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I swallowed when I pulled away from him, feeling a little uneasy. Dr. Giles was the man who’d taken care of Karl when he wrecked his car.
“You’re here for Amber?” he asked.
“I’m working her case with Rhodes and Hutch. Chief seems to think Amber’s case is connected to our other one. Is she alert?”
“She is for now, but I have to warn you she’s in a lot of pain. I just gave her a mild sedative, so I’m not sure how much you’ll get out of her right now. It’s likely she’ll fall asleep at any moment.”
I sighed, but nodded because I understood. I was still going to try though.
“What do her injuries look like?” I looked around, then lowered my voice as I ducked my head closer to his. “Was she raped?”
Sadly, Dr. Giles nodded. “Violently. She has several severe tears inside her vagina and bruising that’ll take a solid two months to heal.”
“DNA?” I wondered.
“Rape kit should be on its way to the lab now.”
“What about her injuries?”
“Fortunately, there are no broken bones, but there isn’t an area of her body this guy didn’t assure to leave uninjured by the time he was done with her.”
Chills shot down my spine at his words.
“She’d been drinking too. I ran a tox screen on her, but it’s going to be a little while before the results are back. I won’t know for sure until then, but given how strongly she stinks of alcohol, I’d say there’s a substantial possibility she may have no memory of her attack. If she does, then I doubt it’ll be more than snippets.”
Damnit.
That was not what I’d hoped to hear.
“Alright, Doc. Do you still have my info?”
“I should, but it wouldn’t hurt to get another card from you just in case.”
I reached inside my bag and handed one over to him. “Do me a favor and fax the DNA and toxicology results to my office as soon as you get them. Do you mind if I step inside and maybe see what I can get out of Amber?”
Dr. Giles stepped to the side and waved me along. “No, not at all. Go ahead and do what you need to do. I’m sorry to ask you to please not wake her if she’s asleep, but if she is, then I’m afraid you’ll have to come back later. I’m sure you can understand.”
“Yes, Dr. Giles, of course.”
I thanked him and then knocked twice on the door, stepping inside the cold room just to sigh my disappointment when I found Amber Strickland lying down in bed with her battered eyes closed and her split mouth open wide, sound asleep like Dr. Giles had predicted.
There was nothing more I could do now, so I fetched another card from my purse and placed it on the little table beside the hospital bed, scowling as I spun on my heel because I knew I had no other choice but to report Amber’s condition back to the detectives.
seventeen
Spike
Iswallowed uncomfortably as I sat next to Daniel Strickland, Amber’s husband, struggling to calm him as he sat hunched over on the bottom step of the staircase with his elbows draped across his knees and his face trapped in his hands, sobbing. He was beyond plastered and given that he was doused in the unbearably potent stench of Jameson whiskey, I was surprised he didn’t have alcohol poisoning.
Then again, it was possible he did.
It probably wasn’t a bad idea to have him transported to the hospital for fluids and a medical evaluation.
“I-I can’t be-believe th-this ha-happened,” he cried, sucking back in the snot trying to leak out of his nose as he lifted up and wiped the wrist of his sleeve under said spot, blowing out a breath. “I-I don’t even know how this could’ve happened. I… I don’t remember us coming home last night, me getting in bed, nothing.”
“I’m sorry this happened, Daniel. You have my condolences. I know this is hard, but I really need you to tell me everything you told the CSIs and EMTs.”
Phoenix and I had gotten here just moments ago and the EMTs were gone with Amber long before we left the precinct. Phoenix was gravely pissed and hadn’t so much as breathed a word to me the drive here, except for the one remark he made about going to help process the scene while I fell back and interviewed the husband. He was currently in the living room with one of the CSIs who stayed behind to talk to us.
