Page 18 of Saving Tracey
I yanked my hand through my hair once again within the span of a minute, not even caring that I just smeared blood through my strands. "Tracey is about to go to the hospital.” Mom sucked in a harsh breath of air. “She passed out, and she has a head injury that's bleeding pretty badly.” I lifted my hand up, grimacing at the blood that was still on my hand, hating the thought that somebody could have done this to her. "I want to be there."
She sighed on the other end of the line. "Are her parents going to be notified?" I could understand her worry. Hell, I was just about freaking out.
"I don't think so. I can't be sure, but I tried my hardest to talk Mrs. Williams out of it, so hopefully not."
"Okay.” She drew in a deep breath. “I’ll call the school and let them know it's okay for you to sign yourself out. I'll meet you at the hospital in about fifteen minutes, okay?"
"Okay, Mom."
I hung up the phone and waited until the receptionist told me I was okay to sign out and leave. As I was walking out to the parking lot, an ambulance sped into the lot and parked in front of the school doors. They yanked a stretcher out of the back and ran inside. I blew out a breath and continued walking to my car, hoping that Tracey would be okay and that they could help her in time.
I tapped my foot against the tiled hospital floor, not able to concentrate on anything as I waited for some kind of news about Tracey. My mom was sitting beside me, typing away on her phone with urgency. I knew she was dealing with something at work, so it didn't bother me.
I leaned forward and ran my fingers through my hair, feeling extremely restless. I hated not knowing what was going on. Something had happened to her, and I was desperately wanting to know what.
I looked up as one of the doors snapped shut quietly. "Tracey Olive?"
My mom and I both stood to our feet and walked over to him. "I need to know you can be trusted before I allow you to see Miss Olive.” Mom sucked in a harsh breath of air, her eyes meeting mine, both of our worst fears confirmed.Someone had been hurting Tracey.“Therefore, you will need to speak to Officer Henry before I release any information."
My eyes snapped back to my mom’s. Sadness coated her eyes. I hated that this just confirmed my mother's suspicions about someone abusing her. I desperately hoped it wasn't her parents. Your parents were supposed to protect you, not use you as a personal punching bag.
We went into an empty hospital room, where an officer was waiting on us. My mom and I both took a seat across from him. He smiled at my mom. "How are you, Angelina?"
She smiled at him softly. "I'm doing a lot better. You know Kaleb and I aren't people to be suspicious of.” I vaguely recognized him as an officer who had helped Mom a lot during her case a few years ago when my biological dad was being arrested for domestic violence. “We're both desperate to know how she's doing."
He nodded, but he still didn't tell us anything we wanted to know, which just made me scowl. "I know you can be trusted, but I want to ask you some questions. Have either of you noticed any signs of abuse, such as Tracey flinching away from people or going out of her way for people to not touch her, perhaps?"
Nausea swirled in my gut. She always flinched when people came too close to her or unexpectedly moved, and she didn't liketo be touched. Fuck, she always wore concealing clothes, even when it was hot as balls outside!
I rubbed my hands over my face tiredly. "She flinches back from me all of the time, and she doesn't like to be touched. She also doesn't interact with anyone.” I swallowed hard. “I tried being her friend. She kept pushing me away. I thought she was just being stubborn, but I guess there was just really something going on with her." And I hated myself for not noticing all of the signs before today.
He looked at my mom. "What about you, Angelina?"
Mom sighed. "I've only met the girl once.” She sighed softly. “She doesn't engage in conversation, and she seems to have an unhealthy fear of her father." My throat seemed to close up at the thought of that burly, tattooed man that I had met at that dinner beating on her enough to make her bleed. "Our two families had a dinner together, and when Kaleb mentioned trying to be her friend or something along those lines, I had never seen someone look more terrified than she did the moment she looked at her father."
Officer Henry nodded, writing some stuff down onto his notepad. "I'll tell Dr. Pine it's okay for you two to see her." I blew out a breath of relief.
He stood up, and after shaking Mom’s hand and mine, we followed him out of the room. Dr. Pine was waiting at the nurse's station for us. Officer Henry nodded at him. "It's okay for them to see her."
Without a word, Dr. Pine walked down a hallway and opened a door to one of the rooms. I walked into the room first.
I wasn’t prepared for the sight in front of me.
A choked sob left my mom's lips as soon as her eyes landed on Tracey. She rushed over to her bedside, her hand fluttering over her, tears streaming down her cheeks as she struggled to place her hands somewhere where Tracey wasn’t hurt.
Tracey was covered in bruises. Her hands, wrists, arms, neck—every part of her body that was exposed—were covered in them. They weren’t light-colored, healing bruises either. These were dark and ugly looking—fresh ones.
I walked over to rub my mom's back, trying to comfort her. "Kaleb, somebody brutally beat her. I never looked like this! She had it so much worse than I imagined. I feel so guilty for even letting her go home with them that night." Tears spilled down her red cheeks.
"Tracey didn't want anyone knowing.” And that was the truth. She hid it so well. No one ever suspected a thing, which was exactly what she wanted. She wanted to be invisible. "Tracey was afraid of anyone knowing."
A knock sounded on the door, and my mom and I turned to see a woman dressed in a dark-colored suit with a red blouse step into the room, her high heels clicking against the floor. She held her hand out to my mom. "I'm Mrs. Freeman with the Department of Family and Children Services." My mom slowly shook her hand, knowing all too well from experience what Mrs. Freeman was here for. "Due to the evidence I have found in Miss Olive's home, specifically in her bedroom, I am removing her from the home, and her parents will—without a doubt—go to prison. I have not discovered any relatives yet, so I was hoping that you would kindly take her in."
My mom nodded her head frantically. "Yes, of course, I will!" I looked at her in shock. Tears spilled down my mom’s cheeks again, and she desperately swiped them away. "I'm sorry. It's just so sad what has happened to her."
"It is very sad.” It was clear that she was extremely disturbed by Tracey’s case. “This is one of the worst cases I've ever dealt with in all of my years in this career. I need to speak with you about the extent of her injuries, and the doctor will also bejoining us." She looked over at me. "If you'd like, you may leave the room."
I shook my head, walking over beside Tracey's bed. She suddenly jerked awake, her eyes snapping open. She looked around frantically, her eyes glazing over as she began to panic. "What . . ." Her chest rapidly rose and fell, beginning to hyperventilate.
