Kidnapped

Chapter 3

   She awoke to the sound of a beeping monitor beside her uncomfortable hospital bed. A long, clear, IV stretched from a small plastic bag down to her arm and into her veins. She could feel each drop of the medication flowing through her bloodstream bit by bit. Her chest was covered in the semi-bloody bandages that concealed her stab wounds. Her body was sore and she had a severe migraine headache. Her eyes opened slowly as she tried to focus in on the raindrops cascading down the window pane. As she did, images of her near fatal encounter played over and over in her mind. Before long, she had broken into a cold sweat as she found herself trapped in this nightmare.

    Just then, a plump woman entered the room wearing an all-white nurse uniform. She was pushing a small grey cart that was clustered with different medical supplies. She grabbed a blue ink pen and a yellow notepad and began to jot down something before looking up at Rebecca.

    “Ah, I see you’re awake?” the nurse exclaimed. Before Rebecca could even respond the woman continued. “You’ve been out for quite some time now, three days I think. I was starting to think you weren’t ever going to wake up,” she finished.

    “Three days?!” Rebecca yelled a little louder than she wanted to. “Where is everyone? Are they alive? What am I going to do?” she asked frantically. She could already feel the tears swelling up in her eyes.

    “Here take this” the nurse replied while offering Rebecca two small pills and a tiny cup of water. She took the medicine quickly and could feel the relief almost instantly. “I don’t know where your family is, but there are two officers outside and they have been waiting to talk to you. Maybe they can explain what’s going on.” Before Rebecca could agree the nurse grabbed the cart, and rolled it out the door.

    It took a few minutes, but the two officers finally came in through the tiny wooden door and sat down next to the bed. One was in his mid to late thirties and the other was younger, probably a rookie cop working on a case for the first time. They both seemed tired, as though they had been waiting the entire time for Rebecca to wake up and question her. Rebecca began to wonder how long they sat out in the waiting room, a day, maybe two... She started to drift off into a deep thought, but was interrupted almost immediately when the older officer began to talk.

    “Hello, my name is Officer Nicholas Rozhenko and this is my partner, Officer Daniel Shrouding. We are here to ask a few questions about the incident that occurred a few days ago. Do you know what I am referring to?” he said.

    As soon as the words left his mouth, visions of that terrible night began to taunt Rebecca. It was like she was transported back in time to the very moment she saw her mother lying on the floor, beaten and abused. Now she was outside, running and begging for help... screaming in desperation hoping someone would save her. Her hair was yanked back by some brute force causing her to fall to the ground. She couldn’t do anything but wait for the end...

    “Rebecca! Hello, are you listening!” Officer Rozhenko yelled. “What’s wrong with you? You’re sweating.”

    “I... I don’t know. I have to get out of here, where is my family?” she pleaded. She already knew the answer to the question though. She knew they were probably dead; she just needed to hear it.

    “We found your little sister hiding in your parent’s bedroom. She said your mother and father got into a big argument, and that your father stormed out the house. Not too long after, she went to the bathroom where she said she heard someone scream, so she rushed off and hid in the bedroom closet.” Officer Shrouding explained.

    “She’s alive?! Thank God! And what about my father? Have you all found him? Is he okay?!” Rebecca questioned excitedly.

    “I’m sorry, but we have not seen or heard from your father since the incident. Let me ask you something, does your father have a history of being violent towards your mother or—“

    “Get out!” Rebecca interjected.

    “Excuse me? It was just a simple question and I didn’t mean anything by it. No need to get loud.” Officer Shrouding snapped.

    “I just lost my mother not too long ago and you come in here questioning me about my father like he had something to do with it?! To hell with both of you!” Rebecca snarled.

    “Watch it!” retorted Officer Shrouding

    “Nick, step outside please.” Officer Rozhenko demanded. Officer Shrouding’s face flushed red with embarrassment as he glumly stomped outside the door. “I’m sorry about that Rebecca.” He finished. There was an awkward pause as he waited for her to respond. When she didn’t, he continued his thought. “I am so sorry for your lost. Honestly I am, but I have an investigation to complete and I need your help. You are the only person who knows what this guy looks like. I need you to try to describe him for me.”

    “He was tall... with... with dark brown hair.” She replied slowly. “It’s just that everything happened so fast, I can’t remember... I’m sorry.”

    “That’s fine” Officer Rozhenko said with a smile. “If you remember anything about your mother’s assailant please, feel free to contact me here,” he said handing her his card. “Now you have a nice day”

    “Thank you; and you too.” She said as he exited the room and began to walk down the hallway. Rebecca casually brushed away the hair from in front of her face and then yawned. Despite being unconscious for a few days, she was still tired. She tried to fight off her sleepiness by singing to herself. Truth is she was scared of dreaming of her mother again. Each time she closed her eyes it was as though that was all she saw. It embedded itself in her mind and would forever traumatize her.

    The rest of the evening was uneventful. Her bandages were replaced with new ones, and her IV bag was refilled. She was informed that her Aunt Karen and Uncle John were coming to visit her later on that day. Until then, all she could do was think about what Officer Shrouding had alluded to earlier. Could her dad have really done that to her mother? She tried to remember the last time she saw her dad upset. She couldn’t really think of anything that could incriminate him. Then she decided to completely push the thought out of her mind. “What are you doing?” she said to herself. She knew it was wrong to even consider the possibility her dad would do something like that. Luckily, her thoughts were once again interrupted by someone coming in through the door. Her heart dropped at the first glance. “It can’t be!” she said to herself.