It had been a thoroughly long and horrible week and it was only Monday. The only thing Olivia wanted was to be with Noah and to be in Peter's sweet embrace. The recent budget meeting had not gone well, and though she'd agreed to a cap on her salary and reduced benefits, she'd still had to cut one person from the unit. In the end, she'd decided on the tech girl, Jackie. Hell's bells, she couldn't even remember the woman's last name.
When she got to her car, she noticed Joe was still in the building, since she'd had to park next to his car that morning. All of a sudden, Olivia felt as if someone were staring at her. Looking around, she saw no one in the near-deserted car park and she shook her head. It was so easy to spook oneself, doing the job we do, she thought as she dug her keys out of her purse.
"Dammit!" she swore as she dropped her purse, spilling its contents everywhere. She knelt on the ground and began to pick up her scattered belongings, never noticing the shadow of movement until it was upon her. She looked up as a rough hand grabbed her shoulder and suppressed a scream as she caught sight of the knife in the masked man's other hand. "What do you want?" she asked fearfully, hating the tremor in her voice.
He shook his head as he backhanded her and the force of the blow knocked her head into the rim of her tire. Dazedly, she heard the tearing of cloth and felt the cool October air on her suddenly bare skin. Olivia tried to push him off her, tried to get away, but her head hurt so, and she felt like she couldn't get a good footing on anything around her.
He brought the knife up against the artery of her neck and she stilled, knowing if he were to cut her there, she'd bleed out before anyone could find her. "This is what bitches like you deserve, to be brought down a peg or two," the man hissed out as he raped her. She refused to give in to her tears, unwilling to let him have such power over her. Instead, she stared into his eyes, her face contorted into a rictus of pain as he abused her unwilling body.
The attack seemed to last for hours, but the rational portion of Olivia's brain knew that was merely the dilation of time. The last thing she remembered before passing out was the terrible feel of cold steel ripping the soft skin of her stomach.
She woke up sometime later to the sound of voices coming near her. Olivia went to sit up, only to moan lowly as an excruciating pain ripped through her body. "Did you hear that, Joe?" she heard Grace ask and was mortified when her eyes filled up with tears. Olivia finally managed to get upright and frantically pulled the ruins of her clothing about her, trying to shiled her body from them.
"Who's there?" Joe asked as he came around to the other side of his car. She heard him suck in a low breath and turned her face away, not wanting to show him her humiliation. "Grace, come here, quickly."
The other woman's shoes came into view and Olivia tried to scrunch herself up into a tighter ball, hissing in pain. "Oh, Captain, who did this to you?" the younger woman asked as she sank to her knees next to Olivia. "Joe, get security to call 911, we'll need an ambulance here. And then get a forensics team down here so they can gather evidence. Our team will handle the investigation."
"Get going, now," she hissed wrapping her arms around Olivia's shoulders and pulling her against her chest, I promise I won't leave you. Do you know who did this?"
Olivia shook her head slowly, the very action shooting needles of pain through her brain. "I can do this alone, Grace. You don't need to worry about me." The words sounded feeble to her own ears and she found herself relaxing against the other woman as she rubbed her shoulder gently.
The paramedics came at the same time the rest of her unit appeared on the scene. Olivia felt so exposed and she unconsciously turned into Grace, trying to hide from their smug, pitying gazes. "Thank you," she heard Grace say as she wrapped something warm around her shoulders, helping her to stand. She felt her legs wobble and then the paramedic was lifting her up, carrying her over to the waiting ambulance.
Grace climbed in the back with them and sat next to the young man. "Olivia, you should lie down. You were bleeding back there."
Olivia found herself heeding Grace's suggestion and she stared up at the roof of the vehicle as they started on their way. She heard Grace gasp as the blanket was peeled away, baring her flesh to all there. "What is it?"
"Nothing, Olivia."
"Don't lie to me, Grace!" she snapped, bitter tears springing to her eyes. "I know he cut me. How bad is it?"
"It's not that the wound is bad," the other woman replied as she took hold of her hand. "It's the message he left."
"Oh." Olivia felt all her defenses crumble in that moment and she clenched Grace's hand tightly. The drive dragged on and by the time they arrived, she was exhausted. The ER doctor tried to shoo Grace away as she examined the wounds on Olivia's stomach, but she was having none of that.
"I said I wouldn't leave her, and I won't. Does she need surgery to close those gashes?"
"No," the doctor replied, taking a step back.
"Then I stay." She positioned herself at Grace's head and smoothed her hair. "Honey, did he hit your forehead?"
