Unseen Duty

Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Nick

I woke up to a light knock on the door. I picked my body up from its position tried to stretch, but my back was too sore from the uncomfortable hospital couch. I looked over towards Miley to see her stirring in her sleep.

They had brought her back from x-rays about two hours ago and Miley had been given a decent dose of drugs to numb the pain, causing her to pass out pretty quickly. The x-ray results revealed one broken rib and three bruised ones, plus a badly sprained wrist. She also had a total of 16 stitches put in various places on her body, a couple on her eyebrow, a few in her arm/shoulder and the remaining on her back, a result of being through on top of the broken glass.

I moved my eyes away from Miley and towards the knock on the door. The nurse, still Dianna, had walked in with an older woman. The older woman was dressed in black slacks and a matching blazer, and she carried a leather binder that overflowed with papers. The bags under her eyes and the worry lines on her forehead conveyed that her job was stressful.

"Hi Officer Jonas, my name is Miranda Harris. I work in the domestic violence subdivision of the New York City Department of Social Services." A social worker.

"Hi, Ms. Harris, nice to meet you." I stood up and shook her hand politely.

She smiled curtly before turning her attention towards the now-awake Miley. "Hi Miley. Remember me?" Miley nodded slowly then looked down at her fingers. "Don't worry, honey. Remember what I said last time? I'm here to help you." Miranda sat down in a chair opposite Miley.

Miley didn't look up from her hands. I could see the tears starting to form at the brink of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

"I thought I told you guys that I was fine."

Miranda sighed quietly. "Miley, this is the third time you've been sent to the hospital in two months. You're not fine." Holy shit. Three times? "And I doubt that even counts all the times you've been hurt. Just the amount that he hurt you bad enough where you couldn't heal yourself." So it was the boyfriend.

"He doesn't mean to do it." The tears started to fall from her eyes. "I just need to be more careful around him. I mess up a lot and he gets angry, but he never means it. He always helps me afterwards."

"Where is he now?" Miley shrugged her shoulders. Miranda looked over at me and I copied Miley. "Miley, honey," Miranda leaned forward and grabbed one of Miley's hands, "where are you going to go when they release you?"

"Back to the apartment."

"Miley, I can't let you do that. I'm sorry. Is there some family around here that you can stay with? A friend?"

Miley shook her head. "I'm not from here. I haven't talked to my parents since I started dating him. He wanted to move to California, so I followed him. My friends are all his friends."

I took out my notepad and started jotting down notes for the case.

Boyfriend. Same apartment and friends. No family nearby. 3 hospital visits in 2 months. Social worker.

"You're going to have to come to a shelter with me once you're discharged. I can't put you back into an environment that's almost killed you multiple times." Miranda stood up and started to gather her things together.

Miley's head and body shot up from the hospital bed. She winced at the sudden movement and her hand went to soothe the pain in her abdomen. "Miranda, you can't take me to a shelter!"

"Miley! I have no choice—"

"She can stay with me at my place." The words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them. I was just as stunned as both women were. They turned to look at me while supporting different expressions. Miley had a hopeful look in her eyes while Miranda's narrowed at me.