How You See Me

II

She didn't want to risk going to the ER. She decided on the clinic instead, at least Nate and Elena were there. They had an obligation to stay quiet whether they wanted to or not. Keeping her hat low, she moved towards the front desk. A woman sat on the phone. Summer waited until she was done and proceeded to ask if Elena Dawson was in today. The woman said she is just finishing up with a patient but should be done soon. She handed Summer some paperwork to fill out. The woman gave a somber look. Did Summer look that bad? Maybe she should have looked before she left the house. If this random woman could tell something more sinister was wrong, then no way would she be able to hide this from Kyle. Summer took the papers to a chair in the waiting room. No one else was there. She could slide in and slide back out unnoticed. Once she filled the paper out (she had no clue what to put) she handed it back to the woman. The door flew open right before she went back to sit down. It startled her, in ways she wasn't prepared for. Luckily she recovered before anyone took notice. She didn't like loud noises anymore, it made her think of the loud items clanking around when she was fighting for her life. "Summer", Elena was very chipper. That smiling face didn't last long, Summer's presence was like a cloud hanging between the two of them. She looked aghast. "Come with me". She quickly led the way down the hall into a room. Elena patted the hospital bed, where she wanted Summer to sit. "Can you make it up there", she asked. She sounded pretty worried. "Yeah I got it,". Summer climbed up on the bed after Elena had lowered it some. She didn't even know where to begin so she waited for Elena to ask the questions. "Can you tell me what happened", she had a clipboard in her hand, ready to jot down whatever came spilling out. She paused for a minute. She came all this way and doesn't know where to start. Her mind was blank. "Ok, how about this, how did you get injured?". The woman before her, looked her body up and down, studying every cut, every bruise, it was clear she knew the answer, but she had to wait until she said it out loud. "I was attacked". It dawned on her that she didn't say rape, she didn't know how. "Attacked, how?" Elena studied her. She felt bare. "A man...he broke into my home, and he attacked me". "Attacked in what way, did he hit you, did he push you..", she spoke as if Summer was a child. "What do you think, I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be rude, it's just obvious from your face that I look a mess". "He hit me, he threw me down, I thought I was going to die", the words were spilling out. "Did he use a weapon on you, did you see his face"? There were too many questions. Summer felt this was a mistake. "I feel like I'm being interrogated." "I'm not trying to scare you or pressure you into talking when you're not ready, I apologize", Elena spoke softly again. "But if you were injured beyond just a physical attack, I need to know". "Did this man who broke into your home, I'm assuming Kyle was away (Summer shook her head yes), did he do anything sexual towards you...did he rape you?" Hearing the words out loud had shaken her core. Why was it so hard for her to say 'Yes I was raped.' "No, I was not raped, he just beat me up", even Summer sounded unsure of her answer. Elena kept her gaze but she backed down. She turned to face the counter and put her clipboard down, she pulled out a hospital gown and told Summer to put them on. She would be back in a few minutes to give her a physical exam. Summer slipped out of her loose fitting clothes and put the oversized gown on. She climbed back onto the bed and laid down. She was ready for this to be over. She kept going over and over in her head what she would say to everyone. Lying to her husband was one thing but lying to her parents was a whole other ballgame. She wanted her mom. She wanted a hug from her mom and for her to tell her she would get through this because she was her daughter. Strong, but she didn't have that, at least at the moment. Summer wiped the tear away. There was a slight knock on the door. "Come in". Elena had returned with a box, she didn't say what it was for. "So, I know you're lying to me, I know more than just a physical attack happened, but I'm not going to pressure you, but I will say this, facing this head on as scary as it may be, is the best medicine for surviving this. What this man did to you is unimaginable, but you will be okay, you survived the worst of it and it will get better, all that's left to do is heal.", she was sitting down now. "What if he didn't use a condom, if you allow this to fester, you could become pregnant, he might have a disease you had no clue about, at least if I can give you the rape kit", Summer cut her off, "Stop, just please stop". She hadn't thought about any of this, what If he didn't use a condom, and she became pregnant by this man. Would Kyle be ok with this, could he even look at her if she was pregnant by this man? The thought of it made her sick. Summer was sitting up now, she couldn't take this. Removing the hands from her red face, she looked at Elena. "Ok...yes there is more to the story, yes he did do more than just beat me up", she was talking low now. Summer removed her gaze, she looked up at the ceiling, it was no longer dancing like before. "...I was raped. He raped me", she looked back down at Elena. She let out a sigh and covered her face again. Elena then asked permission to move forward with the rape kit, to which Summer agreed. It felt like hours had gone by. It was uncomfortable to say the least. Elena had taken pictures of her body, she scraped her skin, and cut her nails. She collected her underwear in a baggy. She asked permission to swab her vagina, that was the worst of it. When it was finally done and she was dressed, Elena handed her a pamphlet of resources on rape and recommended she see a therapist. She wasn't planning on doing that. "You are so brave, and none of this is your fault, please note that". The doctor waved her goodbye and told her to come back at any time for a check up. She would have her results at a later time. She had made it through. Not that she was in a rush to get back home, at least it would be semi safe from prying eyes. Her attacker could be anywhere and she needed to be closer to Kyle. As she made it to the door, before her eyes was Adam.