Chapter Text
Yada... Yada… Yadaaaa….
Misty continued to count sheeps in her head as the lady at the front yapped away about something regarding signs in kidnapping victims.
She had offered to take up the class together with her fellow colleagues Zoe and Kyle knowing full well that it would be useless for this was Southern California. Land of luxuries, home to celebrities. Unless a perpetrator wanted to be caught in action by the paparazzi round the corner, an idiot would know that Hollywood was the least ideal place to kidnap somebody.
Better luck elsewhere, Misty whispered to herself as she tried to listen to the lady who had caught her attention by saying that if they weren't listening for the past hour or so, they should probably listen to this.
"Now, I want you to remember that not all victims are always bruised and frightened. Some of them even seem attached to their captors. So I want all of you to go home with this in your mind today and I hope that it will one day help you save someone." the plump lady smiled as she finished, earning a couple of claps around the room.
Misty twirled her hair and shifted to pull it up into a tight ponytail as she exited the room, heading straight for her office. That was basically the most boring two hours of her life ever.
She whistled along the corridors as Kyle sulked because he was down for the late night shift today. Late night shifts were probably the worst ever. Since her internship, she hated them. But now, after 4 years of medical school, 5 years of orthopedics residency, she was almost ready to take on a night shift willingly. But not just yet, she smiled as she parted ways with the blonde boy and trekked down the length of the hallway and into her office.
###
Dr. Misty Day returned to her office in the renowned St. Vincent's Hospital. She was the new Orthopedics surgical attending here at SVH after finishing her 5 year residency program in Orleans Keller Hospital that was situated in the heart of the city of New Orleans.
She had originally decided to stay on to serve in Orleans Keller but the decision to move came after her father, Mr. Gilbert Day, CEO of Gilbert Firms & Co. passed away from a heart attack late into her last year of residency. There had been nothing that the city of New Orleans had to offer her apart from painful memories thus, she decided she had to move on.
Packing whatever she had left, together with the newly inherited money, she decided that she would move to the flashiest place she could think of. And that was the city of Los Angeles. Treating celebrities sounded pretty cool. Even though she had only come to Los Angeles for roughly half a year now, she was thoroughly loving her life.
The Armani inspired apartment that sat along the luxurious Wilshire Corridor was what the Cajun and many celebrities called home. Sitting on the third last floor of the 22 story apartment block, her windows boasted a view of the country club and Hollywood hills. It had an open concept living area that was furnished with dark granite counters for the kitchen and tan colored sofas that formed the large lounge area. There were 3 bedrooms and two baths.
But that wasn't why the curly blonde had purchased this place. Rather, it was the 15 minute drive away from the hospital that had sealed the deal for her.
Nonetheless, the traffic in this city made the usual 15 minute drive an elongated 45 minute one. Thus, as she clipped on her helmet and headed off for the night, she couldn't help but smile at the breeze that swept against her cheeks.
###
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Her pager went off aimlessly, snapping her awake from her slumber. She had to squint her eyes to confirm that it was indeed that
goddamned
pager again.
Seriously?!
Where in the hell was Kyle anyway? Wasn't he supposed to be down for night duty today?
She let her arms roam around the bedside table and tugged on the lamp string, lighting up a portion of the bedroom before slipping her legs over to the side of the bed so she could sit up in the semi darkness. Whatever time it was, it was way too early to be awake. Her shift today didn't start till 1pm! Her hand tapped around for her phone before finding it wedged between her pillow and comforter, successfully checking the time.
4:54AM.
It was really too early to be awake.
They were paging her 911. It must have been a serious accident.
The wild blonde quickly scrambled to her feet, choosing to put on a pair of navy blue standard scrubs even though she much prefered her wine colored ones but there was no time to dwell on the color. Her keys jingled in her hands and she took one last look at the dark apartment before running back into her closet to grab a couple of hair ties, slamming the door on the way out as she put on her skechers shoes. And she picked up her bike, down the elevator, got a head start by running before jumping on the seat.
By the time she had biked the 15 minutes, full speed to the hospital, the Emergency room was in a mayhem. All hands were on deck as they dealt with a Multi Vehicle Crash on one of Los Angeles' busiest highway.
The wails of the sirens still lingering in the distance as they expected more casualties to pile in through those double doors.
"OKAY. EVERYONE LISTEN HERE!" the wild blonde pulled her hair up into a loose bun as she listened to the head of trauma, Dr Jeff speak. The chaos seemed to stop in a split second, just to listen to what he had to say, "I want the non emergent patients to be cleared out of trauma rooms. I want scheduled surgeries that can be bumped, bumped for tomorrow instead. Casey, you call the ambulances and tell them to divert as many to UCLA. When family come, I want them in the waiting rooms. It's a busy night, now let's get moving."
