Chapter 4
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Lily
Lillian! Wake up!”
“Uh,” I groan.
Pain shoots through my left side. What just happened?
“Lillian! Did you hear me?” The angry voice shouts louder this time.
My eyes pop open as the realization hits me. My work shoes, under the edge of the bed, lay inches from my face. Oh no. He’s in a bad mood today.
“What?” I quickly scramble to sit up. “I’m up.”
“Are you?” Joel snaps.
“Yes.” I push to my feet and hiss from the pain in my left arm.
Oh my gosh. This idiot literally pushed me out of bed. I look across the bed at him and narrow my eyes. Big mistake.
“You were supposed to be up an hour ago.” Joel storms around the bed and hovers with his face over mine.
“I’m sorry. I worked late. Three ambulances showed up before my shift ended. I had to stay over. I was just tired,” I whisper the last part.
It’s what happened and why I was two hours late getting home this morning. Joel won’t care. He only cares about himself and his high society image.
“That doesn’t explain why it’s 7 pm and you’re still asleep,” he snaps.
“It’s seven?” I gasp. “Oh, no. I’m going to be late for work.”
“Late for work?” Joel grabs my left arm, sending pain shooting up it.
I grit my teeth to keep from crying out. “Yes. I have to be there at eight.”
He knows this. Again, he doesn’t care.
“That’s it. I’m tired of you working all the time. Get on an eight-hour shift like a normal person or quit.” He shoves me away.
The right side of my head hits the doorframe of the master bathroom. I stumble to my knees but quickly force myself to stand. If he sees me down for long, it just gets worse. The pain in my cheek is enough to know I’ll have a bruise before I get to work. I’ll have to take my makeup with me to keep covering it throughout the night.
“I’m not kidding, Lillian.” He stomps to the bedroom door. “This is the last night you work weekend shifts. It’s like you don’t want to be around me.”
Really? I hadn’t noticed. Of course it’s why I work these shifts.
“No. It was what I was told to do,” I lie.
“Well, I’m telling you, it ends today or else!” Joel storms down the hallway, leaving me alone.
One look in the bathroom mirror confirms my fears. Yep. My right eye and cheek will be black and blue within the hour. I don’t have time to think about it or form a plan. I grab my scrubs from the closet and quickly put them on. After applying as much makeup as I have time for, I toss the containers into my purse. I slide my shoes on and grab a jacket. I need to get out of here fast before Joel decides we need to talk some more. He doesn’t know how to talk calmly about anything when we’re alone.
I release a long breath before stepping into the hallway. Maybe I can get out of here without him seeing me. The apartment is quiet. Maybe he left. A little hope blooms as I rush to the front door. What did I say about hope? Yeah. It’s never a good thing.
Joel grabs my left arm as I step into the living room. I hiss from the pain. He digs his fingers in deeper and leans toward me.
“That hurt, Lillian?” His eyes practically dance. “Good. It’ll be worse if you work another twelve-hour shift. End it tonight.”
“I have to go.” I jerk my arm.
He doesn’t release me. His nails claw deeper into my skin. I jerk again and manage to pull free. My arm’s bleeding. I know it is. I don’t have time to treat it before work. I really have to get out of here. I run down the hall to the stairs and don’t bother with the elevator. Like a crazy woman, I fly down the three flights to the parking garage. My car sits as a beacon of safety, even if it’s for a few minutes. Thankfully, Joel doesn’t come after me, and I make it to work with ten minutes to spare.
“Hold on there, Miss Harman.” Doctor Thomas stops me on the way to the nurses’ lounge. “You can’t work in that condition.”
He leads me to one of the Emergency Rooms at the end of the hall next to the stairs. It’s the smallest room in the ER. We rarely use it.
“Sit there.” He points to the bed. “I’ll get someone to help us.”
“It’s okay.” I’m protesting to a closed door.
Wow. That’s the fastest I’ve seen him move. He just left me here. It’s a good thing I’m a nurse. I can treat myself and bandage my arm before another nurse sees me like this.
Lifting my shirt sleeve, I see the deep scratch marks Joel’s fingernails left behind. The bleeding has stopped. That’s good. I wet some paper towels and begin cleaning the wound. There’s no mirror in here, so I don’t know how my face looks. Bad, I’m sure, from the pain. I’ll have to slip into the women’s bathroom and apply more makeup. Some ibuprofen will help the pain. I have a full bottle in my purse. The last thing I need is a prescription and a record of this.
The door flies open before I can properly bandage my arm. Oh no. Nina rushes in ahead of Doctor Thomas.
“Oh my,” Nina gasps as her hand flies to her chest.
“I trust you to handle this,” Doctor Thomas says.
“Yes, Doctor. I have this under control.” Nina gives him a firm nod. He hands her a file and leaves.
“Nina.” I try to turn away, too embarrassed for her to see me like this.
