The Forgotten Night (11 page)

He rode in the ambulance with her, but a nurse stopped him when he tried to follow her into the ER. “Sir, you’re going to have to wait here.”

“No, I have to stay with her, I promised. She needs me!” he cried.

“You’ll see her in a little bit, after the doctors have a chance to look at her. While you’re waiting, fill these forms out,” she said, handing over a clipboard. “When you’re finished, return it to the front desk.”

Glad to have something to do, Andrew took a seat in one of the chairs and began to fill out the information. He was almost finished when Rachel rushed through the doors.

“Where is she?” she asked Andrew.

“They took her away, and they won’t let me see her. They said they’d come and get me after I filled out these forms.”

“I’ll go talk to them,” Rachel said and Andrew nodded. He watched as she walked up to the desk to talk to one of the nurses. The nurse shook her head, and Rachel slammed her fist on the table. The nurse motioned behind Rachel, and Andrew looked up to see two police officers walking through the door. Rachel nodded her head and walked back to Andrew.

“What did she say?” he asked.

“They said the cops have to see her first, they have to get her story, and when they know conclusively that it wasn’t you who did this, they will let you back to see her,” Rachel informed him, obviously angry.

“They think I did that to her?” Andrew raised his voice.

“It’s just a precaution, Andrew, and if you keep yelling like that then yes, they really will believe it was you. Just fill out the damn forms. The sooner you finish, the sooner we can see Cassidy,” she said.

Andrew nodded as he returned back to the forms. It didn’t take him long to finish. He stood up and walked up to the front desk and handed them the clipboard.

“What patient?” a different nurse asked him.

“Cassidy Ames,” he said tightly. “May I see her now?”

“The police are finishing up, are you family?” the nurse asked.

“I—uh…”

“Only family members are allowed back there in domestic violence cases.”

“I’m her fiancé, does that count? Her ex-boyfriend did this to her,” he said, almost frantic. “Not me!”

“I’ll talk with the police. Sit back down for now, I’ll motion for you if anything changes.”

Andrew simply nodded and walked back to Rachel.

“Will they let you see her?”

“Only family members are allowed. I told them I was her fiancé. I have to wait for the police to finish up.”

Chapter Seven

A
s Cassidy was carted away, she could hear Andrew yelling for her, but she didn’t have the strength to yell back, to tell them she needed him with her. The doctor opened her eyelid and flashed a bright light at her and mumbled a few words to the others around her.

“Can you tell me your name?” she asked.

“Cassidy Ames,” she said faintly.

“Cassidy, I’m Doctor Torres. How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Two. Where’s Andy?”

“Very good,” the doctor told her, ignoring her question. “Cassidy, the nurses and I are going to remove your shirt and put you in a clean gown, all right?”

Cassidy nodded.

The doctor pulled out some surgical scissors and cut her shirt. A few of the nurses leaned her forward as they carefully removed the shirt and put her in a hospital gown.

“Cassidy, we’re going to need to take some x-rays to see if you have any broken ribs, but first we’re going to bandage your wounds. We’ll take some x-rays of your wrist as well, see the damage done.”

Cassidy nodded as tears welled in her eyes. All she wanted was this nightmare to be over, to be home with Andrew. They carted her away and took some x-rays of her chest and wrist before bringing her back into the same room.

“Cassidy, while we wait for the film to develop, a couple of detectives would like to talk to you,” one of the nurses said.

Cassidy nodded and two police officers, one male and one female, walked into her room.

“Miss Cassidy Ames?” the man asked and she nodded her head. “I’m Detective Rice, and this is my partner Detective Coulter. We’re here to ask you a few questions.”

“Cassidy, do you know who did this to you?” Detective Coulter asked, stepping forward.

Cassidy nodded and a fresh set of tears sprang to her eyes. She had to stop crying, because the deep shuddering breaths hurt her ribs. “It was my boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend,” Cassidy clarified and the detective pulled out a notepad. “His name is Robert Stokes. I was going to break up with him last night, tell him that I didn’t love him. He had been drinking…”

“Is this the first time that this has happened?”

