The officers exchanged wary glances but reluctantly loosened their grip.
In an instant, the young woman seized a nearby chair and swung it toward Colleen with desperate force.
“What is her name?” Colleen called out, steadying the chair with a raised hand. “Tell me her name!”
“Ha… Hadley,” one officer stammered, caught off guard. “Hadley!”
Colleen’s voice rang out, firm yet compassionate, as she braced against the chair’s momentum. “Is that your name? Can you hear me?”
For a moment, Hadley froze.
Through the veil of her disheveled hair, Hadley raised her gaze to meet Colleen’s.
A wave of relief washed over Colleen.
Colleen’s heart swelled with hope. “You hear me, don’t you? It’s okay. Don’t be scared,” she said warmly. “See? I’m a doctor, and I’m not gonna hurt you.”
In this foreign land, a familiar accent felt like a touchstone of home. Hadley remained silent, her guarded eyes fixed on Colleen, wary yet curious.
“I won’t come closer or lay a hand on you without your consent,” Colleen assured her, her smile gentle as she kept a steady grip on the chair. “This is quite heavy, isn’t it? Shall we set it down together?” She felt the tension in Hadley’s grip begin to soften.
At last, the chair settled gently to the floor.
Colleen kept her distance, moving with deliberate care. She slipped off her white lab coat and draped it over the chair’s back.
Then, taking off her own jacket, she held it up toward Hadley. “I brought this from home tonight—it’s clean. May I place it over your shoulders?”
Hadley’s lips trembled, forming silent words, her eyes locked on Colleen’s.
Though no sound came, Colleen took a cautious step forward, and then another, watching for any sign of resistance.
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When none came, she gently draped the jacket over Hadley’s shoulders, shielding her exposed, bruised skin.
Pointing to her medical kit, Colleen gestured toward Hadley. “You’re injured. May I examine and treat your wounds?” This time, Hadley offered no resistance. Check latest chapters at find(?)ovel.net
Her expression remained distant, almost vacant, but she allowed Colleen to tend to her injuries with careful precision.
As Colleen snapped her medical kit shut, she caught a faint murmur from Hadley. “Joy…”
“Pardon?” Colleen leaned closer, straining to hear. “Could you repeat that?”
But Hadley fell silent, her gaze drifting away as she retreated to a corner, curling into herself like a wounded bird.
“Doctor, thank you for your help,” an officer said, approaching to signal it was time to leave.
With no choice but to comply, Colleen slung her medical kit over her shoulder and started toward the exit.
“Officer,” she called out, pausing to glance back. “May I ask what she did?”
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