Page 8 of Jack

He doesn’t release me. His nails claw deeper into my skin. I jerk again and manage to pull free. My arm’s bleeding. I know it is. I don’t have time to treat it before work. I really have to get out of here. I run down the hall to the stairs and don’t bother with the elevator. Like a crazy woman, I fly down the three flights to the parking garage. My car sits as a beacon of safety, even if it’s for a few minutes. Thankfully, Joel doesn’t come after me, and I make it to work with ten minutes to spare.

“Hold on there, Miss Harman.” Doctor Thomas stops me on the way to the nurses’ lounge. “You can’t work in that condition.”

He leads me to one of the Emergency Rooms at the end of the hall next to the stairs. It’s the smallest room in the ER. We rarely use it.

“Sit there.” He points to the bed. “I’ll get someone to help us.”

“It’s okay.” I’m protesting to a closed door.

Wow. That’s the fastest I’ve seen him move. He just left me here. It’s a good thing I’m a nurse. I can treat myself and bandage my arm before another nurse sees me like this.

Lifting my shirt sleeve, I see the deep scratch marks Joel’s fingernails left behind. The bleeding has stopped. That’s good. I wet some paper towels and begin cleaning the wound. There’s no mirror in here, so I don’t know how my face looks. Bad, I’m sure, from the pain. I’ll have to slip into the women’s bathroom and apply more makeup. Some ibuprofen will help the pain. I have a full bottle in my purse. The last thing I need is a prescription and a record of this.

The door flies open before I can properly bandage my arm. Oh no. Nina rushes in ahead of Doctor Thomas.

“Oh my,” Nina gasps as her hand flies to her chest.

“I trust you to handle this,” Doctor Thomas says.

“Yes, Doctor. I have this under control.” Nina gives him a firm nod. He hands her a file and leaves.

“Nina.” I try to turn away, too embarrassed for her to see me like this.

“No, ma’am.” She opens a cabinet and pulls out a Polaroid camera. “I need to see that arm and your face.”

“No, Nina. You can’t report this. He’ll kill me, “ I cry.

She steps in front of me, forcing me to look her in the eye. There’s no judgment in her eyes. She cares. She’s the only friend I have left in the world.

“I’m not calling the cops, but I’m helping because if I don’t, hewillkill you. Now, show me the arm, Lily.”

“What? You’re not reporting it?”

She shakes her head. “Trust me, please.”

Why I do it, I don’t know. I hold my arm out, and she snaps a couple of pictures. Next, she gets three of my face. She slides the pictures and the file Doctor Thomas gave her into a manilaenvelope and seals it. What in the world is going on? Without a word, she treats and bandages my arm as fast as she can.

“Where’s your phone?

I take it from my pocket. She snatches it up and tosses it into a cabinet.

“Nina?”

“Shh. No talking. You listen.” She opens one of the bottom cabinets and pulls out a black bag. It looks like a book bag or a small backpack.

“What are you doing?” Naturally, I don’t stay quiet.

“We’re getting you out of here before he hurts you again,” she replies calmly like this is an everyday thing.

“We?”

“Yes. We.” Nina doesn’t explain further. She opens the bag and shoves the envelope in before offering it to me. “Here.”

“What is that?” I cross my arms. “I’m not taking it until you explain.”

“We don’t have time for me to explain everything.” She peeps out the door. “Take the bag and follow me. We can talk while we walk.”

Reluctantly, I take the black bag and walk with her to the door leading to the lower-level parking garage. Doctors use this level. None of this makes sense, and she doesn’t talk while we walk.

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