Meant To Be - Heaven Hill Series #1

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Meredith closed her eyes as the doctor performed a rape kit on her. She tried to transport herself to a time where she felt safe and secure. She realized it'd been a long time since she had felt that way for any long stretch, but it surprised her to realize she'd felt that way with Tyler every time they had been around one another.

The doctor raised her head from between Meredith's spread thighs and snapped her gloves off. Straightening up, she grabbed a digital camera. "I'm done, Meredith. Now let me get some pictures of your injuries."

It was obvious she was trying to be careful with her patient, but Meredith still felt as if she were on display. She tried not to wonder where this woman had gotten her MD, and it bothered her a bit that Tyler had greeted the woman with a hug. He didn't greet people with hugs, and it had struck her as odd. The look that had passed between him and Ashley, the doctor, had made her inexplicably jealous. It spoke of nights spent together and secret liaisons. She didn't like it one bit.

"Do you want me to let Tyler back in?" she asked as she powered down the camera and tucked it away in her bag.

Shaking her head, she mumbled. "No, I'd rather just get this over with if it's okay?"

Ten minutes later she was putting her clothes back on and waiting for the doctor to tell her what to do.

"Now, you can go take a shower. I'm going to leave some antibiotics and the morning-after pill with Tyler. I'll also give him some pain pills and a few sleeping pills. Complete the round of antibiotics and take everything I'm giving you. I know you said he didn't finish inside you, but you can't ever be too cautious."

Those words caused Meredith to shake. Pregnancy thanks to a rape. That would just be her luck. Or some disease there was no cure for. She had always been very discriminate with the men she slept with, almost to the point of being labeled a prude at times. Now she had this to deal with?

"I warn you to be careful with the pain and sleeping pills. If you need more, you will need to come see me again. Monitoring you closely will prevent you from developing a dependency on them. I do recommend that you take the sleeping pill, at least for a couple of days. Your body needs rest to heal, and you have a lot of healing to do. If you need the name of a counselor, I can recommend someone to you."

Meredith knew the woman was doing her job, but she just wanted her to leave. This was all too much for her. It was too much information too fast. She wanted desperately to take the blanket from the bed and cocoon herself in it, shutting out the rest of the world for days. What had started out as a beautiful day when she had woken up that morning had turned into a complete nightmare. One that she wanted to wake up from but didn't know if she ever would.

"I don't think I'll be needing that right now." Her voice didn't even sound like her own to her ears. It sounded like a different person was talking. The last thing she wanted to do was spill her guts to some stranger. It would be horrible, explaining to them what that man had done to her. Telling Denise the one small detail she had was more painful than she had imagined. No way could she tell a stranger the entire story.

Ashley gave a small nod of acceptance. Not everyone was open to therapy, especially so soon after the attack, but it was still her job to let a patient know all of the available options. It would be up to the patient which option, if any, they decided to take. "I'll leave all the information with Tyler. If you do need it in the future, at least you'll have it. Is that okay?"

Meredith nodded, her mind racing a million miles a minute. How was she supposed to feel? What was she supposed to say? She wasn't sure, and it felt like she should have at least a few of those answers – but she didn't and she wondered if she ever would.