"Is she awake yet?" A man's voice I didn't recognize was speaking quietly.
"Not yet, Officer." Alice said, equally solemn. My head was pounding and I felt woozy. I struggled to open my eyes.
"Please give her my card when she is ready to talk. We need to know who did this…"
"A-A-Aro…" I barely croaked out.
"Oh my God, she's awake." Rose's voice was filled with relief.
"Miss Swan, can you say the name again? You knew your attacker?" The officer prompted me.
"Aro Miklos." I whispered. I opened my eyes and lifted my right arm to rub them but was met with excruciating pain.
"Honey, try not to move your arm. It's broken. Jasper, can you let the nurse know that she's awake?" Alice instructed her husband. He was sitting in the corner and he patted my leg affectionately before leaving to find a nurse.
"Aro Miklos…was he an ex-boyfriend? Someone you dated?" The police officer had his pen and pad at the ready. I shook my head and looked to Alice and Rose to fill in the blanks. My thoughts were still a bit muddled.
"He is a man who works with her ex-boyfriend. He was obsessed with her." Rose explained.
"Obsessed?" The officer asked.
"Yeah, he was blackmailing her; he said that if she didn't sleep with him, he would destroy her ex-boyfriend's career. He contacted her at her job, he sent her flowers." Rose continued.
"I guess when she didn't give him what he wanted…" Alice didn't go on. Tears streaked her cheeks.
"He became enraged and attacked her." The police officer finished. "What do you know about this Miklos guy?"
"Just that he works at Volturi Corporation." Rose said. The policeman wrote that down.
"Miss Swan, we're going to see if we can pick him up. You'll probably have to come in and identify him in a lineup. We'll contact you and let you know when we get him. In the meantime, get better, okay?" He had kind eyes and I found myself trusting him. I nodded and he left.
Rose and Alice both joined me on the bed, one on each side, and gently hugged me.
"We were so scared!" Alice cried.
"How did you find out what happened?" I asked.
"Miss Santrini saw you being lifted into the ambulance and called Alice." Rose told me. Thank goodness for my nosy neighbor.
"Did he…" I couldn't finish the sentence. My eyes filled with tears.
"No…no!" Rose said emphatically.
"A guy from the first floor heard you screaming and went out to the lot. He saw Aro on top of you and he yelled out and ran over to you. When Aro saw him, he ran away but you were unconscious. Your panties…" Alice swallowed hard before she continued. "Your panties were still on."
"They did an exam just to be sure. He definitely didn't. I can't believe that fucker!" Rose fumed, suddenly shifting to anger.
"We just assumed it was a stranger." Alice explained. "How do you feel?"
"My head is pounding and my arm aches but other than that, I just feel…out of it." I looked out of the small window to my left and saw that the sun was shining and the cerulean sky was crystal clear.
"What a fucked up way to spend a beautiful Sunday." I mused, half to myself.
"It's Monday." Alice said.
"I've been out of it for that long?"
"Yeah. They checked to make sure there was no brain injury and they told us you would wake up on your own."
Jasper came in then with a nurse. She was a tall Latino woman with her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail.
"Miss Swan, glad to see you're awake! Let me just check your vitals…" she said. She picked up my chart and started making notes.
"Come on, let's go down and get some coffee while the nurse checks her out." Jasper said to Rose and Alice.
"We'll be right back, Izzy." Alice promised. "Right back."
They left and the nurse continued to write, checking the machines I was hooked up to.
"How's that arm feeling? Sore?"
"Yes. Very."
"How about your head? I need to check the stitches…" she said. She snapped on a pair of gloves and pressed against my head.
"Stitches?"
"Yeah. You had to get twenty stitches. That sonofabitch really did a number to your head."
I reached up with my left hand and felt the strands hardened with dried blood. "So I can't wash my hair?"
"Not yet…"
"I feel so icky." I moaned.
"I'll cover your arm with some plastic and I'll help you into the shower. Do you think you can wash with your left hand?"
"Yeah. Can I use the bathroom, too?"
She laughed. "Sure."
She told me to call her Carmen. She helped me into the bathroom and I used the toilet. My body felt stiff but there wasn't any pain anywhere except my arm and head. Carmen turned the shower on for me and left me alone. Standing under the hot spray felt good; I realized just how incredibly lucky I was. I knew that Aro had every intention to rape and kill me. I could see it in his eyes- he was evil to the core.
Rose and Alice were back in my room when I exited the bathroom. They had gone to my apartment the previous day and got some of my things- my favorite pajamas, my cell phone, some books, my brush – to make me feel more comfortable. Alice had called my boss and let her know that I was in the hospital and wouldn't be in to the office.
"You guys are the best. Thank you so much." I sighed with gratitude.
"We know you would do the same for us." Alice said.
They sat with me all day, watching boring daytime television. Jasper was in and out, he was off for the summer from his job as a high school history teacher. Jake came around four in the afternoon with sandwiches for all of us.
"Jake, this is the best corned beef special I've ever eaten in my whole life." I told him with my mouth full of food. The hospital food was just gross and I had been starving all day. After we'd all eaten, I felt myself begin to doze.
"We'll let you sleep, Izzy. We'll be back tomorrow morning- the doctor said you can go home!" Alice exclaimed.
"Okay…g'night." I yawned before I drifted off.