to get her back."

"But what's happening to her in the meantime? She was already so bruised. I don't even know how it keeps happening. What if she's placed in a home where they hurt her more? What if…" I couldn't bring myself to say it. I couldn't bring myself to think of the fact that my daughter could die or be killed and there was nothing I could do about it.

"I promise you, I'm working with the child advocate right now to make sure that she is doing well and getting the care she needs, instead of her medical concerns being ignored the way they have been. And when I'm done with everyone involved in this case, you and your daughter won't have to worry about anything again. I promise you that. They messed with the wrong family, dammit!" Mr. Avery was red-faced when he finished his tirade.

"Go calm yourself, honey. I'll sit with Davina while you get everything sorted and check in on Coral."

Gloria, Mr. Avery's wife, was a Godsend on a normal day and her angel wings were showing as she wrapped her arms around me and held me together. "I need her to be here in my arms. Why are they doing this to us?"

"That bastard saw Medicaid and assumed a whole lot about a poor, single mother bringing in an infant with bruises all over her body. He'll rue the day he made the mistaken assumption that you could ever hurt that precious baby of yours. My husband will see to it that he can't afford to practice in this state any longer.

Mr. Avery came back into the room a few hours later. I'd only just dozed off from exhaustion when I heard his muffled voice as he explained something to his wife. Her startled gasp is what finally pulled me to full consciousness.

"What's going on?" I asked in a sleep-roughened voice.

"I have some news," he stated ominously.

"What happened? Is she okay? Where is my baby?"

"She's in the hospital right now."

"Noooo!" I moaned. "What did they do to her?"

"Nothing, Davina. The woman fostering her was startled to see fresh bruises after Coral was put down for a nap, and she took her into the hospital and explained the situation. She went against protocol and contacted me directly because she wanted me to know that she didn't think you had anything to do with it and the doctors agreed with her. Dr. Jenkins happened to be doing rounds in the hospital."

At my blank look, Mr. Avery sighed. "Dr. Jenkins specializes in pediatric oncology."

"Oncology?" I asked.

"He handles pediatric cancer patients, Davina."

His voice was so soft when he relayed that information to me, but it sounded like someone just blared an alarm in my ears. "W-what…" It was all I could get out.

"He is running some tests, but they think that Coral might have a form of cancer, a type of leukemia, and while it's rare for one so little to have it…"

Any further explanation was lost on me as I openly wept for my daughter whose life had already been such a struggle. She would never know her father because I also didn't know who it was. She would never have any family beyond me and the Averys who had sort of adopted us. And now, my precious baby girl was sick, and I stood accused of abusing her when I'd just been trying to get her the help she needed.

"Give her a minute," Gloria said as she came and wrapped me in her embrace once more.

"I need to see my baby. Please, tell me I can go see her now," I begged.

Mr. Avery nodded at me. "I'm working on that. Dr. Jenkins put in a call to Judge Reynolds and is attempting to explain the situation. The charges should be dropped soon. The doctor feels it is impeding your daughter's health to have been ripped away from a parent who obviously cares a great deal about the child's health."

"I should be by her side now. She must be so scared. What are they doing to her? They're supposed to have my permission to do anything. They're supposed to consult with me about her health, not a strange woman neither of us knows. Why is it okay for a stranger to make those decisions for my daughter, but I got arrested for trying to help my baby?"

I couldn't stop the sobs from wracking my body. Everything felt raw and I'd never felt so helpless in my whole life. It had sucked giving birth to my daughter all alone, but that was nothing compared to this. I'd just been told she might have cancer and I couldn't even be there to comfort her and make sure she knew she was loved every minute she drew breath on this earth.

"I need to be with my baby," I whined again.

"Oh, honey, we're working on it," Gloria cooed softly to me as she petted my hair and rocked us both back and forth, as I would have done with my own daughter if she hadn't been snatched away from me. Gloria's warm tears mixed with mine to soak our shirts. The Averys were grandparents to my daughter in every way that mattered. Having them by my side for this meant so much, but nothing could soothe me. Nothing short of being able to hold my daughter in my arms again.