Legend's Apprentice

Adjustment

I woke up the next morning when my alarm buzzed, but for a heart-stopping moment I couldn't remember where I was or why I wasn't in my room at Sam and Mindy's. A cold sweat broke out before I noticed the sunlight filtering through the windows. There hadn't been sunlight in the basement. Then I found I could move, and I remembered what had happened yesterday.

I looked around the room. I must have slept like the dead, because I hadn't been disturbed by anybody coming in, but my clothes were hanging in the closet and there were banker's boxes holding the stuff from my bureau drawers, desk, and shelves. Obviously, somebody had plugged in my alarm clock, and there was a pitcher of water and a glass on the bedside table. It was lukewarm, but I was thirsty.

I got up and showered. The doctor at the rape exam told me that while I might really want to get all traces of the Joker off me, douching could do more harm than the psychological benefit would provide, so I complied although I really wanted to be sure I was clean. I compensated psychologically with hot showers and a lot of soap on my skin. I was still sore in my pelvis.

Once I got out of the shower, I called Mindy; the police were going to let them know that their house was broken into and I wanted to let them know that I was ok, that I was sorry for the trouble, and that I'd moved out. They tried to convince me that I didn't have to go, but their safety was a huge concern for me. Finally, we agreed to get together when they came back from vacation, and it was time to get moving. I had my session with the rape counselor. As I went up to the hospital, I called Dr Reynaud to let him know that I'd be late, and he expressed concern but didn't pry, and told me to take as much time off as I needed and not to rush back to work.

The session was the roughest one yet and for once I didn't feel appreciably better when I left. My counselor told me that was to be expected and we made an appointment for the day after next. I stopped by Mindy and Sam's, cleaned up the fingerprint powder and put everything back in order. After double-checking my room and finding a couple of things, I took the key off my key ring and put it on the dining room table. Then in the privacy of the empty house, I called my mom. I would have preferred to keep it to myself, but it just wasn't possible with the change of address. Mom couldn't speak at first, then wanted me to come home. I told her that I needed to stay here; I'd realized that although I could get into a routine anywhere, I might not be able to get the help I needed at home. That made mom really think, and ultimately she agreed with me. It was easier because she knew what the security on the tower was like. She asked if I was the reason the Joker was in a coma, and was savagely pleased about that. I also promised to go to a doctor and make sure that the toxin wasn't going to have any lasting effects, which I was ok agreeing to do. She then said I didn't have to call all the time, but that she'd appreciate some updates.

That had been a hard conversation to have. I took some time to recover, then went back to the tower. I met Aslyn on the way in; she was taking a half-day for the hell of it and because they had a lull in her area at work. So we got lunch and afterward, I told her what had happened. She was kind of freaked out but really supportive and understood why I'd kept the first incident to myself. She didn't ask for details I didn't want to provide but said that any time I wanted to talk she was available. We went to the library to get some light summer reading and my favorite librarian, Ms Gordon, was happy to recommend some new authors for us. I didn't know whether she seemed extra peppy today or if it was because I was emotionally squashed. I felt bad though, asking her if she knew where I could find some self-help books off the top of her head, because she deflated a bit and didn't ask, but gave me the catalog numbers for a variety of teenage problems like anorexia and self harm. I shook my head and quietly asked for sexual assault. Aslyn gripped my hand and after a shocked moment, Ms Gordon told me where to find them. There wasn't much but there were some ones that Aslyn, checking Amazon, told me were highly rated. I chose two, putting them under my cozy mysteries. While we were checking out, Ms Gordon came over with library-branded totes for each of us and waved off our offers to pay.