Chapter Twenty-Three
Within five minutes of meeting the woman Jasper had decided that he didn't like her. She was supposed to be his "child advocate", sent to represent him and help him through this difficult and painful experience but instead all she's done so far was look down her nose at him, flirt incessantly with Dr Cullen and inspect her nails for chips or cracks in the bright red colour.
"Do you work out?" she asked suddenly as Dr Cullen continued his thorough examination of Jasper. The nurse assisting him and taking his notes actually hissed in the woman's direction. "You look like you work out."
"Miss Peyton, either do your job or get out," Dr Cullen snapped at her. Apparently his opinion of the woman wasn't much better than Jasper's own and the nurse now looked about ready to scratch her eyes out.
"Well I would but there isn't much for me to do until he's given his statement," the woman said with a casual shrug, "Then I'll just drop him off at the children's home in Seattle, fill our my paperwork and then how about we go out for dinner? I know this lovely little Italian restaurant…"
"You…you…" the nurse gasped, rounding on the woman, "You bitch!"
"Excuse me? What did you call me?" the woman demanded angrily.
"You heard me!" the nurse now seemed to be literally holding herself back, not that Jasper could blame her. Wasn't it just his luck that he would get the social worker who was more interested in getting into Dr Cullen's pants than helping him.
"Woman," Dr Cullen addressed her coldly as he turned to face her, "You disgust me. This poor boy needs our help and you act like what has happened to him is nothing. What's even worse is that you seem to be far more interesting in thrusting yourself at me than doing your job." Dr Cullen's voice was cold and serious and Jasper watched as the woman flushed with embarrassment but not shame. "You will leave this hospital immediately. If this is the level of assistance you wish to give then we will all be myself and Chief Swan can do without you."
"Legally…"
"Legally be damned! I will be contacting your superiors and placing a formal complaint against you," Dr Cullen growled and Jasper watched as the woman's embarrassment turned to fear. Jasper assumed that a complaint of this nature would result in her loosing her job…"I will demand your resignation as you obviously couldn't give a damn about the children you are supposed to be helping."
Yep, she was going to loose her job.
"There's no need to be so dramatic," the woman pouted childishly, stepping forwards so that she could trail her hands slowly and seductively down the shocked and angry doctors chest, "I'm sure we can work something out…"
Jasper could hardly believe this woman was for real but looking at her again he realised that she was the type of woman who had never been refused anything.
"Nurse. Call security and have this woman removed from the hospital," Dr Cullen ordered, stepping back from the now stunned social worker. "And could you also call me wife and have her make up the bed in the spare room. Jasper can stay with us for now."
Wait…what?"
Jasper stared at the Doctor in shock as he turned his back on the woman, picking up the clipboard and pen the nurse had set aside before rushing to the phone mounted on the wall by the door, gladly calling security to come and remove the stunned woman.
"Sorry about all this, Jasper," he apologised as he continued where he had left off in his earlier examination, noting down the injuries he discovered as he went along.
"Did you…did you mean that?" Jasper asked softly.
"Did I mean what?" Dr Cullen asked as the door opened and a huge man dressed in the smart black uniform of a security guard entered. The nurse directed him to the woman and this seemed to break her out of her shocked state…
"You can't do this to me!" she screamed loudly as the security guard took her by the arm and pulled her towards the door. "If you were married you should have said so earlier! There's no need to be so dramatic!"
"Get her out of here!" Dr Cullen snapped over her shoulder.
The security guard manhandled the angry woman out of the room and if the glare he received was anything to go by, Jasper got the feeling that she was going to blame all of this on him rather than accepting the blame herself.
"That's better," Dr Cullen said once she was gone, handing the clipboard back to the Nurse who looked much happier now. "I'm going to put some cream on your cuts and bruises to help them to heal, ok, Jasper?"
"O-Ok…am I…am I really going home with you and…and Alice?" Jasper asked softly as the doctor started applying some odd smelling cream to the bruises on his right arm.
"Yes," Dr Cullen nodded, "But I'll warn you now, I don't allow any hanky panky in my house," the warning was said with a smile but still managed to cause Jasper to flush red with embarrassment. "My wife and I will be glad to have you."
"…thank you…"
Ok, Jasper thought to himself as the doctor gently rubbed the cream into the cuts and bruises all over his exposed body, this man was quite possibly the kindest and most loving man he had ever met.
No one had ever given a damn about him before.
The thought of being welcomed into the kind family Alice had described to him actually brought tears to his eyes.
"Are you ok?" the nurse asked, her voice filled with concern.
"Yeah…" Jasper mumbled, wiping his eyes with the awkward fingers of his broken hand. "I just…I never thought…"
"Everything's going to be ok, Jasper," Dr Cullen said, his voice soft and reassuring. "Once I've done this there are a couple of cuts to your back that I want to take a closer look at and then once I'm satisfied with your treatment we'll go to my office where Chief Swan is waiting and you can give your…your statement."
