Status: Active.
Shiver.
deja vu
I lay curled in a ball on the floor trying to move. Everything hurt and I knew that getting up would only make it worse. Eventually I reached for the couch and dragged myself onto it. I wrapped the afghan around my battered body, shivering in the cold. I laid there until finally my exhausted body ran out of adrenaline and I fell asleep.
When I awoke the sky was a light gray and the rain had slowed to a steady drizzle. I rolled to my side to try to stand up but the pain was unbearable. I folded into myself, trying to hold my body together. I knew I wouldn't be going anywhere without assistance. I felt around until my hand hit the phone on the coffee table. My fingers trembled as I dialed the number this time.
"Dispatch, what is your emergency?" I had a sudden sense of deja vu as I heard the woman's voice. I thought it might be the same one as last time.
"I need help," I confessed. "He hurt me again. Please, help."
"Okay, hold on, help is on the way. Is he there with you right now?"
"No, I don't know where he went. I'm scared," I admitted quietly.
"Okay, just stay on the line with me. I'm going to keep talking to you until the police get there, okay?"
"Okay," I agreed softly. It wasn't long before I heard sirens outside and I hung up with the dispatcher, relieved that help had arrived. Two uniformed officers came through the front door and drew up short in front of me.
"Oh my God," one of them murmured. I was mostly covered by the afghan but my face, neck, shoulders, and arms were all visible. The dark bruises covered much of my pale skin. They quickly sprung into action, calling for an ambulance and assistance. I avoided eye contact with the two young men, afraid that they thought me weak. They were very kind to me as they started asking questions. I wasn't ready to tell them the whole story yet. Instead I asked which detectives would be handling the investigation.
"Well Miss, that would be James Pruit and August Gray. They tend to handle a lot of the domestic violence cases." I nodded silently. The paramedics arrived then and bustled me out of the house. One man lifted me easily from the couch and carried me outside to the stretcher in the ambulance. I was mostly quiet the entire ride. I had been unconscious the last time this had happened and been spared the embarrassment that I was currently feeling. I felt like they all knew that I had let my boyfriend beat me up again.
When we got to the hospital Dr. Reynolds was waiting for me. I blinked back tears of shame when he greeted me kindly and led the paramedics pushing my stretcher back to an exam room. I tried to get lost in my head as the doctor and a nurse examined every inch of my body before helping me into a hospital gown and inviting in Auggie and James to listen to the conversation.
"Well Grace, it looks like he didn't beat you nearly s badly this time as he did before. Most of the assault seems to be centered around the rape," Dr. Reynolds said. I physically flinched when he said rape. Auggie's reaction was nearly identical to mine.
"He's my boyfriend, he can't rape me," I pointed out quietly.
"Did you ask him to do this to you?" James asked gently. I shook my head slowly, trying to avoid causing myself further pain.
"No," I whispered. "I told him I didn't want to, not then, after he had just hurt me so badly."
"Honey, you have every right to say no," James explained. "And if he still made you, especially so forcefully, after you said no, then he did rape you." I flinched again, despite the ring of truth in his words. I sank down in the hospital bed and thought of Sophie.
Hospitals were familiar to her. She knew this one quite well, it was where she'd spent most of the last year of her life. Throughout all of it she had remained brave. Her strength seemed endless to me. She'd fought until the very end. And then she had died. She was dead and I was alive. What a waste I was. I wished I had died and she had lived.
When I awoke the sky was a light gray and the rain had slowed to a steady drizzle. I rolled to my side to try to stand up but the pain was unbearable. I folded into myself, trying to hold my body together. I knew I wouldn't be going anywhere without assistance. I felt around until my hand hit the phone on the coffee table. My fingers trembled as I dialed the number this time.
"Dispatch, what is your emergency?" I had a sudden sense of deja vu as I heard the woman's voice. I thought it might be the same one as last time.
"I need help," I confessed. "He hurt me again. Please, help."
"Okay, hold on, help is on the way. Is he there with you right now?"
"No, I don't know where he went. I'm scared," I admitted quietly.
"Okay, just stay on the line with me. I'm going to keep talking to you until the police get there, okay?"
"Okay," I agreed softly. It wasn't long before I heard sirens outside and I hung up with the dispatcher, relieved that help had arrived. Two uniformed officers came through the front door and drew up short in front of me.
"Oh my God," one of them murmured. I was mostly covered by the afghan but my face, neck, shoulders, and arms were all visible. The dark bruises covered much of my pale skin. They quickly sprung into action, calling for an ambulance and assistance. I avoided eye contact with the two young men, afraid that they thought me weak. They were very kind to me as they started asking questions. I wasn't ready to tell them the whole story yet. Instead I asked which detectives would be handling the investigation.
"Well Miss, that would be James Pruit and August Gray. They tend to handle a lot of the domestic violence cases." I nodded silently. The paramedics arrived then and bustled me out of the house. One man lifted me easily from the couch and carried me outside to the stretcher in the ambulance. I was mostly quiet the entire ride. I had been unconscious the last time this had happened and been spared the embarrassment that I was currently feeling. I felt like they all knew that I had let my boyfriend beat me up again.
When we got to the hospital Dr. Reynolds was waiting for me. I blinked back tears of shame when he greeted me kindly and led the paramedics pushing my stretcher back to an exam room. I tried to get lost in my head as the doctor and a nurse examined every inch of my body before helping me into a hospital gown and inviting in Auggie and James to listen to the conversation.
"Well Grace, it looks like he didn't beat you nearly s badly this time as he did before. Most of the assault seems to be centered around the rape," Dr. Reynolds said. I physically flinched when he said rape. Auggie's reaction was nearly identical to mine.
"He's my boyfriend, he can't rape me," I pointed out quietly.
"Did you ask him to do this to you?" James asked gently. I shook my head slowly, trying to avoid causing myself further pain.
"No," I whispered. "I told him I didn't want to, not then, after he had just hurt me so badly."
"Honey, you have every right to say no," James explained. "And if he still made you, especially so forcefully, after you said no, then he did rape you." I flinched again, despite the ring of truth in his words. I sank down in the hospital bed and thought of Sophie.
Hospitals were familiar to her. She knew this one quite well, it was where she'd spent most of the last year of her life. Throughout all of it she had remained brave. Her strength seemed endless to me. She'd fought until the very end. And then she had died. She was dead and I was alive. What a waste I was. I wished I had died and she had lived.