Missing Hart (21 page)

She had it open before I could knock, and even in the dark I gasped when I saw her because she was a bloody, beaten mess. If I didn’t recognize her overall shape, I wouldn’t even have known that it was her.

Pulling me into her apartment, she locked the door-all of the locks, and then she double checked them-and then walked with me to the couch. It didn’t escape my notice that she was having trouble walking.

“Lee, what happened?”

She cried so quietly that I couldn’t hear her, but the shaking of her shoulders was a dead giveaway.

“I’ve been dating someone,” she said.

Nodding my head, I searched my memory for the guy’s name.

“You’re talking about Michael, right? The guy you wrote me about a few weeks ago?”

“Yes, him. We’ve been dating but to be honest it was getting weird and I didn’t feel comfortable with him anymore. I told him at dinner and he was fine, told me he felt like we would be better as friends. I was so relieved that he wasn’t making a scene that when he asked me to come over and watch a movie with him, I agreed. I knew it wasn’t a good idea, but I didn’t want to be rude. When we got to his house, it was like a switch had been thrown on his personality.

I was barely through the door before he punched me. He just kept hitting me over and over again, screaming about what a dumb fucking whore I am. The pain… it was too much. I passed out and when I woke up, he had me undressed… and he was inside of me. He kept me there for hours and he just… wouldn’t… stop. Over and over again… I feel so dirty… but he wouldn’t let up. A few hours ago he left me on his bed and he went and took a shower. When he came back, he was nice and friendly again. He offered to drive me home, and he gave me a shirt to wear.

When we pulled up… he went bad again. He grabbed my face and slammed it into his dashboard, then he told me if I called the police he’d tell them what a dirty fucking whore I was and then he would kill me.”

I was shaking-from shock about what Leah had been put through, from fear about her emotional state and from flat out rage. I wanted to kill the monster that had done this to her and my number one priority was getting her to a hospital.

“Did you shower?”

She looked confused by the question, but shook her head in the negative. “That’s why I called you. I don’t think I can wash myself. It hurts to move.”

Gently taking her hand in mine I said, “Leah, I have to take you to the hospital and the police have to be called.”

“No! I can’t have anyone else touching me. I don’t want anyone to know. This would kill my brother.”

She was right about that and I knew it. But I also knew that letting that fucking maniac who had beaten and raped her get away with what he had done was not what needed to be done. If he had done it to her, he would do it again. The only way to stop him was to report it.

“Lee… You have to be strong. You didn’t do anything wrong and this isn’t your fault. There is no shame in reporting it. Yes, Dillon is going to be angry with Michael and heartbroken for you, but he will survive. He loves you more than life itself. He wouldn’t want you to go through this on your own.”

Softly crying she said, “I’m scared. I don’t like doctors to begin with and I can’t handle people being rough with me right now. I don’t think I can do it.”

Sitting up straight, I looked her right in the eye. “If you don’t report it, he’s going to do it again. It’s possible that he’s done this before to other women and they were too afraid or ashamed to report it themselves. Remember that Marissa’s stepfather had raped someone before he got to her, but it went unreported? You can do this-I absolutely know you can. I’ll stay with you the entire time if you want. I won’t leave your side.”

Suddenly it dawned on me that I might know someone who could make it easier for her.

“I know a doctor who might be able to help. Will you let me call him?”

After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded weakly. Picking up my cell phone, I scrolled through my contact list until I found the number for Dr. Tyler. I’d never used it before, but I remembered how kind he had been to me the night I lost my baby and I knew that if he could help Leah, he would.

He answered on the second ring, sounding surprisingly alert given the fact that it was now almost five in the morning.

“Hello?”

“Dr. Tyler, it’s Dominique Hart. I don’t know if you remember me, but…”

He interrupted me with a gentle admonishment. “Of course I remember you Dominique. I’ve often wondered how you were holding up. I had so hoped that you would call so that I could connect you with my wife. Is everything okay with you?”

