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"Are you ok?" Thea asked, sitting with Jude the next morning in an interviewing room in the police station.
"Just… stop asking that question." Jude nodded as Thea looked at her.
"Sorry." Thea nodded, "This part will be over soon." She said as Jude nodded.
"Yeah… this part." Jude nodded. She longed for it all to be over, but she felt like it could never be over. She didn't feel like this feeling would ever leave her.
"Hi, Jude." A middle aged woman walked into the room. She wasn't in police attire. Instead she wore a suit and shirt. She seemed a little more important than your average cop.
"Hi." Jude nodded.
"I'm Detective Williams but… you can just call me Karen." Karen smiled, sitting down at the table as Jude nodded, "How you feeling today?" She asked as Jude shrugged, "Dumb question, huh?"
"A little." Jude agreed.
"A lot of these questions I have for you might sound dumb but… I promise it's necessary." Karen nodded, "I'm gonna ask you some questions here and then if… if it's ok with you I'd like to send you for a forensic exam." She nodded.
"Well I've had like 4 showers since… it happened." Jude said as Karen nodded.
"That's ok." Karen assured her, "Just for your health and safety I'd like to send you for one." She nodded.
"Ok." Jude nodded.
"And you're ok with your sister being here right now?" Karen asked as Jude turned to Thea.
"Yeah." Jude nodded, turning back to Karen.
"Ok." Karen smiled, "If you need a break just let me know, ok?"
"Ok." Jude nodded.
"When did this happen?" Karen asked.
"Uh… Christmas Eve." Jude nodded, "Well… I woke up on Christmas morning." She said as Karen nodded.
"Where were you Christmas Eve? Just give me a run-down of what you did that day before you went out?" Karen asked, writing some things down in a notepad.
"I woke up and had a shower. I wrapped all my Christmas presents." Jude nodded to herself, "Sean, my boyfriend, he came over for lunch before he headed to work. He was on night shift that night." She explained as Karen nodded, "And then I just got ready to go out."
"Who were you going out with?" Karen asked.
"My best friend, Kirsty. We have an apartment together." Jude said as Karen nodded.
"Where was the party?" Karen asked.
"The three dots." Jude said as Karen nodded.
"Who did you speak to at the party?" Karen asked.
"No one really." Jude said, "It gets kinda blurry."
"What was the last thing you remember from the party?" Karen asked.
"Saying bye to Kirsty." Jude said, "She was leaving with some guy and I said I would leave after I finished my drink." She nodded to herself, "Then I…I can't remember anything."
"Ok." Karen nodded, "What's the next thing you remember?"
"Waking up." Jude said as Karen nodded.
"Can you describe that to me?" She asked.
"I woke up in a… a double bed. I had no clothes on." Jude said.
"What was the room like?" She asked.
"It was… basic, I guess." Jude said, "Just a bad and some dressers." She said.
"Was there anyone else in the house?" Karen asked.
"No, I… I got out of the bed and I put my clothes on. They were sitting on the floor." She said, "And I left the bedroom and went downstairs. The house was empty." Jude nodded, "So then I… I left and I went to my parents house." Jude nodded.
"Did you see anything suspicious in the house? For example was there any weapons lying around?" Karen asked.
"No, nothing like that." Jude shook her head.
"Ok." Karen nodded, "Have you washed the clothes you were wearing from that night?"
"No, they're in a bag at my sister's house." Jude said.
"Ok, well I'd like to take them and pass them over to forensics. If those clothes were back on you before you showered there could be some good chance of collecting any DNA from it." Karen said as Jude nodded.
"I uh… I feel like I'm not giving you much to work with here." Jude shook her head.
"Don't you worry about that. As long as you tell me everything you remember, we'll work with it." Karen assured her as Jude nodded, "At the time was there any aches or pains you had after? Did you feel sick?"
"Yeah, I was sick that afternoon but I… I figured it might have been from whatever I was drugged with." Jude said as Karen nodded, "My wrists were sore and my… my legs." Jude nodded.
"Yeah, I can see your wrists have some bruising." Karen noticed as Jude nodded, "But I'm gonna let the forensics team exam you and ask you more related questions to that." She nodded.
"Ok." Jude nodded.
