Something was wrong. She could not open her eyes, no matter how she tried she could not get her lids to raise and she remained in the dark. And the smell, it was strange, a chemical smell, a smell like the scent of alcohol.
She wasn't in her home; this was not her bed. The cats should be in their respective places, keeping watch over her. And this bed seemed too small and the starched sheets were scratchy.
"Wh, wh, wh," were those sounds coming from her? "Where am I, what am I doing here, what's wrong with me?" She wanted to ask but she could not get her lips to form words.
"Doctor, I think she's coming around," she heard a woman's voice say and she heard the zip of a curtain being opened.
Doctor? Oh my god, was she in a hospital? Why? How did she get here? She tried forming words again but could only make the sounds in her throat. The noises at least let her know she was alive and that no matter where she was, she could be heard.
"I'm Dr. Crower, Miss Bates. You're in the hospital. Sheriff Buck brought you in, he said you had been attacked. He and Deputy Healy are trying to track your assailants down. Do you remember anything?"
She shook her head and pointed to her mouth, "Water" was what she wanted to say, but all she could manage was "uh-ah."
"Nurse," he said, and a glass of water was lifted to her lips, "You must sip this slowly, maybe your voice will return. Your throat showed no sign of injury, so that's good." He held the glass while she drank drained the contents. The liquid soothed her and after a moment she tried to speak again.
She pointed to her eyes, "I can't open them," she wanted to say, but "eyes" were all that came out.
"We'll try bathing them with a weak boric acid solution." Soon two cotton balls were placed on her eyes and the liquid slowly released whatever had been binding her lids.
She was in the hospital, an IV line attached to each arm. The doctor attending her was young and attractive with gentle eyes, so unlike Lucas Buck. The nurses wore starched white uniforms, unlike those in the city who generally wore scrubs and white jackets. The looks they were giving her were hostile, this puzzled her and she wondered why.
Her body hurt all over, both inside and out. What had happened to her? All she could remember was feeding her cats then kneeling in front of her trunk to begin to unpack it.
Her insides hurt horribly; something had happened that was causing her this pain.
"Doctor?" she asked, finding her voice, "How did you say I got here?"
"Sheriff Buck brought you in. He said you had been attacked, but he was unable to apprehend them. You've been here unconscious for a few hours. How are you feeling, do you need something for the pain?"
"Please," she replied, "I feel horrible, I hurt all over, inside and out. I don't even know what happened to me, I just know that I hurt."
He put his file under his arm, his kind brown eyes stared into her violet ones. "Miss Bates..."
"Elizabeth, please."
"Elizabeth, you may have been sexually assaulted, as well as beaten. We did a rape exam while you were unconscious, and you have a lot of bruising and abrasions. Unfortunately, the assailant must have worn a condom because we found no traces of semen. I hate to tell you this, but I thought you would want to know."
"But who, how? Dr. Crower, my neighborhood is safe, that's why I chose it. And I don't know when it happened, but it must have happened during daylight-how could this be?"
"I don't know, this is unusual, but the sheriff is investigating." He laid his hand on her arm and his touch was warm and soothing. "Why don't we give you something for pain?
It will take the edge off. I'll have the nurse bring you some morphine. In the meantime, just lay back and try to relax."
The morphine did the trick, the pain slowly diminished and she felt herself drop off to sleep, a pleasant sleep with no dreams.
When she woke, Lucas Buck was seated at her bedside. He made her feel uneasy and wanted to tell him to leave, but she couldn't somehow—she didn't know why.
"You had us worried, darlin'," he said in his soft drawl, the look in his hazel eyes full of concern, "I've got Ben out hunting for suspects, but so far we're coming up with nothing. Do you remember anything at all?"
"No, I'm afraid I don't. I'm not going to be of much help, I have absolutely no memories, none. One minute I'm standing in my bedroom getting ready to unload my trunk, then suddenly I find myself lying in a hospital bed."
"It's not unusual for the mind to block out unpleasant memories," Lucas used his most soothing tones, "I'm just glad that one of your neighbors saw a suspicious character leaving your house and called right away."
"That was most kind, I must remember to thank them."
"Nonsense, all you need do is get well." He stood up and leaned over to plant a kiss on her cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow, sweet dreams." She watched as he sauntered out of the room and down the hall.
Dr. Crower came to see her before she fell asleep. "How are you doing?" he asked, "Did the morphine help the pain?"
"Yes, I am not so sore as I was. I have not looked at my bruises yet."
