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I tucked my hair behind my ear and took a deep breath. “I was kidnapped. Cole is concerned that I might have a concussion.” I turned so she could see the big lump and bruise. When she’d first arrived, she’d been on the wrong side of me to notice it.
Natalie reached into her bag and pulled out a baggie with a few pairs of medical gloves inside. She slipped them on, then grabbed a penlight from the front pocket of her shorts. “I’m going to be really gentle, but I need to touch your wound.”
“Okay.” I winced as she pressed against the swollen area.
After she shined the light in my eyes, and I was able to follow her finger, she turned the flashlight off. “It’s hard to know if you have a concussion, but your pupils seem to be slightly dilated so you shouldn’t sleep for the rest of the day. Can someone wake you every few hours tonight?”
“I will,” Cole said without hesitation. “She’ll be with me.”
The corner of Natalie’s mouth twitched, and a slight grin briefly appeared. “Cole is a great nurse.”
Cole cleared his throat and looked away, a hint of pink dusting his cheeks. Wait. Had Cole and Natalie had a thing? A sudden dislike for her sucker punched me in the gut.
“Were you hurt anywhere else?” Natalie stepped back in order not to crowd me. I didn’t like the thought of her and Cole being … whatever they’d been, but I was relieved she was a woman.
“I was raped,” I whispered, refusing to look at Cole. Those words sat in my stomach like sour milk, then shame crashed over me like a tidal wave. My head hung down, my hair masking the tears streaming down my face. If I’d only stayed away from Ibrahim, none of this would have happened.
Natalie knelt at my feet and took my hand. “Shae, I’m so sorry. What can you tell me? Did you know him?”
“The fucker is dead,” Cole said, his words clipped and dripping with hate.
“Good,” Natalie said.
Frowning, I wiped my cheeks while giving her a wide-eyed stare. Didn’t doctors think that every person deserved treatment no matter what horrible things they’d done?
“I knew him. I’d had sex with him before, but he’d never forced himself on me. He …” I couldn’t speak over the lump in my throat. A bubble of self-loathing burst open, and a sharp ache pierced my chest. Daddy had told me to go straight to Zoe’s. If I’d listened to him, none of this would have happened. I slammed my eyes closed, recalling Ibrahim’s deceptive text message. The cycle of anger, fear, and questioning my instincts kicked into gear all over again.
Natalie stood. “Cole, can you give us a few minutes?”
I peeked at him and nodded.
“I’ll be on the other side of the door.” He left quietly, allowing us some privacy.
Natalie sat down, facing me. “I was raped a few years ago … more than once. Cole and Taco found me in an alley, bloody and beaten. I would have died if they hadn’t taken me to the emergency room. What was worse was all the questions and the exam. The humiliation just kept coming.”
“I understand that I need to be tested for any diseases,” I muttered. “But at least he can’t hurt me or anyone else again.”
Natalie squeezed my hand. “I hope you can heal sooner knowing that justice was served.”
“That’s an odd thing for a doctor to say.” I suddenly viewed her in a new light. Maybe I could like her after all. She seemed strong and resilient. Natalie didn’t have a hard time stating her views, either.
“My job is to treat the patients that are put in front of me. No one said I couldn’t have an opinion about it.” She grinned, then her expression grew serious. “Are you okay if we do a quick exam?”
I swallowed while the memory of the gun jabbed inside me gripped me with a paralyzing fear. “He raped me … he … he raped me in the ass after he fucked me … then.” A soft wail escaped me. “He shoved a gun into me and used it while he had his finger on the trigger.” I gritted my teeth and hissed, “I’m glad that son of a bitch is dead.”
To my surprise, Natalie hugged me. “I want you to understand that most victims know their rapists. In no way did you do anything wrong. This wasn’t your fault. No one should ever be hurt like this.”
I clung to her as the sobs flowed freely. I wasn’t sure if it was because she’d lived through an assault or because she genuinely understood the magnitude and wide array of emotions coursing through me—humiliation, blame, anger, and fear that someday a guy would hurt me again.
After a few minutes, I pulled away and wiped the moisture from my skin. “Let’s get this over with.”
Natalie riffled through her bag and produced a kit. “King didn’t tell me you’d been raped, but when he said you were female, I figured I should bring this with me just in case.”
“King doesn’t know, but I think he suspects. When Cole and the guys broke through the door I was tied to a chair in a basement. It doesn’t take much to assume I’d been hurt. Cole is the only one that knows for sure though … and you.”
Natalie’s features softened. “He’s a good guy. I’m glad you have him.”
Natalie continued to chat as I ditched Cole’s underwear and prepared for the exam. I figured since she was face-to-face with my lady bits, no questions were off-limits. “Did you and Cole ever date?”
