As I stood there, I felt like a prize fool. Somehow, I felt deep down that this was Sasha’s doing. My worry began to turn to anger, yet I couldn’t express any of that anger. Not at this moment, at least.
Jill gently kept wiping. I went back into the kitchen to get a pot of warm water and brought it out to Jill. She made a mouth gesture of a kiss, dipping a corner of the towel into the warm water. That’s when I noticed that the tee shirt she was wearing had what looked like a blood stain at the shoulder. Even though her tee shirt was maroon in color, to me at least, it looked like blood. I reached towards the shoulder and pointed the stain out to Jill without saying a word. Jill’s eyes got big.
“Tina, you’re safe here. No one will hurt you…. ever again.” Jill said in her most comforting tone possible.
I walked around Jill to the other side of Tina. I sat down on the couch, which caused Tina to shift and wince in pain. With the softest touch, I began to feel her broken body to try and discover the extent of her injuries.
I touched her left forearm. It showed signs of bruises. One on the underside of her wrist looked like a large thumb print bruise. I checked her bicep. It showed signs of redness. ‘Rope burn’ I thought to myself. I gently touched her shoulder and felt. It didn’t seem like anything was broken, at least not in that specific spot.
Jill motioned for us to switch sides of Tina, so she could begin wiping Tina’s left side.
“Tina, who did this to you?” I asked even though I knew the answer.
Silence, except for more tears and more sobbing.
My heart was in my throat. Jill was now tearing up also.
“Jill, I think I should call 911 to get her medical help.”
Tina’s eyes got big. She begged, “NO, PLEASE DON’T”.
Jill said she knew whom to call for help. She asked me to get her cell phone. I had not sat down on the couch for fear of hurting Tina again. Since I was already standing, I hustled to Jill’s bedroom and grabbed her phone. I quickly returned to the living room and handed the phone to Jill.
Jill made a call to someone, “Hey, yeah, this is Jill. I need you right now. No questions, right now……ok, see you in a couple of minutes. Thanks.” With that, Jill hung up the phone and went back to tending to Tina.
I asked the unanswered question again, “Tina, who did this to you?”
I was so sure she would say Sasha. I felt the anger building inside of me.
“The Do-Wops” she said meekly.
“Huh?” Jill and I said in unison.
“The five Italian guys”
Jill got the joke, well, it wasn’t really a joke, but she understood the reference.
Jill, put her index finger to her lips with a gentle ‘shhhh’ sound. Tina lowered her head and began crying again.
I was still confused. ‘Was it, Sasha or not?’
Jill made a shake of her head, telling me not to say anything more.
Again, there was a knock on the door. Jill just pointed to the door. I went to the door, unlocked it, and opened it to see a beautiful woman standing there with a black doctor’s bag.
“Hello, I’m Ronda. Is Jill here?”
I looked over to Jill, who had Tina resting her head on Jill’s robe covered shoulder.
I stepped aside and invited Ronda into the house. Ronda went over to Jill and Tina. She politely introduced herself and explained that she was going to check Tina for injuries.
“Doc, do you need me to help or should I wait in the kitchen to give you privacy?” I asked.
Tina piped up again, “Don’t leave. I need you here.”
“I won’t. I’ll be right here. Please let the doctor examine you.” I said.
All three of us waited for an answer.
“alright” Tina said in almost a whisper.
I touched her right hand. I knelt on one knee right next to her. Jill got up and moved out of the way, allowing Dr. Ronda to begin her examination of a broken Tina.
The doctor started with a physical touching and asking Tina to say when she touches something that hurts, even if it hurts just a little bit.
Jill went over to a small end table that had a single drawer on it. She pulled out a pen and a small yellow tablet.
Apparently, Jill knew what the doctor needed to have done. Someone to list all the hurt parts of Tina’s body, the doctor took nearly an hour touching, poking, prodding, and moving various body parts Jill filled up an entire page with the locations of pain on Tina’s body.
“Tina, could you please lift your arms over your head, so I can remove your tee shirt?” the doctor asked.
“I don’t think I can. My right shoulder hurts too much.” Tina replied.
I pointed to what I thought was a blood stain at the top of her right shoulder. The doctor looked at me and asked if we had scissors, so she could cut the tee shirt off her. Jill set the pen and paper down to go get scissors. She returned a few seconds later handing them to the doctor.
Dr. Ronda gently told Tina to remain as still as she could. She began cutting the shirt off her. Once the shirt was off and discarded, we all saw Tina’s injury. Her collarbone was broken and a small tip of it was protruding through the skin. The blood had coagulated. The doctor went to touch it and Tina flinched so hard that she shrieked in pain. The doctor reached into her black bag and pulled out a syringe and an alcohol wipe. She wiped a spot on the arm with the collarbone injury and gave Tina the shot. It only took a few seconds for Tina to pass out. I caught her and gently as I could I laid her down on the couch. Jill lifted her legs, so they would be on the couch also. Jill gently removed her slip-on shoes. I got up and went to the closet to get a blanket for Tina. I unfolded it and placed it on a now sleeping Tina.
The doctor directed Jill and I to go to the kitchen to talk.
CHAPTER 3
The three of us went to the kitchen to discuss Tina.
Dr. Ronda spoke first, “She’s in dire need of serious medical help. She has multiple contusions, a broken bone-maybe two, lots of bruising. I’m sure that she has been raped but I didn’t check for that. She needed to sleep. Do either of you know what happened?”
I looked at the doctor then to Jill. I spoke up saying, “We don’t exactly know. We only have suspicions of who and how Tina got this way.”
Jill chimed in, “We suspect it was our former boss and the ‘goon’ squad.”
“Well then Jill, tell me who the guy is, and I’ll get the authorities involved. She’s been brutally molested and clearly needs more medical care than I can give her here.” The doctor plied back.
“While she is out, maybe we should call an ambulance and get her to the hospital?” I asked.
“If you do, you run the risk of Tina feeling alienated and betrayed.” Dr. Ronda said.
The doctor went on to say that we should call the Police, the Sheriff, or a law enforcement group to have her photographed and checked for sexual assault. They will then put her under their protective care until she regains consciousness and can make her own decisions.
“Jill, we’ve served in Croatia together. We’re Marines, no one left behind…remember that? Who did this to her? What’s his name?” The doctor retorted.
This time I spoke, “Doc. It’s not a HE.”
“Well, SHE had her band of goons do the actual dirty work. Her name is Sasha. She was David’s boss and I guess mine still as I haven’t been fired yet, but I’m sure that is coming.” Jill explained.