Black Out Days // P. Lahote

four

"You must be Cassandra." The woman before her was gorgeous, all smiles and bright eyes. Sue Clearwater offered her a kind smile and gestured towards the door behind her. She hesitantly stepped into the small room, Kim and Emily close behind.

"Yeah. And you're Mrs. Clearwater?"

"Please, call me Sue. Have a seat. Are you comfortable with Kim and Emily staying?"

"I'd like them to stay. Please." Her voice was quiet but firm and he nodded. Emily shut the door behind her and leaned against it, her dark eyes watching them carefully.

"What name are we placing files under?" She looked between the three girls. "We will have to keep records, of course. To ensure anonymity, we can use an alias."

"Isn't Jane Doe good enough?" Cassandra figured that would be the easiest choice. Sue grinned and tapped the clipboard against her fist.

"Watch a lot of crime shows?" She shrugged in response and she accepted her silence easily. "We already have a few Jane Does and it would be easier to differentiate. Also safer. Billy said that privacy was imperative in this case."

"She's protected under our care," Emily spoke up. "She's one of us now."

Cassandra didn't understand the weight of her words. After all, she was just a freeloader using Sam and Emily's guest room until she could get on her feet and ensure that he was six million miles away from her and her baby. They had only known her for a day. How could she be "one of us"?

"We should avoid my name. And Jared's. Too easy to trace back," Kim added. "Go with Jane Lahote."

"Lahote?" Cassandra raised an eyebrow at the name. "I don't know any Lahotes."

"Paul." Her cousin offered her a cheeky grin.

"He won't mind?"

"Not at all." A smirk settled on Kim's lips and she leaned back in the chair she had claimed in the corner of the room. "In fact, if he was here, he'd probably encourage it."

"Alright," Emily chastised. "That's enough."

"Jane Lahote is good. Dr. Woodrun and I will be the only one handling your files."

"Aunt Mary?" Cassandra looked to Kim for help and her cousin winced.

"Now might be a good enough time as ever to tell her."

Cassandra settled back on the exam table and sighed. "You're right. I trust her more than a county doctor."

"Good. Now, Cassandra, I want to apologize in advance. I know that this is overwhelming. At any point you need to take a moment, don't be afraid to let me know, okay?" Sue looked at her with pity and Cassandra averted her eyes from the older woman's gaze. She hated feeling like this.

She nodded and squeezed her hands tightly, letting her clasped hands fall into her lap. Sue was nice, but she hadn't seen a doctor in years. She was nervous about what she might say about her arm and any of her other injuries.

"We'll start with a preliminary examination and might need to get a few x-rays. At the end, Mary will do an ultrasound and get a few scans. We can even get you copies of the ultrasound pictures. How does that all sound?"

"I want...can you take pictures of what he did to me? The bruises and everything?"

"Cass..." Kim trailed off, unsure as to where her cousin was going with this. Cassandra raised her chin, a fire in her eyes that hadn't been there before.

"When this fucker comes for me, and I know he will, I want his ass locked up. And I can't do that without evidence. I need proof. So let's take some photos."