DISCLAIMER: We don't own the characters, just the plot (DUH...)
This story is written by Stephanie and Charlie. Please review!!
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"DOCTOR Delgado!" The raucous laughter in the
"chat room" was cut short by dr. Jackson's angry shout.
"Uh, Dr. Jerk- er, Jackson, uh, do you need
anything?" dr. Lu Delgado asked nervously.
"In Dr. Stowe's office… five minutes, Dr. Delgado."
Lu flinched under his harsh glare. "Right, well ladies, I guess we should end today's session. We'll meet back here, same time next week." She wrapped up the group and headed for dr. Dana Stowe's office. Perfect, just great, she thought. This is all I need, Jerkson on my case again. On the way, she ran into Lana, the receptionist.
"Girl, what have you done this time?" Lana asked.
"Who knows?" Lu replied. She walked into Dana's office and saw that Dana and Dr. Jackson and a teenaged girl were waiting for her there. "Well, hi Robert, Dana, and kid I don't know. What's this about?" Lu asked.
"You don't know this child?" Dr. Jackson said bewilderedly.
"Don't you know it's rude to answer a question with a question? You're a
cheeky fellow," the girl interrupted, her eyes shining with mischief.
Robert answered with an angry glare and prepared to say something in reply.
"So Lu, you don't know her? She says she knows you," Dana cut in
before Robert could explode. That was always a nasty sight. Besides, he needed
to watch his stress level.
"No I don't think so… who are you, kid?" Lu looked the child over,
from her neatly combed hair to her neatly worn clothes and her neatly tied
shoes. Definitely a neat freak, she thought.
"Well, I would prefer to talk with you in private. It's… sensitive and
very personal."
"Oh, well, it's okay whatever it is, they can hear."
"Lu, I mean it's very personal." Paige was trying to convince her,
but it didn't work.
"No, really, it's okay, they're my friends. If you knew so much about me,
you'd know that."
"And you still haven't told us who you are." Robert was getting
impatient.
"My name is
Paige," she hesitated, "and it's about your rape."
"What?" asked Lu, too stunned to say anything else.
"Most rapists have
between 8-12 victims. I can prove you're number two of three." Paige
sighed." Everyone stood in an uncomfortable silence.
Paige gave Dana a pleading look.
"Um, Robert, don't we have to do that thing that we were going to do
before?"
"What thing? Oh, that thing, right. It's in my office." Robert caught
on. Robert started out the door, and as Dana walked past Lu, she touched her
shoulder.
"So, I'm his second victim. He did this to two other people." They
were statements, not questions. Paige nodded.
"You weren't the first and you won't be the last."
"What do you mean, I'm not his last?" Lu was having trouble fighting the feelings that resurfaced inside her.
Paige walked over and stood next to Lu, "He did it before and he will
probably do it again. He may have other victims besides you that we don't know
about. I need you to keep a record of all the rape victims you see from now on,
okay?"
"What do you have to do with this anyway?" Lu asked.
Paige turned away and was silent for a moment.
"He raped me too," she said at last.
"He raped you, too? You're just a kid!" Lu gasped. He raped a kid? He
did this to a child? She looked Marc's age.
"Yeah, well, I guess he didn't think so." Paige
starts crying and runs away.
"Paige, wait…" Lu didn't know what to do, she just stood there and watched Paige run away. Unable to fight her feelings, she ran into her office and locked the door behind her.
She started crying softly. Jerk, she thought. How could he do such things? She wasn't the only one…
She thought Paige might come back, but realized she wouldn't. Why should she? She said what she had to say…
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There was a soft knock on the door. "Lu?"
Lu recognized Dana's voice.
"Lu, are you OK? Can I come in?" Dana stood there, in front of the door, waiting for a response.
Lu didn't say anything. Instead, she walked to the door and opened it.
"I found this in my office, I think Paige left it there." Dana gave a backpack to Lu, and decided to leave again, she could easily see Lu didn't want to talk.
Lu looked at the backpack. There was a little
photo on it. I've seen this bag before, she thought. That means I've seen Paige
before too... but I can't remember her...
Something tickled at the back of her mind. It drifted through the shadows and
then slipped away before she could grasp it. She sat down at her desk and
closed her eyes. Where? She thought, where do I know her from? Do I even really
know her?
On a whim she turned on her computer and entered the patient files database. Lu entered the name Paige into search. Eight results. She skimmed through each one. Three were too old, one was too young, and ones description didn't match. One left. Is this it? Was she a patient? What if she wasn't, what then? She opened it and gasped. Paige Carmicheal, given a rape kit three months after her own rape.
Lu pushed away from her desk and walked over to
the filing cabinet where the files were. Her hands shook as she pulled out the
file and laid it on her desk. She just stared at it, unable to open it. Oh God,
why? Am I supposed to help her? With what? Lu grabbed the file and ran out. She
needed to get away. She wasn't able to think properly anymore, her mixed
feelings just messed up her thoughts. She looked at the clock, 7PM. Lu grabbed
the file and ran out. She just needed to get away.
No other appointments for the rest of the day, I can better go home now, she
thought.
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OK… 365/645 4873. Lu's hands were shaking a little as she dialed the phone number she found on Paige's patient file. Marc stayed with Bill, so she had the apartment for herself.
"I'm sorry. This number is no longer used," a computer voice sounded.
Lu put the phone down. She tried to relax, but she just wasn't able to. She couldn't stop thinking about what happened this afternoon, and about Paige. She closed her eyes.
Maybe there's something in Paige's backpack, she thought. She got the backpack and opened it. She only found a videotape, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to watch it. After all it wasn't hers. But why would Paige have brought it all the way to the hospital if there's nothing important on it?
Lu took the guts to put the tape in her VCR and pressed the 'play' button.
"NO!! STOP IT!! DON'T YOU…"
"Do you really think you are stronger than me? You'd better not resist."
Lu recognized Kilner's cold voice immediately.
"DON'T DO THIS TO ME! PLEASE…"
Paige's voice sounded scared, and reminded Lu of the way she felt that night, when Kilner did that unforgivable thing to her.
"And if you tell anyone, they won't believe you, just like they didn't believe dr. Delgado."
At that point, Lu stopped the tape, in great disbelief. She pressed 'rewind', her hands shaking, and replayed that part.
"And if you tell anyone, they won't believe you, just like they didn't believe dr. Delgado."
Lu started crying. She didn't want to believe it. She just couldn't.
Suddenly, the phone rang. Lu hesitated. She picked up the phone, but she wasn't able to say a word.
"Hello? Is this Lu?"
It was Paige.
