Life of Clarissa Morgenstern

Valentine's POV "Where's Jonathan?" Maryse asked as the three of us sat on my couch in the living room. "Upstairs. Asleep in his bed." I sipped at my beer. "Where are Izzy and Alec?" "Asleep at home. Got a babysitter for the night." I nodded to Robert. Hours passed as we watched movies and joked around with no interruptions. That is, until my cell phone rang and I picked it up, wondering who was calling me at two in the morning. "Hello?" I questioned and Maryse turned the tv down. "Hello. I'm looking for Valentine Morgenstern." A woman's voice sounded. "That's me. Who am I speaking with?" "Olivia Benson in the Special Victim's Unit, NYPD. I'm calling in regards to your daughter." I chuckled. "I'm sorry, you must have the wrong guy. I don't have a daughter." I stood and walked to the kitchen for some privacy. "The three year old girl's birth certificate says otherwise. Name is Clarissa Fray." "Fray?" My eyes went wide. "As in, Jocelyn Fray?" "That would be the mother. Look, Clarissa is in the hospital and needs a place to stay. Are you in a stable condition to take her in?" "Hospital? For what? Is she okay?" Worry coursed through my veins. "I'm not able to give medical related news over the phone. We're at Presbyterian hospital in Manhattan. Are you able to take in your daughter?" "Yes. Yes, of course. I'll be there soon." I set my beer down and hurried back to the living room, pulling on my shoes. "Val? Everything alright?" I shook my head at Maryse. "Nope. Could you watch Jon for a while? I have to go." I slipped on my suit jacket and chewed a piece of gum to get rid of the alcohol smell. "Sure. Where are you going?" "Well, apparently, Jocelyn had a daughter and decided not to tell me about her. The girl is in the hospital, so I have to go. I don't know when I'll be back." "That's fine. Go take care of your daughter, well keep an eye on Jon." I smiled slightly. "Thank you." I grabbed my wallet and rushed outside, quickly catching a cab and heading to the hospital. When I finally arrived, I practically ran inside the ER and stopped at a nurses station. "Where can I find my daughter? Clarissa Fray?" The woman typed into the computer before looking up at me. "Three floors up in the PICU, room 1130." I nodded and ran to the elevator, going up the three floors up like the lady said. Before I could get to the room, an officer stopped me. "Valentine Morgenstern?" I nodded. "See Detective Benson first, please." I sighed and walked to the woman signing papers at the nurses station. "Olivia Benson?" She turned to me. "Valentine Morgenstern, I'd like to see my daughter." "We need to talk about a few things first. Just to clarify some things." I nodded. "So, you had no idea that you had a daughter with Jocelyn Fray, your ex-wife?" "I really had no clue. I got our son in the divorce and she never came back. She left, not once did she come to see Jonathan, so I just figured she started new with someone else." "Okay, then, there's some stuff you need to know about Clarissa." I nodded. "Jocelyn got into drugs after the divorce, even when she was pregnant with Clarissa. Clarissa has been taking care of herself since she learned how to do things on her own. Jocelyn was a drunk, a druggie and she neglected Clarissa. Jocelyn's many different boyfriends have abused Clarissa her whole life. Beating her. And, there were signs of s****l assault when the doctors did the exam." "They raped my three year old daughter?" She nodded sadly. "I'm very sorry. Clarissa has only been awake once in the past few days here and she doesn't seem to talk much, if at all. She's skiddish around men, afraid of them. We had to make sure that all of her doctors and nurses were women to make her more comfortable." I nodded. "She has a sprained ankle, her right arm is broken, she's got a concussion and she's really beat up. She can go home whenever, you just have to sign the discharge papers." I nodded. "Can I go see her now?" She led me into the room and left the lights off, but I could see the little girl perfectly. Her small figure lay under the blankets, unconscious, unaware of anything around her. She had bruises all up and down her arms, her neck, chest, face. Black eye, split lip, black cast on her right forearm, her left ankle wrapped in brown gauze, propped up on a pillow with an ice pack on it. "Shit." I whispered, tears swelling in my eyes. "Would you like to sign the discharge papers?" I sniffled and nodded, sitting down beside my baby's hospital bed. I held her tiny hand in mine, examining every inch of her face. "Here you go." I took the clipboard from her and signed it. "And, here are the custody papers if you'd like