Ten Blade

13.06

As Jo showed Bailey the picture she was looking at, the Chief of Surgery let out. "Oh. Now, that's..."

"A crime against God." The resident chuckled. "Oh, this one has feet."

"Jo." Helena reprimanded, eyes still on the road.

"What? It's not a baby. It's a mass of skin and cells... like a tumor." She shrugged.

"Let's stop talking about symptoms and let's start talking about the patient." The attending requested.

"Kristen Rochester, 16, 31 weeks pregnant. Preliminary ultrasound shows likely TRAPS syndrome."

"Yeah, hard to say for sure, since their ultrasound machine is junk."

"Look, we all know inmates don't usually get the best medical care, less alone in high security prisons. But we have our portable ultrasound and out fetal ablation machine." Helena argued.

"That are easier to handle in our not junky hospital..." Bailey muttered.

"Well, it's not possible for us to transport this patient, and you know it. So we'll just... let's focus on giving this girl the best care we can, in the conditions we have." Helena nodded, slightly tapping on the wheel, anxiously.

——

"I don't wanna spend any more time in here than we have to." Bailey sighted, shifting on her feet, in the elevator. "We do this fast, then get the hell out."

"We do this well, even if it means not doing it fast. She's like any other kid." Helena argued, standing in front of her.

"No, she's not."

"No, she's not." She admitted. "But can you imagine?"

"No." Bailey cut her off.

"I'm just saying, to be so young and in here, plus pregnant... We should offer her all the humanity we can give her. I wouldn't think there's a lot of that around here..." She sighed rolling her neck.

"I cannot imagine."

"Bailey..." Helena almost reasoned.

"I would never put myself in a position to be in here." She shook her head.

"Nobody intends to be here." Jo shared, receiving a look from her Chief. "I'm just saying, you get hungry and desperate, or broke and desperate, and stuff happens."

"Stuff does not just happen to you. You happen to stuff."

"Except when it does. Except when... I don't know, you try to defend yourself and end up seriously hurting someone, or you get caught up on someone else's mess o-or, I don't know when a freaking plane just drops from the sky with you in it. Sometimes, stuff just happens to you." Helena let out, the elevator suddenly becoming silent.

——

As they arrived at the prison's entrance area, Helena greeted the guard behind the counter, with a small smile. "Hi. How are you doing tonight?"

"Name?" He dryly requested.

"Helena Campos. These are-"