Chapter 12
"Did she wake up again?" Quatre asked when he relieved Duo of guard duty.
"Naw. She's still out but she didn't have any terrors either so somethin' worked."
Quatre nodded. It wasn't exactly what he'd hoped for, but at least it was a step in the right direction. He suspected her body was exhausted from trying to heal and it would be selfish to try and lure her awake again. Quatre settled into the chair with a book he'd been trying to finish.
Quatre was distracted from his book by movement on the bed. The girl looked like she was trying to get comfortable and failing miserably. The remote to adjust the bed was on her right side. Quatre frowned because her right arm was in a brace. She wouldn't be able to get to it. He watched her struggle for a second longer. He wasn't trying to be mean, he just wanted to see if she could do it on her own first. When it was obvious she couldn't find it, he carefully approached the bed.
"You look uncomfortable. This should help," he said with a smile as he placed the remote into her left hand. He felt a stab of sorrow when she flinched, but his fingers brushed her skin as she took the remote and he felt a little wariness but not as much fear as before and it gave him hope.
The girl nodded and adjusted the bed. Quatre remained silent as she performed her task. He wanted to give her the chance to speak first. She didn't.
After a few minutes of silence, Quatre decided to try and coax her into a conversation.
"Duo said you woke up earlier. Are you feeling better now?"
The girl didn't respond right away. Quatre was about to give up when she nodded.
He smiled. "I'm glad. My name's Quatre. What's yours?"
The girl turned her head and looked at the wall. Quatre felt fear coming from her again. He frowned. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."
The girl slowly turned back and gave him a weak smile.
Quatre thought for a second. Did this mean she didn't want to talk or that she couldn't talk? Either way, he didn't want to push her and have her completely ignore him. "I understand," he said with a smile. "I'll try to stick with yes or no questions so you don't have to talk, okay?"
The girl nodded.
Quatre wanted to jump with happiness. He was making progress! "Great! So are you hungry?"
The girl waited a minute before shrugging.
Quatre was sure she'd be starving and would admit it easily. "You're not used to eating regularly are you?" he asked gently.
She shook her head slightly.
Quatre frowned and the girl cringed. He immediately schooled his features and apologized. "I'm sorry. Look, if you're hungry you can eat, okay? You don't have to wait for someone to offer."
The girl flinched when he snapped his fingers. He ignored it and looked through the drawer in the table next to the bed. He grinned as he found a pad of paper, a pen and the cafeteria menu.
"I know Sally will want you to eat foods that won't upset your stomach until you get used to eating again. I recommend soup and toast." He didn't add that if she refused to eat, Sally was going to give her a feeding tube. He didn't want her to feel like she was being forced to eat.
He scanned the menu, trying to decide what to suggest for her to eat. He didn't want to make her sick on top of everything else. He thought back to the end of the war, when Dorothy had run him through with a fencing foil. That had been miserable for him. He'd had to have surgery to repair his intestines and then he'd been on a nutrient drip for a week. After that it had been a strict diet of liquids that were room temperature for another week. He was allowed to eat warm soup and ice cream after that but it was a month before he was allowed to eat anything resembling solid foods. Even applesauce had been pushing it. At least the girl's only restriction would be something light that wouldn't hurt her stomach to digest. Soup would be good for that.
"Looks like they have chicken noodle, clam chowder and tomato today. Do any of those sound good?"
The girl stared at him. He handed her the paper and pen, which she carefully took with her left hand. She looked like she thought they would bite.
"Do you know how to write?" Quatre didn't want to rule out the possibility that that was the cause of her hesitation and he didn't want to embarrass her.
The girl nodded with a slight frown.
Quatre grinned, hoping it would encourage her to relax. "Why don't you write down which one you want and I'll get someone to bring it up, okay?"
After a failed attempt at writing with her right hand, which was immobilized by the shoulder brace, the girl sighed and picked up the pen with her left. Quatre watched as the girl slowly and laboriously wrote something. He looked at what she wrote, taking his time to decipher it. 'Chicken.' It looked like a four year old wrote it, but he nodded.
"Writing with your non-dominant hand will take some getting used to, but at least your writing is still legible," he told her. He added "I have a hard time deciphering Duo's chicken scratch."
That last bit wasn't 100% true, but he wanted to encourage her to keep trying. And there were times that Duo got in a hurry and Quatre really couldn't read what he wrote.
