Part 9
360 Words
NINE
"Pregnant."
"Rape."
I heard the words and struggled to focus. I could feel my body faintly, so I tried to move my fingers, but it was too much for me yet.
The calm voice sighed, sounding sad. "If she was awake, I could ask her. But she's a seventeen-year-old girl who's been through hell and a lot of pain, given how long she was missing and the state she's in now."
I found I could hold my breath. A seventeen-year-old girl who'd been through hell. That was me, all right. But pregnant? NO!
"I've left a note in her file and I'm leaving it at that. There's no need to ask her, or even mention it. She's definitely not pregnant."
I let out my held breath in a sigh of relief, but it was only loud in my ears. Too intent on their own conversation, they didn't hear me.
The second voice belonged to a young woman, who sounded very serious. "I'd ask, Dr Lannon, just to be thorough. What if..."
I stopped trying to move and stayed as still as I could. Even knowing the man was Dr Lannon didn't reassure me.
I'm not awake. Don't ask me. I don't want to tell you.
His normally calm and patient voice sounded irritated, louder than before. "Did you see her when she came in? Have you been here when she has nightmares?"
"No, I've just read her file because she was on my patient list today."
"This girl was beaten and r***d repeatedly for weeks then left on a beach to die. It's been all over the news. Do you want to be the one to remind her and make her relive all the gory details?"
I could hear footsteps leaving – her reply sounded further away. "No."
Their conversation drifted away as they left, my thoughts stirring sluggishly.
Beaten. r***d. Left on a beach to die. I remembered pain. I remembered sand. Left to die?
No. My death was meant to be sudden and witnessed. Never alone.
My body slipped away again – did that mean they'd given me more pain medication? I struggled to hold onto my thoughts of sand... beach... as I sank into oblivion and what I can only describe as the arms of a nightmare.
- Writer
