Breath of Scandal (7 page)

Keeping one hand beneath her arm, the man opened the passenger side and helped her into his old pickup. The door closed with a loud clatter of rusty metal that jarred her. It

48

Sandra Brown

was dry inside, but there was no heater. She began to shiver uncontrollably.

"Where you headed, missy?" he asked as he slid behind the wheel. "Do you stay 'round heah?"

"Would you take me to the hospital, please?" She didn't recognize her own voice. It was hoarse from screaming. Neal had slapped her for screaming. Hutch had covered her mouth with his large hand. Her screams had made Lamar anxious.

"The hospital? Sure thing, missy. You just rest now. Everythin's gonna be all right."

Jade did as the man suggested. She laid her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. She was safe. Warm tears seeped from her closed eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She cried silently as the ancient truck bounced along the highway.

Either she dozed or momentarily lost consciousness because, almost immediately it seemed, the truck slowed down and came to a halt. The man got out and went around to open the door for her.

"Thank you," she whispered as he helped her out. When she stepped to the ground, her lower body began to throb painfully. She swayed and had to grab a support pole. Closing her eyes, she rested her cheek against the cold metal surface until the dizziness subsided. "Thank you," she repeated.

She turned to the man who had kindly rescued her, but his truck was backing away. "No, wait." She shielded her eyes against the headlights, but couldn't make out what he or the truck looked like. There was no front license plate. When the pickup reached the main road, the forward gears were engaged and the truck lumbered off into the rainy darkness. Jade supposed that beating a hasty retreat was his only protection against those who would jump to conclusions about his involvement with a white rape victim. Unfortunately, there were still many in Palmetto who, given the situation, would act first and ask questions later.

She made hesitant progress toward the sliding glass doors where EMERGENCY was spelled out in red neon. The doors

-Breath of Scandal

49

slid open. Beyond them, the blue-white fluorescent lighting was offensive. She dreaded being exposed to it, so she hovered just inside the door, waiting for someone to notice her. Two nurses and a man who looked like a janitor were chatting and laughing together at the desk.

Jade had thought she would welcome reporting the attack, but now that it was imminent, she was filled with dread. This was only the first of many difficult steps to see that justice was done. In order to achieve her goal, however, she was willing to bear whatever difficulties and embarrassment she might encounter.

Leaving 4 trail of mud behind her, she worked up her courage and shuffled toward the desk. "Excuse me." Three pairs of eyes turned toward her. "Can you help me, please?"

At the sight of her, their faces registered shock for several seconds. Then the janitor stepped out of the way, one of the nurses reached for the telephone, and the other rounded the desk to lend Jade a supportive arm.

"What happened to you, honey? Were you in an accident?"

"I was raped."

The nurse looked at her sharply. "Raped? Here in Palmetto?"

"Beside a channel, just off the coastal highway." "Sweet Jesus."

Jade was keenly aware of the janitor, who was taking in every word and staring at her breasts through her gaping blouse. The other nurse was speaking into the telephone. "Dr. Harvey, we need you in the ER. A girl just came in. She says she was raped."

"I was raped." Jade's voice cracked. She was very near tears. She wished the janitor would stop gawking at her. "Come on, honey, let's put you in here to wait for the doctor. Want me to call somebody for you?"

"Not until I've cleaned up."

The nurse led her into a small examination room. The curtain she pulled around the table was flimsy and billowy, like a yellow parachute. "Lordy, lordy, you're a mess. Get

50                      Sandra Broww

out of those clothes. Everything. The doctor'll have to do a pelvic, You know - Put this on." She handed Jade a bluen hospital gown.

and-white striped CORO

-can't you do it?" she asked tremulously.

-Do what honey?" The nurse was laying out stainless steel tools. ' ey looked repugnant and terrifying.

I 'The ex   ination." She didn't want a man near her, touching her. She didn't think she could survive having to open her legs and expose herself to a man-

"I'm sorry, honey, no. Did he put those scratches on your arms?"

"They. There were three of them." Horrified, the nurse whispered, "Blacks?" "No, they're white."