He went to the phone and ordered food to be brought up for the both of them. Just as he finished ordering, there was a light knock on the door. Sally came in as he was hanging up.
"Hello, Sally."
"Hi, Quatre." She faced the girl, glad to see she was awake. "How are you feeling?"
The girl looked down before picking up a pen and writing on a pad of paper. She held up the paper so Sally could see.
'OK'
Sally grinned. At least the girl was responding now. "Still not talking? But I suppose that's to be expected, given what you've been through. I assume they didn't want you to talk much."
The girl looked down and shook her head. Sally carefully moved next to the girl and put her hand under the girl's chin, gently lifting her face.
Sally made sure the girl was looking at her before saying, "You don't have to be afraid anymore. I promise I won't get mad at you." She kept her voice serious but gentle. The girl needed to understand she was safe.
The girl turned her head, pulling her chin out of Sally's grasp.
"It's okay. I understand that you don't trust me yet," Sally assured her, trying to keep her disappointment in check. She knew she shouldn't expect so much so fast, but it was hard to be patient when the girl was the only one who knew who had done this to her. Sally wanted him caught before he could find another victim.
"We've ordered dinner. Would you care to stay and join us?" Quatre asked, trying to lighten the heavy mood in the room.
"You didn't order her anything too heavy did you?" Sally demanded. She didn't want the girl to be teased with food she wasn't allowed to have. It would be cruel on too many levels.
"No. Of course not. She picked chicken soup and I ordered her some crackers as well," Quatre answered, careful to keep his voice light. He hadn't missed the terror that crossed the girl's face at Sally's tone. He'd have to remember to mention it to her later. They'd all have to be careful not to let the girl think they were angry when they weren't.
"Well, I can see you're in good hands," Sally told the girl gently.
The girl looked up and Sally smiled, hoping to set her at ease.
"I've got you on a nutrient drip so you don't need to worry about getting all the food groups in right away. But I'm going to leave a list of foods you can eat so you don't upset your digestive tract right off. Based on your physical evaluation you haven't been eating regularly and you'll need to ease into heavy foods," Sally explained. She wanted the girl to understand why there were certain foods she wouldn't be allowed to eat right away.
Sally looked at her clipboard. She had a list of questions to ask the girl. Some came from Colonel Une, but most were so Sally could try to counteract whatever had been done to her. She didn't particularly want to ask the girl all of these questions right off, but it wouldn't hurt to ask a few and see how much the girl was willing to reveal at this early stage.
She looked up at the girl. "I need to ask you a few questions and I'll try to keep them yes or no, but there are some you'll have to write the responses to. There are no wrong answers and I want you to be honest, okay?"
Sally hoped the girl hadn't been brainwashed on top of everything else.
The girl took a shaky breath and nodded, fear evident on her face.
Sally decided to start with something easy. "Do you know how old you are?"
The girl bit her lip and wrote on the paper. She looked nervous as she showed Sally what she'd written.
'19?'
Sally was surprised. "You're not sure?"
The girl shook her head, still looking like she thought she was in trouble.
"Do you remember how old you were when you were picked up?" Sally asked, cocking her head so that the girl would realize that Sally was curious and she wasn't in trouble for not knowing.
A small amount of fear left the girl's face as she nodded.
"Do you remember the approximate date or the year?"
Again, the girl nodded. Sally was pleased that she didn't hesitate as much as she had before.
"The current date is April 24th, 202. Does that help?"
The girl nodded and crossed off the question mark.
Sally was surprised. She didn't look that old, but then she wasn't exactly healthy, either. Maybe once they got some meat on her bones and got rid of that haunted look she wouldn't look so much like a lost child.
Quatre watched the exchange without interrupting. If the girl was comfortable responding to Sally, who was he to butt in? However, Quatre could feel sadness seeping into the girl. Something was upsetting her, but what it was, he had no clue. Maybe Sally's questions would reveal the answer.
Sally frowned as the girl, young woman really, continued to look at the paper in her lap. "Did I say something wrong?" she asked.
The girl didn't respond. Sally wasn't sure why she still thought of her as a girl, but she didn't see a point in dwelling on it right now. She shot a look at Quatre who could only shrug. He didn't know what was upsetting the girl either.
Sally carefully touched the girl's shoulder to get her attention. The girl jumped and her head snapped up to see who was touching her.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Sally asked gently. "You kind of spaced out there for a minute."
The girl nodded, unshed tears threatening to fall. She blinked them back and looked back at her lap for a moment.
