I can’t help the smirk that crosses my face. This is just like Candace.
“This should not be a surprise to you, Jase,” she says with an eye roll.
“Nope, no surprise at all. Typical Candace, devoid of all things emotional. Well, except for me.” I flash her a big smile and then turn back to the computer as she turns on her hair dryer. I shut the lid to the laptop when I finish up and walk over and sit on the edge of her bed. I watch her as she gets ready and when she turns to me, she questions, “What?”
“Stay with me tonight. I can tell you don’t want to go out, so come to my place.”
“I can’t. He’ll be here any second. Plus, I need to talk to him.”
“About what?”
“I just need to let him know that I don’t have time for dating or anything.”
I laugh at her, and she smacks me on my arm. “I’m sorry, girl. You know I love you and all, but I don’t know why you even bothered with this one.”
She sits down next to me and resigns, “God, I have no idea either.”
“Call me when you get home.”
The ringing of my phone wakes me up. I roll over, pluck it from my nightstand, and answer it, trying not to open my eyes in the process.
“God, Candace. What time is it?” I complain.
“Is this Jase Kenrick?” a woman, who’s clearly not Candace, asks. I hold the phone out for a second to see that it’s almost one in the morning.
“Um, yeah. I’m Jase,” I say as I sit up.
“My name is Allie Thompson. I’m a nurse here at Harborview Medical Center. Your name was given to me by Candace Parker.”
Now, I’m awake. Wide awake. “God, is she okay?”
“She arrived here by ambulance a little while ago and asked that I call you. She’s requested for you to come up here to be with her.”
“What happened? Is she okay?” I ask again. My mind is racing with the worst, and I’m already out of bed grabbing my clothes.
“They are about to take her to run some tests. Will you be able to bring her a change of clothes? If not, we have some scrubs she can change into.”
What the fuck? “No, I’ll bring her clothes.” I don’t waste any more time and toss the phone on the bed, hanging up on the call. My heart is pounding. I have no clue what the hell is going on, but I throw on a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt. My hands are shaking as I’m fumbling to tie the laces to my running shoes.
I find my backpack, dumping out my notebooks, and rush over to my dresser. Candace has clothes that have accumulated here over the past few years, so I grab a pair of her jeans and a shirt, along with some underwear.
Slinging the backpack over my shoulder, I get my keys and don’t even bother with the elevator. I bolt down the stairs to the parking garage and jump into my SUV. I know I’m driving like a maniac, but I can’t get to the hospital fast enough. My mind is in overdrive, wondering if she got into a car wreck or something.
When I finally make it to the hospital, I rush through the sliding doors into the ER. I don’t even wait for the lady sitting behind the desk to look up at me when I frantically ramble, “My friend, Candace . . . she’s here. Umm . . . Candace Parker. I got a call. A nurse called me a few minutes ago.”
“Okay, hold on, sir. Let me call back there to see if they are ready for you.”
I’m trying to control my breathing, but the pressure in my chest is making it nearly impossible. Time seems to stand still as I wait. I just want her to be okay. I need her to be okay.
“Sir, Allie, one of her nurses, is on her way up to get you.”
“Okay, thanks,” I say as I back away from the desk. I don’t sit down. I can’t. I’m too anxious, so I just stand and stare at the locked wooden doors that lead back to where I know she is.
When the doors open, I see a nurse with short, blonde hair, wearing green scrubs. She talks to the lady at the desk then turns around and begins walking towards me, in what feels like slow motion, and the weight at the pit of my stomach becomes painful.
“Are you Jase Kenrick?”
“Yes. Please tell me what’s going on. What happened?”
“Let’s go sit down, okay? She asked that I speak with you first.”
I don’t respond; I just follow behind her as she walks me back into the ER and takes me to a small room with a couch and a couple of chairs.
“Please, have a seat,” she says as she closes the door behind her. Fuck. Whatever this is, it has to be bad if I’m in here and not with her. God, I just want to be with her. I can’t even swallow; my throat has tightened so much.
Sitting down next to me on the couch, she lays her hand on my knee, and I can’t do anything but stare into her green eyes that are filled with sadness. I know she’s trying to hide it, to be professional, but I can see it.
“Your friend was brought here by ambulance,” she says softly. “There was an altercation. She’s fine. We haven’t found any major injuries at this time. She is pretty banged up though.” She takes a moment before continuing, “But . . . she was raped.”
Everything tunnels: my hearing, my vision. My heart thuds. Hard. I drop my head in my hands, and the tears just spill out. Allie continues to talk, but I’ve already heard all my soul can handle at this point. This girl is my fuckin’ heart, and I’m terrified to see what’s left of it.
I turn to look at the nurse when she hands me a tissue, but I don’t reach out to take it. I just look at her with no words.
“I’m so sorry. You can utilize this room for as long as you need, but it’s not going to be good for her to see you so upset. You need to be strong for her right now.”
I nod my head. She’s right. I’ve got to pull my shit together. I finally take the tissue from her hand. I could sit here and cry for the rest of my life if I allowed myself, but I need to see her. So that’s what I tell the nurse. “I need to see her.”
“Okay then.” She stands up and leads me out of the room and down a corridor that is lined with private patient rooms. When we stop outside one of the rooms, she opens the door. I walk in to see my girl’s bloody, swollen face. I know I can’t hide my horror, and she falls apart, sobbing. Rushing over to her, I wrap my arms around her head as much as I can since she’s wearing a neck brace. I can’t stop kissing the top of her head and telling her that I love her. My tears fall effortlessly from my eyes and into her hair. I just keep repeating it over and over as her body jerks with her wails.
She cries for a long time, but I never loosen my hold on her. I’ve never been so scared for anyone in my life. Candace is so strong and always keeps her emotions held tight. Hearing the pain that’s coming out of her is killing me.
Her body begins to shudder as she starts to quiet down. I loosen my grip on her and scan her face. It’s covered in scratches, and the whole right side is swollen with a black eye. God, what happened?
I pull a chair up next to the bed and sit down. Finally noticing that there’s another nurse in the room, I turn to her and ask, “What’s going on? Is she okay?” I hold Candace’s hand tightly in mine and when I shift my eyes to it, I’m nauseated when I see her brittle nails. It’s as if someone has been sawing at them. They are covered in dried, cracked blood and worn down. There are chunks of flesh under what’s left of a couple of her nails. I jerk my head back to the nurse, not able to look any longer.
She asks Candace if she would be willing to go through a rape kit exam and she freaks out, snapping her head to me, saying, “No.”
“Candace, I really think you should do it. I get that you’re scared right now, but maybe in a few days you might feel differently about this.” I turn to the nurse and ask, “If she does this exam, then what?”
“If she decides to press charges, we will hand over the kit to the police. If not, we keep the kit here. If she changes her mind about prosecuting, then at that time, we will hand the kit over to the criminal lab.”