Reaching Through Darkness

Ch31
Karen

“Karen, wake up, the medic is here.”

I slowly woke up from a deep, scary nightmare. I looked around the room, expecting to see Romness there, but instead I was the worried eyes of Master Mirmo. I took a deep breath and tried to relax. I saw a woman carrying a bag in her hand, standing by the door. I guessed she was the medic. I looked at Mirmo again. He was looking at the medic as if he was wondering what happened next. The medic walked next to me and put the bag on the ground.

“I like to examine my patients in private.”

Mirmo did not like being told this. He turned around and gave me a meaningful, apologizing look.

“You will be ok apprentice. Just do as she asks.”

I nodded my head that was still full of sleep. Mirmo walked to the door and muttered to the medic something about letting him in when she was done. The medic agreed to this and closed the door. To distract myself from the unpleasantness to come, I took the blankets off me and studied my fingers. I was worried what the medic might find wrong with me and what questions she might ask.

“There’s no need to be scared of me. I am Medic Clet and I am just going to look over you to see what might be wrong.”

I nodded, but would not look up. I kept silent, wishing this would get over as soon as possible.

“You have some nasty bruises there. It looks like someone attacked you. You do not have to tell me if you do not want to, but what happened?”

I looked down at my feet. My master had taken off my shoes and socks while I slept. Strangely, my feet seemed and felt fine, unlike the rest of me. I could feel the impatience of the medic standing in front of me. I knew she wanted me to go into details, but I just plain couldn’t at that time.

“I understand if you do not want to talk about it, but there are a few questions I must know for medical reasons. The first question is: were you drugged with anything at all?”

I did not want to admit I was, but she was right. She had to know what was in me before she could give me painkillers. I told her yes, but that I didn’t know what drug it was.

“I know that was hard, so I thank you. What reaction did you have to the drug?”

I told her I got sick. My stomach ached, my body shook, and I was extremely weak. She had a face that told me she did not recognize this drug. I didn’t expect her to. I didn’t think anyone would know about the anti Force kit.

“I am going to have to take a sample of blood and run it through a scanner while I look at you. It is going to hurt just a bit, but it will be short.”

What she said was true. She stuck the needle in and I tried my hardest not to panic. Memories of the sith like blond man with his needle in my arm flooded my brain. I was relieved when she pulled the sharp metal from my arm and put a small bandage on the puncture. I watched her put the blood sample into a machine. I stared at it with great worry, wondering what she would find. She caught me looking and smiled.

“It will take at least a few minutes before it is done analyzing your blood. Meanwhile, let me look at those wounds.”

She had me take off my shirt and pants, leaving me only in my underwear. She poked and fingered my wounds; making suggests as to what happened. She was getting far too close to the truth, but I said nothing. I did not want to admit the horrible, embarrassing thing that happened to me. She checked my pulse, lungs, mouth, ears, and eyes. She pulled the thermometer from my mouth and looked at it. She clicked her tongue, a sign I wasn’t sure how to take and then looked at the machine scanning my blood. She was silent for a minute and then looked at me with a slight smile. My hopes rose. I desperately hoped she had good news.

“Well my dear, aside from some infected wounds, there is nothing wrong with you-”

I breathed a huge sigh of relief and then noticed her mouth was still moving.

“except that you are in the first stage of being pregnant.”

My mouth fell wide open. Pregnant? I was pregnant? That horrible, wicked sith got me pregnant? I put a hand to my lower stomach. I stuttered out a question about her being sure.

“Yes, I am positive. Have you experienced any naissance?”

By the Force, I was pregnant! That is why I got sick so suddenly and violently on the way back. Oh by the Force, what would my master think? How could I tell him what happened?

“Excuse me for asking this, but is he the father?”

I knew she was referring to Mirmo. I furiously told her no. How dare she think that an older man would do that to me. Mirmo was like a father I didn’t have. Mirmo would have never done such a thing or even thought about it. She took a step back and raised her hands to calm me down.

