The Shield had met up with Kurt Angle early next morning to go over everything. Kurt had gotten all the women's names sorted out to figure out how many missing cases he could finally close.
Roman had done his own research but only on one of them. Spring Evans. He was surprised to see that not a lot had come up. No family members from what he could see. She had been reported missing after not showing up to work for a week straight. That was five years ago. She had been in that hell hole for five long years. No wonder she was depressed.
They had done a good job. They had found a lot of missing women and removed the bad guys from the picture. There wouldn't be a trial since everyone was dead. But Roman couldn't let it go in his mind. He already knew that the night before as he watched her get into the ambulance and leave.
After the meeting with Kurt, he made his way to the hospital to the special wing where the victims were locked up for now. They had to lock them up to keep the press out. Since his name was on the case, he had clearance to get inside. He went directly to the first nurse he saw. Her name badge said Sarah Logan. Roman knew Kurt had specifically asked for this nurse. He knew her from other cases, and he trusted her.
"Roman Reigns," Roman showed Sarah his badge. "I'm here for a checkup with the women."
"Everyone is being tended to. Family members have been called. It's just a matter of time before they start piling in to bring home their lost girls," she said.
"What about Spring?" He asked.
"She got the bruises and scars to prove the hell she went through, but other than that, she only has a bladder infection. She's gonna be on antibiotics for five days," she said.
"Who's coming for her?" He asked.
She sighed and put her clipboard down.
"No one," she said. "She's the only one who doesn't have anyone as far as I can tell. And she's not really talkative so we can't get any name out of her. She only answers with yes or no when we ask her something. She's depressed for sure. She keeps staring at the wall and doesn't interact with any of the other women."
"Can I go see her?" He asked.
"Sure. She's in the first room," she answered. "See if you can make her drink something. She eats and drinks when we tell her to but she doesn't do it on her own. She needs fluid to wash out that infection."
He stepped inside the room where six beds were occupied by six women. They seemed to recognize him by the way they looked at him. He heard someone mumbled a thanks but his eyes were on the last bed. She laid as the night before with her back turned against everyone. He grabbed a chair and walked down to her.
"Hi, Spring," he said.
He placed the chair on the floor in front of her and sat down. She looked at him surprised.
"You came back," she said.
"I wanted to see you and check up on you," he smiled. "How are you feeling?"
She shrugged. He doubted she could find any words to explain it all to him in that moment.
"That bad, huh?" He said. "I understand. I can't begin to imagine what you've been through. I looked into your case last night. Five years. You were there the longest from what I can tell. Were there anyone there when you arrived who wasn't there yesterday?"
She kept silent for a few seconds while she tried to recall that day five years ago.
"There were two," she said. "Sasha and Bayley. I don't remember their last names. I'm sorry but I don't remember. I wanna help but I don't fucking remember. I just remember them disappearing and not coming back. I know they killed them. I don't know where their bodies are. I'm so sorry, Roman. Please, don't be mad at me."
She started crying and he leaned forward and took her hand.
"I'm not mad," he quickly said.
He held on to her hand and used his free hand to stroke her hair gently.
"You did good. Sasha and Bayley. I'll give those names to Kurt. I'm sure he'll find out who they are if there's an open case on them," he said.
She squeezed her eyes shut to try and press out the tears and deny new ones from falling. She opened them again after a few seconds. He gave her the best smile he could. He knew he was playing an important part here. Sarah had said they couldn't make her talk, but she talked to him. He needed it to keep going, and he wanted to stay close to her.
"They can't find any family members. Don't you have anybody or maybe a friend we can call to let them know you've been found?" He asked.
"I have a sister," she said.
"That's great. Tell me about her," he said.
"Her name is Lacey. We're twins. We had a bad fallout years ago and we haven't talked since. I doubt she even knows I've been missing," she said.
"Do you wanna tell me what happened?" He asked.
He didn't wanna pressure her into sharing her story but he really hoped she would. For some reason he felt the need to know everything about her and help her somehow.
"We grew up in an orphanage together. No one wanted to adopt us since there were two of us. Instead we were tasked to be free babysitters for all the younger children. I hated it but Lacey loved playing mommy. When we grew up, it was clear she wanted her own children but she couldn't understand why I didn't want the same. I spent years taking care of children. I felt I had done my part. I don't want to do it all over again. It's not for me," she said.
He tried picturing Spring and her sister. Two blonde girls that took their sad path in life in two completely different directions. One wanting to do it all over but do better, and one not wanting to do it at all. He understood both of them.
"We were already fighting over this issue, and then she got pregnant. I was happy for her but she didn't believe me. When she gave birth to Summer and I went to see her, she asked if it didn't make me want one of my own. I answered honestly that no, it didn't, and she got so angry. She accused me of hating her daughter and told me to get out of life. And so I did," she said. "I didn't hate her daughter. I was so happy that Lacey got what she wanted in life. I don't know why she couldn't be happy for me. But I'm no saint either. I think my final words were that I didn't give a shit about her brat. I just wanted to hurt her back. It was so wrong of me."
He was lost for words. Instead he grabbed the bottle of water that was left on the little table next to her bed.
"You gotta drink. That nurse Sarah was on my ass about making you drink. I'm scared what she might do to me if I don't at least make you drink a little," he said.
"Am I bad person?" She asked.
"No," he said. "Oh no, little bear, you aren't. Neither is your sister. You were both angry and you hurt each other. I think years of growing up the way you did ended with you taking that hurt out on each other."
She took in his words and turned them around in her head. She slowly pushed herself up to sit with her legs dangling out of the bed. He was happy to see her do something on her own even though it was something as simple and normal as sitting up.
"I think I'd like some water," she said.
He handed her the bottle of water with a big smile on his face. In his book this was a success. She actually asked for the water. He looked over her shoulder to see Sarah standing in the open door. She nodded her head at him and walked out again, probably to tend to some of the other women.
"I used to make lime lemonade," Spring said.
"Huh?" He looked at her. "Lime lemonade? Is that good?"
"I think so," she said. "It would be this weird weekend project. I'd made it Saturday evening and put it in the cooler over night. Lazy Sundays with homemade lime lemonade."
"Sounds like a party," he chuckled.
"I was never much of a party girl," she said. "I was always a loner. It's hard to let people in when you grow up like I did. Lacey chose to trust people and give them all a chance. I never understood how she did it. I envied that in her."
She finished the water and handed the empty bottle back to him.
"I'm tired," she said.
"Lie down and get some sleep. Your body needs rest to heal," he said.
"But I like talking to you," she said.
"I'll come back tomorrow," he said.
"You will?" She asked.
"Yes, I will," he smiled. "I promise."