Chapter VIII

Chapter VIII

“Hay kid, get up.” Stand above January with a flash light in hand was an old man with a baseball cap and gray beard. “Crazy night, un?”

January’s mouth still felt like it was filled with cotton but she opened her mouth. “I wanna go home.”

The old man rubbed his chin with dirty, wrinkled hands.

“Are you a student at Apple Blossom?”

“Yes, yes.” But then she paused. There was something her mind wanted her to remember. Then the memory of last night came upon her leaving her sick. “Please take me to the hospital.”   

The man stood back and looked at January. Her clothes were ripped off at a place that showed her off.

“No, but I will call an ambulance.”       

          The man pulled out a cell phone and within ten minutes the ambulance was there. The EMTs were nice enough to cover her over with a sheet. She was freezing to death, but that wasn’t the reason they covered her.

          When going into the hospital everything seemed to slow down. January could hardly talk, much less think now.

          The EMTs took her to room 10. The room smelled too much like disinfectant and sounded too much like a hospital. We curled into the fetal position trying to gather her thoughts. All she could think was that she should at least come up with a story. There was no way in hell anyone was going to find out about last night.

          In her hazy state her mind faded to her mother. How many times had she been given the lecture to not drink someone thing you didn’t pour. Teachers, priests, her father, Lily, they all warned her. It was just too easy to take the drink from Jared.

          A nurse poked her head in and whispered. “So you would like a rape kit?”

          January numbly nodded.

          “Would you like someone from Sexual Assault Crisis Center to sit with you?”

            Again she nodded.

          What seemed to be a few seconds later two women showed up. Was one with black hair in a ponytail and she wore a white coat monogrammed with the name ‘Carol Penny, M.D.’. The other woman was very short, wore bright colored clothes and had short red hair. That woman held out her hand. “I’m here to help. I’m Mia.”

          January felt too rubbery to take her hand. Mia sat by January’s head.

          Dr. Penny pulled two gloves from a box by the sink “You wouldn’t happen to be allergic to latex?”

          “No.”

          Then the doctor placed a large sheet of paper on the floor. “Would you rather me call you Miss Rossi or January?”

          “I really don’t care.”

          “Well January I need you to stand on this and take your close off.”

          Then she started crying. Mia said calmly. “I promise Dr. Penny isn’t here to hurt you. We want to help. Do you think you can do it?”

          January slide off of the bed and did as she was told. Dr. Penny took the panties put them in one paper bag, out the dress in another paper bag, her bra in a third one, and her shoes in a final fourth one.

           “No, please give me the shoes. A girl I live next door to let me borrow them. We’re not even friends.”

          Dr. Penny helped January out the paper gown on. After that she let January sit on the edge of the bed and cry a few quiet tears.

          “I need you to lie back.”

          January did as she was told. Dr. Penny replaced her gloves and came out with a piece of white paper in one hand and a small comb in the other. Swiftly she ran the comb through her hair. What fell onto the paper went into a small baggie. The she pulled out some hair.

          “I’m so, so sorry. I have to do it.” Then she placed those stands into another baggie.

          She did the same on her vagina.

          Dr. Penny cleaned out from under her fingernails and climbed them. All the while she kept praising January. At that moment she felt like trash; nothing she said mattered much.

          She took blood and swabbed all of her mucous membranes. All the while Mia held her hand and kindly ran over hand over her head.

          The last, final part was the examination. By this time she no longer felt hazy or sleepy.

          “So tell me about last night.”

          Slowly January began to retell her story. In fact she told a plangent story. She even told the doctor about the drink and not feeling a thing.

          “Do you think you could be drugged?”

          “I guess.”

          The doctor took another blood sample. “Do you have a ride home?”

          “Sure, let me call my room mate.”

          “Are you on any birth control?”

          She was. January stopped it only two weeks ago. “Yes.”

          When the doctor and Mia left the room she called Xandera.

          “Can you come and get me. And bring some clothes.”

          “What happened?”

          “I’m at the hospital. Looks like my crazy night turned out bad.”

          Xandera laughed on the other end. “Sure girl I’ll come as soon as I can.”

          Xandera stayed true to her promise and showed up twenty minutes later with January’s nightclothes and slippers.

          As they walked out into the mid day sun January asked. “Do you think that girl will miss her shoes?”

          “Who Eve? No way. Her parents are rich enough to buy her a show store. You don’t have to worry about it.”

          And January didn’t worry about it, at least not about the shoes.

 

Reviews

[Tina Kline]

A very sad but realistic chapter.

[Coyote Poetry]

Your description and detail made the scene come alive. You wrote the scene with a realness. The conversations and tests made the sad situation come alive. A powerful chapter.
Coyote

[Daydreamer54]

I still feel sorry for her, i wonder if she will tell her rromate what happened...she should.