Only You Can Save Me

Once we arrived at the hospital, Jussi helped me out of the car and we went to the emergency room. The tile was white and the walls a pale beige. There were tons of people sitting in the waiting room with bleeding limbs and some looked like they would throw up. I was pretty freaked. What if I contracted some illness from being near them? I shook the though from my mind and took a seat. Jussi sat beside me and held my hand. I looked at him and he smiled slightly at me. The police officer spoke briefly with a nurse and she came over to Jussi and I.

"You are Ms. Fuller, correct?" She asked.

"Yes."

"And is this your boyfriend?" She asked gesturing to Jussi. Why does everyone ask that?

"Yes." Jussi said before I could say no. I looked at him questioningly and he winked.

"Then I guess he can accompany you here. We really only allow family of the patient here, but I suppose we could count him since he's your boyfriend." She said and gave me a clipboard with forms on it. "I'll need you to fill these out." She said and walked away.

"Why?" I asked Jussi, referring to him saying he was my boyfriend.

"I didn't want to leave you here alone. I figured if they thought we were together, I wouldn't have to leave." He said.

"Oh. Thanks." I said and started working on the forms. When I finished them, I gave them to the nurse and she told me they would get to me as soon as possible.

After about 15 minutes, Jolene came running through the door carrying a bag and looked frantically around. I got up and ran over to her, Jussi following not far behind me. I threw my arms around her and I started to cry. Jussi just stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. When we let go of each other, I wiped my tears and motioned to Jussi.

"I think you know who he is." I smiled as her mouth dropped open and she stared in shock. Then her mouth turned into a smile and she looked at me.

"How? Why? What the fuck?" She asked.

"I was the one who found her. I couldn't leave her like that. I brought her to my tour bus and she slept there." He said. "I'm Jussi. But you already know that." He said and shook her hand.

"I'm Jolene. Lyssa's best friend." She said. "Oh, Lyss, I brought you a change of clothes." She said and gave me a look that said 'We need to talk.'. I nodded and said thanks. Then we went back to our seats and we saw that the third seat that had been previously unoccupied, now held a little boy.

"Uh, we have a bit of a problem." I said.

"Yes, we do.. You can sit on my lap if you want." Jussi said to me. I looked at Jolene whose eyes screamed 'WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, DO IT!'

"Okay." I said and he sat down and pulled me onto his lap. Jolene sat in the chair next to us. "Oh, Jolene, if anyone asks, Jussi is my boyfriend. They'll make him leave otherwise. Just play along. Say you're my sister." I said.

"Okay, sure." She said.

The nurse walked up to me. "The doctor will see you now." She said.

The three of us got up and went into the room we were told to go in. I sat down on the table and Jolene held my hand while Jussi took a seat in the chair on the opposite side of the room. The room was way too white and bright. It looked creepy.

We waited a few minutes and then the door opened. A woman wearing a white coat and stethoscope around her neck came in. She smiled at us and walked over to me. "I take it you're Lyssa?" She asked and I nodded. "I'm Dr. Lowell."

"Hi."

"Alright, so do you want to tell me what happened?"

"Okay.." and I launched into my story that I have told what felt like a thousand times. Jolene's hand tightened around mine when I got to the bad parts. My eyes started to tear and it took everything I had in me not to start crying again.

"Have you told the police?" She asked.

"Yeah, an officer dropped me and Jussi-" I motioned to Jussi in the corner "here." Dr. Lowell looked at Jussi and then at me.

"Okay, good. Now I'm going to have to get a rape kit and run some tests. These two need to stay outside for that." She said pointing to Jolene and Jussi. Then she left the room to get what she needed.

"Its going to be okay, Sweetie." Jolene said to me as she hugged me. I wrapped my arms around her tightly.

"God, Jo, I'm so scared. What if I'm pregnant? Or I got HIV? Or some other STD? I don't think I can afford treatment or an abortion right now." I asked, rhetorically. I wanted to cry again but I forced myself not to. She just held me tighter and I buried my face into her neck. I heard Jussi get up and come over to us. I let go of Jolene and looked at him.

"Lyssa, if you need to borrow money or anything just ask me. I'll help you out." He said compassionately.

"Jussi, I can't. Its sweet of you to offer, but I can't." I said.

"Why n-" Jussi was interrupted by the door opening. Dr. Lowell walked in.

"Okay, you two, out. Now." She said.

Jussi and Jolene left the room and Dr. Lowell gave me a hospital gown to put on. I was really not looking forward to this.