“No, it’s not. Dr. Tyler, my friend was beaten and raped tonight. I need to get her to the hospital but she’s terrified that they will be rough on her. She in bad shape and I was hoping that you could pull some strings and explain to the people she’s going to need to see that they need to be as gentle with her as possible.”

With no hesitation he replied, “Consider it done. In fact, I’ll meet you at the hospital at the Emergency Room entrance. Tell your friend that we’ll take care of her. She’s doing the right thing by coming in.”

It was hard work getting Leah into my car, and I cursed my stupid ass for having asked for a Lexus coupe. It was too damn small and too low to the ground and in the amount of pain that she was in already, I felt like a monster packing her like a sardine into my car. Since I couldn’t drive a stick shift taking her Jeep was out of the question, and that meant we had to make do with my car.

She cried softly the entire way to the hospital as I held her hand and promised her that she could survive this. I hated the son of a bitch who had done this to her with an intensity that could power countries. Forcing yourself on someone and violating their trust and their body is an unforgivable crime, and I hoped the book would get thrown at this asshole.

We finally reached the hospital what felt like an eternity later. I had panicked over ever bump and turn in the road the entire way there, my heart breaking every time Leah made a sound of discomfort. Just before I parked, she made a request.

“I know Dillon needs to be called, but I can’t do this if he’s here. Can we please wait to notify him until after… all this?”

The mere mention of his name made my heart constrict in my chest. Could I survive seeing or talking to him? I wasn’t really sure that I could.

“Of course Leah, whatever you want me to do to make this easier. I’ll take care of it.”

I saw Dr. Tyler waiting for me as I pulled in, and immediately I felt calmer just for having him there. I knew that he would take care of Leah the same way that he had taken care of me, and that meant everything to me. Stepping out I walked around to the back of my car and met him there. Gesturing to the passenger side I gave him the run down.

“My friend’s name is Leah. She was beaten and raped by someone she had been dating for a few weeks tonight. She’s scared and she’s in bad shape. She wants me to stay with her while this process goes on-can you make that happen?”

Reaching out, he squeezed my shoulder as a show of support. “I can, but it’s going to be hard on you to see what’s about to happen. I’ve paved the way and they will be as gentle as possible, but it is invasive and the police are going to need to question her. If you’re going to stay with her, you need to prepare yourself for what you’re about to see and hear.”

I wanted to cry, to call my brothers and beg them to come help me, but I knew that I needed to be strong for Leah. This wasn’t about me-it was about her.

“I dread this and I admit that I’m scared, but for her, I will strong. No one should have to endure what she did, and if me being in the room while she deals with what comes next helps her in any way, then that’s where I need to be.”

With a solemn nod he responded, “You’re a good friend, Dominique. From the moment you opened your eyes in that hospital room last year, I knew that you had a strength that you didn’t realize.”

With one more solemn squeeze of my shoulder, he let me lead the way to the passenger side of the car. Opening the door, he crouched down so that he was eye level with Leah and then he gently took her hand in his.

“Leah, I’m Dr. Tyler and I’m here to help you. I’m very sorry that this happened to you, and I want you to know that nothing that you did or said caused this. The only person responsible for this is the man that did it to you. I’m very proud of you for coming here to report it so that he can’t do it to anyone else. We’re going to be as gentle with you as we can, I promise. I’ve arranged it so that Dominique can stay with you the entire time, and if it ever gets to be too much, you just tell us that you need a break, okay?”

Leah nodded as she quietly cried. “I’m going to try my hardest to be strong,” she assured him.

“You’re already showing your strength here now. But remember, if it gets to be too much, you have to let other people be strong for you. There’s no shame in that. If you need something, please don’t hesitate to ask. Would it be okay for me to help you from the car?”

When she nodded her head, he stood and gently helped her to her feet. Her eyes were downcast so she didn’t see his reaction to how horrible she looked, but I did, and from his face I understood that she really did look as shockingly bad as I thought. Every step seemed to be too much for her, and Dr. Tyler looked devastated.

“Leah, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to pick you up and carry you to the entrance. Can you handle that?”

