- Serena -

We ran out and saw the woman foaming up on the floor, the daughter kneeling and shaking her mother to get up. 

Roxanne and I rushed over to help, Ben crashed in and absorbed the situation in front of him. 

I don't know what to do, I held the little girl to me as she cried her eyes out while Roxy tried to hold her mother up.

Ben ran around the counter to grab a bunch of kitchen towels. He watched the lady and looked at me, "She's having a seizure Serena."

Blood oozed out the sides of her mouth and the little girl clung to me tighter while Ben helped to clean the floor. Roxanne wiped the foam off her body and she accidentally pulled the lady's sleeves up, exposing the terrible cuts and bruises on both her arms.

She looked at me and we shared a look, what happened to her?

"How long has she been like this?" Ben asked and glanced at his watch.

I shook my head, unsure how long has passed.

"About five minutes," Roxanne answered.

Ben fished his phone out and called the ambulance.

The ambulance sounded from outside within minutes and the paramedics brought a stretcher in, quickly lifting the mother on it and loading her onto the vehicle.

"I'll come over to the hospital later, you and Ben accompany her daughter in the ambulance," Roxanne instructed and I nodded.

The paramedics let Ben, the daughter and I climb on.

Ben filled the people in charge in on what happened and I answered some questions though my mind was mostly blank.

Was this lady abused? She looked horribly sick. Now that her sleeves were rolled up, I could see how skinny she was. 

The daughter hugged me, staring at her unconscious mother. 

"Are you okay?" I squeezed her tiny shoulders slightly and she shivered, nodding.

I took a deep breath, I had to calm my core down. My hands were really chilly and I didn't even realise it.

"Are any of you related to this lady?" One of the paramedics asked us and I nodded.

"This girl is her daughter," I gestured to the five-year-old and they smiled at her kindly.

"Your mummy will be fine, we'll take care of her. Do you know your mummy's name?" The paramedic asked and the little girl nodded.

"Tasha," she whispered.

"What's her last name sweetie?" She pressed and the girl leaned into me, not wanting to answer.

"Tasha Rodriguez," Ben mumbled and I stared at him. He knew her?

The paramedic gave him an odd look but brushed it off the moment we arrived at the hospital.

They wheeled her in while I held the girl's hand and approached Ben, "You know that lady?"

He stiffened and ran a hand through his hair, "Kind of, I met her once back in my old town."

I eyed him, "You met her once and you remember her name off the top of your brain. That's impressive." 

He could sense my sarcasm but didn't mention more. The little girl kept staying behind me and I realised she was hiding not because of her mother's condition, but because of Ben.

Ben gave her a look, his eyes staring holes into her soul and she started tearing up.

"Ben, she's frightened, she's scared. Stop looking at her like that," I snapped at him and he glanced up at me, challenging me.

I didn't care, he was being awfully horrifying to the girl and he knew her mother. What the hell?

"Come on sweetie, we'll get something for you to drink while we wait for your mother," I pulled her along with me as Ben looked away.

I don't know what Ben's deal is but he is extra weird. Him knowing some woman's name and him looking at the little girl like she was the definition of wrong. 

I got the daughter to choose a drink from the vending machine and she chose a carton of chocolate milk.

We sat down in the waiting area and she sipped on her drink quietly.

I wiped her tear stains away and patted her head, "You and mummy like to come to my cafe for ice cream?"

She looked up at me, her eyes sparkling with new interest, or the same look she had when she was ordering her rainbow ice cream, "Yes the ice cream is really sweet and yummy. It's also very pretty."

"Does your mummy like the ice cream?"

Her eyes drooped, "No mummy doesn't like ice cream. But mummy is happy when she gets ice cream with me. Mummy doesn't cry when she is with me."

I was curious, what did she mean by that?

"Why doesn't mummy cry when she's with you?"

She frowned, really full-scale frowned an upside-down smile, "Daddy bullies mummy, mummy is always hurt. When mummy thinks I'm sleeping, I will see her crying because daddy hits mummy. Mummy is sad, I don't like mummy being sad. 

So I bring her out for ice cream, mummy smiles a lot when she is with me."

She giggled and continued sipping on her milk.

I blinked at her, my mind a blank. This was a case of abuse, domestic violence.

The bruises, the marks, the scratches, the cuts, the vomiting, the patches on her face, the poor lady was suffering and I didn't do anything.

I looked at the little girl as she slurped the last of her chocolate milk, "I will throw this away."

I nodded and she skipped to the bin, dumping it, then bumping into Ben as she ran back to me.

She looked up at him with a face of terror, I quickly went over and she hugged my leg. Ben glared at me, "Give her to me Serena, this girl is dangerous."

I stared straight back at him, "Are you crazy Ben? She's five, what harm can she do?"

He reached over, wanting to pull her away from me but I carried her up in my arms and stepped back from him, "That's enough, leave her alone."

