Page 5 of Not Your Body

No… no… NOO!!

Jade rushed toward the sound and located the device—amidst torn pieces of her sister’s clothes. “AMY!!”Jade screamed her little sister’s name until her voice went hoarse. But there was no sign of Amy.

The ambulance rushed Jasmine to the hospital, but Jade stayed behind. The police would arrive soon and begin the search for her sister. Jade couldn’t wait for them as she searched the stand of trees and other sections of the park. Amy wasn’t there.

What if they took her? What if whoever did this has her now? What if they’re still hurting her?

Another terrifying thought shook Jade; what if Amydied… and they disposed of her body?

“No,” Jade hissed as tears burned her eyes. “No.She isn’tdead.Sheisn’t!”

What if she got away?

She would go home.

Jade ran to her car and sped away, racing to the apartment complex. Her heart pounded like a drum in her head as she exited the car and sprinted to the second floor of the building to her apartment. The door was locked. If Amy made it home, she would’ve locked the door, terrified the attackers would come after her. Jade fumbled with the keys before unlocking the door and burst into the apartment.

“Amy!”

The kitchen and living room were vacant. Jade ran to Amy’s bedroom and threw open the door. Empty.

“Amy!” Jade cried out and checked her own room. Nothing.

No-no-no…

A distant whimper drew her to the bathroom. Jade’s heart stalled when she found Amy huddled in the shower, barely conscious… her naked body a mass of bruises and abrasions similar to Jasmine's.

“Jesus,Amy.”Jade grabbed a large, soft towel and wrapped it around her sister. When she tried to move the girl, Amy whimpered and cried weakly. Her head flopped on Jade’s arm, eyes closed. Amy’s face was hardly recognizable from the bruises and swelling. “Fuck,”Jade choked, lifting her with some effort. Amy cried out in pain as Jade got her into the bedroom and lay her on the bed. “It’s gonna be okay,” Jade sobbed and covered her with blankets to warm her cold body. “I promise, sweetheart. You’re going to be okay.”

Jade called the ambulance then laid beside Amy and stroked her hair. Tears rolled down her face as she caressed her thumb tenderly over her sister’s swollen cheek.

“Who did this, baby?” Jade whispered thickly, rage bubbling in her chest. “Who did this?”

Amy’s head sank against her shoulder and her breath turned shallow—and stopped.

“Amy?” Jade trembled. “Amy?” No response. No sound. Jade checked for a pulse.Nothing.“No-no-no, baby… hold on… the ambulance is coming… they’re gonna take care of you… Amy…Amy!”Jade tugged the pillows from under Amy’s head, tilted her head back, and began CPR. “Come on, sweetheart!Come on! Stay with me!”

Jade performed CPR until the paramedics arrived. They took over and rushed Amy into the ambulance. Jade rode with them, crying and praying the whole way.

When they reached the hospital… Amy Palmer was pronounced DOA.

Dead on Arrival.

Jade sat cross-legged on the cushioned chair in the hospital waiting room, eyes vacant, body numb. She held Amy’s cell phone in a death grip in her lap as if clinging to her sister’s favorite thing could somehow prevent her spirit from leaving this world—and Jade wouldn’t be left alone with the nightmare once again.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not to her. Not to my baby sister.

The numbness in body and mind held the grief and anguish at bay. Jade wanted to cry but couldn’t. The tears from earlier had dried. They would return once the numbing effect wore off. Maybe this time, they wouldn’t stop until Jadedrowned.She didn’t care. Amy was all she had left in this world. As much as her little sister had depended on her, it was Jade who needed Amy. At only twelve, Amy was the one who got Jade through the trauma and nightmares when Jade was sixteen and was raped by an unidentified man who still walked free.

Their parents had died in a car accident a year earlier and the sisters had gone to live with relatives. It was a tense situation as Jade and Amy never truly felt welcome in their new home. When Jade turned eighteen and graduated high school, she got a job and rented an apartment. There were no arguments from the relatives when Jade suggested Amy live with her.

As soon as they moved out, they lost contact with their relatives. It was just Jade and Amy ever since. The sisters hadn’tminded. After losing their parents, it had only been the two of them even while living in the home of their relatives.

And now there was justoneof them.

Jade’s head hung down as she stared blankly at Amy’s phone… afraid to open it. Amy’s favorite pastime was taking selfies with Jasmine. Her phone was packed with smiling and laughing selfies. Jade couldn’t handle seeing those images… not yet.

Everything felt unbalanced andunfair. Amy had gotten away from her attackers; she’d made it home.But she didn’t escape.

---