Page 7 of This Is Love
With an apologetic smile, she continues, “Dr. Murphy is on her way to come speak with you. She has results from the tests that were run earlier.” Her gaze flicks to Logan and Jaxon who haven’t moved, both frozen in place on either side of me. “We can ask your friends to leave the room while she discusses the findings, if you’re uncomfortable.”
My heart thuds heavily in my chest. “Findings?” I ask with a quiver in my voice that has my eyes crashing shut. “I’m sorry.” I hesitate, taking several breaths that do nothing to calm me. “I’m a little out of it.” My fingers mangle the sheet draped over my lower half as I meet her kind eyes. The sympathy emanating from her is making me nervous. “I don’t know what to expect.”
“I understand that. I’m going to be here with you.” Her eyes wander to Logan, then Jaxon, a momentary perplexed look in them as she studies the three of us. “Your friends can stay, if you prefer.” Her phone vibrates with a message, and she glances down. “I’ll be right back. One sec.” Shoving her phone back into the pocket of her scrubs, she exits, leaving the three of us alone again.
I wet my lips, dangerously close to hitting the panic button. “W-what’s going on? Please just tell me. Everyone’s walking on eggshells, and it’s making things worse.”
Logan clears his throat. “Rya, we don’t want to upset you, that’s all. There was a period of several minutes when we didn’t have eyes on you. We were involved in the game, too.” His eyes dart to Jaxon’s, and it’s almost as if he’s begging him to help but at the same time issuing a warning. And that’s really fucking confusing to me. My teeth scrape over my lip as I take in the pained expression on Jaxon’s handsome face.
“Pretty girl, the tests will probably tell us you were given some sort of drug.”
“You already said that.” I frown, a sick feeling creeping in. “What am I missing?”
He blows out a breath, rubbing a hand over his mouth before he drops it and looks me dead in the eye. “There’s a legitimate concern that you may have been assaulted.” He halts, watching the play of emotion crossing my face.
Logan winces. “It actually didn’t occur to me at first.” He grazes careful fingers over my head. “You were bleeding andunconscious. We figured you’d been given something. And there’s not much other reason for someone to do that to you, I guess.”
He’s not wrong. A convulsive swallow works its way down my throat, fear rising within me.
With an aggrieved look in his eye, Jaxon murmurs, “The doctor wants to make sure she knows what they’re dealing with so they can help you. I think that’s what she’s about to say.”
All the air is sucked right out of the room with his words. I can’t breathe. Doing an internal scan, I draw in a quaking breath. “I-I don’t know. Would I know if?—?”
A light series of taps on the door grabs our attention. The other nurse, Charlie, has returned, this time with a middle-aged brunette in a white coat. “Hello, Rya. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Dr. Murphy.” She crosses to the end of the bed, giving off this efficient, intelligent, matter-of-fact vibe that I’m glad for. “I’d like to share what the test results were, ask you a few questions, and give you some options.”
There’s something in her eyes that tells me none of this is anything I want to deal with.
4
RYA
My stomach clenches violently,but I manage to hold down the contents that clearly want to eject. I don’t want to hear what the doctor has to say and wish I could bury my head in the sand and never come up for air. Bringing a shaking hand to my lips, I wonder if she expects me to say something in response to her telling me they’ve gotten test results back or what.
Logan brushes a few strands of hair from my eyes. Before the nurse or doctor can bring it up again, he murmurs, “We can go if you want us to. But I’ll be right here if you need me.” I can see it in his eyes, though… he really doesn’t want to leave.
“I’m not going anywhere unless you tell me to,” Jaxon grits out. His tone is sharp, but when I groggily swing my head to face him, it’s plain how much he’s affected.
I glance from him to Logan and take a deep breath. “I’d like them to stay for now.”
Dr. Murphy eyes the exchange among the three of us, then nods. “If at any point that changes, please let us know.” She glances down at the tablet in her hand. “We’ve determined you have GHB in your system, are you familiar with that drug?”
Before I can formulate words, a whooshing noise fills my head, and I attempt to shake it off as reality crashes in on me. “No.”
“It’s one of several drugs we find commonly used in instances of date rape. In particular with GHB, the effects are felt rather quickly, and if someone isn’t tested within six to twelve hours of ingesting it, they might never know for sure whether or not it was the culprit.” She grimaces as she watches my reaction over her reading glasses before turning her attention to Logan and Jaxon. “It’s good you brought her directly here.”
I’m in a daze as the doctor goes over some symptoms I would have been feeling prior to the blackout, and I’m frustrated I can’t remember any of it.
“We’d like to perform a Sexual Assault Forensic Medical Exam.”
Those words have the effect of someone punching me in the stomach. Numb, I blink at her. “But I don’t feel weird… down there, I mean.” I squeeze my eyes shut. I recall the nurse asking if there’d been any recent consensual activity. Logan had been the one to tell the nurse it’s been nine days since we had sex.
“Rya?” At the doctor’s voice, I shift my gaze to hers.
“Yes? Sorry.”
She shakes her head. “No need to be. Do you want to have the exam done?”
Wide-eyed I look from Jaxon to Logan.
