Daylight

* ~ twelve ~ *

'Braced myself for the goodbye,
'cause that's all I've ever known,
when you took me by surprise,
you said 'I'll never leave you alone''

As Karlie drives closer to the hospital, she makes an effort to contact the hospital's front desk about Taylor, and she was luckily able to get an emergency appointment in for Taylor, where they could enter through a side entrance that would avoid Taylor being seen by other patients or doctors, or anyone who might spread the word about her being there. Karlie explained everything to a semi-conscious Taylor, who could hardly manage to do anything but stare straight ahead, her eyes wide with fear, and squeeze Karlie's hand occasionally to let her know that she could hear what her girlfriend was saying. The whole situation broke Karlie's heart. Never had she expected to see her girlfriend end up like that, looking and feeling so broken because the wrong man got his disgusting hands on her at the wrong time. As soon as Karlie found out about what happened, and she started to put two and two together, she figured she's going to have to be available to act as a support system for Taylor for a long time. This isn't something that the blonde will be able to move on from and go about her daily life so easily.

"Tay?" Karlie gently rubs her thumb against the back of Taylor's hand as they pull into a small parking lot behind the hospital. "We're here, okay, babe?"

Taylor nods. "Carry me?"

Karlie hesitates. "Are you sure, babe? I'm sure we could go inside and ask for a stretcher if you don't feel up to walking-"

Taylor weakly lifts up her hand to stop Karlie from continuing. "Please, Kar. Please just love me."

Karlie's heart nearly shatters at Taylor's words. She couldn't possibly dream of saying no to her girlfriend after those words, so the model carefully lifts Taylor out of the seat and carries her, bridal style, into the hospital. A young doctor that's around Taylor and Karlie's age is waiting for them and quickly escorts the two into a small and private examination room. Karlie gently lays Taylor down on the hospital bed and stands next to the bed, reaching for Taylor's hand as a source of comfort for the both of them. After everything that just happened, having Taylor next to her is comforting to Karlie as well.

"Miss Swift, Miss Kloss, my name is Dr. Ashlyn Reid, and I'm going to be taking care of you today," the doctor says. She looks to be between Taylor and Karlie's ages, maybe a few years older. She brushes a strand of her dark hair behind her ear and gives the couple a soft smile.

"Tay?" Karlie asks softly. "Do you want to explain what happened? I hate it, but I don't know that much."

"That's fine," Taylor says weakly, her tone saying that it's not as fine with her as she's trying to pretend it is. "I was waiting for Karlie so we could go hang out after I dropped off my little girl at school, and he showed up, practically yanked me into his car, and locked me inside. Then he started abusing me, he was throwing things at my head when I called my security. All I remember is him... him trying to un-undo my jeans z-zipper... and then I was knocked out or something, I don't remember what happened after that."

Taylor's eyes are welling up with tears, and Karlie wants nothing more than to wrap her up into a tight hug and make all of her pain go away. Unfortunately, she can't do that, so she has to settle for holding Taylor's hand, and the singer's grip is probably the only strong thing she has right now. Even if Karlie tried to let go, Taylor probably wouldn't let her.

"I'm so sorry," Dr. Reid offers her sympathy. "I'm going to do some tests, Taylor, but before that, I'm going to get you something for the pain. You'll be able to leave later today, to go home and rest."

"Thank you," Taylor whispers, her face resembling that of a sheet of paper, and she's still clinging to Karlie's hand nervously, as if she's afraid that someone is going to try to rip the two of them apart.