Chapter Two: Sterile Halls
Sara
We made it to Desert Palm in record time and as Grissom screeched to a stop in the parking garage I began to hyperventilate. Memories of the previous night came flooding back as he helped me out of the Tahoe and out of the lot. As we moved away from the garage my breathing returned to normal and I allowed Grissom to guide me through the maze of sterile halls to the rape crisis centre. We hadn't spoken on the way over but I knew a thousand questions must have been running through his mind. As he raised his hand to knock on the door it opened and a tall young redhead stood before us. She introduced herself as Dr. Amelia Lawrence and opened the door wider to allow us access to a small waiting room. I could feel Grissom's presence behind me and I knew he was tense. Dr. Lawrence motioned to a couple chairs and excused herself, promising to be right back. When she returned she was carrying a clipboard, pen and what I assumed to be a rape kit. Her voice was soft and soothing as she gathered my personal information, including a detailed report of what had happened and what I had done after. I was stoic the entire time and I had a feeling this worried her, she kept flicking her eyes to Grissom to see his reaction to my stoicism and when I followed her gaze I saw his eyes glistening with unshed tears as I spoke. Once she had all the verbal information she needed she asked if I had any questions. I told her no but the look in her eyes told me she didn't believe me.
Dr. Amelia Lawrence
"Alright Ms. Sidle, I want you to go into room four and change into this gown. I'm going to have a quick chat with Dr. Grissom and I'll be right in." As Sara's slender form disappeared into exam room four I turned my attention to her companion. I asked him all the standard questions about how well he knew her and what the terms of their relationship was and when he told me there was no relationship except for professional I was quite surprised. It was obvious to me that they harboured desires for each other and it was clear that the victim had unquestioning trust in this man because many rape victims are afraid to be in close proximity to a man after their ordeal, even if they know and trust him. He informed me of Sara's minor breakdown in the car and her fainting and vomiting episode earlier in the night which sounded like a minor case of heat exhaustion. I promised him I'd treat her for the heat exhaustion as well as examine her and collect samples for the investigation. I gave him some pamphlets on helping rape victims deal with what had been done to them and made my way to the examination room.