Gabriela
Without hesitation, I run across the path and up the stairs to the front door. "Dawson!" Shay shouts. I stop suddenly, staring into the house. Shay is right behind me, panting. I take in a breath. "Call 911."
Tiger is on the floor, crying, begging. For a split second, I am frozen. I can only stare at the sight before me. A man is punching her repeatedly, now he is on top of her. I hear her scream. "No! Daddy please, don't! Please," she gasps. Her next cry is cut off by a sharp blow to her ribs. Finally, I move.
I thrust myself on top of the man and start hitting him. He elbows me in the chest and I am stunned. He hits me in the head so hard I think I actually see stars. Sirens sound, and he seems to realize what's happening. In a flash, he grabs something off a table, turns tail, and runs out the back door. Vaguely, out of the corner of my eye, I can see Shay leaning over Tiger.
"You're okay," she says, over and over again, "it's going to be okay." There are tears streaking down Tiger's face, mingling with the blood. Paramedics rush in, and I almost laugh at the irony. The next moments are a blur, as they whisk Tiger off in an ambulance, and a redheaded police officer keeps questioning us. A large face looms over me, and that's all I see before I pass out.
Floating. I am floating. Everything is dark except for the tiny, twinkling lights that wink, then disappear. Faces drift past and memories flood.
Then, I am awake. "Ugh," I groan, sitting up. I'm on the couch at home. Shay is beside me, staring at nothing. "What happened?" I ask.
Shay looks startled, as if she forgot I was here. "After the police came, you passed out. They took you to the hospital to get you checked out. No concussion. I drove you home."
"Thanks," I say, "um, what about Tiger?"
Shay sighs. "They wouldn't tell me because I wasn't family. But Hallie says we can stop by tomorrow morning. The police want to question us then, too. We're meeting at the hospital. I already talked to Boden." She smiles a bit, "Better get some rest while you still can."
The next morning we don't talk much, each of us silently mulling over just what happened last night. Shay drives us over to the hospital, and we wait quietly for our friend. Well really Shay's friend. Hallie Thomas and I didn't really see eye to eye, but for the sake of our friends, we tried to get along. After she and Casey broke off, we had a little fling which really got to her. She was a doctor, but also dabbled in psychology. She wasn't fond of kids though, which was part of the reason for the fight between her and Casey, another firefighter. As we sit in the waiting room, the redheaded police officer from last night walks through the doors.
"Hi," she says, walking up to us, "Detective Jones. But you can call me Dani. I'm investigating the case of Tiger Sky Reeves."
"I'm Gabriela, and this is my friend Leslie," I tell her, "we planned on seeing Tiger, and then you'll question us, right?"
"Yes. Dr. Thomas plans on joining us to discuss what would be the best thing to do for Tiger. Speaking of which, during the investigation I found some things you might like to give her." Dani pulls out a soft blue blanket and a small teddy bear and hands them to me.
I start to thank her, and then Hallie walks up. She looks at Shay and me and smiles a bit sadly, "Tiger will be fine. She's pretty beat-up though, physically and emotionally. There are things we need to talk about. She hasn't said a word to anyone, but maybe you guys can do something. Come on, I'll take you to her."
We walk up the stairs and down the hallway. "Room 312," Hallie says.
Shay and I look at each other, all of a sudden nervous. She smiles at me, and I knock softly on the door. I open it to see Tiger curled up in the white hospital bed. Her body was only a wisp, and she looks up at me with those huge blue eyes.
"Hey," I say softly, "how are you feeling?" She doesn't answer, so Shay and I walk closer and sit on the side of the bed. "I brought you something," I pull out the blanket and the bear and place them next to Tiger. When she still doesn't say anything I gently reach over, but as soon as I touch her she flinches. I pull back and for a minute we all just look at each other. I let out a breath. "We need to go, but we'll come back and visit, okay?"
Shay shoots me a look, but I ignore her. Smiling one last time at Tiger, I get up. We exit the room, leaving Tiger staring silently at the wall. "We can't come back," Shay says flatly.
"Says who?" I reply, knowing full well Chief Boden doesn't like us to form a relationship with victims. "She wasn't our case."
"All the same," Shay sighs as we make our way back to the waiting room, "I don't want to see you get hurt."
In a few minutes Hallie, Dani, and Shay and I are sitting in a room together.
At first, no one says anything, but then Hallie looks up at us. "I'm going to give it to you straight. Tiger was abused. She has multiple scrapes and bruises in addition to the deep cut under her eye. She has a sprained wrist and three broken ribs. Tiger also has several scars on her wrist, which to my belief were not from her father. From what I know, Tiger self-harms."
The room is silent, and no one says anything. Hallie continues. "While I was examining her, I also noticed severe vaginal trauma. In other words, she has been raped. And more than once. All this has caused much emotional damage which is why she doesn't talk. Tiger is likely to be untrusting, fragile, and maybe even suicidal."
We are all stunned. I begin to shake my head, and beside me I can see Shay struggling not to cry. "So what do we do?"
Hallie looks at me, "She needs a home."
