What would the Good Samaritan have done?

About six weeks ago I had an experience that has caused me to ponder a bit. I was at the clinic/hospital while Phil was receiving his LAST chemo treatment. Since I can't stay with him during his treatment I had ventured a few blocks away (but still in the clinic - it is huge) and was hanging out at Starbucks. Why Starbucks you may ask? Well, because they have free WIFI and I was doing some stuff on the Internet.

So, there I was at Starbucks when in walked a patient who had quite obviously had some kind of brain surgery. Behind him was a woman crying and stifling sobs. The man said something to her and then left. She proceeded to the counter and placed her order. I had the impression that I should ask her if I could help. I assumed she was his wife and that they had received hard news and that it might do her some good to talk to someone (I've sobbed in that clinic before so perhaps I could empathize).

I approached her and asked her if she wanted to talk. Then I saw that her neck and left arm were severely scarred - it appeared from a burn. What I learned was horrifying. The brain patient was not her husband or even someone in her life, they just happened to be there at the same time. She was a patient who had been released after six weeks of being hospitalized for severe burns. She received the burns when her boyfriend became jealous/mad/stoned and sprayed her with roach spray and then lit her on fire. She was passed out from alcohol.

She'd been released from the hospital but was homeless since she had been living with her boyfriend and he was now in jail (thank goodness!). She was from another county a couple of hours away and wanted to get back to that area.

What would/should I do? I thought that I could offer to take her to her mother's house (a couple of hours away) and still make it back before Phil was done, but I received a distinct impression that I needed to stay close by Phil. She needed to get to a safe place and learn some new behaviors that would protect her from people like her ex-boyfriend.

I made a few phone calls and found out where the women's shelter in her county was. They agreed to accept her if she could meet them at the safe rendezvous point at a specific time. Again, I wondered if I should take her but felt that I shouldn't. After several phone calls and a few hours she arranged for the shelter in B'ham to give her a ride to the shelter in her county. Then she just needed a ride to the shelter in B'ham (which was about 5 blocks away). Still, I just felt that I needed to not leave the clinic. In fact, now I felt that I needed to get back to Phil. She decided she could ride the bus (which was free). I left her (and all her stuff) waiting for the bus. I haven't heard from her since. I hope she made it to the shelter and that she is in the process of changing her life situation. It turned out that Phil was having a really tough time in infusion and they had to give him some medicine that made him loopy so I needed to be with him. I'm glad I hadn't gone any further than a few blocks (still in the clinic).

I feel so conflicted when I think about social programs. I think "people should help people instead of having the government help people." Then I have experiences like this and I think, "I am not in a position to take her home with me or to give her the professional help that she needs and I don't have the money to give her to get the professional help. I am so, so glad that there are agencies available to help her."

I gave her a few hours of my time, some advice (stuff she probably has heard before), use of my cell phone for several minutes, and options. The whole time I was wondering if what I was doing was right. Was I reaching out in compassion or was I just passing the buck to a government agency?

So, what would the Good Samaritan have done for my new friend?