The elevator dinged, and we all got off. Jill and I decided to just follow Sgt. Johnson as he seemed to know where he was going.
We got to Tina’s room (803 bed 1).
Sgt. Johnson knocked lightly on the partially open door.
“C’mon in” Tina said sheepishly.
All three of us went into Tina’s room. Jill practically knocked the officer over rushing to Tina.
I piped up, “Tina, this is Sgt. Johnson of the City Police Department. We called him last night when you appeared on Jill’s door. You can trust him. We do, or we never would have called him to come help. I think he has some questions for you about what happened to you.”
“I’m not sure I can help much. I’ll certainly try.” Tina replied.
“Tina, as David said, my name is Sargent Johnson. How much do you remember from what happened to you last night?”
“Well…” Tina paused
“I don’t remember how I got to Jill’s house. I seem to vaguely remember some lady giving me a shot, then waking up here. Before that….um……” Tina stopped. Her eyes welling up, obviously remembering what happened to her.
Jill interjected, “Do we really need to do this right now?”
“Yes ma’am. The longer it takes to get the information the easier it is for people to forget the details.
The officer asked in a gentle tone ‘what happened’; where did it occur; who was involved; and how did she get away.
As I suspected, it was all of Sasha’s doing. Apparently, Tina was depressed that I had married Jill, after telling her that ‘I loved her’. My heart sank. I went from angry to stunned. I tried not to look at Tina, but my heart ached. I kept thinking to myself, “Did I cause this? Did she get hurt because of me?”
As Sgt. Johnson was talking with Tina, nurses came in and out doing their thing. Dr. Ronda came in and told us to wait outside for her. She needed to talk to us.
The three of us left the hospital room. Tina and the doctor had a private discussion which ended with Tina sobbing again. We all heard it. Our hearts sank. We knew that the news must have been dire. I looked down at the floor trying not to tear-up. My heart ached. I kept going over and over in my head ‘how could I have prevented this from happening’?
Jill reached over and started rubbing my back. She knew what I was thinking. She kissed me gently on the cheek.
Dr. Ronda came out of Tina’s room and asked us to head down to a closed-door waiting room.
We followed the doctor.
CHAPTER 5
Once inside the doctor instructed us to sit. We started to protest, but the doctor reassured us that we needed to sit. We sat. Jill held my hand tightly waiting for the news.
“Tina gave me permission to talk to you about her injuries.” The doctor began.
“Sargent, I’m glad you’re here. I have several reports for you and your team. Jill, David, here’s what’s going on with Tina. She was indeed raped and molested. We did a rape kit and found semen of 8 guys. We also found splinters inside of her.” The Doctor said.
“What? What do you mean ‘splinters inside of her’?” Jill exclaimed.
“I mean, someone used something wooden on her female parts. Probably, a broom handle because the lab found red paint on the splinters.”
“OH, MY GAWD, David…did you hear that? I mean it’s bad enough that the goon squad raped her, but using a broom handle on her? DAVID? David? What did we do???” Jill said now beginning to cry.
“Hold on Jill, let the doctor speak. I don’t believe she is done.” I retorted.
“No, I’m not done……. Whatever they used on her did lots of internal damage. At best there is a 50% chance she will ever be able to have children.” The doctor said solemnly.
“Are you telling us……” Jill’s words trailed off. She was now sobbing putting her head on my shoulder.
Sgt. Johnson spoke up, “Doctor, what about the other injuries? How severe are they? Will she be ok?”
“Well, she has a broken collarbone, a separated shoulder, a severely bruised wrist and elbow, and……. well…….and we found heroin in her system.” The doctor said.
With that final word, it hung in the air like a burning zeppelin.
“But Doc……” I was trying to keep it together the best I could.
“Doc……she doesn’t use drugs…. At least not since I’ve known her….no drugs, no way…. are you sure? Couldn’t this be a mistake?” I kept trying to deflect the possibility.
“No, the lab ran her blood test three times. I’m sorry.”
“Doctor can the lab tell if she has a history of drug abuse or is there a possibility that she was forced to use the drugs?” Sgt. Johnson asked.
“I don’t know the answer to that. I’ll have the lab check for trace elements of drugs in her system from any prior use. That will show up, but it’s not a test we usually perform.” The doctor offered a glimmer of hope to us.
“Doctor, thank you for your time. If there isn’t any further information currently, I need to contact my team and update them…. You said you have reports for me? Where can I get them?” Sgt. Johnson said.
“Let me take you to them. David/Jill that’s all the information I have right now. You two can go see her, if you would like to.”
The doctor and Sgt. Johnson left the room. I just stood there holding Jill.