"She's not dangerous but her father is, drop her now. We need to leave," his voice was grave but I wasn't listening to his bullshit. 

"You can leave if you want to Ben, but I'm not leaving this girl here alone. Plus Roxanne is coming, we'll deal with whatever it is here."

"Serena-"

"Ben, leave."

His eyes flashed with hurt the moment those words left my mouth but he recovered quickly. 

He took another look at the daughter but she tucked her head into my neck and he left.

I patted her back, trying to calm her, "It's okay sweetheart, he's gone."

She shimmied herself off me and sat back on the seats to wait. Roxanne came running in minutes after and she heaved a sigh of relief the moment our eyes met.

"Serena, God I was so worried. What's going to happen now?" 

I shook my head, "I don't know Roxy but I've talked to the girl and it sounds like a case of domestic abuse."

She gasped, "No way, are we supposed to call the cops or something?"

I sighed really loudly, "I have no idea what to do."

Roxanne looked at the girl then back at me, "You talked to the girl but you still don't know what her name is?"

I turned to the girl then back to her, "I totally forgot to ask her. Sweetie, what's your name?"

She scooted away from Roxy and closer to me, "Felicia."

"Felicia, that's a really pretty name you have."

She beamed at that, "Mummy gave me my name, everything mummy does is pretty."

I felt my heart melt, she was beautiful. 

We heard doors crashing open and loud hollering coming from the front desk which was a corridor down from where we were.

Roxanne stood up from the seat and went over to the corridor to check it out. Felicia immediately ducked and tried to hide, her tiny arms around my waist and her head buried into my ribs.

"What is it?" I patted her back and Roxy came back to us.

"There's a gang out there Serena, they're making a fuss. It looks like they might come over here."

I grumbled and looked down at the girl, why is she so frightened by everything?

The emergency room door opened and a doctor stepped out just as the shouts from the front desk quietened down and we heard stomping come from the corridor.

"Tasha Rodriguez," the doctor looked up from his clipboard and I walked over with Felicia. 

"We sent her in earlier, this is her daughter," I mentioned to him and he was about to explain what happened to her when the clipboard got snatched out of his hands.

"We'll take it from here, I'm Tasha's husband, Tyronne Rodriguez. I'll transfer her to a private hospital," he snapped his fingers and his men took the clipboard from him. I could hear a really strong Italian accent from him.

I stared at him, and his gang of four men standing behind and beside him.

They were two or three shades darker than me though I'm really fair, tattoos down their arms, hair all combed back and dressed in black from head to toe.

The man who announced himself as the husband wore a pair of Ray-Bans and I could tell he was really good-looking with his framed and structured facial features. He also looked older than me maybe in his late thirties.

But as my mind processed, he was the one that abused my customer, his wife.

"No, I was the one that brought her in, she is unwell. She needs to be treated, doesn't she?" I looked at the doctor and he was shaking so badly just from the looks of the men who stole his patient's medical report.

He looked between me and the men in black and nodded, "Y-Yes she needs to be treated, she's in terrible condition. Her injuries are still raw and some are already infected, we need to clean her wounds. It also seems like she was drugged-"

One of the men grabbed the doctor by his throat and lifted him off the ground and Felicia screamed.

Roxanne yelled out from behind me, "Hey! Put him down!"

The husband just smirked and stared at the doctor, "Let me repeat myself, though I hate to. We'll take it from here, I'll transfer her to a private hospital."

The doctor was going blue in the face and he tried to nod but the man wasn't letting him go.

"Put him down, there's no need to resort to violence," I eyed the husband and he stared back at me.

"Anyone that makes me repeat myself is asking for it," his eyes void of emotion as he took his sunglasses off.

"Anyone that makes ME repeat is asking to get his ass whooped, now PUT. HIM. DOWN." I snapped at him and he stepped back, clearly not expecting that from me.

The husband smiled and I glared at him, this slimy grease ball, what does he want?

He snapped his finger and the man put the doctor down, he coughed and gasped for air and Roxy ran over to check if he was okay.

The husband ran his eyes over me and I felt like puking, he was trying to size me up. Then his gaze fell to Felicia and she flinched, desperately trying to hide from him.

"Felicia mio cara, daddy will fetch you and mummy home. Come on," he reached out for her.

She hugged me tight and the husband stared at me, "Give my daughter back to me, it's my family problem."

I stared him down but Roxy shook her head, no more trouble.

I sighed and kneeled down to Felicia's level, "Felicia, go home with daddy. You know where to find me if anything goes wrong right?"

I glanced at the husband as I said this, I was directing the threat to him and reassurance to her.

She nodded, her eyes still frightened.

I smiled and patted her head as her father pulled her from my grasp.

"Come on Roxy, let's go," I eyed the group of men again and walked off with Roxanne.