"Right…" Jasper mumbled, worrying his lip between his teeth as he thought of the difficult talk that was ahead of him. He'd never talked about this before…he didn't even know if he could talk about it…
"Don't worry, Jasper, both myself and Nurse Jackson will be with you the entire time and Charlie…Chief Swan is a good guy – he just wants to help you. We all do," Dr Cullen said comfortingly, resting his hand of Jaspers left shoulder which was reasonably un-bruised, squeezing it gently.
"O-Ok…"
"My dad was different when I was little, before my mum died. He was in the army so he was away a lot and when he was home he was a bit strict but he wasn't…he wasn't like he is now. He was…nice…
"Then my mum died and he…changed.
"I was…I was eight and it was my fault. He's always blamed me for taking her away from him. He hates me for it. When…when he gets depressed he asks me why it couldn't have been me and…and sometimes I…sometimes I wish it had been…"
"Jasper," Dr Cullen said softly and yet sternly, "You were only a child. Whatever happened to your mother…it wasn't your fault."
"Yes, it was," Jasper interrupted him. "I was riding my new bike – showing off. My mum told me to stay on the pavement but…but the pavement was boring so…so I went out into the road. There was…there was a lorry and…and I froze…my mum…my mum ran into the road and pushed me out of the way but…she died."
"I'm sorry, Jasper," Dr Cullen with sympathy. "But it wasn't your fault. Your mother made a choice, the same one I would have made if it had been one of my own children in danger. It was a horrible tragedy but it wasn't your fault."
"After the…accident…my dad wouldn't talk to me, wouldn't even look at me. I wasn't…I wasn't allowed to go to the funeral…to say goodbye…" Jasper raised a trembling hand to his eyes and brushed away his tears. "He started drinking after the accident and eventually it got so bad that he was kicked out of the Army. That…that was when he started to notice me again and…and I wished he didn't…
"He started to…to beat me when he got angry…or…or drunk. If something went wrong for him it was…was worse for me and…and it's just continued to get worse as I've grown up. I…I look a lot like my mum and he…he hates the constant reminder of what he's lost…what I took away from him…"
"Jasper, did he ever sexually abuse you?" Chief Swan asked from where he stood on the other side of the room, holding the police issue tape recorder. "Did he ever touch-"
"No," Jasper interrupted quickly, "No. He didn't…want me. Not like that. He wanted my mum and he…he hated me for taking her away from him but…but he never did anything like that…I swear…never…"
"Will you be willing to testify against your father in a court of law, Jasper?" Chief Swan asked. "We've got enough evidence and witnesses to charge him for the assault and battery but we'll need your testimony to charge him for child abuse."
"I…I want to say yes but…but I'm frightened…" Jasper whispered, fear and shame twisting in his gut. He was afraid of a drunk who was currently locked away in a jail cell.
He was such a coward.
"Jasper, we wont let him hurt you any more," Dr Cullen said and Jasper almost screamed and fought out of pure reflex when the kind man put an arm around his shoulders. "I won't let him hurt you any more. I promise."
Their eyes met and Jasper could read each and every emotion the kind doctor was feeling in his beautiful blue eyes – fear, pain, anger, disgust, pity, compassion, hope, love – a complete jumble of confusing emotions that filled Jaspers heart with a warmth he hadn't felt in years. This was the sort of man a father should be, the sort of man Jasper had always wanted for a father.
"I'll…I'll testify…but…"
"But what?"
"But…he's my dad…" Jasper mumbled, "He was…he was a good man once and…and I think he could be again…if he got some help with his drinking and…and everything…"
"After everything he's done to you, you want to help him?" Chief Swan asked in genuine surprise. Dr Cullen however was smiling as Jasper slowly nodded. "Why?"
"Because…it's the right thing to do. I don't want…I don't want to live with him any more and I agree that he should be taken off the streets before he seriously hurts someone…or worse…but I don't want to just…abandon him," Jasper explained softly.
"I understand, Jasper," Dr Cullen said softly, his hand rubbing comfortingly at Jaspers arm, "I'm sure that something can be arranged for your father to receive the help he needs during his prison sentence."
"Thank you…" Jasper sighed, allowing his body to sink into the doctors comforting arms. "I never thought…I didn't…" he mumbled, shaking his head from side to side as he tried to process all that was happening. "I didn't think…I didn't think anyone would ever want to help me…"
"We'll help you, Jasper," Dr Cullen said, his words bringing more tears to his eyes.
"Thank…thank you…"
And then something just sort of snapped inside of him and the next thing he knew he was sobbing uncontrollably in the kind doctor's arms, his face pressed against his chest, his tears staining the fabric of his shirt as his good hand clutched tightly at the soft material. He was safe and…and someone cared…
Someone cared…
A/N I meant to get this finished a week or so ago but my computer died. I lost everything on my hard-drive and I'm still re-building everything that I lost. Hope you liked the chapter. Comments are always welcome.