“David, what do we do now?”
“Let’s collect ourselves and go see Tina. She needs us now more than ever.”
We took a couple of minutes to dry our eyes and reign in our emotions, but it was hard…. harder than anything else we’ve ever done. Once we thought we were ready, we left the room and headed back to Tina’s room.
As we walked down the hospital corridor, both of our heads were a million miles from the hospital. We arrived at Tina’s door and went in to see her. I just knew that Tina knew. We did everything we could trying our hardest to keep it together. Jill sat in a chair next to the head of Tina’s bed holding her hand and quietly talking to her.
Me? I sat in a chair at her feet. My mind in a swirl, as if I it was the center of a tornado. All I did was sit there in a stunned silence. I looked at Tina and kept thinking…. did I cause all this? Did my arrogance bring this suffering down on Tina?
I don’t remember saying anything. I just sat there looking at Tina. Although I wasn’t a religious person, my mind kept going back to a verse out of the old testament, “Vengeance is mine and recompense; their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them.” Deuteronomy 32:35.
“Jill, can you give me a couple of minutes alone with Tina?” I asked gently.
Jill just sat there stunned. She nodded her head and leaned over and kissed Tina on the forehead, got up and stepped outside to the hallway.
Tina looked so helpless. So afraid. So, hurt.
I got up from my chair and walked over to her. I cupped her face with my hands as gently as I could.
“Tina, I’m sorry I hurt you.” I whispered in her ear just loud enough so only she could hear me.
“David, I knew, I just knew deep in my heart that our time was coming to an end in IHOP. I just knew it deep down. I fucked up. I pushed you away. You were THE most caring person and I fucked it up.” Tina said to me in a voice barely audible.
I looked into her eyes. They were overflowing with tears. My heart felt heavy.
“Tina, you didn’t fuck anything up. You are a wonderful vibrant person. Your someone very special to me…and to Jill. We both love you, we always will.”
I leaned in and kissed her on each cheek, on the forehead, on the tip of her nose, and then gently on the lips.
“Tina, Jill and I need to do somethings. We won’t be back for a couple of weeks. We must head out of town. We’re always available on our cell phones. Is there anything we can get you from your….?” My mouth almost said those words. “From your home” but I remembered that she lived with Sasha.
“No, there’s nothing I need, but to know that you do love me?” Tina whispered.
“Tina, I do love you. I will always love you.” I felt my eyes tearing up. I kissed her again and left.
CHAPTER 6
Jill and I walked in silence. We left the hospital. Sgt. Johnson was outside talking on his cell phone. When he saw us, he waved us over to him.
“That’s fine. I’m going Ten-7B. I’ll be off for a couple of hours.” He said into his cell phone and hung up.
“David, Jill I’ve been out here hoping to catch you before you go off and do something stupid. I don’t know how I know, but I think you’re ready to go and do something really, really stupid. Aren’t you?”
He read us like a book. I guess all those years interacting with the public gave him a good sense of what people were thinking in times of crisis.
I looked at the ground. “Yeah, we were.”
“Good, I’ll go with you.” Sgt. Johnson replied, surprising both Jill and me.
A look of shock on our face. Jill was stunned. I was stunned. Sgt. Johnson just stood there with a smile.
“Let me drive.” Johnson said.
We followed him in silence to his car. This was not a police vehicle, it was his personal car. We climbed into his Cadillac and headed off.
“Where to?” Johnson asked.
“Happee, Happy Limo” Jill said.
“I just knew you two were going to head there. I called in a favor and have a couple of ‘off duty’ friends meeting us there.” He replied.
I just sat there smiling. Jill looked over her shoulder at me sitting in the back seat. She smiled.
“Sargent Johnson, what the heck is your first name? I feel like we should know your name instead of continuing to call you Sargent.” Jill asked.
“It’s Roger. Roger Johnson. My close friends call me RJ.” He answered.
“Roger are you married?” Jill asked. That was a question that I did not expect.
“Um, no. Not anymore. I divorced a few years ago. Why do you ask?”
“RJ, are you in a relationship? I mean, I can’t imagine you being alone for very long.” Jill said in a flirtatious voice.
“Jill are you hitting on me?” he said with a huge smile on his face.
“No. I just know someone who would be interested in you.” Jill replied.
“Oh, I see, you’re one of THEM.” RJ retorted chuckling a bit,
“Well, if you mean someone who tries to introduce people to other people, so they can be happy…. then yes, I’m one of THEM.” Jill said with a devilish grin.
I interjected from the back seat, “Who would that be darling?”
“My friend Donna. She’s got a thing for big strong handsome men. Like YOU darling.” Jill was really turning the charms on now.
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