They both quickly dress and leave the
room. I listen for noises and can hear them walking around.
Finally, I hear the front door slam. I am alone again.
Chapter three
I have no idea what time it is, I just
know it is still dark outside. I am so hungry, thirsty and cold.
The pain I feel is everywhere. I can barely move my body
anymore.
I hear the front door shut, but not
loud. Then I hear footsteps walking around. Why would they be so
quiet? They have to be majorly drunk by now and it doesn’t seem
like they have been gone that long.
Footsteps quietly approach the bedroom
door and then the door opens slowly. It’s so dark in here now and
with only one good eye open it’s making it hard to see. Finally a
man approaches the foot of the bed. He has a flashlight and aims it
at me. He moves the light slowly up my body to my face. I close my
good eye and then open it squinting and blinking. He sees that he
is blinding me so he moves it away to the left side of my face a
bit.
“Please, don’t hurt me anymore. Please
let me go,” I cry with a shaky and hoarse voice. Tears are
streaming down my face now. I don’t know who this is but maybe he
will help me and let me go.
He speaks to me as if speaking to an
injured animal trying not to spook. “Shhhh, I am not going to hurt
you. I am here to help you. I am going to untie your hands now,
ok?” I nod at him, watching him move to the head of the bed. He
reaches over me untying the ropes. As he pulls at them the pain
radiates down my arms. I wince and close my good eye. He looks down
at me, while he works. “I’m sorry if I am hurting you. I am trying
to be careful but I don’t know how much time we have before they
come back.”
There are so many questions I want to
ask. How does he know they left? How did he know I am here? If he
knew I was here why in the hell did he wait so long to come in and
get me out?
Finally he gets my hands free and my
arms drop down on the bed. “Owwww!” I scream.
“Shhhh, please. We need to be quiet,”
he says softly.
He goes down to the end of the bed and
frees my right foot, then my left. I try to sit up but the pain in
my ribs rivets through me causing me to stay still.
He comes over and gently helps me sit
up and moves my legs over the side of the bed.
I try to look at his face but he has a
Hoodie on and with the hood up it’s covering the side of his face.
He looks around the room and finds a t-shirt on the floor and
starts to hand it to me. “Um, no sorry. One of them used that to
clean himself,” I grimace.
“Oh, sorry. Let me see if there is
anything in the closet over there.”
He walks to the closet and slides one
of the doors open. There are just a few men’s shirts in there. He
grabs one and heads back over to me. “Here, I know it’s not great
but it’s all I can find.”
It’s a men’s plain button down shirt,
worn, with some of the button’s missing. I lift my right arm and
put it in the sleeve but when I try to lift my left arm, I cry out.
“Here, let me help you. We need to hurry,” he says. He takes the
side of the shirt from me and helps me put it on. He buttons up the
shirt and then stands back a bit. “Can you stand?” He asks. As I
try to stand I wince with pain and sit back down.
“It’s ok, don’t worry. I’ll help you.”
He bends down and puts an arm under my legs. His other arm wraps
around my waist as he lifts me into his arms. “UGH,” I moan. Oh My
God that hurts!
“Sorry, sorry!” He says looking down
at me.
I was unable to see him very well
before, but now I get a good look at his face. As I look into his
eyes, I see they are not only dark blue but the most beautiful eyes
I have ever seen. He looks at me with caring and concern showing on
his face. I can feel that he is well built by the muscles in his
arms that are cradling me and by his chest that I lay
against.
He carries me out of the bedroom. This
is the first time I have seen outside this room. We walk down a
short hall and turn into what appears to be a small living area
with a little kitchen off to the right. No walls separating the two
rooms. Everything is dirty and run down.
He walks us to the front door, opens
it slowly and looks around. It’s dark outside and only a dim porch
light is on. Squinting I can barely make out a truck to our left,
partially hidden in the trees. He walks us over to the truck and
opens the passenger side, slowly lowering me onto the seat. He
takes the seat belt and reaches over me to fasten it. Once I am
secure he runs around the front of the truck, gets in the driver’s
side, fastens his seat belt and starts the ignition.
As he drive’s on to the main road, he
reaches behind him and pulls out a bottled water from a small
cooler there and hands it to me. I thank him, open the lid and
drink the water so fast that the bottle is empty in a matter of
seconds.
“Ok, slow down there or you’ll make
yourself sick,” he says with a grin. He reaches up and pulls down
the hood that was covering his head. Wow, he takes my breath away.
He’s beautiful.
Now that I can see him better not only
are his dark blue eyes heavenly but he has dark blonde hair with
light blonde highlights throughout. It’s a little long on the
sides, almost to his shoulders. It looks really soft and makes me
want to run my fingers through it. He has a chiseled jaw that is to
die for, literally, with a light scruff of a blonde
beard.
He sees that I am shaking and turns
the heat up in the truck.
“How? How did you know I was there?
How long were you waiting before you came in?” I ask, my teeth
chattering.
“I’m sorry it took me longer than I
had planned. I’ve been sitting out of sight in my truck waiting for
the best moment to come in to get you without getting us both
killed. Once I saw them leave and drive off, I waited a few more
minutes just to be sure they didn’t turn back around,” he said
staring out at the road as he drove.
“But how did you know I was there?” I
ask again.
He begins to speak slowly. “Well, it’s
kind of a long story. I’ve been watching them for a couple of years
now, undercover. This is the first time they’ve actually grabbed
someone and brought them back to their hideout. I was shocked at
how stupid they’ve become but this was the opportunity I needed to
nail them. I’m sorry it was you they took.” His eyebrows are drawn
as he frowns.
I look around his truck. It’s clean
but you can tell it has been used a lot. The seats are a little
worn but comfy. I look at him and smile a little. “Thank you for
getting me out of there, for whatever reason you had being there, I
am glad you were.” I begin to cough and grab my left side with my
right hand.