I wanted to burst into tears right then and there, but somehow I held it in. The fact that he understood that he needed to ask her if he could touch her broke my heart.

After her tiny nod, he gently lifted her into his arms and carried her across the parking lot to the entrance of the Emergency Room. When Leah turned her head and buried her face against his shoulder, I saw that he was struggling emotionally. Just seeing his face and watching the gentle way he handled her reassured me that I had done the right thing in calling him.

After he settled her into a wheelchair I grabbed my cell phone from my pocket and texted my sister to tell her that I was physically okay but wouldn’t be home anytime soon.

It was well after nine in the morning by the time everything was said and done. It took reserves I never even knew that I possessed to stay at Leah’s side as the procedure for reporting a rape was followed. The police interview was especially difficult to listen to, and I struggled not to vomit when they made her describe in graphic detail, multiple times, what had been done to her.

In the midst of all that, she had a host of physical injuries that needed to be addressed including two bruised ribs, a broken nose and of course all of her cuts and bruises.

True to his word, Dr. Tyler made sure that the process was handled as gently as possible. He’d also insisted that she be lightly sedated after the nose resetting process and now she was resting as comfortably as she could, given the circumstances. The time had come for me to call Dillon to tell him what had happened, and I was scared to death.

Dr. Tyler stayed to watch over Leah while I went into the waiting room to make the call. Knowing that he wouldn’t answer anything from my number, I was using Leah’s cell phone. My hands shook so badly as I found and pressed the entry for his number in her phone book that I worried that I’d drop the phone. No amount of preparation equipped me for the sound of his voice.

Since he thought it was Leah, he was warm and affectionate when he answered. “Hey little chickadee, what’s up?”

Taking a deep breath I blurted, “Dillon, it’s Dominique. Don’t hang up. I need to tell you something.”

I swear that I could almost physically feel the frost that came across in his response.

“Why do you have my sister’s phone and what on earth would make you think that I wanted to hear anything that you have to say?”

In that moment, I hated him for making what I had to tell him even more difficult. It was bad enough that I was about to drop an atomic bomb into his lap and his coldness wasn’t needed.

“Shut your mouth and listen to me dammit. I have your sister’s phone because I’m at the hospital with her. She called me in the middle of the night to help her and I brought her here. Dillon… she was raped.”

I heard the thud of him dropping something followed by the broken sound of his breathing as he struggled to take in what I had said. “What? No… no… Minnie… no! Please… no.”

My heart broke listening to him try to process what I’d said, but I knew that I needed to plow on and get the pertinent facts out to him. There was nothing to dull the pain-I had to do it quickly, like ripping a band-aid off.

“Dillon, I need you to listen to me, okay? I need to tell you what to expect when you get here.”

I knew him so well that every sound he made told me that he was in agony, but somehow he processed what I said.

“I understand… I’m listening.”

Taking a deep breath, I told him what had happened to his sister. I didn’t stop, not even when I could hear that he was crying. Slowing down just wasn’t an option because nothing was going to make the telling any better.

“They sedated her after they set her nose and she’s resting right now. She knew that I was going to call you now and she will need you to be here when she wakes up. You need to prepare yourself for what she looks and sounds like. She’s very, very fragile Dillon.”

On a choked sob I admitted, “It hurts just to look at her.”

“I’m coming,” he said. “You can leave now, I’ll take care of her.”

I knew that by staying I was dooming myself to seeing him, but I had no choice.

“No Dillon,” I snapped, “I’m staying with her. This isn’t about you and it isn’t about me, it’s about Leah. She wants me with her. This is the first time I’ve left her side since I picked her up and I’m going right back in now. When she tells me I can go, you’ll be rid of me.”

After giving him her room number, I hung up and made my way back down the hall. Just knowing that he was coming had me sick to my stomach. Once upon a time I would have killed to see his face, but now I dreaded it. I was only just starting to take baby steps in my healing process and looking into the face of the man I wanted to spend my life with, the father of the baby that I’d lost, was going to rip my heart to pieces.