She appeared relieved. "I'll call the sheriff s office. The doctor will be here in a jiffy. 11

The nurse went through the curtain, leaving Jade alone. Slowly, painfully, she removed her clothing. She piled her soggy, tattered blouse, skirt, and bra in a heap on the floor. Her underpants and pantyhose were gone, as were her shoes.

In the revealing light, she gazed down at her body, cramming her fist against her lips to keep from screaming. She was filthy. From the knees down, her legs were caked with mud. There were long, bleeding scratches on her arms. Her knees and the heels of her hands were raw and bloody beneath several layers of dirt.

Worst of all, her belly and the skin between her thighs was smeared with a sticky substance, tinged pink by her own blood. She felt nastier than a spittoon. Hastily reaching for a stainless steel basin on the counter, she retched. "Miss, uh, Sperry?"

The male voice came from just beyond the curtain. He cast a silhouette against the thin fabric. Jade choked on bile, coughed, and cleared her burning throat.

"I need to examine you now, Ms. Sperry."

"Just . . . just a minute." She fumbled with the gown and was finally able to pull it over her head. Its hem barely skimmed her upper thighs. She climbed onto the exami-

Breath of Scandal

51

nation table and draped the cloth around her hips, covering as much of herself as she could. "Okay."

Her system received another unpleasant shock. The doctor was very young. He had a fresh face that looked like it rarely needed a shave. His eyes were bright and quizzical. She had hoped for someone who resembled the kindly family physician in the famous Norman Rockweli paintings-a gray-haired, older gentleman with an endearing paunch and spectacles.

The doctor must have sensed her aversion to him. He did his best to look and sound compassionate, probably because he didn't want a hysterical girl on his hands. "The next few minutes are going to be uncomfortable, Ms. Sperry. I'm going to examine you, take some Polaroid pictures, ask you some questions. Some of the questions will be embarrassing, I'm afraid. Let's get them over with first, okay?"

Getting down to business, he opened the metal cover of a medical chart and whipped out a ballpoint pen from the breast pocket of his white lab coat.

"Full name?"

"Jade Elizabeth Sperry." "Age?"

"Eighteen. "Date of birth?"

He wrote the pertinent information in the spaces provided on the official form; then, as he had warned, the questions got more embarrassing. "Date of your last period?"

"I don't remember."

"I need to know. An approximation anyway." Rubbing her temples, Jade thought back. She gave him a date that seemed feasible. He wrote it down.

"Any venereal diseases?"

The questions stunned her. "Pardon me?"

"Have you ever had a venereal disease or sexual contact with someone who has?"

Something inside her snapped and she lashed out in anger. "Until tonight I was a virgin!" In that instant, Jade knew that she had lost her innocence this night in more ways than one.

52

Sandra Brown-

"I see. Okay." The doctor Made a note of that on the chart. "Did the man-"

"Men. I already told the nurse that there were three of them. Didn't she tell you?"

"No, I'm sorry, she didn't. Three?" "Three.' ,

"Did all three achieve penetration?"

Her lower lip began to tremble. She      caught it between her teeth. "Yes."

"You're certain?" " Yes! "

"Did all three ejaculate?"

She was almost sick again. Swallowing another mouthful of bitter bile, she croaked, "Yes."

"Are you sure, Ms. Sperry?" he asked skeptically. "I mean, if you were a virgin, you might not be able to tell." She glared at him but couldn't muster the energy to main-

tain the outrage for long. Her shoulders slumped forward in defeat. "They all three ... did that. "

He let the cover fall back over the chart and repocketed his pen. Poking his head around the curtain, he called for the nurse to assist him. She helped Jade to lie down, then guided her feet into frigid metal stirrups. The doctor worked his hands into a pair of rubber gloves, snapping them at his wrists. He sat down on a low stool at the end of the examination table and adjusted a blindingly bright light. He touched her bruised thighs and spread them wider. She made a small sound of protest.

"I warned you this would be uncomfortable, Ms. Sperry. I'll try not to hurt you."

