Chapter 8
All three of them, Olivia, Amanda, and Jason, had been sitting in the hospital waiting room for what seemed to be almost two hours. Jason had heard the commotion after Jackie had passed out and made his way out as soon as he could.
Now, Olivia stared at the boy who didn't look much older than Jackie. Whoever he was, he seemed generally worried about her. He definitely couldn't hide how nervous he appeared from either woman. His right leg was shaking uncontrollably and every time he saw a doctor, he jumped up to ask them about Jackie.
Olivia was nervous too and knew that she couldn't do anything right now. She hated feeling helpless.
But here she was.
Sitting impatiently in a hospital waiting room, not being able to do anything to help her niece.
She turned over to Amanda, realizing that it was getting late and Rollins never left her side. "Why don't you go home, Rollins? It's getting late. There's no point in both of us being here."
The blonde detective looked at her, "No, Captain. I can stay."
"Go spend some time with your daughter. I'll call you as soon as we find out anything," Olivia told her and motioned her eyes to the boy.
Amanda understood now that Olivia wanted to be alone with him.
They still didn't even know who he was and couldn't exactly rule him out as a suspect. Jackie was raped. And despite how desperate he appeared to want to know how she was doing, that desperate need could just as well be guilt.
"Okay," Amanda answered before getting up from her seat. "Call me if you need anything."
"I will," Olivia reassured her and watched as she walked away.
The Lieutenant took in a deep breath before slowly making her way closer to Jason. She sat closer, with only one empty seat in between them.
He looked at her quickly and then back at his hands, which were layed on his knees.
"She's going to be okay," Olivia attempted to assure him.
"You don't know that," he responded. "She could be dead right now."
Olivia was taken aback by his words. "They would've told us."
"They haven't said anything," he reminded her.
"They will," she answered. "I'm sure they're just running some tests to make sure that she's okay and getting the proper treatment."
"I didn't mean for this to happen," he confessed.
"It's not your fault," Liv answered.
"I gave them to her… I was only trying to help take away her pain," he said in a saddened voice.
"I believe you. Truth is, I should've never let her leave the hospital in the first place. But don't worry. I won't make the same mistake twice," Olivia assured him.
"I need to stay with her," he told the woman sternly.
"I can talk to the doctor and see if that can be arranged," Liv answered. "…How do you know Jackie, exactly?" she asked him.
"It doesn't matter… Why are you still here?" he asked out of curiosity. "Jackie told me that she didn't want to talk to you. And cops just make matters worse for people like us."
"How am I making them worse?" Olivia questioned in confusion. "I'm trying to catch the person who did this to her. Isn't that what you want? To catch the person who did this to your friend?"
Jason remained silent.
"Do you know who it was, Jason?" Liv asked.
"If I did, he would be dead," Jason answered harshly. "And Jackie doesn't want to talk to the cops. She doesn't like cops."
"Look," Olivia began. "I don't care about what she does. She's not in trouble for that. I just want to find the guy who did this to her. He's done it to other girls. But those other girls weren't so lucky to get out alive like she was."
"Why do you care so much?" he asked her. "With what we do, we usually get threatened by the police. Am I supposed to buy that you just want to talk to her? What's to stop you from throwing her in jail the second she says the wrong thing? You're trying to tell me, you won't do that?" he questioned with sarcasm in his voice. "She's better off saying nothing."
"I would never do that," Olivia answered in a louder tone. "All I care about is catching the man who did this."
Jason looked at her eyes and could sense that she was being sincere. He wanted to believe her but it was difficult for him to do that. With everything they had been through, trusting a cop was the last thing he thought either one of them would ever do.
"He'll get caught," Jason assured her as he nodded his head. He was already making plans to catch the guy himself.
Olivia could sense in his voice that Jason was planning on doing something. "What do you know?" she asked him.
"All I know is that he has a red Camaro. There's not too many of those driving around our part of town. He won't be hard to spot."
"Do you know any other details? Like what he looks like? If he has any tattoos? What exactly happened that night?" Olivia questioned.
"She didn't even want to talk to me about it. She tried to act like nothing happened. That's what she does. Pretend nothing ever happens."
"It's called repression," she answered. "That doesn't work for long. Sooner or later those feelings are going to come out. She needs to cope with what happened. I can get her a counselor who can help her."
