3

The last time I had brought a badly injured woman to this hospital, I had had Laura Hathaway with me. Laura—rich, white, connected—had managed to get the doctors to act quicker and more efficiently than I ever could have.

But, then, that woman had had an illegal abortion, which, in the doctor’s eyes, made her a criminal.

Lacey had been raped.

I hoped that the fact—and her age—would make this easier.

But I still needed Jimmy and Keith with me, so no one thought I was the one who had hurt her.

Unlike the last time, I knew the way to this emergency room. I drove as quickly as I could, taking main roads only because I knew that they’d be plowed. I had to leave the care of Lacey to the boys, but I also had to let them know what we were going to do.

“When we get there,” I said, “I’m going to go with Lacey. The hospital won’t let you boys come into the exam rooms.”

“Smoke,” Jimmy said. “I ain’t gonna leave—”

“It’s hospital policy, Jim.” I turned the van onto the road closest to the emergency entrance. The road’s surface had been plowed bare. I sped up. “It’s better not to argue about that, and to get Lacey treatment as fast as we can.”

“I’m okay, Uncle Bill,” Lacey said. Her voice was wavery and tired. She was definitely not okay. “Just take me home.”

“I’m not doing that,” I said. “Then don’t tell my dad.”

“Dad’s got to know!” Keith still sounded too agitated for my tastes.

“No, please,” Lacey said. “Please.”

“I’ll deal with your dad,” I said to Lacey. I turned onto the narrow access road, heading quickly past the small Emergency sign with its red arrow. “In fact, Jim, when we get there, you need to call both Althea and Franklin. Get them here as fast as you can.”

“And the cops,” Keith said.

He wasn’t going to let that go.

“I’ll make sure we catch this bastard,” I said.

“Uncle Bill.” Lacey sounded tired. I wondered how much blood she was losing. “Take me home. You can tell Mom.”

“We’re here now,” I said, and parked the van right next to the emergency entrance.

I got out, pocketed my keys, and heard them clank against the gun. There was nothing I could do about that at the moment.

Jimmy got out as well, and held the door open. Lacey had her head down, and she was shivering. Jimmy had wrapped his coat around her shoulders, and Keith had put his across her legs.

I reached in. She cringed away from me, and I hoped that was because I wasn’t doing what she wanted rather than because she was afraid to be touched.

“No,” she said, her voice trembling.

I ignored her. I put one foot inside the van to brace myself, then slid my arms under her and pulled her against me. Her shivering increased, and she closed her eyes. A tear slipped down one cheek, and mixed with blood I hadn’t realized she had on her face. In fact, blood coated her carefully ironed hair, and the corner of her mouth was swelling.

The bastard had hit her, more than once.

The anger I’d been keeping in check rose, and I bit it back.

I eased her out of the van, making soothing noises as I did.

“Uncle Bill,” she said, but I didn’t know if she was telling me not to carry her inside, if she was relieved I had her, or if she even knew she had spoken.

I spun and walked down the well-shoveled sidewalk to the main doors marked EMERGENCY ENTRANCE ONLY in solemn red. The doors had been automated since my last visit, and they opened for me. But unlike my last visit, no one greeted us.

“Need help here,” I said, and a white attendant in blue scrubs peeked out of one of the nearby treatment rooms.

Then he disappeared, and I felt that anger I had bottled up rise to the surface. I was about to yell again when the attendant wheeled out a cot.

I hurried toward him, and put Lacey on it. Then I raised the bars on one side, in case she wanted to climb off. The attendant did the same on his side.

“What have we got?” he asked me.

“She was badly beaten,” I said, “and, I think, raped. I don’t know for certain. My son called me for help—”

“You boys?” the attendant asked Jimmy and Keith.

“Me,” Jimmy said, coming up to my side, “and yeah, he was on her when I got there.”

“Jim saved me,” Lacey said again, ever so faintly.

The attendant looked down at her. Her skin had turned gray and her eyes were closed.

“I think she’s losing a lot of blood,” I said.

He nodded, then started moving the cot. Jimmy grabbed the back and after a second, so did Keith. We all pushed it toward one of the treatment rooms.

“I’m sorry, boys,” he said, “I’m afraid you can’t go any further. And you, sir, are you her father?”

“Her uncle,” I lied.

“Then you can come with us if you want, but you might not want to see—”

“I’ll come,” I said as we pushed the cot inside the small treatment room. I was glad for it, rather than having her go to

one of the more public treatment areas.

The boys didn’t leave. I looked at both of them. “Please, make those calls.”

“No,” Lacey whispered, but I was going to pretend she wasn’t responding to my orders to contact her dad.

“And Jim,” I added, “when you’ve reached them, call Marvella. I need her.”

Marvella Walker was my neighbor. She worked with rape victims and helped some women get safe abortions. She knew how to help women in ways that I couldn’t even fathom.

“Not Laura?” Jim asked.

“Not yet,” I said. I hoped not ever. I would call Laura if I ran into problems here at the hospital. Laura’s connections would ensure that Lacey got the proper treatment, but at the

moment, it looked like I could handle this. “If we need her, I’ll call her.”

“Okay,” Jim said.

Two nurses had already found us. I realized the attendant had left, maybe to get more help. One nurse was examining Lacey’s head to see where the wound was.