“Yes. I mean he’s possessive, he always thought I would cheat on him or betray him somehow,”

“And did you?”

Cassidy sighed. “It’s complicated.”

“What happened with Robert exactly, Cassidy?” Detective Coulter asked kindly.

“I went upstairs, and he was in my room, waiting for me. I could tell he’d had a couple of bottles of vodka, maybe more. He was calling me a bitch and a whore. I tried to get to the bathroom, but he grabbed me by my throat, and then hit me across the face.”

“It’s okay, Cassidy, take your time.” Detective Coulter squeezed her hand comfortingly.

“He threw me to the ground, and I hurt my wrist. When he pulled me up by my hair, I punched him and I broke his nose, I think. He threw me against the wall. I fell down and he…he began to kick me…”

The detective handed her a tissue, and she dabbed her eyes.

“Then he pinned me against the wall and said…he said…since he couldn’t have me while we were dating…he…he was going to. He kissed me and bit my neck and forced me to the ground….” Cassidy didn’t want to relive the images. She didn’t want to do this alone.

“Excuse me, detectives. If you don’t mind, I’d like to fit my patient’s wrist with a brace,” the doctor said, walking into the room. Cassidy made a mental note to thank the doctor. She didn’t want to talk about or even think about what had happened next or what could have happened. The doctor brought over some bandages and a wrist guard and placed Cassidy’s arm as gently as she could on the tray beside the bed.

The detectives waited patiently until the doctor finished. “You’ll need to ice it every twenty minutes the first couple of days. Elevate it and take the pain medication I will prescribe. Since it’s only a sprain, it should only be about three weeks until it’s fully healed. You don’t want to push it, you may take it out when it starts feeling better, but put the brace on at night until the end of the third week,” she said, after finishing. “And we’ve received the film from your chest x-ray, and you do not have any broken ribs. All we ask is that you keep an ice pack on the bruised ribs fifteen minutes each hour.”

Cassidy nodded. “Can I see Andy, now?”

“Is he family? Only family members can come back,” the doctor explained.

“Does it count if he’s my fiancé?” she asked, pointing to the diamond ring that lay on the table in front of her, even though Andrew hadn’t given it to her.

“I’ll be back soon, then,” The doctor smiled and left the room.

“Cassidy, can you finish telling us what happened?” Detective Rice asked.

Cassidy took in a deep breath. “Yes…” She closed her eyes. “He forced me to the ground…he…he pulled my camisole down and…bit me a couple of times,” she said, as tears rolled down her cheeks. “He…he…”

Cassidy felt a hand grasp hers, and she opened her eyes to see Andy sitting next to her. She squeezed his hand back and closed her eyes again.

“Then he pulled off the camisole and my pants…I kicked him as hard as I could and he fell off of me…I got up and kicked him a couple of times and ran for the bathroom…but…he grabbed my leg and pulled me down…I kicked him again in the chest and he flew backwards…then I crawled to the bathroom and shut and locked the door before he could get to me. He was yelling and screaming at me and threatened to kill me…” She broke down into sobs.

“It’s okay, baby,” Andrew said, standing up.

Cassidy opened her arms for him and he rested his head next to hers on her pillow. “Calm down, I’m here,” he said.

Cassidy took deep breaths and her breathing returned to normal.

Andrew pulled back and looked into her eyes. “I love you, Cassie. I will never leave you like that again,” he whispered and gently kissed her cheek. When he pulled back, he looked murderous.

“I’m fine, Andy, you don’t have to kill him,” she said softly, putting her right hand on his cheek.

One of the detectives cleared their throats and Andrew pulled back, sitting back down next to Cassidy, taking her hand in his again.

“I’m sorry, I have to ask, but is that all that happened?” Detective Coulter asked. They wanted to know if he’d raped her.

Cassidy nodded. “I passed out and woke up to Andy, who called the ambulance.”

