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“Where’s Heidi?” I tried to look past him.
He crossed his arms and shrugged. “I sent her to get a pretty little dress, after all, we have to impress the judge so we can convince him you belong here with us.”
I snorted. “I don’t belong here anymore, neither does Ella,” I said pointedly.
He gave me a mock look of hurt. “But things were going to get better. A whole lot better.”
I saw him leering, and I wished I hadn’t let Jemmy convince me into borrowing one of her sundresses for the appointment with the judge. Even with the thick wooly cardigan thrown over it, the dress was a lower cut than I normally wore, showing a significant amount of cleavage, and the skirt of the dress was almost mid-thigh. I had no clue how Jemmy wore it with her extremely long legs. It also hugged me in ways I hadn’t let any outfit fit since I turned twelve, with the exception of my work uniform.
I was too preoccupied with trying to hide my exposed skin that I didn’t realize Tom had leapt across the room to shorten the distance between us. I felt the back of my head connect hard with the top rail of our bunk bed. One of his hands slammed over my mouth while he roughly embraced me.
I was seeing white stars behind my eyelids as I tumbled to the ground, his whole body following. The wind was knocked out of my body and I couldn’t move. I tried to desperately draw air into my lungs, but his hand prevented it. His large hand covered my mouth and nose. His entire body weight crushed down on me.
I was finally able to work my teeth into the meatiness of his palm. I bit down with all my might, tasting the metallic bitterness of his blood in my mouth. I didn’t have long to celebrate the little freedom I thought I may have. Before I could try to dislodge him from me, he struck me hard across the face. My head bounced off the ground once more; the pain in my head was blinding.
“You stupid bitch,” he hissed at me. “If you would have just given it to me willingly I would have been gentle. I could have taken care of you. I would have moved you into my condo and treated you like a queen.”
He moved one of his meaty hands around my throat. I could feel myself slowly suffocating.
I was vaguely aware of feeling the cool air on my thighs and hearing the sound of my panties ripping as he impatiently tried to take them off.
I tried to buck him off, but his grip on my throat only tightened. I felt the fight leaving me and blackness closing in.
“Help me,” I gasped from within.
I don’t know how long I was out. I woke up with something over my nose and mouth, fresh oxygen filtering in. I was gently embraced in strong arms; citrus and leather engulfed my senses, and I immediately relaxed. I slowly blinked and tried to find my bearings. I was in the back of an ambulance, that was for sure. I looked out the doors and saw no less than four police cars. I saw Will talking to a police officer, gesturing angerly toward the ambulance and one of the squad cars. I could see Remy sitting in the rear of the Land Rover. The hatch was up, and he was hunched over; his normally perfect hair was in disarray, and it looked like his knuckles were busted open. I looked over to my right and saw Jax gently resting a hand on my leg. To my left was an EMT.
She had kind, sympathetic eyes as she attempted to smile at me. “There you are.” She gently placed a stethoscope on my chest, and I tried not to flinch.
Jax looked up sharply, and I felt a gentle squeeze from behind. Jax attempted to smile at me, but I could see the anger and pain in his eyes. “How are you feeling?”
I tried to answer but there was too much pain for me to even attempt it. I shrugged instead as the breathing apparatus was removed from my face.
“We’re going to take you to the hospital to finish your testing,” the EMT stated. “So, one of you guys need to flip a coin because only one of you can ride along.”
“What testing?” I finally rasped.
She looked uncertainly between Mr. Jace and Jax. “We need to make sure there’s no permanent damage to your airways, and make sure you didn’t suffer a concussion because you have some contusions on your head and face. And since your clothes are in disarray and your undergarments are non-existent, a SAK is required.”
I looked at her raising my eyebrows.
She understood my unspoken question. “Sexual Assault Kit.”
I immediately stiffened. Had I been raped?!
“She wasn’t raped,” Mr. Jace growled. I had never seen or heard him so angry. “Like we have told the police several times, we were able to get to her before the scumbag even removed his pants.”
“Nevertheless, it’s still standard protocol and you can’t be certain he hadn’t assaulted her in other ways.” She seemed apologetic but was unwilling to risk her job.
I looked up at Mr. Jace. “Ella? Judge?” I rasped out.
He looked at me with tenderness. “Drake and Jemmy are getting Ella and are heading over to court right now. Don’t worry about it. We’ll take care of it.”
“Not going back,” I said adamantly.
Will came over to the rear of the ambulance; his eyes reflecting pain and anger as well. “Don’t worry about that, dear. I just called the judge. He will meet us at the hospital after he meets with your stepmom and Ella. By tonight, you will both be safe.”
The thing about being a victim is you don’t only feel victimized by the original person that assaulted you. I continued to feel like a victim as I was forced to go through invasive procedures to prove I wasn’t sexually assaulted. Several pictures were taken of the bruises incurred by the assault. Then I had to talk to police officers, followed by child protective services. All I wanted to do was get out of there and take a long, hot shower. I felt like I could still smell and feel him all over me.
