Homeward Bound

The rest of the night was a blur.  Shock and exhaustion, I suppose.  I’d managed to remember to have Aaron grab my phone, which was still on the couch, and my purse.  He rode with me to the emergency room. 

EMS had determined that the gash on my head wasn’t deep or large enough to need stitches.  As the medic said, “Heads bleed a lot.”  They treated it and put gauze over it, wrapping it to my head.  I’m sure under different circumstances, I would’ve laughed a lot at my appearance. 

I’d told Brad, and the nurses at the hospital, that there was no penetration, and I didn’t think his penis had touched me, anywhere.  They said they would still need to swab me, just in case any bodily fluids got onto me.  They swabbed the inside of my mouth and around it, my breasts, my vagina, and underneath my fingernails.  Brad also had to take pictures of me.  I cried as he photographed my breasts and the now evident bruises, and slightly visible teeth marks.  He also took pictures of my head wound.

I had changed into a hospital gown upon arrival, so he took my shorts and underwear, and bagged them. 

“Aleah, you’re lucky Detective Janakowski arrived when he did,” Brad said, when he was finished.  I nodded in agreement.  I set a time to go in for a formal recorded interview at 2 p.m.  It was already 12:30 a.m.  Brad stepped out, to where Aaron was waiting right outside the room I was in.  He pulled the curtain closed.  I got up and fished out my phone from the bag, knowing I needed to call my parents.  Aaron had told me he would drive me out to their house after Brad drove him back to my apartment to get his car. 

As I clicked on my speed dial for home, I heard Brad ask Aaron what he was doing at my apartment, anyway. 

At the sound of my mom’s groggy voice answering the house phone, I burst into tears.

She seemed to wake up at that sound.  “Aleah?” she asked frantically.

“Mommy,” I cried.  “I’m at the hospital.”

“What? Are you okay?  Were you in an accident?  Dean, wake up!” she shouted.  I could picture her nudging my dad out of a deep sleep.

“No.” I took a deep breath.  My voice was shaky.  “A... a friend is going to be driving me home soon; I just wanted to let you know.  I’ll explain when I get there.”

“Do you need us to come there?  We will leave right now,” my mom said firmly.

“No.  Please don’t.  I’m almost done here.  I’m not injured.  I will be home as soon as they tell me I’m released.”  I knew I was glossing everything over, but if I said more, there would be more questions.

“Okay, Aleah.  We’ll be up and waiting.”  And I knew they would be.

While I waited for the nurse to discharge me, Aaron left with Brad to get his car, though I pleaded with him not to leave me.  He asked me if I really wanted to ride back to my apartment and I told him no.  A female uniform stayed with me, at Aaron’s request.

By the time they got back, I was dressed and ready to go. 

I sat quietly in Aaron’s car, purposely avoiding thinking about Luke having just been contained in the back of it.  I had given Aaron my parents’ address, so he was just using GPS to get there. 

We were riding in silence.  Aaron kept his hand lightly resting on my knee, his car laptop pushed as far forward as possible to give me room.

I must have drifted off at some point because I awoke to Aaron gently calling my name.  My eyes fluttered open, and I was severely confused, thinking everything that had just happened was all a nightmare. 

But then I looked over to see I was sitting in Aaron’s car, in my parents’ driveway, at 2:05 a.m.  And it appeared as if my mom had turned on every light in the house.  It was glowing in the stark darkness.

I started shaking again, and tears silently slipped down my cheeks, snaking a glistening path that Aaron must have seen, as he moved his hand from my knee up to my far shoulder, pulling me towards him.  He awkwardly wrapped his arms around me, limbs contorted due to the small space, center console, and laptop, all blocking any sort of natural movement.  He moved his mouth to my ear.

“I’m here,” was all he said.  And that’s all he needed to say.

I wiped my tears off on his jacket and slowly climbed out of his car.  In the time I took to get out of his car, he had gotten my bag from his trunk, and was at my side.

With each step taken up my parents’ front walk to the door, I felt equal parts dread and relief.

I knocked on the door and it immediately flung open.  My mom’s eyes were wide with shock and fear.  I realized, now, that it probably didn’t help the situation that not only did I look like I got hit by a train, but I was standing there next to a police officer.  Although not in uniform, he still had his holster with gun and handcuffs on.

My mom’s arms opened wide and I practically fell into them, sobbing.