"Trauma 3 needs an Ortho consult!" one of the nurses yelled, waving the chart in the air. Misty weaved throught the crowd and acknowledged the nurse, nodding before moving to the side of the ER, getting herself gloved and tying the top strings of the mask as she approached trauma room three, chart in hand, using a pen to sign her name at the bottom of it.
"Hi, Mr. Renard, I am Dr. Day. And I will be looking at ya' leg," she flipped up the gauze to look at the bloodied thigh, as he gave out a loud hiss, "Which doesn't look very good but it shouldn't be a problem," she smiled, leaning over to whisper something into a nurse's ear. The nurse nodded and shuffled out of the room to proceed with Misty's orders.
"Ok. We will be wheelin' ya' up ta' radiology in a short while but right now I need ta' do a full body work up," She checked something off his charts and hooked him up to an IV, "If ya' could jus' follow my light with ya' eyes?"
He grunted in response, startling Misty slightly.
"Can ya' feel this?" she tapped the bottom of the injured foot, he nodded hastily.
Swinging her stethoscope over her neck, she placed it on under his hospital gown, "Take a deep breath, in, out. In again. Okay that looks good. So, how did'ya get in ta' accident?" she asked, sensing he wanted to talk about it. Nurses buzzed about the room, hooking him up to all sorts of different machines.
"When can we get home? We have important things on," he asked instead, eyes glimmering with anger.
"Uh… Not so soon, Mista'. Ya' leg definitely needs surgery since it's an open femur fracture. We should be able to get ya' into surgery-"
A small gasp came from the side of the room.
It was then Misty noticed the woman. She was maybe 29, maybe 28, maybe younger because she looked so thin, and so frail like she was going to fall over any minute now.
"Ma'am? What are ya' doin' in here? Who are ya'?" Misty spoke so quickly. Her patient's privacy had just been breached by this… Lady who looked more frightened than anything. He blonde hair travelled beyond her breast bones in slight waves.
"Ma'am-" she tried again, moving over to the woman who stood there like a deer in headlights, looking past the doctor. Misty turned around and realised that the woman was engaging in a staring contest with the man.
"She's my wife," Mr. Renard growled, breaking the stare.
"Oh! Mrs Renard. The family waiting room is just a left turn if ya' exit from the ER into the main corridor. Why don't ya' go there an' wait?" she was in front of the woman now who then took a few steps back, almost disappearing into the walls. From there, she could see that Cordelia had a split lip and a small gash on her forehead. "Maybe ya’ should go to the ER instead, ya’ were in the crash too, huh? Ya’ should get checked."
Mr Renard stared hard at his wife, before exclaiming, "Oh no, she's staying with me. She's staying with me."
"But-"
"I SAID SHE'S FUCKING STAYING WITH ME." he cursed loudly, startling Misty and the nurses, while the woman simply erupted into tears, hugging herself from elbow to elbow as she retreated further into the corner of the room.
"I will not have ya' talk to me like this. Mrs Renard please follow the Nurse Jenna to the counter and get another doctor to see to that. Sir, you an' I will have a nice talk up in radiology. Wyona, unlock the bed so we can move it. Mrs Renard, ya' husband is in safe hands, I will have someone update ya' on his condition durin' surgery, okay?" Misty attempted at brushing the woman's upper arm to comfort the woman but she simply flinched at Misty's touch, turning away quickly.
Misty drew back as well. Maybe she was just afraid of being in a new environment. Maybe she was afraid. Scared for her husband perhaps. The shock. It must be the shock. They had just been in a serious accident anyway.
As she pushed the bed that contained the feral man out of the room, he shouted back to the lady, “DON'T YOU DARE TRY SOMETHING FUNNY. I will deal with you later.”
And Misty couldn't help but wonder if the woman was in an abusive relationship.
###
While Mr Renard was wheeled into the CT room, Misty couldn't shake the thought of the woman of my mind. And the fact that he was asking about her every other second didn't help her forget that frightened image as well.
"WHEEERRRRE'S THAT BITCH?!" he shouted for what seemed like the millionth time.
Misty closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Mr Renard, one more time. One more time an' I will see that ya' leg is a goner durin' ta' surgery later."
His shouting was getting on her nerves, as well as the fact that he was calling that doe eyed woman a bitch, that just was too much. "NURSE! NURSE! SHE'S THREATENING ME!" he lifted his head up from the bed and yelled loudly and when no one replied to his demands, he opted to turn violent, thrashing against his bed. "WHERE'S MY WIFE. I WANT HER HERE WITH ME."
Misty simply continued to ignore him, helping him from the bed and onto the board of the machine. He grunted in pain as they moved him before he tried again, "WHERE'S THAT FUCKING WHORE?!" summoning the remainder of his energy into pushing Misty off of him, causing her to fall backwards and crash into the wall.
