Prologue

     We were directed to room 102 by the nurse with instructions not to wake her.  I couldn't controld the tears that flowed down my cheeks.  Her parents stood beside me, her dad holding her mom while she wept.  I struggled to stop crying, my silent tears weren't doing me any good.

     I looked down at her on the bed, she had been beaten brutally.  Her face was so swollen she was unrecognizable, her arm was broken in two different places, her shin had been shattered, five broken ribs, a punctured lung, a bruised kidney, some internal bleeding, a broken femur, and bruises covering her whole body.

     What the doctors didn't find were the bite marks, those healed first.  Then the worst, life threatening wounds would heal, then minor cuts and bruises would eventually disappear.  I sat down in one of the chairs by the bed and put my head in my hands, this was all my fault.  I had allowed this to happen, i should have known.  The tears started again and I was helpless aganist them.

     Eventually the nurse cam in and told us visiting hours were over.  Her parents hugged me goodbye, and I stood in the lobby waiting for Katie.  She cam around the corner looking hassled.

     "If i get caugh i will loose my job,"  she told me looking down at the floor.

     "You won't get caught and if you do i will take care of it," I told her.  She nodded and led me back to the room.

     "I fixed the spare bed for you, and here is the key so you can get out before the morning shift comes in," she said and handed me the key.  I took it and thanked her.  The bed was small and smelled like anitseptic, but i wasn't complaining.  I pulled the sheets down and climbed in.  I curled up and fell asleep thinking about all the things that could have gone different.