"Nor should you, not until tomorrow at least. Good night, Elizabeth."
She begged to be allowed to take a shower the next day, and Dr. Crower reluctantly consented, provided a nurse stand outside the bathroom door in case she fell. If he had objected, she would have insisted. She needed to wash this off her, to be cleansed of it and he understood.
She saw the flowers as she stepped into her room, wrapping her hair in a towel to absorb the water. The arrangement had not been cheap, it was not a mere bouquet, but a massive assortment of flowers in pinks, whites, purples, and yellows.
A card was enclosed and she pulled it out to see who had sent it. "Wishing you a speedy recovery, Lucas Buck." Not very sentimental, but a speedy recovery was what she wanted more than anything. That and to find out what had happened to her.
She put on a fresh nightgown and crawled back into bed. Someone found a hairdryer and a nurse came and helped dry some of the dampness out of her heavy mass of hair.
"My, what lovely flowers," said the nurse, "Who are they from?"
"Sheriff Buck," she answered, and the nurse gave her a knowing look. She did not want to talk about or think about the sheriff, his attentions were almost an embarrassment. The thought of him set her on edge without understanding why, he had after all been kind and concerned after her attack.
"Miss Elizabeth?" and suddenly he was standing there, smiling and solicitous, seeming to have appeared out of nowhere. "I thought I'd come and check on you, and I must admit you look much better than you did yesterday. I see you got my flowers."
"Yes, thank you, they're lovely. Can I return to my house, sheriff, I want to leave here tomorrow, if the doctor will release me. I can't stand sitting in a bed all day long, and I'm worried about my cats."
"They're fine, your neighbor is taking care of them until you come home." He took hold of the doorknob, peering outside the doorway, then closed the door and locked it. He came to the side of the bed, smiling, but there was something in that smile she did not trust.
He pulled down her bedclothes—she wanted to prevent him, but could not move, or talk. In one smooth move, he slid his hand up her nightgown. "We need to talk darlin'," but talking was not what he seemed to have on his mind. He slid two fingers between her legs, caressing her, taking pleasure in the fact that his fingers were causing her pain.
"You just lay there, this is just a little reminder that I'm not finished with you. I brought you to the hospital after our little talk the other day. Now, it's up to you to choose: you can behave yourself and stay out of things that don't concern you, or you can find yourself on my bad side and I don't think that's what you want. I'll let you go to your law office in Charleston, but only if you're good. Misbehave and I may have to keep a closer eye on you, and I don't think you want that."
A banging noise at the door. "Sheriff, unlock the door," she heard Dr. Crower say, and as Lucas removed his hand her memories faded.
Lucas unlocked the door, admitting Dr. Crower. "It's all right," she said as she smoothed down her nightgown, the words coming out of her mouth did not seem her own, "The door got stuck."
"I'll bet," muttered the doctor, "Get out of here Lucas." Lucas looked at him for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders and left.
"Are you all right? Did he hurt you?"
She shrugged her shoulders, "I'm all right."
He pulled a penlight out of his pocket and shone it in each pupil. "I'm not releasing you today, maybe tomorrow at the earliest, if I'm satisfied that you're all right." He stepped out of the room and told the nurse, "Keep Lucas Buck away from her, let me know if he shows up."
After lunch, a pretty, brown-haired woman knocked on the door of her room. "Hi," she said, "I'm Gail Emory, I'm a reporter for the local news station. I heard about your attack and I was wondering if I could talk to you about it."
"I'm sorry," replied Elizabeth, "But I don't remember anything about it! One minute I'm at home unpacking and the next I'm lying here in a hospital bed. It must have been bad because I was in a lot of pain, though thankfully that's gotten better. I have no memories or any idea as to what happened."
She noticed Gail's brown eyes were staring at her and it made her uncomfortable. "Is there something wrong?" Elizabeth asked.
"Have we met before?" Gail replied, "I have the strangest feeling that we have."
Elizabeth looked at her, closed her eyes, then opened them. She had a hazy memory of a woman with a face similar to Gail's but she had no idea why.
"You know," she said dreamily, "I have the same feeling about you, only I know we've never met. It's so odd, both of us feeling this way."
"I know," Gail answered, "I'd say it's deja-vu, only I don't believe in that sort of thing. I wouldn't have said anything, but the feeling is so strong it's uncanny."
"I think it's like that for me, too. I'm sorry, I need to rest now, it's the pain meds, you know. If I remember anything, I'll let you know." She watched Gail leave and her head began to spin as she laid it down on her pillow.