MANHATTAN – AUGUST 1899

Doc's ragged breathing eased as he shot himself up with morphine. God, that rush felt sinfully good. Euphoric. It brought him into the headspace he needed to deal with whatever Sophie needed him for.

Of course, it was a private ritual. A secret. He'd hid it well in the Refuge. No one knew of his habit, aside from Snyder. But he needed morphine to think. To do what he did. Clean infected cuts, sew through skin, reach into open wounds to stop the bleeding, deal with the pain of losing those he tried to help.

So, he shot morphine between his toes and kept on going. If either of his parents could see him now, he knew they'd be disappointed. His grandfather had been a brilliant Union army surgeon when he emigrated as a young man. He didn't talk about it much when Doc was growing up. Hacked off a few too many limbs at Antietam. Doc's own father was a doctor, while his mother was a midwife. Both kept morphine in the house for their patients.

Doc supposed that's how it started for him. Self-medicating with it since he was fourteen. He was surprised his teeth hadn't fallen out by now.

"Doc, what's the matter with her?" Leah asked, breathless as Doc brushed Colleen's long blonde hair out of her face.

The girl was lying in her bed, having been carried inside by one of Medda's stagehands who found her on the doorstep in a crumpled heap.

When Medda alerted a nearby cop as to what happened to one of her girls, he didn't think much of it. And what else did you expect, the cop had asked. The little trollop probably had it coming.

Colleen's face was badly battered. Two swollen black eyes, a split lower lip, bruises along her jaw and neck.

"She disappeared for a bit last night," Leah explained, her eyes red from crying. "Said a customer wanted her to go back to his place. She never usually left, so he offered her a lot of money. This morning, we found her like this."

Doc listened, nodding as he checked Colleen's pulse. He lightly traced the bruises on her neck, cupping her jaw to move it from side to side. Sophie handed him a damp cloth, and Doc dabbed at her wounds as Colleen gained consciousness again. She'd been fading in and out for the past hour.

She panicked when she saw Doc, but Sophie took her hand gently.

"It's okay," she said. "He's here to help. He's good."

Doc sat back, rinsing out the bloodied rag in a bucket. "Hi, Colleen," he said calmly. "Do you remember me? Doc Maltese. I stitched up your hand once when you cut it on a trolley. You were very brave. Didn't cry for all twelve of those stiches, as I recall."

"I remember," she mumbled back bashfully.

"Is it okay if I touch you?" He asked, readjusting her pillows so she could sit up properly as she nodded weakly. "I need to clean that pretty face of yours. You've taken quite a beating since the last time I saw you. Was that trolley back to finish the job?"

She whimpered as pain shot through her.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Doc asked, applying a topical cream to her cuts.

Colleen looked nervously from Doc to Sophie and Leah and Bella.

Bella nodded. "Go ahead, Colleen. We're listening." She stroked Colleen's hand. "It's okay."

Colleen's face contorted in flickers, trying to hold back her tears as she recounted the night. "I can't remember much. There were two of them," she said, struggling to keep her voice composed though it badly shook. "They…took me to their place…and had me tied up…and…" She choked over her words, taking sharp breaths at each pause. "Did things to me again and again…And then when I woke up, I was here."

She burst into tears, and Sophie moved to embrace her. Bella was crying quietly as Leah took her hand in stunned disbelief.

"Who was it?" Leah repeated.

"I don't know. One man called the other one Oscar, I think, but I've never seen them before," Colleen said, shaking as Sophie kissed her hair. "They said I'd only be gone for twenty minutes. That they'd pay good. But they lied…"

"What kind of monsters would do this?" Bella wondered aloud.

"You said you've never seen them before?" Sophie asked.

Colleen shook her head. "I swear. But they seemed to know me. When I met them, they asked if my name was Colleen Tracey, and I said yes, and that's when they made the offer."

Doc face only grew more concerned. "Colleen, how many times would you say they assaulted you?" He asked, trying not to sound too crass.