to sign those, too." I took the second clipboard and signed this one also. "I'll get her personal items." I absently nodded, not taking my eyes off of my beautiful little Clarissa. Olivia came back not too long after she left and a doctor unhooked Clarissa from all of the wires that were previously connected to her. They gave me multiple different medications for her and told me that she was given a sedative this morning, so she probably wouldn't wake up for a while. I dressed her unconscious body and seeing that it was just a nightgown with blood staining it, I took off my jacket and wrapped it around her. I carefully picked her up and she laid her head on my shoulder. Her limp arms at my sides, her short legs not even reaching past my abdomen. "We'll be by to check on your living situations in two days. Good luck, Mr. Morgenstern." I nodded to Olivia. "Thank you." I grabbed the tiny little crutches for her to take home and got into the elevator, listening to the sound of my baby's steady breathing. "You're going to be fine, sweetheart. I'll make sure of it." I gently kissed her head. It took about thirty minutes before we arrived home and she had still not woken up yet. I opened the front door with one hand, keeping the other under my daughter to hold her up. "Val-" Maryse stopped talking as she caught sight of my little girl. I quietly closed the door and set the stuff down on the couch. "Think I could borrow one of Izzy's nightgowns? Hers has blood on it." She gaped at the girl, but nodded. "I'll be right back. Does she need pull-ups, too?" "Probably." She left my house and headed to hers next door. Robert exited the kitchen with popcorn and stopped in his tracks when he saw Clarissa. "Holy s**t. What happened to her?" I shook my head and sat down with her in my lap. "Jocelyn and her boyfriends abused her. She's had a f****d up life and doesn't even know that she's left the hospital. They gave her a sedative, so she won't be up for a while." "What's her name?" I smiled at the question. "Meet Clarissa Fray. Or, Morgenstern here soon." "And, she's how old?" "Three." I grabbed a fluffy throw pillow and laid her down on her back, her head rested just right on the pillow. I stood up and sighed as I looked down at her, Robert standing just beside me. "She's cute." He commented and I nodded. "She's afraid of men. She's going to be scared shitless when she wakes up." I kneeled beside her and brushed her red hair behind her ear. "They raped her, Rob. More than once." "What?" To say that he was shocked was an understatement. "She's a toddler. How could they-" He cut himself off when Maryse walked in with supplies. Pull-ups, nightgowns, day clothes. "What? What's wrong?" Robert walked to her. "Val says that Jocelyn and her boyfriends abused Clarissa. Raped her, too." Maryse looked over at us with tears in her eyes. "That poor girl. How could they do something like that?" "Do you think you could stay over tonight? She's afraid of men, responds better to women." She nodded and wiped at her eyes. "Of course. Do want me to change her clothes?" I shook my head. "I can do it, but thank you." She handed me a nightgown and a pull-up. I gently pulled her nightgown off over her head and my breath caught as I saw the giant black, blue and yellow bruises all over her body once again. Then, I put the new nightgown on her, but as I was pulling her pull-up over her knees, her eyes jolted open and she jerked away from me. I stood up and her green eyes, filled with fear, looked around at us as she pushed herself further into the back of the couch to get away from us. "Maryse." I said and she kneeled beside Clarissa, but she couldn't just focus on Maryse, she kept glancing back at Robert and I. "Sweetheart, my name is Maryse Lightwood and I live next door. This is your daddy and we're at his house." She pointed to me and smiled at my little girl. "He loves you, he will never hurt you, I promise." Clarissa looked up at me, fear still in her eyes. She pretended to scribble on her knee and looked to us expectantly. I hurried and grabbed a notebook and a pen before slowly handing it to her, not wanting to scare her. She took it and began writing. She showed it to us and pulled the pull-up up her legs. 'I want Elaine.' "Okay, who's Elaine?" I asked, but she only looked to Maryse. "You can trust him, Clarissa. He won't hurt you." 'Clary. Not Clarissa.' "Okay, Clary. Who is Elaine?" 'Can I use the phone?' I handed her my cell phone and she dialed in a number, but didn't press call. 'Could you guys leave for a minute?' Maryse stood and we all walked to the kitchen, letting her call whoever. How does my three year old create such big girl sentences?