CHAPTER
ONE
Cruz
I’m sitting in the waiting room since they finally took Mindy to a private room to start her SANE exam. The nurse took the evidence I bagged up once I explained how I knew what to do and what precautions I took as far as putting on gloves before I picked anything up. I know this is going to take hours, but I’m not willing to leave her here by herself since she was adamant that I not call Jolie.
Prison did a number on my head, and I find myself sitting in the back of the room against a wall so I can watch everyone who comes in. My parole officer has already come to see me because I reported to him that I had to leave the house and take my neighbor to the hospital. I didn’t sharewhyshe had to go; that’s her business and not mine to share and spread and when he pushed the issue, I told him she was currently being examined and I was waiting until she was finished to take her back home.
If he keeps it up, I’ll go over his head. I was a model prisoner, all things considered. While I didn’t put up with anyone’s shit, Isomehow garnered enough respect from the other inmates that I was left alone for the most part. The few times that someone tried to fuck with me, I didn’t have to raise a hand in defense of myself, my new ‘friends’ took care of the problem.
It could’ve been because I always had money for commissary use and I was willing to share. It could’ve been because I have medical training and was more than capable of handling minor injuries that kept my cellmates and a few others out of the infirmary. Regardless of the reason, while it wasn’t fun filled by any means, I know it could’ve been a helluva lot worse.
“Mr. Dempsey?” A female voice calls out to me, and I glance at her, recognizing her as the SANE nurse.
“How is she? Can I take her home yet?” I question, standing up.
“No, no, the thing is, we’ve got the most invasive parts of the exam completed, and she’s hysterical so we thought you might calm her down by being with her,” she explains.
“We barely know each other,” I mutter, mainly to myself.
Then I remember how she wantedmeto bring her, not Jolie, because she felt I would be more objective. Nodding, I motion for her to precede me while I follow behind, my thoughts whirling a mile a minute.
Once I breach the door to the room where the exam is taking place, I go to Mindy’s side and take her hand. “Shhh, hey, pretty girl, I’m here,” I murmur, as another nurse continues to take clippings from Mindy’s nails.
“C-c-cruz, why would he have done this to me?” she asks, sobbing hysterically.
“Honey, I don’t know,” I reply. “But these ladies are getting all the information an attorney’s going to need to nail his ass to the fucking wall.”
“You’ve got that right,” the fingernail nurse murmurs. Glancing at Mindy, she smiles even though it’s tempered with sadness. “Mindy, you didnothingwrong at all, do you understand? Hell, we’re impressed at the fact that despite being drugged, you fought like a caged tiger, sweetheart.”
“And you, Mr. Dempsey,” the SANE nurse adds. “We want to thank you as well, because you knew to call someone and find out what Mindy should and shouldn’t do. A lot of the survivors we see often shower because they don’t know any different.”
“My sister, Camille, is a SANE nurse at our hometown hospital,” I admit. “In fact, my mom’s an ICU nurse, my younger sister is a physical therapist, and my older sister is a pediatrician.”
“Shit, y’all’s conversations around the dinner table must be wild,” Mindy murmurs, finally calming for a moment. “Hey, so I had this patient who did this after surgery, can you pass the peas?”
The comment is so out of left field, I can’t help but chuckle. Even though we’ve spent minimal time with each other, the day I helped her move in I could see she had a wicked sense of humor. Hearing her now gives me hope that she’ll eventually recover from this nightmare she currently finds herself embroiled in.
Both nurses join me and the tension that was in the room dissipates significantly. I wince as they clean the various lacerations and burn marks that dot Mindy’s beautiful, creamy skin, and when I see her doing the same, I ask, “Are y’all not able to give her any pain medication?”
“Not yet,” the SANE nurse admits. “We have a rush in with the lab on her stomach contents, but until we know what she was given, we don’t want to give her something that could cause a medical emergency.”
“Okay, that makes sense.” When I see them pull out a comb to start working on her hair, I say, “If y’all will give me a pair of gloves, I’ll help as long as Mindy’s okay with it.”
“Well, I’m not freaking out at you holding my hand, so I say we give it a whirl,” Mindy sasses.
Shaking my head, I take the proffered gloves and start working on the other side with the fine tooth comb the second nurse hands me. A chux pad is spread across Mindy’s lap and occasionally, either myself or the first nurse shake our combs off. The goal, I know from my sister, is to gather as much DNA as we possibly can.
When Mindy winces after a particularly brutal snag is worked out, I murmur, “Steady, pretty girl, we’re almost done.”
I’m actually surprised and impressed by how well she’s doing but she could also be in shock for all I know. Or the drugs she was given by that viper might also still be in her system. Once I have the side I’m working on as smooth as possible until she’s allowed to shower and clean up, I look at the SANE nurse and ask, “Are y’all okay with her so I can go back to her place and get her some clean clothes?”
“I don’t want you to leave,” Mindy murmurs, her voice full of panic.
“I know you don’t, but they’ve still got more stuff to do, and I know from my sister that once they’re done, they’ll let you take a shower over there,” I reply, pointing to the attached bathroom.The door is open, and the stall is visible to all of us. “It won’t take long, I promise, but I think you’ll feel a little better using your own hygiene products. Plus, I’m sure they’ll bag the stuff you wore in here, and I don’t think you want to go home in a hospital gown with your ass hanging out.”
I catch both nurses rolling their lips inward, so they don’t laugh at what I’ve just said to Mindy. She rolls her eyes at me then finally says, “Fine. My clean laundry is folded on top of my dresser. I think I want more sweats.”
