Page 17 of In My Blood
“That’s why she was so scared to be touched,” Dario told me, and I agreed. It made complete sense. If she had been there at the time of the attack, then she had witnessed what happened to our mother too. I couldn’t even fathom what she had been through.
“Please just tell me what I can do to help her,” I almost pleaded as I looked to the doctor again.
“On the whole she’s medically fine. I’ll leave some painkillers for the bruises, and that shoulder. I’ll also give you some antibiotics. Obviously, we don’t know for sure what happened, but the blood on her thighs indicates some tearing, and that could lead to infection. Ideally she needs to be seen by a gynaecologist for a full exam, but that has to be up to Cara.”
“She’s scared of me. I don’t want to upset her,” I told him, and he looked sympathetic as he gently patted my arm.
“She’s scared of everyone right now, Rafe. She’s been through hell by all accounts. You just need to be patient and careful with her. Maintain distance if that’s what she needs, but show her that you’re here for her too. I believe she’s really going to need someone to lean on in the coming weeks. You need to find a way to earn her trust so she feels she can come to you when she needs you.”
“She has a sister too, and a big family. We’ll all rally around her,” Dario spoke up, and I nodded my agreement. I appreciated his reminder that I wouldn’t be facing all that was to come alone.
“Good,” the doctor nodded. “I’ll just arrange the meds I mentioned. I’d liked to keep her hooked up to fluids for the next twenty four hours. She’s extremely dehydrated, and I’d guess she’s underweight too. Do either of you know how to switch out the saline bags?”
“I can handle it,” Dario agreed.
“Excellent. I’ll leave enough to last you for twenty-four hours. I’ll also leave my number. If you have any problems you can call meanytime and I’ll come back. Kyle mentioned you plan to fly back to the UK tomorrow?”
“That’s right. I want to get her home where I can keep her safe,” I spoke up.
“That should be fine. Just make sure she drinks plenty when she wakes, and try to get her to eat too. Small amounts as often as possible will probably work better initially, but let her guide you. I assume you’ll see that she is under the care of a doctor, and possibly a psychiatrist when you get to the UK?”
“I’ll make sure of it,” I agreed easily.
“If she wants to see the gynaecologist, and have the sexual assault exam done, contact me and I’ll arrange everything. Evidence can be gathered and stored safely, in case Cara ever decides she wants to report what happened to her to the police.”
“I’ll talk to her,” I nodded, but going to the police wasn’t much of an option considering who we were and what had happened in that apartment when Cara was attacked. It was unfair of me to have to tell her that but I could also assure her that justice would be done, and in a much more fitting way too. The bastard, or bastards that had touched my sister and left her there with our mother’s mutilated remains, would pay dearly for their crimes when I got a hold of them. Of that I was sure.
Dario followed the doctor into the bedroom again, and they were talking about changing the I.V. bags and how to remove the needle when Cara was awake and with it enough to drink enough water. I just remained where I was, staring at my sister as she lay in that bed, so pale, and beaten down. She had been through hell, and I likely didn’t know the half of it. I had to get her home, where she would be protected at all times. I had to get her tothe rest of our family where she would be loved and cared for enough that she could start to find a way to heal.
Unfortunately, I felt it may be too late to ever make that happen though, after everything I had allowed to happen to her , with every minute I failed to find her when she needed me.
Dario showed the doctor and his brother – Kyle – out of the hotel suite at some point. I wasn’t paying much attention by then. I had pulled a chair from the corner of the room up to the side of the bed Cara lay in and I was seated in it, just watching her sleep.
Eleven years had passed since I put her on that fucking flight and sent her away, like the naïve fool I was back then. In that time she had changed, become a woman. She was taller, though not by much. Her sweet, rounded face was thin now, and her colouring was completely pale – a stark contrast to the tanned little girl who was always blushing, that I remembered. But as she lay sleeping I saw her – the same eyes, and her slightly pouted lips. She still moved her lips as though she was talking, but without any sound, every now and then, as she slept. She was beautiful, as she always had been, but so much more delicate and fragile looking than anyone I had ever known. I had no idea what she would need from me to be whole once again, but whatever it was, I would see that she got it, and so much more. I would take care of her this time and I would never lose her again.
CHAPTER 6
CARA
I woke with a start, knowing instantly I had no memory of falling asleep. I sat up and looked around me, fists clenched and body poised to flee or fight, whatever was called for. It was the way I always awoke on the very rare occasion that I actually allowed myself to sleep deeply.
I had learned early on in life alone with my Mum, that I always needed to be aware of my surroundings and ready for anything - whether we were living with one of her creepy, and usually criminal boyfriends, whether we were on the streets, or, more recently, even when I slept in the safety of the apartment I paid for, because my Mum would lash out at any time if she got agitated, and the middle of the night had seemed to be her witching hours.
Right then my panic only grew when I realised I was in none of those places, and that I, in fact, had zero clue where I actually was.
“Cara?” I snapped my head to the sound of a strange voice and gasped when I saw Rafe sat forwards in a chair beside the bed, leaning towards me.
Everything rushed back then. Finding my Mum in our home, all of the blood, and her just staring at me with those empty, dead eyes, demanding to know why I didn’t believe her warnings. I remembered my melt down as I sat frozen amongst the pieces of my mother. There had been a guy I didn’t know, then Rafe and Dio? Was all of that even real? It felt like some kind of insane, terrifying nightmare.
A clear bag hanging from one of the tall bed posts caught my attention and I followed the tube from it and right to a needle in my arm. I pressed my hand over it, needing to check what I was seeing was real.
“Leave that, sweetheart,” Rafe told me as he placed his hand gently over mine. I ripped my hand free, not ready to be touched.
“W-what is it?” I demanded as I pulled my legs towards me and shuffled across the bed a little, further away from him. My body protested the movement, every part of me feeling achy and sore.
“It’s just fluids. We had a doctor check you over last night, and he said you were very dehydrated.”
“Where are we? Why d-did you bring me here?” I felt like a cornered animal. I was trapped in the bed by the needle in my arm, and Rafe was so much bigger than me. Did he have more men outside the door? If I tried to run would I have any chance of getting away? I felt like I already knew the answers to those questions, and that was even more anxiety inducing.
