Richard and Ellen walk into the room where Saffron is being treated. The doctor is still in with her.
'How is she? We're her parents' Ellen asks.
'I'm Dr. Mayfair. Her vitals are stable, neuro exam was clear. It's looking like a concussion. She has a nasty cut on her head which we'll glue together once she's been for a head CT.' He informs them. 'We're also going to get an x-ray of her shoulder as a precaution. Other than that, she's okay.'
'When can she be discharged?' Richard questions.
'I want to keep her in for a few hours for observation before sending her home.' Dr. Mayfair responds. 'She'll need someone with her for 24 hours once she's discharged.'
'That's fine.' Ellen nods.
'I'll be back once her scan results are back.' Dr. Mayfair informs them before leaving. Once he has left, Ellen and Richard stand on either side of the bed.
'I told you you'd better be dying when we got here.' Ellen snarls. Saffron looks down. 'We were in a meeting with a very big potential client.'
'If you've screwed this up for us, I swear to god, girl, you'd wish you were dead.' Richard adds. 'Look at me when I'm talking to you.'
'Sorry.' Saffron whispers as she looks up at him.
'We're going to get back to work.' Ellen tells her. 'Hopefully, we can resume our meeting. Seeing as you need someone to watch over you for the next day, you can stay with Alex and Ben tonight. We're not babysitters.' With that, Ellen and Richard leave. Saffron tries to fight back the tears in her eyes but it's no use. A few minutes later, Ben and Alex walk in, as soon as Ben sees her crying, he sits on the side of the bed whilst Alex sits in one of the chairs.
'Hey, ¿qué pasa chica?' Ben asks as he grabs hold of her hand.
'Nothing.' Saffron shakes her head and she wipes her tears.
'Saff, your parents walked out of here a few minutes ago and now you're crying.' Ben raises an eyebrow. 'What did they say to you?'
'Oh, you know, just that I'd wish I was dead if I've screwed up this meeting for them.' Saffron deadpans. She looks at Alex. 'Is it okay if I stay with you guys tonight? The doctor says it's a concussion and I'll need someone to keep an eye on me for 24 hours and my parents don't want to be stuck with that responsibility.'
'Of course.' Alex nods. 'Once you're discharged, we'll go to yours and pick up whatever you need.'
'Thanks.' Saffron smiles slightly.
'Saff, you know you're welcome anytime.' Ben squeezes her hand. 'Listen, Officer Reyes is going to help you.'
'Ben-' Saffron shakes her head.
'Hear me out.' Ben cuts her off. 'At school, when he noticed the bruise on your wrist, he had a suspicion something was going on. So, when he got back to the station, he looked you up in their system, obviously, you're already in there because of when you've called for help.'
'Ben, every police officer hasn't given a shit. My parents are close to the police commissioner. They're scared that if they take things further and launch an investigation that my parents will go to the commissioner and they'll lose their job.' Saffron says. 'Eventually, Officer Reyes will realise that and drop it.'
'I don't think he will.' Alex adds. Ben and Saffron look at him. 'He took your parents into a side room when they arrived so they couldn't see you until you'd been seen by the doctor. No other officer has ever done that.' He continues. 'Saff, there are some really good officers that care out there. Give him a chance to help.'
'Okay.' Saffron nods quietly.
It's been a few hours. Saffron's CT and X-Ray came back clear and her head wound has been glued together. Since Ellen and Richard gave consent for Saffron to be discharged into Alex's care before they left, the doctors are happy for her to leave.
As Saffron, Ben, and Alex walk out of the hospital, they see Carlos leaning against his patrol care with a coffee in his hands. As soon as he sees them, he stands up straight and walks over to them.
'Everything okay?' Carlos asks.
'Yeah.' Saffron nods. 'Just a concussion and my shoulder will be sore for a few days.'
'That's good.' Carlos nods. 'Where are your parents?'
'They erm- they went back to work. They were in the middle of an important meeting.' Saffron replies. 'I'm staying with Alex and Ben tonight since I'm on concussion protocol.'
'Have you been here the whole time?' Alex questions.
'No.' Carlos shakes his head. 'I had to go do some paperwork but I needed to follow up with Saffron to make sure she was okay before finishing it up. Speaking of which, I better get back.' He reaches into one of his pockets and takes out a business card. 'Saffron, if you ever need help, or you just want to talk, just give me a call. My personal cell is on the back.' He hands Saffron the card.
'Thank you.' Saffron smiles slightly.
'Bye.' Carlos nods at the three of them. They all say goodbye back and he leaves.
'He really does want to help me.' Saffron says quietly but loud enough for Ben and Alex to here. 'No other officer has ever given me their card, let alone their personal number.' She adds louder.
'I told you.' Ben swings his arm around her shoulder. 'He wants to help. You just have to let him. I know that's a hard concept for you, Saff, but you can't keep going on like this.'
'I know.' Saffron nods.
'Alright then.' Alex claps his hands, interrupting the moment. 'Shall we go back to yours and you can pack a bag and then we'll go grab some pizza.'
.
Later that night, Ben and Saffron are chilling in Ben's bedroom. Saffron is reading a book, The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber whilst Ben is playing a game on his Xbox.
'You fucking bitch!' Saffron seethes as she slams the book shut.
'Cliffhanger.' Ben laughs, pausing the game and looking at her.
'Yes!' Saffron throws her hands in the air. 'How am I supposed to wait until the next book? Wait, what if there's not a next book? What if this is it? What am I supposed to do then.'
'You're acting like it will be the end of the world.' Ben chuckles.
'Because it will be.' Saffron puts her hands on his shoulders and shakes him.
'Saff, cálmate, you know there's going to be another one. You told me the other week.' Ben laughs. Saffron stops shaking him.
'Oh, yeah.' She takes her hands off his shoulder. 'Whoospies.' She shrugs. 'And oh.' She rubs her injured shoulder.
'Serves you right.' Ben laughs smugly. Saffron takes the book and raises it above her head.
'Don't make me hit you with this.' She raises an eyebrow.
'Okay, okay, I'm sorry.' Ben laughs, holding up his hands. Saffron lowers the books and Ben goes back to playing his game. 'So,' THWACK 'OW!' He rubs the back of his head. 'What was that for?'
'Dunno.' Saffron shrugs her shoulders. 'Just wanted to hit you.' There are a few moments of silence. 'Ben?' Ben pauses the game once more and looks at his best friend. 'Do you really think Officer Reyes can help me?'
'He went out of his way to look you up in the APD database because he was concerned.' Ben says. 'He knew something was going on and he wanted to check on that.' He continues. 'So yes, I do think he can help you; but he can't help you unless you go to him and ask for help.'
'I know. It's just gonna be hard, y'know?' Saffron replies. 'I've been shut down so many times that it's so difficult to trust the police anymore.' Ben can tell that that's not all she's worried about.
'What else is on your mind, chica?' He questions.
'The guy that grabbed me earlier. What do you think he meant?' Saffron asks. 'He said, "they'll explain". Who's they?'
'I don't know,' Ben shakes his head, 'but if he comes near you again or something like that happens again, you get somewhere safe and you call the cops. Okay?'
'Yeah.' Saffron nods. Ben grabs her hand and squeezes it.
'Hasta el fin.' He says.
'Hasta el fin.' Saffron smiles slightly, squeezing his hand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So! Finally got around to updating! So, something Ben and Saffron will say to each other throughout this story is "hasta el final" which translates to "to the end" which is a symbol of their friendship!
Let me know what you think!
Much love