Colleen didn't say anything. She stared down at the sheets, looking like she'd cry.

Sophie stroked her hair soothingly, urging her friend to say more. "It's okay. You can tell him."

"I'm counting," Colleen replied quietly. She finally looked up at Doc, a bit ashamed. "Six…maybe seven times?"

Doc tilted his head. "They assaulted you seven times?"

Colleen hung her head again as Leah gasped, crying.

"Okay," Doc nodded, taking it in. He sighed and chose his next words carefully. "Do you mind if I take a look at you?"

Colleen gave Sophie a nervous look.

"Must you?" Leah asked.

"Do you see another doctor here?" Sophie replied.

Leah shrugged. "He ain't even a real doctor."

Colleen nodded at Doc reluctantly. "That's fine," she replied in resignation. "You're the first guy to ask nicely," she added in an attempt at humor, though Doc could see the agony in her eyes.

"I'll be okay," Colleen said to the other girls.

Sophie took that as her subtle way of saying she would prefer less people to watch such an examination. As if she were a cadaver in a medical theater.

Nodding, Sophie squeezed her hand again and then filed out with Leah and Bella, closing the door.

Doc waited for her to pull back the blanket, swinging her legs above the sheets. Medda had helped her into one of her own nightgowns, and it hung loose around her waif-like figure.

Her older brother Muggs used to tease her about it. In her early days of whoring, she'd gotten her hands on a corset. She'd fumbled with the laces, having never worn one before, and asked Leah to help her cinch it up. It made her gasp for air, but she liked the way it made her look. She threw a dress over it, tied her hair up, and admired herself in the mirror, feeling rather grown up and beautiful.

When Alexei saw her like that, he rolled his eyes, and asked if that's what the uptown dandies who came slumming it at Irving Hall were going for. Leah had defended her friend, saying Colleen attracted more regulars now that she looked older.

"If it puts food in her stomach, I don't care," Muggs had said to Alexei, and then flicked his dead cigarette at his sister, giving her a mocking smile. "But you look fucking ridiculous. Don't got much in the way of tits."

Colleen replayed that memory as Doc lifted her nightgown, having her bend her knees with her feet flat on the bed. She felt her face flush a deep red as Doc examined her, asking about bruises on her thighs and hips. Like he did with Sophie, Doc narrated everything he did to put Colleen at ease.

She stared at the ceiling, too mortified to look at him.

"You're doing good, Colleen," Doc said, dipping the rag into the bowl of water. "As brave as I remember."

Colleen nodded, whimpering a bit as the cold water contacted her skin.

"Is Medda cooking something special for you tonight?" Doc asked, distracting her as he moved his fingers. "She oughta. What's your favorite food?"

Colleen tried to think. "Vegetable soup," she managed as she winced.

"That sounds good. What kind of vegetables do you like in it?" Doc continued softly.

It went like that for the rest of the exam. And Colleen was grateful he hadn't been too clinical and quiet. That would've made it unbearable.

Downstairs, Leah was pacing as Sophie sat with Bella, braiding the girl's dark hair to ease her nerves.

"Someone should tell Muggs," Bella was saying. "He's her brother. He should know."

"Is that a good idea?" Leah asked.

"Maybe he'll know who did it," Sophie mumbled. "He and Alexei stopped their trade a few days ago. Maybe he knows the guys."

Leah sighed, shaking her head. "He won't care."

"You don't know," Sophie said, remembering Muggs' reaction when she'd lied and said Colleen was in danger of being sent back to the Refuge. "It's different. This time she's hurt."

"Well, I'm not venturing over there," Leah said. "Not by myself."

"We'll all go," Sophie sighed, turning to Bella. "Won't we?"

Bella shrugged. "Is it safe?"

Sophie considered this, fasting Bella's braid with a ribbon. "Jack will come with us. Muggs will listen to him."