Road To Recovery (A "Living With The Choices We Make" Sequel) ✔️

10 - Declaring War On A New Front

I massaged my forehead, a growl of frustration running over my lips. There was no way I would just go back on the phone and tell Patrice that there was nothing I could do for her. "So that's it?"

An idea sprang to mind, yet it would mean to fire a bullet at my friend. In the end, my desire to support Patrice outweighed my fear that Kade might get mad at me. "You're a doctor and took an oath. You have to help her."

His eyes narrowed slightly as he threw up his hands. "Look, I never said I didn't want to help her. I think we should call an ambulance."

Marcus would just sent them away, claiming it was all a big mistake. "You know how he is. Those paramedics won't make it across the threshold."

Kade pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're probably right."

I got another idea. "How about your mom? Can we call her and she can get an emergency petition to get Patrice out of the house? She is still a minor."

He shook his head. "That requires Chantal's signature and at the moment, she doesn't want to rock the boat. Plus, I don't even know where my mom is. Her and my dad go on this date thing once a month and have a strict no tell, no phone policy so no one can disturb them. It's their idea of romance."

"Great." My eyes dashed to my dad. "Any other ideas?"

He shrugged. "We could call Noel. Maybe he can file a petition?"

Kade was again all opposition. "That still doesn't get around Chantal's signature. We cannot represent Patrice outright since her mom is our client. It's against the bar rules."

I glare at him, dumfounded that he didn't seem to give a damn about Patrice's wellbeing. "How do you even know that? You are no lawyer."

He buried his face in his hands. "Because I tried before and got burned. About six months ago, Patrice came to the emergency room and I tried to have her removed from Marcus's and Chantal's care because there were certain signs of abuse. It got me nowhere. The firm couldn't help because Chantal refused to cooperate and I had to turn all the evidence over to Marcus since I obtained it without parental consent. Got me damn near fired so excuse me if I don't want to repeat the experience."

The whole situation was royally screwed up. "Well, then there is only one thing we can do. You have to take me to their house and I'll get Patrice out of there."

He chuckled bitterly. "And you think Marcus will just allow you to do that?"

I couldn't care less about Marcus. I had been there before, praying that someone would come and help me and I would not leave Patrice hanging out to dry. "I'll just pretend that Patrice and I had plans tonight. He saw us today at the coffee shop and might buy it."

Kade looked doubtful. "I don't know. Maybe we should just call the police and let them deal with it."

As he said before, the police weren't going to do anything. "I'll tell Patrice we're on our way. If you don't want to come, I'll just take a cab."

With my chin stuck high up in the air to give my words the confidence I desperately needed, I stalked back into my bedroom. Five minutes later, after some soothing words to Patrice who also tried to dissuade me from coming, I had the address and was with Kade on the way to Winnetka. This was my first chance to save someone from a bad situation and I was not going to blow it - or let Marcus Forrester stop me.

xxxx

We rode in silence while I stared out of the window, watching the busy lights of downtown Chicago shrink to small dots in the darkness. It was close to ten o'clock now and I was mulling over what excuse to use for Marcus to let Patrice go. He would be furious to be disturbed that late at night and I preferred not to cause a scene until it was absolutely necessary.