"A counselor?" he laughed. "You think that's going to make a difference?" he said sarcastically.
"It could," she assured him. "It helped me. I can get you a counselor too… get you both into good group homes–"
"A group home?" he laughed again. "No, lady. We get by on our own."
"You get by?" Olivia asked with sarcasm now. "Look where we are," she gestured to the hospital waiting room.
Jason shook his head and glanced up to see the doctor coming toward them. He stood up immediately and Olivia did too.
"How is she?" Jason asked before the Lieutenant could.
"She's stable," the doctor told them, which caused their overly-tense shoulders to relax.
"When can we see her?" Olivia asked.
"You can see her now, Lieutenant," he told the woman.
"And you are?" the doctor asked Jason.
"I'm her friend," Jason answered.
"As of right now, immediate family members only," the man continued.
"She has no immediate family," the boy said in a stern and argumentative tone. "I am her family."
"Can't you just let him see her?" Liv asked politely. "Doctor, this girl's been through a lot. I'm sure she wants to see him too."
The doctor studied the boy for a few seconds too long. Jason stared back at him with persistence written all over his face, causing the doctor to eventually gave in. "Not long," he told them before he showed them to her room.
Jackie opened her eyes slowly at the sound of footsteps approaching her. She jumped a little while she was still in bed, obviously startled by the noise and blurry figures in front of her. She allowed her eyes to adjust to the light and noticed the two people in front of her.
"I'm sorry," Liv said. "We didn't mean to startle you," she apologized.
Jackie stared at the woman in confusion. "You again?" she asked in a miserable tone.
Olivia took a long breath from her nose and let it out. "Nice to see you too," Liv answered with a slight smile.
Jackie looked over to Jason, who sat down on the chair closest to her. He brought the chair even closer to the bed and grabbed her hand. "I'm so sorry, Jackie. I didn't think this would happen."
She shook her head before responding, "Jason it's not your fault.
Olivia squinted her eyes as she tried to understand what wasn't Jason's fault and why he felt so guilty.
"I did this," she told him. "It's my screw up... It's always my screw up," she mumbled.
"When can you go home?" he asked her.
The detective chimed in, "She needs to stay here, Jason." She looked over at her niece, "You need to stay here, so that you can get the medical attention you need."
"Medical attention is for rich people," Jackie answered. "What's it to you anyway? Why do you care so much? What? You get a big bonus if you catch the guy? You'll get promoted or something?"
"No," Olivia answered with annoyance in her voice. She hated it when the victims didn't believe her. It was very rare. They almost always believed her.
The woman wanted to tell her right then and there that she was her aunt. That they were related by blood.
But something stopped her.
What if it just made things worse? she wondered. What if she refused to talk to her at all? At least they were speaking. Even if it wasn't on the best of terms.
"Because I don't want what this guy did to you, to do the same thing to other girls," Olivia answered. "And don't you want this sick man to pay for what he did?"
Jackie shook her head before answering, "We all take risks. It's nothing to cry about. If they take that risk, it's not my problem." The teen's voice was nonchalant, as if they were talking about getting coffee or something.
Olivia had a feeling that this girl was used to this type of behavior. That she was used to being abused. "You didn't deserve this, Jackie. He left you out there in the cold to die. You would have if it wasn't for the weather."
"But I didn't," Jackie answered.
Jason budded in, "Maybe you should tell her what happened." His voice was soft and he wanted this guy to be caught just as badly as Olivia did. Maybe even more.
"You're joking, right?" Jackie asked him with a serious expression on her face. "You're not actually suggesting I talk to the police?"
"Maybe they can find him," Jason answered.
"They won't," Jackie answered simply.
"You don't know that," he said.
Olivia interjected, "We won't find him if you don't help us."
Jackie pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. She hated the police. She hated everything about them. Why should she help them when all they've ever done was arrest her or take advantage of her?
"Look," Olivia began. "I get it. You don't like talking to the cops, but I'm not just a cop. I want to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone else again. I won't ask you any questions about what you do, if that's what you're worried about… But what he did to you… That's a crime, Jackie."
Jackie looked over to Jason, who was staring at her with pleading eyes.
"Fine," she answered as she stared back at Olivia. "What do you want to know?"
"I need to know what happened that night. From the beginning," Liv told her as she took a seat on the chair near the hospital bed.