The Rejected Daughter

The scent of antiseptic hit him before he even stepped through the doors. Hospitals had always unsettled Kevin, not because he feared death but beacause he hated seeing people hang on threads- they reminded him of a terrible childhood. He walked in with purpose, his long coat trailing behind him as the heels of his shoes tapped steadily against the tiles. He had walked through war zones, boardrooms and faced a lot of high power executives but this is the first time his heart had pounded with something cloesr to hope. He followed the path described to him by the receptionists and sped across the hallway, eyes searching for the man who called him over. "You found her?" He asked tightly the minute he got to the front of the ward where Dr.Ethan had been waiting for her. Ethan nodded. "We admitted her three nights ago. She was dumped near a warehouse outside the city, severe bruising, malnourished, collasped lung. She's been through...hell. They stood through the glass door. Kevin stared through the window like a man staring into a memory. She was thinner now, fragile. Her face was devoid of that childish happiness that pulled him from an endless pit of suufering. Her body curled into herself like she was trying to disappear. "How bad is she?" He asked. "She's mentally unstable" Ethan said softly"She wakes up and panics, is scared of everyone that goes near her. Screams at people that aren't there. Other times she goes completely still for hours. I've never seen a trauma this deep". Kevin's jaw clenched. "Have informed her family yet?" Ethan exhaled"You know how it is, it's best they don't know for now" He looked at the girl again. Her arm twitched slightly, like she's having a dream. He opened the door and stepped inside. The beep of the monitor was the only sound in the room, the air smelled like antiseptic and old tears. She didn't stir when he walked to the side of the bed. Kevin stared, eyes gazing over her body, marks of endless suffering glaring all over her body. So much had obviously happened to her but she was still hanging on to life. "I've been looking for you for a long time and here you are, but never will i think i'll meet you like this- broken, what happened to the cheerful and playful girl who would annoy me to no ends" He inhaled sharply and took her fragile hands in his"I don't care what they say, you would never do that, right?" She didn't respond. He sat down beside her, hands on his knees. Behind him the door opened and Ethan walked in, tablet in hand "Wow, i never thought i'ld see Kevin Mathias like thus" he said in a quiet but mocking tone"Usually you walk in give orders and out you go. Cold, distant and untouchable." Kevin only glanced at him coldly and return his gaze back to sleeping jade who is now stirring in her sleep. "You'll wake her" He said to ethan with no emotions. "She needs a protective roof, she has a lot of dogs searching for her" "I know and i'll handle it just make sure she gets better" "Yes boss" Ethan said, a little bit louder than intended waking jade up in the process. She woke up slowly. Her lashes fluttered, dry eyes blinking up at the unfamiliar ceiling and her surronding, realizing she was in an unfamiliar environment, her instincts shot in and she tried to escape. Ethan rushed over to her side to calm her down, and her eyes gazed over to him - kevin and relaxed. She then walked up to kevin with a normal expression like her former self. Ethan has never seen that kind of look on her face since she was admitted - it was almost as if she was stable. "Jade?" Kevin called out cautiously 'Does she recongnize me' he thought.