AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I don’t miss the way he looks away when he mentions his dad and the way he called him father so formally. I wonder what the story is.
Wait. No, I don’t because I have way too much on my mental plate right now to give an actual fuck.
We wait for what seems like days when the nurse calls my name into the lobby. I jump up and rush to her.
“Ms. Cora is requesting you in her room. Follow me.”
I glance over at Kohen. He gives me a little smile as if approving of me going in. I roll my eyes when I turn around because I do not need his approval. I was going in no matter what.
We walk down the long white-washed hallway and take a right into a big room. A16 the door panel reads. I walk into the room and past the curtains just as Cora is bringing her legs down from the stirrups.
This is the rape kit room. My heart begins to race and panic rises in my chest. I know I need to keep calm but I will fucking kill whoever hurt her. Her hand finds mine as if I’m the one who needs comforting. I risk a glance at her and I’m met with big blue glazed eyes. She’s been crying.
“It’s okay, Alex. This was just an exam.”
A tear falls down my cheek. Like always, my selfish ass makes this about me. I can’t speak, my throat feels tight, and I can feel the blood rushing from my heart, up my neck, and to my throbbing temple. I’m trying to keep it together.
“Alex.”
“What?” is all I manage to croak.
“I wasn’t raped, I promise. Let the doctor explain.”
The doctor. Right. I sneak a glance at where he stands with the nurse, looking at me as if I’m about to shatter. I’m not.
I was broken a long time ago. I couldn’t shatter anymore. If I did, I simply wouldn’t exist.
“Are you okay, Miss?” the nurse asks me.
“I’m fine.”
The doctor comes up and places a hand on my shoulder, causing me to flinch. His heavy hand on my shoulder in this room is too much to deal with right now. Anxiety courses through my body like adrenaline.
“Get your hand off me, please,” I say a little louder than intended but he needs to understand it's taking every ounce of me to be in here. I’m here for my best friend.
“My apologies.”
“What, um, what's wrong? What happened? Why is she in here?”
Dr. Malcolm- that’s what his name tag says- begins to explain and it takes all my strength to hyperfocus on the words he’s saying. “She has a broken hymen, so we have some blood from that.” I glance over at her, confused. She smiles weakly to reassure me, so I stay quiet and listen. “But the pain she was experiencing was not normal, so we ran some tests and she had a pathologic cyst that ruptured. If you hadn’t brought her in as quickly as you did, it may have been much worse.”
“A cyst?”
“Yes. It's rare but sometimes they rupture after intercourse and flood the pelvic area, causing pain and nausea as well as some confusion and fever. Like I said, it's very rare.”
He shakes my hand and offers a small smile as he makes eye contact with me. I examine his face, the wrinkles around his kind eyes, making me feel guilty for my frustration earlier. “She is lucky to have a friend like you.”
One single tear runs down my cheek. I swipe it away before Cora sees. I don’t feel like a good friend. I don’t feel like I’m a friend worth having. I should have been there, but there is no time for self-deprecation, so I suck it up and let it the fuck go because this isn’t about me. I head over to kiss her forehead so I can go wait in the lobby again while she has the IV removed and gets dressed.
“I’ll be waiting for you in the lobby, bestie,” I say with a small smile.
“Okay. Is Kohen still out there?” Her voice is small and she sounds exhausted.
“Yeah, yeah he’s still out there.”
Her smile grows and her expression lights up.
“What?” I ask, rolling my eyes.