Misty was helped up by Nurse Jenna. She held her left wrist in her right hand, hissing loudly when the nurse uncovered it to reveal a growing bruise. Immediately, she knew she had sprained her wrist. Badly.
"Son of'a- Someone call security an' restrain him." she ordered firmly, glaring at the man who had caused her fall. Queenie the radiology technician had taken over, pressing him down onto the bench as she waited for security to arrive. Within a minute, the security team was up in radiology and had another team of doctors called up to take over from Misty.
Taking one last look before exiting the room, she saw the anger in his eyes as he once again shouted for his wife.
###
Jenna had braced her hand up nice and clean, bringing her a sling but Misty refused it, said it caused too much of an immobility. But with her hand injured, it wasn't like she could do much either.
She joined Kyle in the ER, asking if there were any light jobs she could help with. After a lengthy explanation about what happened to her hand, her concerned friend told her that there was a woman waiting to get examined in bed five. Something about a slight forehead laceration and a split lip so she sauntered towards the bed.
The wild blonde pulled the screen apart only to find the bed empty.
"Kyle? Where's ta' patient?" she popped her head out to talk to Kyle who shrugged, going back to his routine, leaving Misty all on her own.
"What did ta' patient look like?" Misty sighed, spinning Kyle around.
"Uhhh, blonde hair?" he said absentmindedly.
She huffed, and walked over to the front desk where the registration nurse was and asked for the chart for bed 5. Leaning over slightly, she reached for the chart from the nurse's hands and thanked her before moving swiftly out of the way of worried family members that were hounding the nurses.
The doctor made a left turn from the ER and into the waiting room. Perhaps her patient was here. When she flipped the chart open, only the last name and sex were filled in, Renard, Female.
Then it dawned on her that it was that mystery woman in the waiting room.
Her eyes scanned the entirety of the waiting room but failed to spot the head blonde.
She backed out into the hallway again and scratched her head, wondering where the nameless woman might be. And then she walked across the hallway, past supply rooms, checking each one to make sure the woman wasn't hiding in one of them. She even went into the toilets but with no luck.
But alas! Blue eyes spotted the young woman whose eyes were glued onto the vending machine as though she had never seen one before.
Misty quietly approached her, and said ever so gently, "Mrs Renard? It's Dr. Day." She was almost sure the woman was going to bolt but she remained still as a statue.
The woman didn't spin around to greet her with a wide smile, instead she continued looking at the very interesting vending machine. "Do ya' want a granola bar?" Misty said as she fished a dollar note from her pocket, inserting it into the machine and pressed the numbers, causing it to wind.
The woman remained mesmerized by it, jumping slightly when the bar dropped onto the shaft and Misty's good hand reached in to retrieve it. "Here," Misty smiled, passing it to the woman who looked wide eyed. She almost looked like a child that had lost her mommy somewhere along these corridors.
And then very softly, so softly Misty wasn't sure she heard it, the woman said, "Thank you."
###
The tall doctor ushered the shorter woman back into the ER, before bringing her further down the hall into one of the private screening rooms. Misty closed the door behind her as the woman took the first bite into the granola bar.
"That man must really starve ya', huh?" Misty said with an apologetic smile, "Ya' want ta' tell me anything? That man doesn't seem like a very good man." The woman took another bite of the bar without looking up.
"I'm Dr. Misty, by the way," she introduced her first name to the woman. And the woman's eyes travelled up and for the first time, brown eyes met blue ones. Misty smiled at the eye contact, "I'know, I'know, it's a weird name an' all-"
"No… I just… I think I had a friend named Misty too," she continued looking at the messy wild hair, "But that was a very long time ago," the woman spoke in a muted tone, "And I don't remember it all too well..." And her gaze fell between her thighs.
Misty beamed, "Wow'ya met another Misty? My friend's have such common names… there's Zoe… Kyle… Madison. Ugh. But a really long time ago, I had a friend. She had tis' beautiful name… She was a princess, y'know? Ya' kinda look like her. But that aside… " Misty continued her speech, "I'mma just do a routine check up on ya'? An' then we can fix up that nasty cut on yer' forehead, how does that sound? Good? Okay, I'm goin' ta' touch ya' now, but I'mma tell ya' what I'm doin'."
“Let's get ya’ changed into the hospital gown first? Can ya’ lift yer’ arms over yer’ head?” Misty said as she prepared the hospital gown.
When she turned back around, the woman had placed the half eaten bar onto the bedside locker but remained unmoving. Instead, her big brown eyes were on Misty's black wrist brace, not looking up, she stammered softly, "Did he do that to you?"
"This?" Misty waved her left wrist, "Yea, ya' husband's… Well, a violent one..."
"I'm sorry he hurt you..." she apologized quickly.
