Chapter 1
Amanda Rollins watched as her lieutenant walked out from the hospital elevator and removed her cell phone from her ear once she got a look at the blonde. Rollins walked over toward her with a manila folder in hand, "I'm sorry for calling you, Captain. I couldn't get a hold of Fin right away. I swear, he sleeps like a log."
"What happened?" Olivia asked as she took the folder from Amanda and opened it, revealing images of a young girl. Her body looked almost blue, with bruises all over her torso, arms and chest. Olivia noticed the huge fresh cut on the girl's neck, which she concluded was probably done when her attacker held a knife up against her neck.
"They found her outside in the cold covered in snow with her clothes torn, no panties… She's missing her shoes."
"Well something definitely happened to her," Olivia concluded from the photos. "What is she, fifteen?" the brunette guessed as she shook her head.
"Give or take," Amanda answered. "The doctors were treating her for hypothermic shock when I got here. They had to pump her with fluids to try and stabilize her."
"How long was she out in the cold for?" Liv asked.
"I don't know. The rookies that found her said she was unconscious when they got there. The doctors think it was at least an hour."
"And the sick bastard who did this just left her out in the cold to die. That's just great," Liv said as she shook her head in disgust.
"While she was out, they did a rape kit and found vaginal and anal tearing, consistent with rough sex. They did an x-ray and also found some broken ribs so whoever roughed her up is a real sadist. She was just waking up, just before you got here. The doctors are in with her now." Amanda began walking toward the hospital room with Liv following directly behind her.
As soon as they entered, they saw the doctor shining a light in the teen's eyes to see if they were dilating properly. The doctor put the light down and glanced over at the two women. He got up from his chair to meet them in the doorway.
"She hasn't spoken a single word yet," he informed them. "She's not answering any of my questions or acknowledging me at all. I would like to run some more tests."
Amanda nodded, "It's important that we speak to her as soon as possible. It won't be long. I promise," she added.
"I'd like to stay," the doctor advised.
Olivia jumped in. "It's important that we speak to her alone. You can speak to her as soon as we're done," the brunette said as if he didn't have a choice in the matter. Olivia always found it annoying when doctors and nurses thought they knew more about rape victims than the detectives did.
It was obvious by the expression on the doctor's face, that he was not at all happy with the idea but Amanda already began closing the curtain between them before he could argue.
The teen moved her long dark hair out of her face as she stared at the two women. She stared at the doctor's feet below the curtain and watched as he walked away.
Olivia moved closer. "Hi, I'm Detective Benson and this is Detective Rollins. We're from the Special Victims Unit. We just wanted to ask you a couple of questions about what happened. Is that okay?"
The teens brown eyes moved from Olivia's and then to Amanda's but she didn't speak. She stared back down at the curtain to see if there was anyone else nearby.
Olivia quickly glanced back at Amanda before she spoke again, moving in a little closer to the hospital bed that the girl was laying in.
"Can we get your name, sweetie?" Amanda asked as she removed a small notepad and pen from her pocket.
The girl sat there in utter silence, praying that the two women would disappear.
Olivia broke the silence, "The doctors said that you were attacked, that you had bruises and some broken ribs... Can you tell us a little about how that happened?"
Silence.
"You know," the blonde began. "Anything you can tell us would be helpful. Even if you think it's not important. You're not in any trouble. We just want to help you."
Silence.
Amanda and Olivia exchanged looks again before they both got up and walked out of the room, out of ear-shot.
"Maybe she doesn't speak English?" Amanda suggested. "We can try getting a translator if we knew where she was from."
"Let's see if she'll open up more if there's only one of us," Liv suggested. "Talk to the doctor. Find out if this could be a side effect from the hypothermia."
Amanda nodded and Olivia made her way back toward the girl.
To Be Continued…