“I am sorry. I had to ask. Please forgive me of my rudeness.”

I took a deep, calming breath. It was not her fault. She couldn’t have known better. I was just upset and shocked about the fact I was pregnant. The medic took a step towards the door and changed topics abruptly.

“Do you want to tell him about the news or should I?”

I paused in thought, feeling my nerves scatter. I didn’t know how to tell Mirmo. I had barely registered the awful truth and had not even come to terms with it. I shakily ask her to break the news. She nodded, opened the door, and let a nervously waiting Mirmo in. He came in and looked at me for clues to my condition. I had no answer for him. He walked over and stood at the end of my bed. I almost thought about asking him the sit so he could take the news a bit better. As the medic closed the door again, I saw Nea stand out in the hallway.

“So how is she?”

Mirmo’s voice was full of worry and fear. The medic smiled a calming smile and spoke in a clear, slow way.

“She is fine-”

I could hear Mirmo sigh like I did. I curled up into a ball, scared to hear what next she had to say and what would follow.

“except she is in the early stages of pregnancy.”

Mirmo did not response in the same openly shocked way that I did, but went very still and quiet. I could see his mind race through the meaning of pregnancy. I could feel his emotions evolve from shock, to fear, to anger as he realized what had happened to me. My own fear rose to a new level. Was he mad at me or the man that did this? Would he blame me for letting this happen? Could I explain to him what happened? For a full, painful minute he did not utter a word or moved a muscle. I could not stand the tense silence and squirmed in my bed, bringing Mirmo’s attention to me. He looked at me with eyes full of compassion. He started to lean over as if to hug me, but stopped. I started to hug myself and cry. I felt so shameful and dirty, like I had some deadly disease. Mirmo shushed me and rubbed my back in slow, small circles.

“Shhh. It is ok. It is going to be alright. It is over. Calm down. You will be ok.”

My sobs morphed into sniffs as his rubbing brought me back to a calmer, more stable mood. The medic cleared her throat, bringing our attention back to her.

“I am sorry that I have to ask this and I am aware this is offensive, but legally I must ask this. Were you raped?”

I nodded and started to cry all over again. I hated hearing that word. It was so dirty and horrible to think about. Mirmo held me in his arms, keeping silent this time, letting me have my tears.

“Again, for legal reasons and to help track the rapist, I will need to do a rape kit on you.”

I stopped crying. I knew what this would involve and grew still in Mirmo’s arms. He looked at me with pity.

“Karen, I know you do not want to go through this and I understand why, but she is right. In order to put the man in jail and to stop all this madness, she needs to do this.”

I looked at him, searching his soul. He knew how much I would hate it and how it would only bring on pain, but in his eyes there was a firmness that would not let me back out. I wiped my eyes and voiced my agreement.

“Then sir, please step out for a few minutes.”

The rape kit was far from pleasant. I knew I would have nightmares from this experience alone. It was painful and it brought back memories that caused me to cry silently and grip the sheet in agony. When she was done, she carefully put everything away and gave me a painkiller that would put me asleep. She let Mirmo in and gave us the news.

“She is a bit raw and will be pain for a few days, but there is no permanent damage. Her baby will be fine as long as she continues to see a medic. Here are some painkillers to give her every six hours. She looked dehydrated, so keep giving her water and simple foods like soup. When she gets a little stronger, give her something a little more solid like bread and a little meat.”

Neither Mirmo nor I had anything to say to this. I was trying to get use to the idea I had a baby growing inside of me. The thought was repulsive. I was not ready for a baby and did not want it.

“Now if you will excuse me, I need to run these samples by a lab. I will have the results sent to you as soon as I get them, which should be in a few days. I recommend going to the police as soon as you can, if you want to catch the rapist.”

With that she walked out of the apartment. Mirmo came back to the bed and sat down on the edge. My eyes were growing heavy as the painkiller was taking effect on me. He pulled the blankets over me. Despite the warmness, I drifted off to an uneasy sleep full of nightmares and pain.