Page 16 of Jacked and Jaded

“There you are. Good morning, Miss Reynolds. My name is Kelly Duncan. I’m your nurse here at Boulder Medical. You have a cast on your right arm and I didn’t want you to hit yourself in the face with it.” That explained why someone stopped her from touching her face.

“My eyes?” Her voice came out deep and raspy and her throat hurt to swallow.

The nurse poured water into a cup then brought it to Calliope. She held the straw in place, allowing her to get a drink. “Small drinks,” the nurse told her. She pulled back when she’d had enough, resting her head on the pillow.

“If you can hang on for just a minute, I’ll get Dr. Fineman so he can answer all of your questions. Before I do, can you tell me how you are feeling right now? Any pain?”

Calliope took inventory for a minute. She did feel pain, but it felt muted. “Um, a little.”

“On a scale of 1-10, what would you rate your pain level?”

“A 5?”

“Good. If your pain meds start to wear off, you push this button right here and someone will bring it to you.” She showed her the button and draped it over the railing, within easy reach. “Okay, sweetie. Hang on and I’ll go get Dr. Fineman.”

It didn’t take long to wait for a white-haired older man to enter the room, a friendly smile on his face. He had a stethoscope around his neck and what she assumed was her medical chart in his hand. “Good morning, Calliope! I’m so glad to see you awake.” He came closer to the bed, laying her chart next to her feet. He checked the numbers on the monitor she was hooked up to, then jotted something in her chart. Next, he took out his pen light and checked the pupil of the one eye she could get open, causing her to flinch and try to pull back out of his reach. The brightness of the light made her eye water and her head ache. He reached down to her wrist to check her pulse, the whole time smiling and speaking in a quiet, friendly voice. “Good. Good.” When he was finished, he shoved his hands in his white coat pockets, his face turning serious. “Do you know where you are, Calliope?”

“The nurse said Boulder Medical.”

“Yes. That’s correct. Do you know how you got here?” His brow furrowed, his complete attention focused on Calliope.

She tried to frown, but quit immediately when it caused her pain. “I’m not sure. The last thing I remember is walking down the road in the rain and calling an Uber to come pick me up. After that, I don’t remember anything until I woke up here.” She dropped her gaze, staring at the IV in the back of her hand.

“From what I understand, by the time the Uber driver got to you, you had collapsed on the side of the road and he called an ambulance. We did an exam and found that you have a fractured right wrist, and extensive swelling and bruising to your face, which has caused your eye to swell shut, keeping you from being able to see out of it. There were also three cracked ribs, and a large area of bruising along your side. The good news is there were no fractures to your face. It’ll take a few days for the swelling to go down and several after that for the bruising to go away.” He cleared his throat. “We also found that you had been sexually assaulted. There was evidence of semen and some tearing.”

Her stomach rolled and she fought hard not to throw up. Hearing the doctor list her injuries brought all the memories to the surface. She vaguely registered the sound of the beeps were coming faster or that her breathing was getting shallower. She was getting lost in her memories. It was like she could feel each hit, each kick, even the moment he shoved himself inside her. She felt so weak and pathetic. She hated feeling weak.

She heard a growl coming from the corner, but the eye on that side of her face was swollen shut so she couldn’t see unless she turned her head. She started to turn until Dr. Fineman continued. “Calliope? I know you’re probably replaying how you got these injuries over in your mind. You have to calm down or I’ll have to give you something to calm you down and it’ll probably knock you out. Do you understand me?” She nodded her head and took a couple of slow, deep breaths. “Good. There you go. Now, how are you feeling?”

She cleared her throat and took one more calming breath. “Okay, I guess. My head hurts.”

“That’s to be expected given the extent of your injuries. Did the nurse explain to you about letting them know when your pain meds start to wear off?”

“Yes.”

“Do not hesitate to let them know. Don’t try to be a hero. If your pain starts to get out of hand, don’t wait too long to push the button. Otherwise, you’ll be chasing your pain, trying to play catch up, instead of managing it. Understand?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Do you have any questions?”

“Not right now.”

“Okay, then. The police are here and would like to talk to you if you feel up to it. They were here last night when you came in, but you were unconscious until now.”

Calliope really didn’t want to talk to the police. She had no doubt that many of them were in the pockets of Clint and his firm or the shady people they represented. Would it really do her any good to give her side of the story? Could she really relive everything Clint did to her?

“Calliope?”

She startled, then flinched in pain because of the sudden movement. She closed her eyes and prayed, Oh God no. Please tell her Jackson wasn’t here seeing her like this. She felt his big hand take her fingers peeking out from her cast and gave them a gentle squeeze. She tried to pull her hand away, denying that he was here.

“Dr. Fineman, can you give us a few minutes before you send them in?” Jackson asked.

“Yes. Of course.” He smiled at Calliope and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before he left.

She closed her eyes, a lone tear slipping free. She hadn’t seen Jackson in years and this was how he found her. Her life sucked. Just when she was trying to make positive changes and reconciled herself that she would be seeing him from time to time around town, this happened.

She could hear him move around the end of the bed and pull up a chair. He captured her good hand in his big one, careful not to disturb the IV. “Calliope? I know you can hear me. Open your eyes.”

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