Page 61 of The Woman I’ve Become

I try to laugh, but I am so hoarse it comes out like some sort of weird grunt.

The sound of metal against metal has me opening my eyes. I blink. Someone is opening the door to my cage. It’s not him. It’s a woman.

My heart beats faster, and I manage to sit up. Is she real or am I seeing things? I blink. Oh my God, she’s real! I scramble to my feet and sway drunkenly. “Please,” I croak. “Help me.”

“Shh.” She gestures to my mat. “Lie down and let me have a look at you.”

I do as she says. “Please,” I beg, “I just want to go home. I won’t tell anyone what happened. I just want to go home.”

I think of Colleen and her old Mercedes. I wonder if she ever thinks of me or worries about what happened to me. Did she go to the police, or does anyone even know I’m here?

Casey knows.

Rage washes over me like a tidal wave.

Julia knows.

Something cold touches my chest. I stare down at the stethoscope. Is she a doctor? Surely if she is, she will help me.

I stare at her. She’s very pretty. Maybe thirty or thirty-five.

“Please,” I murmur.

“Shh.” She continues to listen to several areas on my chest and then my back.

From there she does a complete examination. Touching me, pausing on the scars and frowning.

She does a couple of cheek swabs, draws blood. Has me pee in a cup. By then she has moved me to the main room.

“When was your last menstrual cycle?”

I shrug, barely able to lift my shoulders. “Last week.”

“For one,” she says finally, “you are dehydrated and malnourished. I’ll see that you have plenty of water bottles and protein bars and drinks to supplement your food.”

“I want to go home,” I whimper. My whole being hurts. I am so tired and so scared. I do not want to die here.

She hands me a clear plastic bag containing liquid. “Hold that.” It’s heavier than I expected. Then she sticks a needle in my arm. I wince. The needle is attached to a tube that is attached to the bag I hold. An IV, I realize.

“You need fluids now. I’m giving you an antibiotic as well, though it may not help.”

She removes a bottle from her bag. A doctor’s bag. I didn’t even notice it until now.

“I’ll see that you have more vitamins and other supplements. But you must take them, or you will only get sicker. You haven’t been taking them like you should.”

I don’t understand. “Because of what he’s doing to me?”

She shakes her head. “Because you aren’t getting any sunlight, and you’re not eating properly. But we can fix all that.”

Tears stream down my cheeks. “Please, just help me get out of here.”

She takes my hands into hers and stares directly into my eyes. “I can’t. I would if I could, but I cannot. He owns me the same way he owns you.”

I shake my head and start to cry even harder.

“Listen to me.” She gives me a little shake. “You’ve been here a long time, and you’re sick. He called me to take care of you, so you must be special or he would have disposed of you.”

Those last words penetrate the self-pity swaddling my brain. I wait for her to go on.