“That her?” Doc asked as he approached. Tall and thin, Doc looked like a kindly grandfather, which was probably just what the woman needed.
“That’s her,” Arsen said, rising to his feet to shake Doc’s hand. Doc looked frail, and Arsen knew from experience his touch was gentle, but he still had the grip of a vibrant man.
“My, young lady, aren’t you a mess? Can you tell me what happened to you?” Doc asked, crouching down in front of her. When she didn’t answer, he looked up to Arsen.
“I found her walking along the side of the interstate outside of Dateland. The freshest scrapes are from today, when she jumped off a moving motorcycle. I patched her up as best I could.”
“Now why would you go and do a silly thing like that?” Doc asked with a smile as he lifted the edges of the bandages to examine her hands, knees and arms. “Just some surfaces abrasions. Nothing too deep. Probably won’t even scar, but I bet they hurt like hell.”
She flinched away when Doc tried to touch her face. “Let him look at you,” Arsen said softly. “He’s the doctor. He’s here to help you. You can trust him.”
Doc waited a moment, then reached slowly for her face. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He carefully probed her face and looked into the swollen eye. “I think she’ll be okay,” he said, still gently prodding. “There doesn’t appear to be anything broken.” He moved lower, looking at her bruised and battered legs. “Some of these bruises are weeks old, maybe as much as a month. Whoever did this, it has been going on for a long time. She hasn’t said what happened?”
“Doc, she hasn’t said even one word since we picked her up.”
He rose with a grunt. “I need to use one of your guest rooms. I should do a pelvic exam. I would bet my stethoscope she’s been raped.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me? Toni! Doc wants to check her over. Can you help him?” Arsen looked at her. “I want you to go with Toni and Doc. He wants to finish checking you out. Nobody is going to hurt you. Can you do that for me?”
She rose to her feet and he smiled in approval. “You’re doing great. Go with Toni.” She held his arm. “Okay, okay. Come on, let’s go.” He led her back to the room where she showered.
“Have her sit on the edge of the bed, then wait outside.”
He steered her to the bed. “I’ll be right outside the door. I’ll even leave it open so you can see me.”
She slowly released his arm and Arsen reassuringly patted her hand before he stepped into the door and turned his back.
“Help me get her shirt off,” Doc ordered. “Breath deep for me,” he said as he touched along her ribs. She didn’t, but it didn’t surprise him. She didn’t react to him pressing on her ribs, so she was probably okay, but he listened to her breathing just to be sure.
“Sweetheart, I need you take off your pants.” She didn’t move so he nodded to Toni. “Help me.” They pulled her up to her feet. He reached for the button, but she shrank back. “Okay. Toni, get her pants off.”
“It’s okay,” Toni said softly. The moment her pants loosened, the woman shoved Toni hard away, riding her down to the floor.
Arsen heard the thump and commotion, and turned to see their guest on top of Toni, her hands around her throat, her eyes wild as she snarled silently. Doc was moving to intervene but Arsen shoved him roughly aside and hauled the woman off of Toni. She whirled on him, going for his face with her nails, but he caught her wrists before she could inflict serious damage and forced her hands down.
“Stop!” he roared as he twisted her around so he could hold her. “Nobody is going to hurt you! Just stop!” She struggled fiercely a moment longer then sagged in his arms. “Toni, you okay?” he asked.
“She’s fucking crazy!” Toni rasped as she got to her feet and coughed as she held her neck.
“Doc?”
“I’m fine.”
The rest of the club was arriving, staring into the room. “Everyone, clear out! All but you, Doc. He spun her back around so she was facing him. “You listen to me,” he snapped. “You’ve got to stop this shit, do you understand me? Nobody here is going to hurt you. You’re safe here. Now Doc is going to examine you, and you’re going to let him, understand? I’ll stay right here with you, if you want, but this is going to happen, or you can leave. It’s your choice, so what’s it going to be?”
She slowly relaxed, her eyes unfocused and looking away from him.
“What do you want her to do?” Arsen asked.
“Have her take her pants off and lay back on the bed.”
