Chapter Twelve
Haizley
Quietly, I slipped into Aspen’s hospital room, not wanting to wake her if she was still sleeping. When she stepped out of the bathroom and said good morning, I jumped, dropping the bag of pastries for the second time.
“Shit, I’m sorry. This bag is going to have nothing but crumbs by the time we open it.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” she whispered.
“You don’t need to be sorry. I have a problem with my situational awareness. Meaning I have none.” I chuckled and was rewarded with a slight grin.
“How are you feeling today?”
Aspen shrugged and climbed back onto the bed, pulling the covers up over her chest. It was a safeguard. I knew this.
I moved about the room, straightening up. That was my safeguard. It was hard to stay professional at times. Empathy was important in a therapist, but it also made it impossible not to feel what your patients felt.
I pulled the rolling table over, so it covered her legs, and placed her coffee in front of her and opened the bag of muffins. Thankfully, I grabbed a handful of napkins. I carefully laid them out on the table and lined up the muffins, allowing her to pick what she wanted.
“There is apple strudel, blueberry, corn, cranberry, chocolate chip, and lemon poppyseed.”
“Did you buy the entire case?” Aspen asked, and my heart lightened with the small laugh she gave.
“Hey, every girl needs options, whether it’s the perfect outfit or the perfect muffin.” I winked and turned to pull the chair over so we could talk.
I caught Aspen looking at the coffee. “That’s yours,” I insisted as I pushed it closer to her.
“What about you?”
I closed my eyes and huffed out a breath. “Mine is currently drying all over the chest of a giant biker.”
Her eyes bugged out, and her hand covered her mouth. “ The giant biker?”
“He would be the one,” I confirmed.
“Was he mad?” she asked, returning to her quiet voice.
“Oh, he was pissed alright. But he deserved it.”
Aspen choked on her muffin and leaned forward. I gently rubbed her back, unsure at first how she would feel about being touched.
“You threw it on him? On purpose?”
“I sure did. He made me drop the bag the first time. And he was being a caveman.”
Aspen just stared at me, her mouth hanging open.
I slowly brought my finger to her chin and closed her mouth.
“He’s freaking scary.”
Shaking my head, I laughed. “He’s all bark and no bite. Well, maybe he’ll bite.”
I winked at her again.
Her blush and the drop of her eyes had me kicking myself.
“I’m sorry, Aspen. I shouldn’t have said—”
“No, please don’t apologize. I like that you don’t talk to me differently. I know what happened. I know it wasn’t my fault, other than not watching my drink.”
“Uh-huh. That we are not doing. You hold no blame here. You are never responsible for someone else’s actions.”
“But—”
“Never, Aspen.” I waited for her to meet my eyes. When she did, I added, “We always have a choice. We take responsibility for our own choices. We do not take responsibility for the choices others make.”
She nodded, but I knew she wasn’t ready to believe it yet.
That was ok.
That’s what I was here for.
Before either of us could say any more, there was a hard knock on the door that caused us both to jump. Aspen clutched my hand tightly, and I placed my other hand over hers, letting her know I wasn’t going anywhere.
Deputy Beckett Reed entered the room, and Aspen tightened her grip on my hand. I looked at her and noticed her eyes were on her lap.
That gave me pause.
Was she nervous because a man had stepped into the room, or was it this man in particular? After the interaction last night with Corbin, Deputy Reed didn’t exactly instill peace in me.
“Deputy, I was under the impression last night the sheriff would take Miss Winters’ statement.”
I didn’t word it as a question. I learned early on when dealing with law enforcement to be direct. Never giving them the impression they held more power than you did.
I wasn’t anti-police. Quite the opposite, in fact. I held a deep respect for the men and women who put their lives on the line for the citizens under their care. But sometimes they forgot they worked for us, not the other way around.
“Miss Walker.” He nodded, acknowledging my presence. Then immediately tried to dismiss me. “If you will excuse us, I need to speak with the victim alone.”
Aspen gripped my hand so tightly I feared she might break the bones in my hand. I patted her hand, assuring her I wasn’t going anywhere.
“First of all, Deputy, It’s Dr. Walker.” I didn’t make a habit of letting people know I had a PsyD, but sometimes it was important to push that boundary. “Second, Miss Winters is not a victim. Yes, she had something terrible happen to her. But she is a survivor.”
“Fine, I need to speak with the survivor privately.”
“No.”
The deputy narrowed his eyes at me. “Excuse me?”
“Did I stutter? I said no, Deputy. Do you see how tightly Miss Winters is gripping my hand? I will not be leaving her alone with you.”
“We have protocols, Dr. Walker.”
“And those protocols , Deputy, allow for the survivor to have a support person of their choosing present when giving their statement. Seeing as I am a board-certified psychologist, I hardly think there is anyone more qualified to be that support for Miss Winters.”
Who the fuck was this guy?
“Fine,” he grunted. “Miss Winters, can you tell me what happened?”
I looked down at Aspen, and her eyes were still on her lap. Her knuckles were white from the grip she had on my hand and a tear slid quietly from the corner of her eye. The change in her demeanor the moment the deputy walked into the room was throwing more red flags than Bill Belichick at the Super Bowl.
“Deputy Reed, I am going to have to ask you to leave. Miss Winters is no position to give a statement at this time.”
“Dr. Walker, without her statement we cannot find the perpetrator.”
“Be that as it may, you will not get a statement if she is too terrified to speak.”