"Oh! It's nothin', really. If anythin', he should'a been ta' one apologizin'," Misty smiled, holding her wrist in the good hand, "But ya' know, probably ta' shock or somethin'. Though, seriously speakin', is he treatin' ya' right? Fifteen minutes wit' him an' I get injured. Ya' sure ya' okay?"
The woman looked up at Misty, deep into the blue ocean eyes. A sense of fear clouded the brown ones before she looked down again, whispering even softer than before, "I can't say anything..." Her pale forehead creased with infinite worry.
Misty took a good look at the woman then and there. Everything about her seemed so wrong. How her collar bones stuck through the long sleeved shirt. Her fingernails that were caked with dirt that seemed like she had been scratching at something. The emptiness in her eyes that seemed to hold so many well kept secrets.
The wild blonde grabbed ahold of the woman's hand, yanking the length of the shirt up, bunching it up at her elbows. And she gasped at what she had seen.
All over, there were purple blooms flourishing like flowers in spring.
"Mrs Renard! If he's abusing ya', why are ya' still wit' him? Ya' gotta leave him now. I knew he ain't a great man." Misty blurted as she examined the woman's forearm. She noticed that the bone was not straight, so she took out the orthopedic ruler and confirmed it was indeed bent at a three degree angle.
"Did'ya break yer' arm before?" Misty asked, pulling up the other sleeve to check.
The woman bit down on her lip, causing the split lip to open up again, a metallic aftertaste lingered in her mouth.
Just as the woman was about to answer, a foreign knock and voice interrupted them.
"Dr. Day?" A deep voice came from behind them. It was the LAPD. The policeman gestured for Misty to join him outside. "The woman you were treating is under custody for reckless endangerment of innocent lives." He said as Misty emerged from behind the door.
"WHAT?!" Misty exclaimed before covering her mouth with her hand, "What did she do?" she said in a softer voice.
"According to eyewitnesses, she had caused the man behind the wheel, Mr Renard to swerve out of control because she was trying to take control over the steering wheel." he stated matter-of-factly, "If you're done with her, we would like to take her back to the police station for further questioning."
"No, she's not goin' anywhere," Misty crossed her arms in front of her chest.
The policeman sighed loudly, "Doctor, if we could just seek your cooperation-"
Misty turned and walked back towards the bed promptly. "Mrs Renard, the policemen outside are here ta' take ya' away so if ya' don't start talkin' now, I gotta' let ya' go with 'em."
The policeman had now made their way into the room, causing the woman to shrink further back into the hospital bed.
Brown eyes darted from the doctor to the two policemen and then back down again. "Please don't let me go with them," she plead as tears dripped down onto the bed, the white sheet changing into a translucent shade. She looked back up at Misty.
"I was trying to kill him," she exhaled shakily and her hand found the sheets underneath, creasing them in her death grip.
In a moment, the reckless driving case had turned into an attempted homicide
Before the policemen could open their mouths and say something, Misty put a hand up, stopping them. "Ya' had a reason. Tell 'em what yer' reason is. Has this gotta' do with ya' bruises? An' yer' arm not healin' well."
A small nod was all that was taken for reality to dawn on Misty.
But the woman went one step further, pulling up her dirtied sweat pants to reveal shackle marks on her ankles, looking away as another tear dripped down onto the sheets, mumbling, "Because he said he was going to take another girl because I was getting too old and too used up… We were on the way to take the new girl… I wasn't trying to kill anyone… I was just trying to kill us."
Everyone was in shock now.
One of the men in blue walked out and said something into the walkie-talkie. Misty was listening. He said something about finding out where the man was. And then something about abuse and abduction.
She tried to listen closely to what exactly he was saying but the woman opened her mouth to say something and now the doctor had her gaze on the woman who suddenly look so battered and bruised.
The doctor was prepared for more information to help nab the man but instead, the woman admitted, "Misty is such a nice name..."
The tall doctor took a long look at the woman, "Ya' weren't only abused. Ya' were kidnapped. That's why he was so unwillin' ta' part from yer' because he was scared yer' would run away." Misty stated as though it would help the woman realize too. In that moment, Misty felt like giving herself a slap across the face. Of course the woman knew she was kidnapped. She had spent god knows how many years living as a captive, fearing for her life.
Then, the tall blonde was reminded of her friend. The one who was the princess to her knight. The one with the blonde hair and the brown eyes, the full lips and the gentle voice. The one who was so pretty, boys lined up to pass her confessions during valentine's day. The one who had gone missing 18 years prior to today. The one they never found. The one whom they somehow, somewhere along those 18 years, stopped looking for.
"I wish that were my name," the blonde patient continued her previous statement, "He calls me Lynette," she whispered, fingers playing with the hem of her shirt before looking straight into Misty's soul, "But I'm sure… I'm sure it is Cordelia."
The one whose name is Cordelia.