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28

Harley.

I was sleeping on Luke's office couch until my phone rang.

I could immediately hear Jolie's crying as soon as I answered, which woke me up instantly.

"What's wrong?"

She wouldn't talk to me.

So I sat there on the phone with her and made her do breathing exercises with me.

Until she was calm.

"Now talk to me Jo, tell me what's wrong."

And then I heard the words that I dreaded

"Do you remember telling us about our private parts and how no one should touch them?"

I prayed she wasn't asking me this for the reason I was thinking.

"Yes Jolie, I remember." I told her calmly.

"Mr.Doug does it to me- he says it's okay," I could tell she was upset from her voice.

I was instantly blood boiling angry.

"Jolie, send me your exact location right now." I spoke firmly to her.

Once I got it, I checked- it was only an hour away.

I told her to hide or act like she was sleeping and I full sprinted to the OR viewing room that I knew Luke would be in, something the guys told me to do for only emergencies.

Thankfully, the room was empty and I could see him doing a surgery on someone, but I tried not to look because it made me immediately nauseated.

"Luke" I spoke to the sound box, keeping my back to the glass.

"Harley, what's wrong?" His voice spoke smoothly.

"We have to call the police or we have to go to where Jolie is, something is happening to her-" "Harley, slow down." His voice spoke calmly compared to mine.

I swallowed, feeling my entire body panicking at how slow he was making me tell him this.

"Luke- Jolie is in trouble." I felt a tear fall down my face as I spoke.

She was only ten years old.

"Harley I will be done here in ten minutes, most likely less, please go find Ashton and talk to him about this until I can meet you, I am almost done." I could tell he was desperate by his voice, but so was I.

"She might not have ten minutes." I spoke, more to myself than anything before leaving.

And without thinking another thought, I left the entire hospital, bought a bus ticket and called my social worker once I was on the bus.

"Harley! How are things?" She was so happy.

"I'm on the way to Jolie- she's only an hour from me and she's being touched by her foster dad, you need to get police there- you have to get her out of there." I panicked to her.

"Did she call you and tell you this?" She asked me.

"Yes! We have to help her!" I almost yelled into the phone, no one seeming to be taking this as serious as I was, which was more than frustrating.

"Okay Harley, let me make a few calls-" "you can't call her family, it could put her in more danger." I was so scared for her.

She was just a baby.

"I know- just- give me ten minutes, I will call you right back."

I agreed.

As I stared out the bus window, everything that I had just did sunk into realization.

I left without telling any of the guys.

So I called Luke, knowing he should've been out of surgery

"Hey Har" he instantly answered.

"Hey" I mumbled.

Please don't get mad at me.

"So you know how we talked about impulse decisions before and how we don't always think before we do?" I spoke into the phone.

"Yeah- I remember talking about that." He mumbled, curiosity in his voice.

"I did that." I spoke firmly.

"Harley, where are you?" He asked.

"I'm on a bus." I didn't lie like I wanted to.

"Going where!?" His voice panicked.

"1173 cherry lane-" "jolies house?" His voice instantly spoke .

I hummed into the phone.

"I'm meeting you at the bus stop- do not step away from the bus stop until I am there- I will most likely beat you there, but do not do anything until I am there, do you understand?" I could hear that he was angry in his voice, which made me instantly nervous.

"Okay." I spoke back simply.

"I'm going to get into contact with social services for Jolie-" "I did that already." I heard him exhale, i could hear him walking out of the hospital, into the parking garage.

"You call me the minute you step off that bus if I'm not there, understand?" He spoke.

"Yes."

Now I was purely stressed.

Thankfully, my social worker called back

"Harley- the police have gotten her, the accusations were correct, all the kids in the home agreed to Mr.Doug being inappropriate or assaulting my them- Jolie is being taken to the hospital for a wellness check-" "okay- I'll meet you guys with Luke at the hospital." I told her firmly.

"Harley." I could hear her voice was sad

"What?" I asked quickly.

"I think you've done everything you can- you handled this well, but Jolie doesn't need you now-" "what the fuck do you mean, she doesn't need me?" I raised my voice to her.

"Harley-" "she called me because she was assaulted and I was the one she trusted- she clearly needs me! Who is with her in the hospital?" I spoke firmly, trying not to talk loud to disturb people around me, but I was furious.

"Harley, we have to get these babies out of your safety blanket. They are all grieving from losing you, and you are very much alive. We have to give these kids a little chance of wanting to connect with their new families and homes- and they can't do that if they are in contact with the one person who has loved them the past few years" I felt tears falling down my face as she spoke.

"So what does this mean?" My voice failed me and came out as a cry.

"We will give them access to call you once a week until they no longer want to, but you can not come see them or talk to them unless you have direct permission from one of us."

"This is not what we agreed on at all-" "Harley, you have a family now. One that has proven that they will do absolutely anything for you. You need to take the time to bond with them and give your body a rest from being a parent, go be a kid."