Saturday, November 10th 2007, 2:33pm
The doctor is a woman in her forties. She introduces herself as Doctor Jenny Golden. She smiles and shakes my hand before launching into her speech.
"Ms. Novak – "
"Call me Casey." She nods.
"I know you've been thorough quiet an ordeal, and you're probably tired so I will try to tell you what you need to know without taxing you.
"Your medical condition is stable; it helps that you're young and healthy. You will need to stay in the hospital for at least two nights because of your concussion and blood loss. You will probably be able to leave Monday or Tuesday, but you will have to take it easy for a few weeks and be careful not to rip out your stitches.
I hold up my hand. "Wait. Why do I have to stay here for three days? As you said, I'm not that injured – hell, I've been beaten up worse just doing my job."
"You need to stay for several reasons, not the least of which is your exposure to HIV. Your concussion is fairly serious and your stitches could rip if you move too much. Now listen." She sits down in a stool next to the bed and hands me a cup of pills. "Here are the medications that you need to take right now."
"What are they?" She points to each with gloved hands.
"This is the morning after pill, these are broad spectrum antibiotics, and these are antiretrovirals." I nod and swallow the pills with some water. "Now, Casey, you're going to have to take antibiotics for a week. That will help reduce the risk of you contracting most STIs, such as gonorrhea and Chlamydia. Have you been vaccinated against HPV?"
"Yeah." (It's a new thing, but I got it once it came out. I do have a sex life, and I don't want to end up with cancer).
"That's good, but the vaccine is new and it only protects against the three major strains, so you will still need to be tested for HPV and Herpes a few weeks from now.
"At the moment we can't say for sure that you won't contract HIV but there are some medications that may prevent it. Antiretroviral drugs given at or shortly after exposure can reduce the risk of HIV infection. It's called post-exposure prophylaxis. It is believed to work, though nothing has been proven.
"We will give you antiretrovirals and antibiotics every day that you are here, and you will be given prescriptions before you leave. But first you will need to see an HIV and AIDs specialist. We may be able to identify the strain of AIDs that you were exposed to, and then give you drugs that are better at targeting that strain."
"What are my chances of getting HIV?"
"Since we are not sure of how much blood and fluids you were exposed to it is impossible to say – I'm sorry."
She takes my hand and looks at me sympathetically, "You needed a lot of stitches and some of them need to be removed in a few weeks. Because you were raped with a knife it is possible that the internal scarring will keep you from having children, but that is unlikely. We would also like you to meet with a psychiatrist before you are discharged. As I'm sure you know, that's standard procedure for rape victims."
Rape victims. I am a rape victim. Casey was raped. Somehow that just doesn't feel real. I wonder when it will sink in. As a Psych minor I know the stages that a person goes through when they've lost something, when they're been hurt. First shock, then denial, anger, and depression – all that has to come before acceptance; if only knowing those stages could help me to avoid them.
I assure the good doctor that I understand my prognosis and that I will stay long enough to see the shrink and AIDs specialist.
Olivia comes back in just in time to see me cry a little because of what the doctor told me. Adria has gone to find food for Olivia and her – I can't stomach anything more right now. Fin and John had to go to investigate a double rape-homicide; sex crimes don't stop just because I'm stuck in here. I fall asleep again, feeling safe with Olivia next to me.