Francesca awoke to the sound of a loud television coming from the downstairs living room. She pushed herself with bruised forearms up in a cross-legged sitting position. Her wrists buckled under her own weight and she hurt everywhere. She threw off the blankets that partially covered her and saw she was naked. She pulled herself from the disheveled mess, wrapped a bed sheet around her torso and shuffled to the bathroom.
She looked in the mirror and couldn't believe what she saw. Her left eye was swollen, and her lower lip was cracked with clotted dry blood. There was bruising and chafing on her inner thighs and her breasts were reddened with small bite marks, she inhaled with disgust, then sobbed uncontrollably. She vividly recalled the horror and helplessness on Karl's face. The thought