"If you're sure you're okay…"
The girl nodded, still looking at the blanket. Sally decided to ask another question. If the girl wasn't up to answering, she would let it wait for another day but she wanted to take advantage of the girl's cooperation as long as it lasted.
"How many different locations do you remember being in?"
'1'
"Can you tell me how long you were there?"
'5 yrs.'
Sally was shocked. "That long?"
The girl nodded.
"I'm sorry, but it's surprising because…do you realize how fortunate you are?"
Okay, maybe fortunate was the wrong word but Sally was certain that this girl's rescue was nothing short of miraculous. Apparently the girl was confused by Sally's choice of words, so Sally chose to explain.
"You were 14 when you were taken right? Most children who are taken into this type of human trafficking ring are sold almost immediately into the sex or slave trades. The longest I've heard of any of them staying within the confines of the original house is six months. And the fact that he didn't… It's just unbelievable."
The girl bit her lip and thought this over. She slowly picked up the pen and wrote 'he tried.'
Sally felt her stomach drop. "Is that why he beat you?"
The girl looked uncomfortable as she nodded.
Quatre could feel the girl's inner turmoil at answering Sally's questions and, quite frankly, it was making him nauseous. Maybe if he stood guard outside for a few minutes it would go away. It might make the girl more comfortable answering Sally's questions, too. His curiosity was getting the better of him, though, so he went over and glanced at the paper.
Five years?! She'd been there for five years? It made him wonder how long this had been going on before she was involved. It made him sick to think about. And how had she not been…he shook his head with a frown and left the room. He needed to talk to Heero.
Leaning against the wall, Quatre tried to call Heero, only to be met with his voicemail.
"Heero…I need to talk to you. The girl woke up and is…communicating with Sally. I think there's more to this than we currently know. Call me when you get the chance."
Quatre hung up and considered going back inside, but decided that he would give them a few minutes. There were things females were not comfortable discussing in front of men and Quatre certainly didn't want to walk in on one of those conversations. He figured he could give them until their dinners showed up.
Sally watched Quatre leave. "Okay, so let's get the personal questions out of the way while he's gone."
Sally explained about her examination and how it revealed that the girl hadn't been raped. She also explained that she was going to ask some very personal questions and for the girl not to be embarrassed about answering them because it would help Sally to evaluate her health.
The girl nodded and Sally proceeded with her questions. Some of them were easy enough to answer, others…well…not so much. Some of them made the girl blush with embarrassment, but she answered them. The girl had a hard time writing out the answers but Sally kept asking, partially because she wanted to make sure the girl got the medical attention she needed and partially because she wasn't sure when the next time was they were going to have enough privacy for them to talk about these kinds of things.
Sally could tell she wasn't the only one relieved when they finished that round of questions. "Do you remember where you were living when you were taken?"
The girl nodded.
"Do you think your family would still be there?"
She didn't respond right away. Sally wasn't sure why it would take so long for her to think about it and was about to stop questioning her when she wrote '?.'
"Well, how about you give me your address and your parents' names and I'll look into it."
The girl shook her head emphatically.
That surprised Sally. "You don't want them to know you're okay?"
She watched the girl writing laboriously for what seemed like a long time.
'I don't want him to find me.'
Sally deciphered the writing and asked, "Who?"
'Perdu.'
A name! Now they were getting somewhere. "Is he the one that did this to you?"
The girl nodded and flinched as Sally frowned. Sally inwardly cursed and hoped she hadn't scared the girl into refusing to answer any more questions.
"I'll have Heero bring some pictures by and you can see if you can point him out. That name wasn't on any of our intel lists so I assume he used an alias with you in case you ever got away from him."
The girl thought this over and nodded. Sally was relieved. They both jumped at the knock on the door.
Quatre entered, followed by an orderly who was carrying trays of food.
Sally had a few more questions to ask the girl, but they could wait. She'd gotten the important ones out of the way. "Great timing," she told Quatre with a smile as she gathered up the papers with the girl's answers. She wanted to show them to Une and have them filed as part of the investigation. "We'll talk again later. I don't want to wear you out," she told the girl.
The girl didn't respond, she was busy attempting to massage her hand. Sally felt a little guilty for pushing her so hard, but it had to be done. Had the girl chosen to talk it could have been avoided. Giving Quatre a tired smile, she left the two alone and headed for her office to call Colonel Une and fill out a report.