“That blood on her head,” Jimmy said, “it’s the guy’s blood. I hit him really hard.”

We all looked at Jimmy. He was coming into his growth, but he was still well under five feet tall. I hadn’t really thought this through: Someone as small as Jimmy had fended off a fully grown man?

“You can’t stay,” the nurse said to him, and I nearly yelled at her. I stopped myself just in time. I wanted to say that we needed him, that he knew things we didn’t, and then I thought of Lacey. She probably didn’t even want me here, let alone her cousin and her brother.

“I’m goin’,” Jimmy said.

“We don’t got money for the phone,” Keith said to me, peeking his head in. I reached into my pocket as Jimmy grabbed his arm.

“I got enough,” Jimmy said, pulling him away. “There’s a waiting room, right?”

“I’ll find you,” I said, and then I turned my attention to Lacey.

She was pushing the nurses away. I took her right hand. “I’m right here, Lace,” I said.

“Uncle Bill,” she said, but she didn’t open her eyes.

“She’s bleeding badly,” I said to the nurse across from me. She was thirtyish, with set features and sad eyes. “We’ll need to do something pretty quickly.”

“The boy said the blood wasn’t hers.”

“On her head,” I said, trying not to panic. “Look at her boots.”

They were smeared. The blood on them was almost black. Some of the blood on her legs was drying, though, and I hoped that was a good sign.

“How old is she?” the other nurse asked. She reached for Lacey’s skirt. Lacey hunched up.

“It’s okay, honey,” the nurse said. “You want to move your skirt for me?”

She sounded very tender. Lacey took the edges of her skirt in her bruised hands and pulled it up just a little. Her underwear was gone. I looked away.

“That’s good,” the nurse said. “How old are you, honey?”

Lacey shook her head and buried her face in the pillow.

The first nurse took that opportunity to investigate the back of her head. It had left bloodstains on the pillowcase.

“She’s thirteen and a half,” I said. “Her birthday’s in June.”

I didn’t know why I added the half. Maybe I wanted her to be older. Maybe I wanted her better able to cope with what was ahead of her. Whatever the reason, I was surprised at the nurse’s shock.

“Thirteen?” She put her hand on Lacey’s forehead. “Poor baby.”

Poor baby, indeed.

“Where was she attacked?” she asked.

“In a building near her school,” I said, hoping that would be enough. “I guess the boys saw the man take her aside and—”

“Jim saved me,” Lacey said. She moved away from the pillow, away from the gentle hands investigating her wounds. Her eyes were open, and a bit wild. “Is he still here?”

“He went to call your parents, honey,” the nurse said softly. “No,” Lacey said.

The other nurse had left, and I hadn’t even noticed. That told me just how shaken up I was.

She returned now, with a white doctor in tow. Fortunately, it wasn’t the doctor I had encountered almost a year ago. This man was younger, with black hair just kissing his collar.

“This your daughter?” he asked me. “Niece,” I said.

“You probably don’t want to be here for this. Can you just wait outside the door?”

“Uncle Bill.” Lacey grabbed my hand. Her grip was tight. “Don’t leave me with him, Uncle Bill.”

Tears streamed from her eyes. She didn’t want to be alone with a strange man, even one who might help her.

It had already begun.

“I’ll stay, if you don’t mind,” I said to the doctor. “I’ll look away.”

“I have paperwork for you to fill out,” the nurse said. “Just outside.”

I shook my head. “Lacey needs me here.”

Besides, I didn’t think she would let go of my hand.

The doctor reached for her skirt. Lacey’s entire body convulsed. She kicked him, and kept kicking him, silently, without screaming, her lips pressed together.

The doctor backed away, his white smock smeared with dark blood from her high-heeled boots.

“He’s helping you,” I said, pulling her toward me. I reached for her legs, but she pushed my arm away with her free hand.

“We can’t do this like this,” the doctor said to the nurses. “She’s not going to calm down, and I need to examine her, stat.”

Lacey had stopped kicking, but she had moved closer to me, her body on alert. She had pulled the sheet over herself, and she was glaring at the doctor. “Don’t let him hurt me,

Uncle Bill.”

“I won’t,” I said. I looked at the doctor, feeling helpless. “We’re putting her under.” He kept his distance, his expression calm. He didn’t seem upset by her reaction at all. “Then I can examine her. Do you know her blood type?”

“No,” I said, my heart clenching.

He came closer again, this time to look at her face. Her cheek was swelling, too. He reached for it, and she thrashed. She let go of my hand and turned toward him, hitting and kicking, breathing through her mouth.

The doctor didn’t touch her. He’d clearly seen this before.

I reached over, and grabbed her hands. She was surprisingly strong. She kept kicking and fighting, red blood— fresh blood—dotting the white sheets on the cot.

“Lacey, honey, it’s Uncle Bill. You’re okay. You’re okay.”

She turned toward me. “Uncle Bill? Don’t let him hurt me, Uncle Bill.”

But I had. I had. If I had listened to Jimmy— “I won’t,” I said. “We’re going to help you.”

She started shaking violently, but she stopped kicking. “I’m staying with her,” I said to the doctor.

He nodded grimly. “Yes,” he said. “You are.”