Page 38 of All of My Life

“I would have known!” I yelled, stopping in front of them. “I’ve been obsessed with her since our first day of fucking kindergarten! I would have known!”

“Calm down, Mr. Carver-”

“I will not calm down!” I yelled in Officer Tisdale’s face. “You’re telling me that someone is hurting her, so what the fuck does that make me if I never noticed?!”

They shared another look before Officer Montgomery said, “Let’s get you inside, Mr. Carver. Let’s get those hands checked before taking you up to see Ms. Morgan.”

I put my hands up to stop them. “Hold on,” I ordered, trying to calm myself down. “You said that she was attacked.” I looked between both officers. “Are you saying that the same person that’s abusing her is the same person that attacked her?”

Officer Montgomery straightened. “We don’t believe so,” he answered. “However, we really don’t know because she’s not saying anything.”

I looked at both officers. “As soon as I get the names from her, you better arrest them immediately, or else you’ll need to arrest me for murder. Understood?”

“Mr. Carver-”

“I’m not asking!” I yelled, cutting off whatever Officer Tisdale had been about to say.

“Let’s get you inside, and then we can talk more after you’ve had a chance to speak with Ms. Morgan,” Officer Montgomery suggested. “The more upset that you get, the more that you make this about you, instead of her.” He eyed me sternly, the man about the same age as my father. “We need to find out what’s happening with her, and we need you to help us do that, Mr. Carver. We can’t do our jobs otherwise.”

“I want to speak with the doctor before I talk with Jett,” I informed them.

Officer Tisdale eyed me. “Why?”

“So that I can call Jett on her bullshit if she tries to lie to me,” I answered, though I didn’t think that she would. Jett wouldn’t have called me if she didn’t plan on coming clean.

They silently agreed, and no one said anything as we took the elevator up to Jett’s room. As soon as we got to the nurses’ station, Doctor Horn’s name was being called over the intercom, and my last name ensured that I hadn’t been kept waiting long.

I didn’t waste time with introductions when the tall blonde was finally standing in front of me. “Is she really being abused?”

“Ms. Morgan gave us permission to tell him everything that we know,” Officer Tisdale added.

Looking back at me, Doctor Horn said, “Her x-rays show old injuries, some that hadn’t been set properly. Her body is full of bruises from her recent attack, but it’s also covered in old ones that are strategically placed where they can easily be hidden with clothing. Apart from the hickeys on her neck, no old bruises are visible.”

“Can you tell how old the injuries are?”

“Luckily, as you know, Carver Medical is a state-of-the-art facility, so we’re not plagued with the backlogs and short staff that most hospitals have to deal with,” she answered. “The members of our team are some of the best around, so I can tell you that I have every confidence in saying that Ms. Morgan’s abuse started when she was very young.”

I shook my head, denial trying to keep me sane. If Jett’s injuries were that old, then it had to be someone close to her that was abusing her, and my guess was her father. His cagey behavior, along with Mrs. Morgan’s timidness, made all the more sense now.

“Is the abuse the same as what happened today?” I asked.

Doctor Horn shook her head. “I can’t be sure, but I don’t think so. Her…her underwear and her blouse were torn around her body, but without a rape kit, I can’t be sure of all her injuries.”

My vision faded for a second.

Her clothes were torn.

“Where is she?”

“The third room on the left,” she answered, pointing towards the hallway behind me. “We got her a private room because of who her father is.”

That didn’t help lessen my fury at all.

Chapter 24

Jett~

I didn’t say anything as Chasin walked into the room. I couldn’t make out the look on his face, so I thought it’d be best to let him lead. I couldn’t imagine how pissed off he was, and I was just too tired to put up a fight anymore. My mind felt like I was seventy, and my body felt like it was ninety. Laying in this bed, all I wanted to do was leave Carver, Connecticut for anything that wasn’t this place. I had even turned off my phone when my parents wouldn’t stop calling.

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