She couldn't meet his eyes where he looked up at her from between her thighs.    Instead she pinched her eyes shut as she felt him insert something hard, cold, and intrusive into her. She gripped the edges of the padded table.

"Try to relax. You did the right thing, you know. It's good that you didn't run home and shower before coming here. "

She couldn't carry on a conversation, not while she was so thoroughly exposed to him and the nurse. Her skin was

Breath of Scan"

53

cold and clammy to the touch, but a red tide of embarrassment had heated her veins. Her head was pounding, and she could feel each heartbeat strike her eardrums.

"Do you think you can identify the men?" "Oh, yes. I can identify them."

"Well, that's good, at least. They'll pay for it. That is, if you don't lose your nerve and drop the charges before the case comes to trial."

"I won't lose my nerve," she vowed, her jaw clenched and set.

"There, I'm finished. Except for the pubic hair. Not all of it is yours. I'll just collect some here. It'll go to the lab, too. I I

Jade cringed and kept her eyes tightly shut until she felt the nurse lowering her feet from the stirrups, helping her to sit up. The doctor cleaned beneath her fingernails with an orangewood stick, then peeled off his gloves and dropped them into a trash bin.

"Just stand there in front of the curtain," he said to Jade as he reached for a Polaroid camera. He instructed the nurse to help her adjust the gown.

For the next several minutes, she was photographed front and back. She was never completely naked, but she might as well have been. He took pictures of her face, her shoulders, breasts, belly, thighs, buttocks, any place where there was a scratch or a bruise. There weren't many. Neal had been careful about that.

"What about those scratches on your arms and knees?" She shook her head. "I got those later, crawling along the highway."

"Okay. I'll fill out my report and get this stuff to the lab. There won't be anybody there at this time of night, but they can get on it first thing in the morning. The nurse will take you to a shower. We'll give you a set of OR scrubs to put on. Your clothes will go to the lab, too."

Jade nodded. "Thank you."

He bustled out, taking the laboratory evidence with him. "Come with me, honey." The nurse pulled back the curtain and moved toward the door.

54

Sandra Broww

Jade hesitated, self-consciously   tugging on the brief gown. "Like this? It barely covers my bottom."

"This is a hospital. Nobody notices."

Jade thought the janitor would notice. There didn't seem to be any choice, however. She followed the nurse out into the corridor and took tiny steps to keep the hem of the gown from flapping.

"You're lucky Doc Harvey came from a big city hospital He knows what to do," the nurse remarked.

They went through a pair of swinging doors marked HOSPITAL PERSONNEL ONLY and entered a lounge area where several nurses were drinking coffee and eating snacks from the vending machines. They glanced up curiously as she crossed the room behind the nurse.

"Right in there," she said, holding open the door to a women's locker room. "Towels and everything else you'll need are in the closet next to the shower stall. There's a disposable douche in there, too."

Jade wished she would lower her voice. Everyone in the room was staring at her. "I've never douched," she whispered.                                                      11

"Nothing to it. The instructions are printed on the box. Jade slipped through the door. As the woman had said, she found everything she needed in the closet. She removed the hospital gown and stepped into the shower stall. Thankfully, the water was hot. Jade turned it on until it was scalding. She kept it as hot as she could stand it and welcomed its pounding sting. It was cleansing, purifying. She wanted to wash them and their hideous residue off her body. It amazed her that she had stood having it on her skin this long without losing her sanity.

After soaping three times, she propped one foot on the soap dish and washed the area between her thighs. It hurt so badly that it brought tears to her eyes, but she scrubbed and scrubbed until her skin was raw. Inexpertly, she used the douche and was glad that she did. Finally, she shampooed the mud out of her hair and rinsed her mouth out several times with hot water.

Afterward she felt better, although she knew she would

Breath of Scandal

55

never feet completely clean again. She had been sulliedmentally, physically, and emotionally. She could never again be what she had been. That thought left her feeling disconsolate and furious.

She dried off and then wrapped her wet hair in a coarse towel. There were several pairs of green scrubs folded on the top shelf of the closet. The second pair she held against her fit moderately well. The paper booties were meant to go over shoes, but she tied them onto her bare feet.