"Now is there anything else you can remember from that night? Anything else we should know that could help us find this person or at least question someone about it-"
"I uh… I left without my underwear. I couldn't find it." Jude nodded as Thea sighed.
"Ok." Karen nodded, scribbling more down, "Anything else? Is there anything prior to what happened that you remember? Were you being followed or watched? Did you have a fight with someone? Things like that?" Karen asked.
"No, nothing like that." Jude shook her head honestly as Karen nodded.
"Ok." Karen said, "And you'd be able to tell me the address of the house you came from?"
"I don't know the address but I could for sure point it out and take you there." Jude said as Karen nodded.
"Ok." Karen said, "Well I think I've got everything I need for now." Karen said, "I will drive you to the hospital for your exam. Your sister can come with you." She smiled softly as Jude nodded, "All the results and questions they ask well get passed back to me anyway so I don't need to be there." She said as Jude nodded, "But I'm gonna give you my card with my number." She slid over the card as Jude took it, "Anything you need, even if it's not related to the case." She said comfortingly as Jude nodded, "Call me anytime."
"Thank you." Jude nodded.
"I might stop by your place from time to time to ask you some things if that's ok." Karen said as Jude nodded.
"Well I'm staying with my sister right now so… I'll be there." Jude said as Karen nodded.
"Ok." Karen nodded, "Thank you for coming in. I can't imagine how hard this is. You're very brave." Karen smiled as Jude just nodded.
"How are you gonna look for things?" Jude asked curiously. She figured whilst she was here, she may as well ask everything that was on her mind.
"Well we're start off with surveillance footage around that area that night. Of course we're also gonna look at the house you came from and search it, see who the homeowner is." Karen said, "Anything we find, anyone one we find… you're gonna be the first to know." Karen nodded.
"Ok." Jude nodded, taking a deep breath.
"And like I said, if you need anything, call me." Karen said as Jude nodded.
"Thank you." Jude said as Karen smiled.
Karen drove Jude and Thea to the hospital. Unfortunately Thea couldn't actually go into the room with Jude, but promised her little sister she was right outside and would be waiting on her coming out.
"She's a brave girl." Karen nodded, standing in the waiting room with Thea who nodded.
"Yeah." Thea said, "She is."
"Please make sure that she's not discouraged by the fact she can't remember anything. You'd be surprised what we can find with so little information." Karen said as Thea nodded.
"Yeah, I got a feeling she thinks the case will be dropped by next week." Thea nodded.
"No." Karen shook her head, "We are following it up along with the other sexual assaults that happened. Given that Jude fits the brief that the other girls have… got a feeling it might be the same person."
"Yeah?" Thea questioned as Karen nodded.
"Speculation of course." Karen said, "None of the other girls were drugged, though. This is a first." She said, "They remember their assaults. And they all said it was a man in black mask. Jude's is a little different."
"So it could be someone else entirely?" Thea questioned.
"We're gonna cover all bases. Once we check out the house that Jude came from that morning, I'd say we'll be a few steps ahead." Karen nodded, "And like I said, anything we find we'll be letting Jude know."
"Ok." Thea nodded.
"I'm gonna go. Once she's finished in there you can go home. All the exam information will get sent to me." Karen said.
"Ok, thank you." Thea said as Karen nodded, walking off down the hospital corridor.
Thea liked to think she was a good judge of character, and she liked Karen. She was comforting yet completely professional. The way she asked Jude questions in such a calm and normal manner was definitely something her sister needed to get through his horrible day. She had no doubt that this woman would do everything she could to find who did this.
Meanwhile Jude was in the examination room with another nurse who leading the exam. Pictures had been taken of her entire body and she had been examined internally and externally. The nurse had taken swabs of pretty much every part of her body, including a strand of her hair. She couldn't stop her hands from shaking the entire time. It was the first time since her assault that she truly felt like a victim of something.
Because she had no idea what had happened to her and couldn't remember her attack, she had been given a very thorough examination, covering all bases. She really felt like her body was no longer hers as the nurse took samples and swabs from every direction.
"Jude are you on any medication right now?" The nurse asked, who was very formal and brief with everything she was doing. She was now lying up on the bed in her hospital gown answering some questions after the hour long examination.
"No." Jude shook her head, lying up on the bed.
