Chapter Twenty-Four
Atlas is standing on the other side of the room. He hasn’t taken his
eyes off me the entire time the nurse has been helping me. After
taking a blood sample, she immediately returned and began to attend
to my cut. She hasn’t asked me very many questions yet, but it’s
obvious my injuries are the result of an attack. I can see the pitying
look on her face as she cleans up blood from the bite mark left on my
shoulder.
When she’s finished, she glances back at Atlas. She steps to the
right, blocking his view of me as she turns and faces me again. “I need
to ask you some personal questions. I’m going to ask him to leave the
room, okay?”
It’s in that moment that I realize she thinks Atlas is the one who
did these things to me. I immediately start to shake my head. “It
wasn’t him,” I tell her. “Please don’t make him leave.”
Relief washes over her face. She nods her head and then pulls up a
chair. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”
I shake my head, because she can’t fix all the parts of me Ryle
broke on the inside.
“Lily?” Her voice is gentle. “Were you raped?”
Tears fill my eyes and I see Atlas roll across the wall, pressing his
forehead against it.
The nurse waits until I make eye contact with her again to continue
speaking. “We have a certain examination for these situations. It’s
called a SANE exam. It’s optional, of course, but I highly encourage it
in your situation.”
“I wasn’t raped,” I say. “He didn’t.. .”
“Are you sure, Lily?” the nurse asks.
I nod. “I don’t want one.”
Atlas faces me again and I can see the pain in his expression as he
steps forward. “Lily. You need this.” His eyes are pleading.