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“Will you have someone go up and get a set of sweats with drawstrings and a t-shirt from my closet, please?”
“Yes, ma’am. The cook is preparing something for both of you. The clothes should be here in a few minutes,” he said as he sent a text message to someone to go get them for us.
“Great. Just knock but don’t come in. I’m locking the door so we’ll be safe,” I added loudly.
He nodded and turned back to guarding it.
I showed Elana that I was locking the door, and that seemed to drop her shoulders by a few centimeters.
“Let’s go get the water going and get you undressed. Once the clothes are here, we can go in the bathroom and lock it too,” I assured her.
Elana gave me a tentative smile. “Thank you, I’d really like that.”
“The clothes will be a little big, but they’ll be clean until we can get you some new ones. I’m putting together a list and we’ll send someone to go shopping. Is there anything that you can think of that you really want or need?” I wanted to be gentle, but we needed to get her prepared to help us if at all possible.
“I would love to have some dessert stuff. Anything with chocolate?” Her voice was a little stronger, but she still bit at her lip and tucked her head down as if preparing to get hit.
I was so ready to do some serious damage to those assholes.
“Perfect. What woman doesn’t love having a treat around?” I smiled my encouragement to her. “I’m not sure how long you’ll be here, but we can certainly add that to the list of must haves along with clothes that you can take with you.” I waited for the knock on the door and grabbed the stack of clean clothes quickly before relocking it. “Here, now you can go get in the shower.”
“Will you come in there with me?” Her question broke my heart.
“Yes, I’ll sit on the toilet while you’re in there.” We both entered the bathroom, and I locked the door.
“You take your time.” I took a seat and placed the empty gun on my lap so that she’d feel better. “I’ll be right here.”
“Are you sure?”
“Elana, you’ve been through a lot. I’ll do anything I can to help you feel comfortable again,” I promised.
She turned her back and began to get undressed. I reined in my anger when I saw how much she was skin and bones. Her spinal cord poked out, and the definition of her ribs peeked out under her skin. Her body was colored with the various stages of bruising.
Wanting to help her feel comfortable, I started chatting.
“Are you from around here?”
Elana stopped getting undressed and shrugged.
“I’m not sure where here is.”
“You’re on the East side of Chicago.”
“I’m from Florida, or I was before they took me. Not that it was really home either.” Elana stepped into the shower and I sat there trying to imagine if something like this had happened to me. What would I have done if the situation was reversed?
A knock on the outer door startled Elana.
“Hey, I’ve got this. It’s just the food. I’ll grab it and come back in here if that’s okay with you?” I wanted her to be able to take some of her power back.
“Yes.” She nodded.
“Very good.” I kept the gun out and unlocked the doors.
It was the food, so I set the tray on the bed until she could finish her shower.
“Both doors are locked now.” I spoke loud enough to be heard above the sound of the water.
“Thank you.” Elana visibly relaxed once the door was locked again.
