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“You know, when they were operating on me.”
“Alexia, we don’t have patients lying on the table naked. They are covered in gowns and surgical drapes. The only area exposed is the part where the surgery will take place. So no, I didn’t see you naked.”
“Oh, okay, then.” My cheeks burned hot, but for some reason, I felt better about this whole thing. Strangely enough, countless men had seen me naked, but for some reason, I didn’t want him to unless I was conscious and willing.
Then the conversation shifted, along with the tone of his voice. “Alexia, the police want to speak to you this afternoon.”
I started to tremble. “I figured they would. I don’t know what I can tell them though.”
“Do you want me to be here?”
The darn tears hit again. He moved to put his arms around me but I stiffened up like a board. I was conflicted over everything. I wanted this man. Badly. But I didn’t want him involved in my life, not the way I was now. I pushed him away.
“We’re back to that, then, are we?”
“I ... you ...” I sniffed and snorted.
“Look, the police are sending two detectives here at two. I’ll be here. I can wait outside, and if you need me, you can just call my name. Okay?”
I nodded.
“I have to go. Got patients to see and all.” He headed out the door.
“Pearce!”
He stopped and turned around.
“Thank you. For everything. For holding my hand. For being there. For the chicken soup.”
“I can still be there if you’d just stop pushing me away.”
“I know.” The tears poured down my cheeks and I didn’t even bother to wipe them away.
Seven
The police arrived at two on the nose as did Pearce, just as he promised. He stood outside my room while they asked me questions I had no answers for. They asked me the same things over and over and I repeated the same responses each time. No, I didn’t see who attacked me. Yes, I was hit from behind and knocked out. When I woke up it was dark. The one attacker had on a ski mask and then I was blindfolded. No, I never once saw my assailants. I woke up again on a bed and then again in a van. And, finally on the side of the road where the couple found me and called 911. Apparently, it was out on Johns Island, which was about ten miles away from the trauma center where they brought me.
No, I didn’t recognize them because I never saw any of them. No, I didn’t have any enemies that I was aware of. No, the voices weren’t familiar to me. No, I hadn’t been threatened recently. I didn’t have any idea who would hurt me.
They told me they had done a rape analysis on me and had gathered fingernail scrapings and other evidence off me while I was in and out of it. I didn’t remember any of that. Then they asked about my love life. A spurned lover perhaps? I told them I hadn’t dated anyone since Peter died. I’d only lived in Charleston for three years. I’d moved here from Lynchburg, Virginia. My head pounded, and my body throbbed everywhere.
When I couldn’t take it anymore, I burst out screaming at them, “I didn’t do anything wrong. You’re treating me like a criminal. I’m the victim here.” Then I sobbed, and Pearce came into the room ordering them to leave.
I was distraught by the ordeal and couldn’t calm down. Pearce ended up ordering an anti-anxiety drug for me. He left to go back to work, and I curled back into a ball on the bed.
Terri popped back in thinking she would find me in the same condition as when she left. Well, that wasn’t the case. She wanted to march over to the police station and kick some butt. She was super pissed.
“I can’t believe they did that to you. The next time those asshats come in here, I’m gonna be here with you.”
“Maybe I should get a lawyer or something,” I said dejectedly. “They’re making me feel like I did something to deserve this when all I did was walk home. I don’t understand any of this. I need to talk with Lisbeth. She probably knows someone who can get them to change their tactics with me.”
“Yeah, you’re right. If anyone can help, it’s Lisbeth.”
* * *
Five days later I was released from the hospital. I went home to my little carriage house, locked myself inside, and cowered. The thought of leaving it terrified me. All I wanted was to feel normal again, but I feared that wouldn’t happen. Every light remained on at night and I hardly slept the first week. The tiniest noise startled me, and my nerves were frayed. Finally, Terri came and spent a few nights with me so I could get some rest. My clothes hung on me because eating anything substantial was not possible. Terri and Lisbeth fussed at me constantly and I tried, I honestly did, but the idea that someone had wanted to kill me was always there.
Pearce called every day to check on me, and I went to see his partner for my follow-up appointments. My ankle and wrist healed rather quickly, and after about eight weeks I was able to quit wearing that monster black boot.