He gradually released her hands. “Do it.” She whimpered. “Do it,” he ordered again, his tone brooking no argument. “If he tried to force you, I’d kill him myself. You can trust him.” She stared at him a moment, then as tears ran down her cheeks, she slowly slid out of her shorts and panties, then lay back on the bed.
“Make it fast, Doc,” he said then turned his attention to her. “Relax,” he murmured as she took his hand and squeezed it tight. “He’s not going to hurt you and he’s not going to do anything to you. He just wants to make sure you’re okay.”
Doc snapped on a pair of sterile gloves and quickly, but gently, inspected her vagina and anus. “Tearing,” he said, almost to himself. He clucked his tongue as he inspected something up close. She tensed, but she didn’t lash out. Finally, he looked up at Arsen. “Raped. Multiple times, I think. Vaginally, anally. Whoever this piece of shit was, they weren’t gentle with her.” He stood and stepped back, pulling off his gloves. “You can get dressed now.”
She sat up and pulled her panties, pants, and shirt on, then sat on the bed, her knees tucked into her chest with her arms wrapped around them as she rocked.
“The good news, if there is any, is the tears are small and she’ll heal. Physically. What’s going on inside her head isn’t something I can give her a shot for. She may need professional help.” He turned to his bag and pulled out a prescription pad and scribbled on it a moment. “This is a broad spectrum antibiotic and a pain killer. Get those filled right away and start her on them. I didn’t come prepared to draw blood, so get her into the office tomorrow so we can check her for STDs and pregnancy.”
“We’ll be there first thing when you open, and I’ll have this filled right away. I’m sorry for the commotion.”
He smiled and nodded at the woman, still sitting on the bed with her knees up and rocking gently. “She’s a fighter. That’s a good thing.”
“Speaking of fighter, can you take a look a Berk’s hand while you’re here?”
“What happened to him?”
“She tried to bite his hand off.”
Doc laughed gently. “Damn, girl. You don’t care how big they are, do you? Yeah, I can do that.”
“Thanks, Doc.”
After Doc left, Arsen sat down on the bed beside her. “Can you tell me your name? I’m tired of calling you, ‘Hey you.’” When she didn’t respond, he continued. “I know it’s hard, but I want you to try to trust us. These are all good people here. Nobody is going to hurt you or try to make you do anything you don’t want to do.” He waited a moment, but she continued to rock. He put his arm around her and pulled her into a gentle hug. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll get you fixed up.” After a moment, her arms went around him and they sat on the bed for a long time.
After a while, he slowly worked his way out of her embrace. “Let’s go see what Doc has to say about Berk.”
When they entered the main room of the clubhouse Berk was sitting in a chair, Doc on the ottoman, patiently sewing up his hand. Toni was sitting beside Berk, in another chair, nursing a beer.
“You two okay?”
“Yeah,” Toni rasped.
“Berk?”
“I’ll be fine. Doc told me what she’s been through.” His gaze fell on her. “I guess I can understand why you bit me. Next time, just tell me to get my hands off you, okay?” he said with a lopsided grin, making the rest of the Blades chuckle.
Toni coughed once, her face twisting in discomfort. “Same here.”
“You appear to be the only one she trusts,” Michelle pointed out.
“Is it the face? Tell me it’s the face,” he said, gesturing to his face with a grin. He wasn’t sure, but he thought a smile flickered around her mouth.
“There you go,” Doc said, kicking the ottoman back, dropped his needle into his sharps container, and peeled off his gloves. “Twenty stitches.” He rummaged in his bag for a moment, then pulled out his prescription pad again. “Get this filled as well,” he said as he ripped the sheet from the pad and handed it to Berk.
“What’s this?”
“Antibiotics. Same thing I prescribed for her.”
Berk nodded.
“Thanks again, Doc.” Arsen said. “Send me the bill.”
Doc rose and shook Arsen’s hand. “I will. And you, miss,” he said with grandfatherly sternness, “need to stop biting.”
“And choking,” Toni rasped before taking another pull on her beer.
“And choking,” Doc agreed.