Detective Rice nodded. “We’ll leave our cards with you, if you think of anything else. We have your number, if anything happens.”

“When you find him, what will happen?” Cassidy asked.

“We’re not sure, miss, in the state of New York these crimes are generally treated as domestic abuse cases. I would suggest that you get an Order of Protection from the courts against this Robert Stokes,” Detective Rice said.

“You okay, Andy?” Cassidy asked, seeing how upset he looked.

Andrew turned back to Cassidy and wiped away the stray tears running down her cheek.

“Yeah, baby. Do you want me to call your parents?”

“No. I don’t want them to worry. You’ll help me, right?” she asked.

“Of course. You’ll stay at our house until your parents get home. I don’t want you to be alone in that house.”

“Even though the staff will be there?” she asked, trying to fight a painful smile.

“Yes, even if they will be there,” he said.

“This is not your fault, Andy, and I don’t want you thinking so,” she said, caressing his cheek.

Andrew simply nodded, looking unconvinced. “What did the doctor say about your injuries?”

“That I had a bruised rib that should heal anywhere between a few days and a week. It wasn’t injured too badly. And my wrist will be in a brace for three weeks.”

“Cassidy?” the nurse said, poking her head inside the door.

Cassidy looked up. “If you fill out this form, we can release you. I’m guessing you have a ride home?”

Cassidy nodded and the nurse handed her the clipboard and left the room.

Cassidy looked over at Andrew. “Could you ask Rach if she could bring me some clothes? I don’t want to leave in a hospital gown.”

“Of course, I’ll be right back,” he said, kissing her forehead.

* * *

“I got it from here,” Rachel said, an hour or so later, walking into the hospital room with a small duffle bag. Andrew looked up at the sound of his sister’s voice then looked back at Cassidy.

Cassidy smiled slightly and nodded.

“I’ll be back when you’re ready to head out,” Andrew said, kissing her cheek.

Cassidy and Rach watched as Andrew left the room and shut the door on his way out. “So, I brought over some variety. I wasn’t sure.”

“What did you bring me?” Cassidy asked, trying to lighten the mood since Rachel wasn’t exactly her perky self.

“Um, I brought you a camisole and a T-shirt. I didn’t think that you could wear—”

“Rach, it’s okay. I’m fine. You don’t have to be scared to say anything. I’m fine, really. They’re only superficial wounds. I’ll be fine. He didn’t hurt me that way.”

Rachel nodded and pulled out the clothes.

“Though you are going to have to help me into them,” Cassidy said with a smile.

Rachel smiled back and began to help her take off the hospital gown and put on the camisole. She held her tongue when she saw the bite marks on Cassidy’s breasts and helped her put the T-shirt over them. Cassidy looked at her friend and saw the anger in her eyes.

“Not you too,” she said.

“What?” Rachel asked.

“You have the same murderous look as your brother,” Cassidy pointed out.

“How can I not? That bastard touched my best friend, the drunken asshole hurt you. How can you not be pissed? I hate his guts and he didn’t even do this to me,”

Cassidy looked down at her cast. “I do. I do hate him. I just can’t dwell on it. I have you and Andy now. He could have hurt me far worse, but he didn’t, Rach. I just can’t think about it, you know?”

Rachel nodded and then pulled out the sweatpants she had taken from Cassidy’s room. She helped Cassidy to the edge of the bed. It wasn’t long before they were finished and walked over to the door. Rachel opened it, and Andrew popped his head around the corner.

“Ready?” he asked and both women nodded their heads. They walked down the hallway to the doors marked
Authorized Personnel Only
and exited them just in time to hear the nurses arguing loudly with someone.

“Sir, I told you, only family are allowed back there. She is already with her fiancé, and I can’t let you back there,” the nurse said to the man at the counter, whose back was toward them.

“I told you already,
I
am her fiancé,” Robert roared angrily and turned just in time to see Cassidy, Andrew and Rachel walk into the waiting room. “Cassidy!”