I reached over, pressing the call button.
“I am not leaving without her statement,” Deputy Reed sneered.
The door leading to the hallway opened, and I was never as happy to see the snarky Nurse Sally as I was at that moment.
“What can I do for you, Miss Winters?”
“Nurse Sally, could you please escort the deputy outside? Miss Winters has decided to wait a bit longer before giving her statement.”
Nurse Sally took one look at Aspen before turning on the deputy.
“Did you make that girl cry?”
“I was doing my job. I asked her to tell me what happened.”
Nurse Sally narrowed her eyes at Deputy Reed. “Out. Now.”
“I have a job to do here—”
“Don’t make me call the sheriff! I can’t help flirting with that man, and his new woman scares the shit out of me, especially with all those pregnancy hormones. So, if I have to call him and she beats the hell out of me for flirting with her man, do you know who will pay for that?” She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at the deputy. “It won’t be her.”
Deputy Reed had a stare down with Nurse Sally, then, after sending a glare my way, he stomped out the door. There wasn’t a man in Diamond Creek who wouldn’t back down to Nurse Sally.
“Thank you.”
She waved her hand at me. “I can’t stand that man. How he ever got cleared to be a deputy is beyond me.” She fussed over Aspen for a few minutes before leaving us alone.
“Are you ok?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. It’s just... when he walked in, I felt something. I don’t know how to explain it.”
“You don’t have to right now. Trust your instincts. When someone makes you wary, you do whatever you need to. Do you think it was him?”
She shook her head violently. “No. I was talking to a guy before I went to the bathroom. But it wasn’t the deputy.”
“Ok, you need to give your statement. We have a couple of options here. I can call the sheriff and find out why he didn’t come himself, which I will do either way. Or we can call Deputy Stilton. She’s a woman. Or I know Deputy Blackwater personally. Known him almost my whole life. He was there for me when my parents passed away in high school. I trust him with my life.”
Aspen chewed her lip and then looked up at me.
“What do you think?”
“I can’t answer this for you, Aspen. I am not inside your head. I don’t know what will make you most comfortable.”
She gave a little huff. “Isn’t that what a shrink is supposed to do? Get inside my head?”
I smiled at her. “Oh, I will. It just takes time.” I winked.
I waited as Aspen mulled over her options. She was a beautiful woman. Her naturally tanned skin and dark hair suggested she might be Native American, or at least her ancestors were. I knew she was from Texas, but no one really knew much about her. I wondered if she was hiding from something. Diamond Creek was barely a dot on any map, which made it a great place for people to disappear and hide.
“Ok, can you call your friend? If you trust him, I think I can, too.”
I nodded and turned to grab my phone from my purse when Aspen grabbed my hand again.
“You’ll stay, right?”
I laid my hand on her arm, giving her a little squeeze. “For as long as you need me.”
I texted Corbin and asked him to come to the hospital.
Me: Hey, Corbin. Can you come to the hospital to take Aspen’s statement?
Corbin: I’m off today but I can ask the sheriff.
Me: Please. Things didn’t go well with Deputy Reed.
Corbin: I’m on my way. Let me get changed.
Me: Civilian clothes might be better.
Corbin: You got it.
“Ok, Corbin is on his way. Though, it might still be hard to give your statement. Once you see him, you’ll be too busy swooning to talk.”
Aspen smiled, and my heart lifted.
I was confident Aspen would recover from this. It would take time. It always did, but I would help her get there.
Corbin arrived twenty-five minutes later and as I expected, being in his civilian clothes helped Aspen relax enough to give her statement. Corbin had a way about him. He wasn’t soft. In fact, in high school, I had once seen the definitely not soft side of him when a girl was being harassed by some jocks in the hallway.
He was suspended from school for two weeks and we lost the state finals because two of our starting players were in the hospital. I knew he would go easy with Aspen, given what she’d been through.
“Ok, Miss Winters. I have everything I need. I want to assure you we are doing everything we can to make sure this guy doesn’t get away with this.”
“Thank you,” she replied so softly I wasn’t sure Corbin heard her.
“Aspen, I am going to walk Corbin out. I will be right outside the door, ok?”
She nodded her approval, but the fear in her eyes told me she wasn’t sure I would come back. I gripped her hand tightly before assuring her, “I’ll be right back.”
Corbin preceded me out the door.
Normally, he would have held it open for me, but he knew Aspen needed me to be the last one in the room with her.
Once we were in the hall, I threw my arms around his waist.
“Thank you for doing this.”
“What the fuck happened?” he growled.
“I don’t know exactly, but the moment he walked in the room, she shut down. She wouldn’t even look at me. Her eyes were on her lap, and she almost broke my hand with her death grip.”
“Does she think he—”
“No, she said she doesn’t believe he had anything to do with it, but there was something when he walked in. Something about Deputy Reed reminded her of her attacker. Whether it was his appearance, or...” I looked at Corbin. “Maybe his demeanor.”
“I’ll talk to the sheriff.”
“No, I don’t want to get him in trouble if he didn’t do anything. Though, he might need a refresher in how to talk to those affected by sexual assault.”
“I’ll keep an eye on him.” He gave me a hug and added, “Call me if you need anything.”
“Thank you.”
Corbin walked away, and I turned back to the door. With a deep breath, I released the heavy conversation I’d just had and returned to the professional that Aspen needed, then went back into the room.