flatline [m.s]

clx.

"he's got some inner abdominal bleeding on c.t. you want to run some more tests?" deluca asks, but lia doesn't respond, and her eyes remain fixed on the baby. "dr. webber?"

"i need a stat ultrasound and for you the infuse two grams of i.v.i.g. if there is no cranial bleeding," lia instructs. "then find out where the mother is. i need to test for maternal platelet antibodies."

"can't you just do surgery to fix the abdominal bleeding?" deluca furrows his brow.

"if i wanted to kill him, i could do that. damn it," lia frowns. "who does this?"

"dr. webber, there are some people here about the baby," nurse kate informs her from the doorway.

■ ■ ■

there are four schoolgirls, lisa, shannon, sara, and karen sat in the lobby, each accompanied by a parent, regarding the abandoned baby.

"so what, my daughter gets a b in maths, and suddenly she's birthing babies in toilet stalls?" lisa's father argues as lia approaches.

"i'm dr. webber. i'm treating the newborn," lia introduces herself, and the four parents stand. "he has an emergent blood condition. i need to know whose baby it is i'm dealing with."

"yeah, we'd all like to know that," sara's mom retorts. "sara... talk."

"i don't know anything about any baby, mom," sara insists.

"none of us do," lisa adds.

"well, one of you must know something, otherwise you and your parents wouldn't be here," lia tells them.

"our girls- the principal said that they were the last people in the bathroom before that baby was found," shannon's mom informs lia. "so we just thought, before the police show up..."

"one of you knows, and you better confess," lisa's dad points to the girls. "i don't want my lisa messed up in this."

"look, the police will be here soon," karen's mom turns to lia. "can't you just do some sort of d.n.a test so that the rest of us can get out of here?"

"d.n.a results take days, and frankly, i'm not concerned with getting the rest of you 'out of here'," lia assures them. "if this baby isn't treated he's going to die. now i can do vaginal exams on each of the girls-"

"my daughter is fourteen years old. she's not sexually active," karen's mom protests. "and i won't have you violating her body."

"you won't have it 'cause you know it's your kid," lisa's dad argues. "i tell you what, you have my consent to do whatever it takes to prove my lisa's innocent."

"you are a sick bastard, you know that?" karen's mom scrunches her nose at him with disgust.

"a child's life is in jeopardy here," lia stresses, before turning to the parents. "and it's not your consent that i need."

"we didn't do anything wrong," sara insists.

"yeah, just because we were in there doesn't mean it's our baby," karen shrugs.

"do we look like the kind of girls who get pregnant and throw their kids into the trash?" shannon raises her brow and lia exhales deeply.