"No, I think that's where I hit the rim of my tire. My head still hurts a bit from it."
"We'll need to do a CT scan on your head, then, and make sure there's nothing going on there. You can come with us, but you can't be in that room, Ma'am."
Grace nodded and helped Olivia into a sterile gown before they wheeled her down to CT. "I'll be out here in this other room, watching and waiting. Don't be afraid, Olivia. You're not alone."
Olivia carefully nodded and then felt Grace touch her face gently. "Thank you, Grace." As the assistant helped her onto the cold bed, she shuddered. How was she going to tell Peter what had happened? He'd want to do something, fix it somehow, and there was no fixing this. Tears tracked down her cheeks, wetting her hair, and for some strange reason she found herself needing to hear Grace's soothing voice once more.
They wheeled her back down to a private room and she found Grace and Fin sitting in a chair, holding on to both their purses, a sad smile on their lips. "Olivia, you're back! I just talked to Joe. He needs to have someone take pictures of your wounds and have a nurse administer the rape kit. Who do you want to take the pictures?"
Olivia thought for a moment, I want Mel to take the pictures. Please?" She hated the pleading in her voice and waited for them to answer her question.
"If that's what you want, Liv. I'll be right back. She returned with Mel a while later, who was holding tightly to a camera, a nurse on her heels. "May I remove the gown, Olivia?" The tenderness in Mel's voice brought her close to tears once more as she nodded.
With infinite care, Mel took the gown off, setting it to one side as she quickly took the necessary pictures. After the nurse had collected all the evidence from her body, she dressed the wounds on her stomach. With that accomplished, Mel redressed Olivia and took the final pictures of Olivia's face. "Will you give the camera to Fin who is waiting outside, please?" Mel asked the nurse before she left, handing it over. "Honey, do you need me to call anyone for you? They're not going to release you until tomorrow afternoon. You probably have a concussion, and they want to keep an eye on it."
"Would you call my Peter? Don't, don't let him know about the attack, just tell him that I fell at work and need to be here for observation." She pulled the thin blanket up under her arms and turned to look at the wall, listening as Mel made the call.
The door to her room opened once more and she flipped over to face the door. Fin was standing there again, his hands in his pockets, Liv I have come to take your statement I asked to take it. Do you feel up to talking to me now?" She nodded once and he pulled out a small pad of paper. "Okay, so, what happened this evening?"
"I went out to my car to go home. I felt eyes on me, but saw no one around and then managed to drop my purse, spilling everything. That's when he attacked." She stopped, blinking hard. Mel reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing tightly. "How much detail do you need of what came next?"
"As much as you can give me Liv," he said.
"What happened next?"
"He tore at my clothes and raped me, holding a knife to my neck, against the artery. When he'd finished, he carved my stomach with said knife."
"Did he say anything to you during the attack?"
"Yes, that I deserved what was happening to me." She sighed. "And before you ask, no, I did not recognize his voice."
"Did he have any distinguishable features?"
"No, he wore a mask and gloves."
"I think that will be enough for now baby girl I will leave you to rest now."
"Peter said to tell you he loves you and Noah is with Lucy until you are ready for him to be hone with you."
"Why do you even care, Penelope?" She touched her stomach, wincing as she did so.
Olivia nodded slightly and scooted forward, letting the other woman sit behind her. The gently pulling motion tugged at her heart and she felt the first sobs tear out of her throat as she covered her mouth with her hand. "Honey?"
"Did I, did I bring this on myself?" It was a pitiful question, one she never thought she'd ask. Carefully, Mel wrapped her arms around her waist, resting her head on her shoulder.
"Oh, Liv, no. No one deserves to be raped and scarred." Olivia turned, her stomach screaming in agony as she did so, to throw her arms around Mel, sobbing on her shoulder. The woman rubbed her back, murmuring sweet words of encouragement in her ear as she cried. "Do you want me to stay the night?"
"Yes, please." Her voice sounded so broken, so lost, to her own ears and this called forth a fresh bout of weeping. "Why aren't I strong enough to do this alone?" she whispered.
"It's okay to need someone once in a while, especially now. Do you have any nightly rituals I could help you with? That might ease your heart a little."
"Yes. Peter and I are reading together. We were going to start a new book tonight. But you don't have to help me with that." "Do you want to lean back against me while I read? It would be more comfortable for you."
Olivia did so and curled up as best she could against Mel, listening to the familiar story pour forth from the other woman's lips. she sighed as she nodded off, feeling her eyes grow heavy as the adrenaline gave way to exhaustion.
COMMENTS AND REVIEWS ARE WELCOME