Page 51 of The Cruelty of Thorns

After the nurse was gone, Toby started pacing the small room and mumbling to himself. “He was fine when he got home last night,” was all I could make out.

Lisa stood up and stepped in front of him. “The nurse is right; he’s not going anywhere right now. Maybe we should go grab some breakfast. You know how you get on an empty stomach.”

Toby glanced at me. “You feel like eating?”

My stomach was in knots; eating was the last thing on my mind. “You guys go ahead. I’m going to wait here.”

“Can we bring you anything?” Lisa asked. “I don’t know what they have in the cafeteria here.”

“Coffee?”

She nodded and grabbed Toby’s hand, dragging him out of the examining room.

When they were gone, I pulled the chair she had been sitting on closer to the bed and sat down. I still couldn’t get the nurse’s comments out of my head. Was it assault or consensual sex, and when had it happened? Why was there blood on his neck? What did one have to do with the other?

Lisa knew something, I was sure of it. Was this what had happened to her? Was she sexually assaulted as well? I remembered her behavior in the library that day, how she had looked panicked then ran from the building. What was going on here? The only plausible explanation was that someone had broken into the dorm and assaulted them, but how was that possible when they both had roommates? Surely someone would have heard something.

The possibility of someone breaking into the dorm caused my panic to spike again. Were both of them attacked by the same person, and if so, what did that mean for everyone else? Were we all in danger? The only person who knew for sure was unconscious right now.

Well, him and Lisa. I determined then that I was going to come right out and ask her. This wasn’t just an isolated incident now.

An hour passed before anyone else came into the room, then it was the nurse bringing a fresh bag of blood and taking Ron’s vitals.

“How long have you two been dating?” she asked me. Part of me reasoned it was just an innocent attempt to make conversation, but it still felt like an interrogation. I couldn’t help but wonder again if she thought I had something to do with what happened to him. No, that sounded like paranoia, I scolded myself. She was just being friendly.

“Not long,” I replied, hoping that didn’t make me sound guilty. “We were supposed to go to the lake today with some friends.”

“Well, maybe if everything turns out all right, you can go next weekend.”

“You really think he’s going to be okay?”

“His vitals are stronger than they were when he came in. The blood and fluids are helping, but it’s still touch and go right now. We have no idea how long ago he suffered the blood loss and if there was any permanent damage to his organs.”

“Damage?”

“Lack of blood flow means lack of oxygen to critical organs. Like I said, his vitals look better, and he’s young and otherwise healthy, so he has a good chance of making a full recovery, but we won’t know for sure until he regains consciousness.”

“How long do you think that will be?”

She shook her head. “Everyone is different. Could be an hour, could be later tonight. All we can do now is wait.”

Toby and Lisa pushed aside the curtain and entered. Lisa handed me a styrofoam cup of coffee and a couple of packets of sugar and creamer. “I wasn’t sure how you took it.”

I set the cup on the bedside tray and dumped sugar and creamer into it, taking a slow sip. It wasn’t the best coffee, but the small jolt was welcome.

“How is he?” Toby asked the nurse.

“He’s getting stronger, but it takes time. We’ll be moving him to a room within the hour.”

After she was gone, I turned my attention to Lisa. I didn’t want to bring up past trauma, but I needed to know if there was a connection. “I don’t mean to pry, but is this what happened to you?”

She looked away from me, her eyes darting around the room. I didn’t think she was going to answer me, then she replied, almost too low for me to hear.

“I’m not sure. There was…someone. A man, I think.” A flush colored her cheeks, and she threw a sideways glance at Toby. “I can’t recall the details.”

Can’t or won’t, I wondered. Was she saying that because it was true or because she didn’t want Toby to know? Regardless of her reasons, this was too important to ignore. If it had just been an isolated incident, it would be easy to dismiss. But this was two attacks now. “So it wasn’t a bug bite?”

She exhaled then met my eyes. “No.”

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