“Are you ok? No, of course you’re not.
What a stupid thing for me to say. I’m taking you to the closest
hospital for them to check you out. Is there anyone I can call for
you?”
I slowly shake my head and laid it
back against the head rest and close my eyes. All the bumps in the
road are not helping my ribs and sore body at all. The pain is
getting worse as we move on. That’s the last thing I remember as
everything fades to black.
Chapter four
When I awake, I am in a hospital room
wearing a lovely hospital gown. My right hand hurts. I look down to
find an IV attached there. Wow, my head hurts, my eye, my left side
and I am sore down below as well. I look around and see the man who
saved me, my savior, is asleep in a very uncomfortable chair by my
bed. He looks so tired. I’m sure it’s been a long night for him
while he waited to rescue me.
I start having a coughing fit. I am
coughing so hard I feel my face turning hot. The next thing I know
a cup of water is being pushed into my hand. I grasp it and try to
drink when I hear, “Drink it slow or you’ll end up choking.” I move
my eyes up and see my savior looking down at me.
I was finally able to get some water
down me and the coughing subsided. I look up at him with a small
smile. “How long have we been here? The last thing I remember is
being in your truck.”
He looks around the room then back at
me. “Actually, we have been here about 3 hours. I brought you
through the ER and they took you into a room there. When they
finally let me go to the room the Doctor said that he was going to
keep you overnight and you would be moved to a private room but
they didn’t tell me anything else.”
I can’t believe we had been here that
long and I hadn’t woke up until now.
I look up at my savior and ask, “So I
never got a chance to ask you. What is your name?” My eyes follow
him as he walks back over and sits in the chair by my bed. He looks
at me and cocks his head to the side. “I never got a chance to ask
your name either.” He smiles at me with those beautiful gleaming
blue eyes. Internally, I sigh.
I laugh a little causing my ribs to
protest and wince. “I asked you first.” I smile shyly. As he
reaches over me he takes my right hand and shakes it.
“My name is Jesse Richards.” I laugh
again closing my good eye shut and open it again to see him staring
at me with a concerned look on his face. He half smiles. “I’m sorry
I shouldn’t keep making you laugh when you’re hurt.”
“
I haven’t laughed in a
long time, that part feels good. My name is Cassie Morelli. It’s
nice to finally meet my Savior.”
He laughs. “Well I don’t know about
that.”
“
No, seriously, you are my
savior. I can’t thank you enough for getting me out of there. I
know they were going to kill me when they were done with me,” I say
remembering their words of hatred.
The door to the hospital room opened
and a female Doctor walks in with a nurse behind her.
“Good you’re awake. I’m Dr. Moore. Are
you in a lot of pain?” I nod my head. The nurse then comes over
with a syringe and pushes it into the IV.
Dr. Moore smiles, looks at me and
says, “There that will help. Are you hungry? I can have Nurse Allen
get you something to eat.”
“Yes, please. Thank you,” I say
quietly. Dr. Moore nods to Nurse Allen and watches her leave the
room.
She walks over and sits in the chair
that Jesse had once occupied. She looks at him and says, “If you
could leave us for a few minutes I would like to speak with Cassie
alone. I will let you know when we’re done.”
He looks at me and I shake my head
slightly. He looks back to the Doctor. “No, thank you. I think she
would be more comfortable if I stay.”
The Doctor turns to me. “Is that ok
with you?” I nod. The Doctor nods back and then proceeds to explain
that I have 2 slightly cracked ribs and there is heavy tape around
them to help hold them together while they heal. I have a bruised
left cheek and a black eye.
She adds. “With your permission I
would also like to perform a rape kit procedure on you. Jesse has
told us you had been raped. This will help evaluate any presence of
sexually transmitted disease agents. By having a rape kit done, it
will also help us gather forensic evidence that could help convict
your kidnappers when they are caught. I know the procedure can be
intimidating, but I promise we will take it slow and I will explain
each step as we go. We have already collected your clothing when
you came into the hospital, but we need to swab your bite marks for
saliva, look for loose hairs on your body, and take pictures of
your bruising as well as do vaginal and rectal swabs.”
Taking a deep breath she continues.
“We also offer an Emergency Contraceptive pill. You may have heard
it called ‘The Morning-after Pill’. It is 95% effective in helping
to prevent pregnancy. We can proceed with these tests once you have
given us permission.”
I look over at Jesse and back to the
Doctor. “Yes, I. I would like that please,” I say shyly. She
smiles, “Very good. Are you ready to get started?” I nod
again.
After the procedure was done and all
of the evidence collected, Dr. Moore is standing by my side. She
looks at Jesse then back and me.
“Ok, I will have the nurse bring some
food. Now, is there someone we can call for you? Family? Friends?
Anyone?” I shake my head no. I really don’t want to call Stella yet
not until I know what is going to happen. But I know she must be
sick with worry.
“All right then. The police are here
to ask you some questions. I’ll show them in. When they are
finished try and get some rest and I will be back as soon as I get
the test results.” She smiles at me, turns and leaves the
room.
About 20 minutes later, the nurse
comes in with a tray of food and a pill cup. She sets it down on
the hospital rolling tray and moves it over me. “Here you go. If
you need anything else just press the nurse’s button on your bed
there.” She points at the buttons on the rail of the bed. “Thank
you,” I said lowering my head.
When the nurse leaves Jesse looks at
my food and then at me. “Dig in. You need the nourishment.” He
smiles.
“You have to be hungry too, do you
want some of this? I’ll share,” I asked him. “No, thanks but if you
don’t mind I think I will go down to the cafeteria and grab
something. I won’t be gone long. I promise. Ok?” I nod at him and
watch him leave.