Emily noticed the harsh smell of disinfectant first. Then the headache that seemed to be centered right at her temple. She opened her eyes to a bright light overhead, as she tried blinking the moisture back into her eyes she heard movement.
"Oh, let me get that." She heard Olivia say. The bright light disappeared as she heard a shuffling of feet moving back towards her.
"Mmmmm." Was all she could say; her throat was so dry.
"You fell and hit your head," Olivia said, "fractured your arm, too, trying to catch yourself."
Emily was finally able to open her eyes comfortably and looked around. She had a cast on her right arm and an IV in the other one. Looking at Olivia revealed that she'd probably been awake the whole time Emily was in the hospital. Dark circles had formed under her twin's ever concerned eyes.
Emily tried to sit up, but a hand quickly prevented her from moving.
"The doctor said you should rest. You hit your head pretty hard on a desk." Olivia said, and Emily was too groggy to argue as she brought her hand to the side of her head.
"Um," Emily said, her voice very raspy, "I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for?" Olivia said, as she stood up and walked towards the table in the room, "Do you need water?"
"Uh, yeah," Emily said, trying to clear her throat again, "How long was I out?"
"It's only been about a day," Olivia said, returning to Emily's side with a cup of water, "They sedated you last night, so you'd rest to let the swelling go down. You were pretty dehydrated, too."
Emily sat silent, intermittently taking sips of her water. She didn't really know what to say. She'd flown across the country, shown up unannounced at her long-lost twin sister's apartment, and then passed out and nearly killed herself in the process all in one day. She had to admit it was quite impressive the amount of shit she could get herself into in 24 hours' time.
"So," Olivia said, breaking the awkward silence, "I couldn't help, but notice what you were looking at before you passed out."
"Oh, yeah," Emily said, waving a hand in the air, "That was nothing, but I was just having a rough day."
"It didn't seem like nothing," Olivia said, her voice changing to the way it does when she's speaking to a victim.
"I just," Emily started, deciding she was done hiding shit from people right then and there. This was her sister, her twin sister. How much closer can you be connected to someone than to a woman you started your very seconds of life with? She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before she spoke, "The MO. The police sketch. It looks like the man that raped me in Washington a year ago."
Olivia was the next to take a deep breath. She was still processing that her own sister was hurt like that. Had she known she had a twin and maybe if they'd grown up together she could have protected her. But she didn't, and she couldn't.
"Would you mind telling me your story?" Olivia asked tentatively. She knew it was hard for survivors to step forward, especially when they'd gone through all the steps to catch the person that attacked them only to never get justice.
"Um, sure," Emily said, the anxiety building in her chest. She hadn't spoken about it since the last time she'd heard anything. Her kit was in a queue to be tested, but a year later it hadn't been tested yet.
"Just take your time," Olivia said, trying to be as gentle as she could. She'd only known her sister for the last 48 hours, but her protective instinct towards her developed instantly.
"I went into a house we'd been staking out for weeks," Emily started, the flashbacks already shooting through her head as she spoke, "I'd been told to wait for backup, but He was a very bad man and I had reason to believe he had a child with him, so I couldn't just wait around while he did God knows what to her."
Emily paused, trying to make sure she kept her breathing as steady as possible so she wouldn't end up having another panic attack. She could already feel the lump forming in her throat.
"You sound like me." Olivia said, "I would have done the same thing."
Emily continued, "I cleared the living room, had gotten to the kitchen when I got hit in the back of the head from behind, I must not have cleared a closet or something."
The smell of stale incense and cigarettes crept into the forefront of her memory, and it was like she was there again.
"I must have passed out because when I woke up I had my arms handcuffed to this bed and he was…" Emily couldn't speak, the tears fell so easily from her eyes, like they'd been waiting the whole time.
"You don't have to…" Olivia started, but Emily interrupted her.
"He was raping me." Emily said, as she started sobbing. She couldn't stop crying. It was such a personal thing to talk about and although this was her twin sister, she was still technically a stranger.
"My backup arrived just after he left, and they saw me… like that." Emily said, wiping more tears away. She felt so ashamed. So embarrassed. She still got looks from her coworkers. Those pitty looks. Those 'I know what happened to you' looks. She hated it.
Olivia slowly and gently made her way to her sisters bed. She wasn't sure how she'd react, but she climbed into the bed with Emily and wrapped her arms around her. This time, Emily didn't flinch or move away, this time she wrapped her arms right back, and let it out.
"It wasn't your fault." Olivia said, and it only made Emily cry harder, "I'm so sorry."
And it felt almost as though she was saying it to herself, too. William Lewis wasn't her fault either, but she'd still blamed herself for not being able to protect herself, and she knew that was exactly how her sister felt. Once her sister fell asleep, she made a phone call to Amanda.
"Hey, I need a favor," Olivia said, trying to be quiet as to not wake Emily up, "Can you call the Seattle SVU and see if they can test Emily Drake's rape kit and send us the results, tell them we have a perp with the same MO and description."
She wasn't sure if it was the same perp or even if the DNA from Emily's rape kit would turn up anyone, but if anything, she could try her damndest to bring her sister's rapist to justice.