Disclaimer: Only my original characters belong to me.

Author's notes: I know, I said that I wouldn't have two stories on the go at the same time any more, but I know that not everyone reads R rated fiction, so this one's for you!

SOMETHING TO PROVE.

(PART ONE)

Some days, the Emergency Room at Community General Hospital could be an absolute hive of activity, with a constant stream of battered, bloodied and bruised patients keeping the doctors thoroughly busy. On other days, it could be more like a morgue, with only the occasional accident to relieve the boredom.

Jesse Travis was having one of those latter days. He lounged at the nurse's station, chatting to anyone who so much as paused there and getting in the way of people who still had work to do, even if he didn't.

And so, Jesse was handily placed when the ER doors opened and a young girl wandered in, tears streaming down her face, cradling her right arm against her chest protectively.

Even though she had wrapped a towel around the arm, Jesse could see that it was heavily blood-stained and the first drops were beginning to soak through and splatter onto the floor. He hurried over to her.

"Can you tell me what happened?" he asked, gently taking hold of her injured arm and easing back the towel.

"I... I fell..." the girl mumbled, seemingly disorientated.

Jesse looked at her more closely and saw the beginnings of a bruise just starting to darken under her fringe. Making eye contact with a nearby nurse, the doctor gestured towards the nearest empty room and, between them, they gently steered the confused girl towards it.

"Can you tell me your name?" Jesse asked, as he sat her down.

"Melissa." Her voice was barely a whisper. "Melissa Flynn."

"Okay, Melissa. Now, I'm just going to take a look at your arm, then we'll see about that bump on your head. Alright?"

The girl merely nodded and Jesse wondered if she'd actually heard a word that he'd said. He carefully removed the towel and handed it to the nurse for disposal, then frowned at the lacerations on her arm.

"That must have been some fall," he murmured to himself.

There were three deep cuts, all on her forearm and most probably caused by broken glass. As gently as he could, Jesse eased the skin back, to see if there were any shards of glass remaining in the wound. In spite of his care, the action still provoked a gasp of pain from Melissa.

"Sorry," he soothed, continuing with his examination. "This will only take a second, then the nurse can stitch you up."

The nurse was experienced and knew her duties without being told. She had already prepared a local anaesthetic and, at the nod from Jesse, she began to clean the ugly wounds. The doctor turned his attention to the head wound.

"Okay, those cuts actually look worse than they are. We should have you fixed up in no time." As he spoke he pulled a pen light from his pocket and shone it into Melissa's eyes.

All the while that he worked, Jesse kept up his soothing monologue and, after a while, the girl began to respond. Her tears stopped and, when he'd finished, she gave Jesse a shy smile.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm Doctor Travis, but you can call me Jesse." He smiled in return. "Now, Melissa, you have a mild concussion and I want to keep you in overnight, just as a precaution."

"Wow, okay."

Jesse didn't have a lot of experience with teenagers, but he did know that it was definitely unusual for one to be so keen to spend the night in hospital. Frowning slightly, he went to fetch the appropriate forms to get her admitted.

*****

Any further thoughts of Melissa Flynn were pushed out of Jesse's head as his previously boring shift suddenly turned into a hectic one. A gas explosion kept him busy well into the night and, by the time he finished, he only had enough energy left to get home and fall into bed.

He did, however, go to check on her when he arrived back at the hospital the next morning. Entering her room, Jesse was pleased to note that she was sitting up in bed. There was another woman, slightly older than Melissa, sitting next to her. From their resemblance, Jesse guessed that it had to be her sister.

"So, did you sleep alright?" the doctor asked, picking up her chart and scanning it rapidly. "There don't seem to have been any problems."

"Can she go home today?" the other woman asked.

"I don't see why not, but she really should take it easy for a few days, Miss..."

"Oh, sorry. I'm Rebecca Flynn, Mel's big sister."

Jesse shook her proffered hand: "Well, just make sure that she doesn't do anything too strenuous with that arm."

"Jesse?" Melissa's voice came from the bed and the young doctor smiled down at her. "Thanks."

"It was my pleasure. Now, I'll leave you to get dressed, then we'll see about getting you discharged. You'll have to come back to have those stitches removed. Just go to reception and they'll make an appointment for you."

"Will you be taking the stitches out?" Melissa asked, hopefully.

"What? No, it will probably be one of the nurses. Don't worry, they're all very highly trained."

Jesse put the chart down and, with one last smile at the two women, went back to work.

*****

Two days later and Jesse had forgotten all about Melissa Flynn. It was the height of the summer and the heat seemed to have driven the people of LA even crazier than usual. The ER was constantly busy and Jesse was taking a well-earned break in the doctor's lounge when the tannoy blared.

"Doctor Travis to the ER! Doctor Travis to the ER!"

Jesse rolled his eyes at Mark, took one last swig of coffee, then headed off back to work.

The last person he expected to see was Melissa. Once again, the young girl's face was streaked with tears but, this time, she also had a huge bruise covering one side of her face. When she stood up to accompany the doctor into a treatment room, Jesse also noticed that she was limping.

"What happened, honey?" Jesse asked, gently, as he studied her bruised cheek. While the injury looked painful, there didn't seem to be any permanent damage.

"It was..." Melissa's gaze dropped. "There were these girls, from school..."

"Melissa, if you're being bullied, you can get help." He cupped her chin and lifted her head up, looking at her with concern. "You don't have to put up with it."

"Oh, no. It's nothing like that," the girl hurriedly protested. "It was just a stupid argument that got out of control."

"Melissa..." Jesse knew that he was being lied to, but he had to find out to what extent.

"Jesse, can you not call me that?" Her eyes filled with tears. "When dad uses my full name, I know he... I know I'm in trouble."

The doctor frowned as he noticed the hesitation in her voice, when she mentioned her father.

"Well, how about Mel?" Jesse turned his attention to her swollen ankle. "That's what your sister calls you, isn't it?"

Melissa offered him a shy smile and nodded, then winced as Jesse's hands touched a sore spot.

"Sorry." Jesse smiled in return. "It's only sprained. A cold compress will bring that down in no time, but you will be sore for a little while. So, is there anybody else at home, or is it just you and your sister?"

"Oh, Becky doesn't live with us. She's got her own place."

"So it's just you and your parents?"

Melissa's face clouded over: "My mom died over two years ago. Now it's just me and dad."

Jesse's frown returned. He was starting to get a nagging sense of unease about what he was hearing.

"I'll just go get a nurse, to put something on that ankle," Jesse said, masking his concern. "Then is there anyone who can fetch you?"

"Becky will pick me up."

Jesse nodded before heading off to find a nurse. Then he stood and watched as Melissa's ankle was treated and dressed. His sense of unease was growing and he wondered what was really happening in the life of Melissa Flynn.

TO BE CONTINUED...