"Any pre-existing conditions?" The nurse asked, filling in some information on a clipboard.
"No." Jude shook her head.
"When were you last sexually active before your assault?" She questioned.
"Uh... the night before." Jude nodded.
"Ok." The nurse nodded, walking over to the counter behind as Jude watched.
"Can I go now?" Jude hoped and prayed.
"Just a few more things, sweetie." The nurse nodded, "Are you on birth control?"
"Yes." Jude said.
"Ok and we got your clothes from detective Williams so we'll run that too." The nurse said, "Ok, just a few last things if you could go into the bathroom and give me a urine sample and take this pregnancy test for me." She said, handing over the items to Jude who nodded, "And when you come back I'd like to take some blood."
"Then can I go?" Jude hoped, stepping down from the bed.
"Just a few more questions after that." The nurse smiled sympathetically as Jude nodded, walking away into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.
She eventually, after feeling like time had stood still, was finished with the examination and could go home with Thea who waited outside for her.
"You fancy something to eat?" Thea asked, walking into her house with Jude. On the car ride home, she never said a word.
"No, I'm gonna go lie down." Jude said as Thea nodded.
"Ok." Thea said, "You did so good today. That part is over now." She nodded, wrapping her arms around her sister who hugged back as best she could.
"Yeah… that part." Jude nodded tiredly.
"You've had a long day. Maybe once you've had some sleep you'll feel hungry. I'll make you anything you want when you wake up." Thea nodded.
"Thanks." Jude nodded, heading on upstairs as Thea watched her, sighing to herself and walking through to the kitchen where Dominic was.
"Hey." Dominic smiled.
"Hi." Thea nodded, leaning over and kissing him hello.
"You ok?" Dominic asked, "How'd everything go?" He asked as Thea sighed and sat down at the table.
"As well as it could have, I guess. It's not really for me to say." Thea said, "She barely said anything when she got out the exam." She shook her head, "She was… she was in there for almost three hours."
"At least they're being really thorough with it." Dominic said as Thea nodded.
"The detective in charge is really nice. Jude has her number if she needs anything and she said if they find anything she'll be the first to know about it." Thea nodded, "She's a nice woman."
"Good." Dominic said.
"It's weird… she told me that these others girls who had been attacked recently, none of them were drugged like Jude was. The settings were very different. I think that's thrown the detective off a little bit with this." Thea nodded.
"Two different attackers?" Dominic wondered.
"Maybe." Thea nodded, "How is James?"
"He is with your mom and dad. They said they'd keep him for the night. I think that was their polite way of seeing we both look like we need some sleep." Dominic nodded.
"I can't sleep." Thea sighed as Dominic nodded, listening as someone came into their house.
"It's just me." Sean walked into the kitchen holding some food for Jude, "Is she here?"
"She went for a lie down." Thea nodded, "But you can go up."
"Ok." Sean nodded, "How did… how did it go?" He asked.
"As well as it could have, I guess. But… probably better asking her." Thea said as Sean nodded.
He walked off from the kitchen and headed upstairs, walking into the bedroom where Jude had been spending the majority of her time in. He saw she was wide awake and sitting up in bed.
"Hey." Sean smiled as Jude looked over.
"Hey." Jude smiled.
"I brought you some soup." Sean nodded, "If you… if you feel kinda hungry." He said as Jude smiled.
"I'm ok just now." Jude said as he nodded.
He was still in shock. He couldn't believe this had happened to her. Someone he cared about so deeply. He was mad, upset, confused and heartbroken for her.
"I spoke to Karen." Sean said, "She said you did good."
"Well it wasn't a job interview." Jude shook her head as he sat up on the bed beside her.
"You know what I mean." Sean said as she nodded, "I know Karen. She's good. She doesn't give up on cases until she finds what and who we're looking for." He said.
"She was nice." Jude agreed, "I liked her." She nodded, lying her head down on his lap as he brushed her hair away from her face, "That was the worst thing I've ever experienced in my life." She told him honestly as Sean sighed, "I didn't even feel like I was in my body." She shook her head.
"I'm so sorry you have to go through this." Sean shook his head, caressing her head softly as she just closed her eyes over, trying so desperately to wake up from this nightmare.