Page 45 of Prognosis Bad Timing

‘Do you remember what he looked like? Do you know him?’

Roberta sniffled. ‘I’ve seen him around. But what’s the point? They’re never going to believe me.’

Carrie didn’t know much about these things but a blind man could see that Roberta had been assaulted. ‘Let me feel your face,’ Carrie said, putting down the gauze now the lip had been attended to. ‘Tell me where it hurts.’

‘It hurts everywhere.’

Carrie prodded gently around Roberta’s facial bones, looking for asymmetry and feeling for any obvious malformations or any signs of crepitis — bone rubbing against bone. There didn’t appear to be any teeth broken and her bite seemed reasonably aligned.

‘Think you’ll need an X-ray just to check you don’t have any fractures.’

Roberta nodded. ‘Can I get out of these clothes?’

‘Sure,’ Carrie said.

No doubt the police would prefer her to stay in them until they got here but Carrie wouldn’t have wanted to stay in those clothes any longer, either. And they were taking precautions to make sure the evidence was protected.

She grabbed the large blue plastic square, Charlie had given her and spread it on the ground. “Stand on this when you get undressed and just leave your clothes on it, okay?”

She looked at the sheet on the floor blankly for long moments before saying, “Okay.”

Carrie placed the clean clothes at the end of the bed and pulled the nearby mobile screen in place to give Roberta some privacy. God knew she’d already been exposed enough and it wasn’t over yet. She heard a crinkling as Roberta’s feet landed on the plastic.

‘All I want is a shower,’ Roberta said from behind the screen. ‘I can smell him everywhere.’

The revulsion in her voice reached right through the screen ‘I know, but it’s best if we collect the evidence from your body for the police first.’

‘I’m done,’ Roberta said a minute later.

Carrie pulled back the screen and helped Roberta back onto the table before carefully pulling the square of plastic over to one corner of the room and leaving it there for the police. A quiet knock still managed to make Roberta flinch. Carrie gave her arm a squeeze then crossed to open it.

There was an older woman standing with Charlie. She looked to be in her forties, her tough exterior betrayed by her friendly eyes. ‘Carrie, this is Rene Chalk. She’s from the rape crisis centre.’

Carrie smiled at the newcomer. ‘Come in,’ she invited.

Charlie, staying his distance, performed the introductions and Carrie prepared to leave. ‘No, don’t go.’ Roberta demanded, her voice rising. ‘I want you to stay.’

Carrie looked at Charlie, surprised and startled by Roberta’s request. Charlie nodded. So did Rene. So Carrie stayed and listened to Rene talk things over with Roberta.

They talked a little about the assault but mainly about what would happen next. The police and court proceedings. Rene offered and urged Roberta to seek free counselling at the rape crisis centre in the next few days and to continue it for as long as she felt she needed it.

The police were next. Roberta was adamant that she didn’t want Charlie collecting the rape evidence so Carrie performed that, too, in the presence of Rene and a female police officer, who bagged it as Carrie collected it. The officer also took photos of the facial injuries and the bruising on Roberta’s thighs.

Two hours later Carrie was emotionally exhausted but also strangely satisfied. Roberta’s reliance on her had made her feel as if she’d actually made a difference to someone’s life again. And she hadn’t had that feeling for a long time.

It was why she’d become a doctor in the first place. What she’d once thrived on. She hadn’t realised how much she’d missed it.

Until now.

Rene had left with Roberta accompanying her to the police station to make a formal statement and then to the hospital for X-rays. Charlie was in his office, dealing with all the paperwork. Carrie wandered down to the staffroom. It was after five and she really needed to get home but now the crisis was over she felt strangely depleted and she sat at the table for a moment to collect herself.

She stared at her laptop thinking she was never going to get this job finished. Not that she’d minded being with Roberta this afternoon but it had set her back even further. And she really, really needed to get it done because the longer she was around Charlie the more she began to question the direction of her life.

And she was very comfortable with that direction. Or at least she had been.

The door opened. ‘Well, that’s the paperwork done,’ Charlie said, walking straight to the table and sitting down. ‘Thanks so much for earlier, Carrie. You were wonderful,’

Carrie hardened her heart. Do not listen to his praise. You are on track to becoming Australia’s youngest MD. ‘Didn’t really have a whole lot of choice, did I?’

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