“Oh my god.” He said stunned.
There was no Kate to recognize.
Her face was purple from the obvious strangulation, her eyes swollen shut, and her lips cracked and caked with dry blood. Her nose was obviously broken at quick glance and she lay naked against the elements; her body caked in blood and dirt.
“I don’t think there is anything this guy didn’t do to her.” The medic sighed.
“Uh..how is she, what are her vitals?” Bryan asked.
“Pulse and respiration are slow, her heart is beating strong though.”
“Has she regained consciousness?”
“Not that we can tell. We’ve only been here about 5 minutes. You the doctor?”
“Yeah, Carpenter, St. Francine’s.”
“Good. We started two lines of fluid; she’s dehydrated and hypothermic from being out here in shock. Her nose is broken, her jaw, I don’t think anything else. No punctured ribs or anything. He tried to strangle her.” The medic said.
“Let’s get her stabilized and ready for transport.” Bryan said, his mind finally taking on a professional demeanor. Move Bryan, do what you were trained…
“The cops want their evidence…”
“I know. I’ll do the rape kit in the ER. I’ll take care of it. I have before.” Bryan said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He bagged her garments, keep as much evidence on her until they could gather it properly at the hospital. They stabilized her neck and spine, wrapped her in warm blankets and placed her on the gurney for the trip to the ER.
She was remarkably stable for her condition. A CAT scan would tell them the extent of any brain injuries caused by the strangulation. He rode in with her and was her attending physician, although only one other doctor wanted to argue it with him. He pushed past him, ignoring his protests.
More IV’s, more medication and she was settled into an exam room. Only a nurse would be assisting him for this part. The nurse set up the tray and the police photographer began to take his photos of Kate’s injuries. Bryan stood by her head and lightly fingered one tight unyielding curl by her forehead.
“Just a couple more, okay?” he whispered, not sure, if she could hear him or not. “You’re going to be okay, alright? I don’t want you giving up. You’ve survived this far.”
“Bryan?" the nurse, asked.
“Yes, Jen?”
“Lita's outside."
“I’ll see her in the hall, stay with her, Jen.” Bryan said of the nurse.
“Of course.”
Bryan stepped out into the hall where Lita was waiting anxiously. He suddenly took her in his arms and pressed her into his chest. He let his lips rest gently on the top of her head before he asked, “Did you bring the others?”
“Yes." She nodded in his arms. He let go of her and she looked up at him with those incredible eyes of hers.
"What can I tell them?" she said, nearly whispering.
“Tell them she’s stable, which she is. She hasn’t regained consciousness, but she’s in shock; dehydrated and hypothermic. Once she’s been here a while that should change.”
“What happened to her, Bryan?" she asked softly. "Can they see her? Can I?"
God, he didn’t want to tell her. He steered her out of the busy hallway into a family room.
“Lita, they can’t see her.”
“What? Why not?”
“He strangled her. She’s a mess.”
“Oh god…” she gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.
“He really hurt her, Lita. I’m going to do the rape kit next then there are some more tests and I’m going to try to get her into surgery.”
“Oh god. He raped her?! No, no, I've got to see her.” Lita cried out.
“I can’t, not now. I’ve got to finish the kit, the photos are being taken now.” He sighed choking on his words. His head dropped until his forehead rested on top of Lita's head.
“Baby, maybe you shouldn’t do this…” he heard her say as her arms wrapped around his waist.
“No, I’m doing it.” He said, lifting his head. “I’m not leaving her to strangers. I’ll come out and talk to the guys when I’m done.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They looked up as Lita walked into the waiting room. She ushered them to a family room, way from the public eye.
“How is she, Lita?” Howie asked, catching her arm as they walked in.
“She’s stable. She’s dehydrated and hypothermic, but they are giving her fluids.” She said.
“When can I see her?” he asked.
“Not for a while. They are taking care of her and then she’s going to go to surgery.”
“Surgery?!” Kevin snapped.
“Just to fix some of her injuries…”
“Oh god, what’s wrong?” AJ asked.
“It’s just better to do these things as soon as possible…”
“What did he do to her?” Howie choked.
"Howie, Bryan is with Kate right now and he's taking excellent care of her. He hasn't told me much, but he promised he'd come talk to you as soon as he could." Lita lied. Bryan said he wanted to tell them. She wanted to give him that chance; she didn't have all the facts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Kate, I'm back." Bryan said, leaning over her. He saw some movement under the sheet and reached for her hand. He slipped his fingers in hers.
"Kate can you hear me?" He looked up to see the heart monitor begin to race.
"Sh, calm down, you're okay now. It's just me, Bryan, okay? No one is going to hurt you." Her other hand went to her face, she wanted to see.
"Kate you're eyes are swollen shut, that's why you can't see. Kate, can you hear me? Squeeze my fingers."
She did.
"Good, hon." Her free hand formed an L with her thumb and forefinger.
"Lita?" She squeezed his hand. "She's in the waiting room with Kevin, AJ and Howie."
Her fingers clamped down on his.
"They aren't coming here. Do you want to see Lita? One squeeze yes, two is no."
It was two squeezes.
No.
"Do you want to see the others?"
No.
"Are you scared?"
Yes.
"Do you remember who I am?"
Yes.
"Do you remember what happened?"
One long squeeze.
Yesssss.
"Kate, it was nearly two days ago. We just found you about two hours ago. I have to finish the exam."
No.
"I have to. Do you want another doctor?"
No.
"I have to do the kit, you know that."
No.
"I have to."
No.
"Are you still scared?"
Yes.
"We're going to do this. I'll have a nurse in here to hold your hand."
No.
"Kate, I won't let anyone hurt you."
No.
"I promise."
No.
Tears began to leak out of her swollen eyes. He smoothed an errant curl from her forehead.
"Kate, I know you're scared, but you're going to be alright." He said quietly. "I'm going to start the exam. You tell Jenny if anything is wrong, okay?" He signaled the nurse to come over and take her hand from him. She struggled to hang on, but he got out of her grip and Kate latched on to the nurse. Bryan scratched out a note.
There will be no audio for this exam. She's a doctor; she'll understand the terms. No discussion. Hold her hand.
The nurse nodded in agreement. He reached the exam tray and pulled on latex gloves. He lifted her blanket that had been replaced after the photos. Her feet were all ready up in the stirrups. She flinched, waving her free hand. Bryan continued without a word.
"Kate, I'm going to touch your leg, okay?…Easy, I know this is hard…"
"She's saying no.," the nurse said.
"I know." He sighed. "It'll be okay. I'm going to start the exam."
Kate made a strangled noise come from her throat and she tired to kick out with one of her feet, but her muscles were so sore and damaged that it could barely move. Bryan talked to her and coaxed her through the instruments touching her and the swabbing.
She seemed to either relax or resign herself to it, he wasn't sure.
He treated her injuries himself when the tests were done, folding her legs up and tucking the blankets around her. She began to shiver and he got two more from the warmer and tucked her in. He slipped one hand under the blankets and took her hand.
"Kate? We're all done, okay? You can rest now, I have to go talk to the others."
No.
"Sh, don't worry about anything but getting better. Okay? Do you want to see anyone?"
No, no, no, no.
"How about Lita?"
No, no, no, no.
"That's fine, I'll tell them." He whispered, leaning over he kissed her forehead. He pried his fingers loose and her hand slapped down on the rail. "I'll be right back."
Table of Contents
Chapter Four