“No, ma’am.” She opens a cabinet and pulls out a Polaroid camera. “I need to see that arm and your face.”
“No, Nina. You can’t report this. He’ll kill me, “ I cry.
She steps in front of me, forcing me to look her in the eye. There’s no judgment in her eyes. She cares. She’s the only friend I have left in the world.
“I’m not calling the cops, but I’m helping because if I don’t, he will kill you. Now, show me the arm, Lily.”
“What? You’re not reporting it?”
She shakes her head. “Trust me, please.”
Why I do it, I don’t know. I hold my arm out, and she snaps a couple of pictures. Next, she gets three of my face. She slides the pictures and the file Doctor Thomas gave her into a manila envelope and seals it. What in the world is going on? Without a word, she treats and bandages my arm as fast as she can.
“Where’s your phone?
I take it from my pocket. She snatches it up and tosses it into a cabinet.
“Nina?”
“Shh. No talking. You listen.” She opens one of the bottom cabinets and pulls out a black bag. It looks like a book bag or a small backpack.
“What are you doing?” Naturally, I don’t stay quiet.
“We’re getting you out of here before he hurts you again,” she replies calmly like this is an everyday thing.
“We?”
“Yes. We.” Nina doesn’t explain further. She opens the bag and shoves the envelope in before offering it to me. “Here.”
“What is that?” I cross my arms. “I’m not taking it until you explain.”
“We don’t have time for me to explain everything.” She peeps out the door. “Take the bag and follow me. We can talk while we walk.”
Reluctantly, I take the black bag and walk with her to the door leading to the lower-level parking garage. Doctors use this level. None of this makes sense, and she doesn’t talk while we walk.
“Nina?”
“Come on. Almost there.” She doesn’t slow our pace either.
Finally, she pushes the door open to the garage. A black pickup truck is parked near the door, not in a parking space. A man I’ve never seen holds the passenger door open—a huge, serious-looking man.
“Nina?” I take a step back.
She gently takes me by my wrists to keep from adding more pain to my left arm. Tears well up in her eyes.
“I’ve known for months what you’re going through.”
“I…” Oh my gosh. I’m going to cry. She knew but never said anything.
“Shh. It’s going to be okay. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but someday.” Nina sniffles. “I’ve been where you are. It’s why I know there’s help.”
I shake my head as the first tears begin to fall, for me and for her. “I can’t. You know I can’t. He’ll find me.”
She doesn’t listen. “This is Andrew. He’s going to start you on this journey to freedom. You’ll meet a couple more helpers along the way.”
“I can’t leave.” I really should leave.
She continues, “You have nothing holding you here. You’ll start over in a new town and a new state.” She taps the black bag in my hands. “There’s a few days worth of clothes in here and some cash.”
“Nina? What have you done?”
“I’m saving my friend.” She leans closer. “When you get to the final stop, ask for Jacob. Tell him I sent you and say Ariel.”
“What? Who’s Ariel?” I don’t understand any of this.
“Lily, pay attention, please.” She doesn’t yell and scream at me like Joel does, so I listen. “Do you understand what I just said? It’s important.”
“Yeah. Ask for Jacob. Tell him you sent me. Say Ariel,” I repeat the strange list.
“Good girl.” She taps the bag again. “Give Jacob the envelope, but don’t open it. It needs to be sealed when he gets it.”
Fear rises. “I don’t know.”
“If you stay here, you’ll die,” Andrew says.
“Well, thanks, dude, for not sugarcoating things,” I mumble.
Andrew shrugs. I can’t fault him for being honest. He’s not saying anything I don’t already know. I don’t know exactly what’s happening, but they offer me hope. I already know how hope goes. Do I take it? I can stay and die, or I can die trying to get away.
“I wouldn’t do this if there was another way.” Nina gently wraps her arms around me. “I love you, my sweet friend.”
That did it. That’s where she broke through my fears. Well, I’m still scared, but maybe I can do this.
“I love you, too.” I wipe the tears from my eyes. I look toward Andrew. “You trust him?”
Andrew shakes his head and rolls his eyes. A hint of a smile tugs at the corner of his lips.
Nina smiles at him. “With my life. They’ve been saving women like us for ten years or more.”
Wow. I never knew something like this existed.
“We’re wasting time,” Andrew says.
“He’s right.” Nina smiles through her tears. “You have a long journey ahead of you.”
I walk to the truck and turn to face her. “Will I see you again?”
Nina shrugs. “I don’t know. You being safe and alive is more important to me.”
“Thank you,” I whisper and climb into the passenger seat before I change my mind.
I have no idea where I’m going or what’s going to happen to me. I stare out the tinted window for hours. Andrew leaves me in my thoughts, only speaking when we stop for gas, restroom breaks, and food. Tomorrow, I’ll meet a new helper and keep moving. Are these people risking their lives to save women? I don’t know, but I’m glad they exist. Hope is a crazy, elusive thing. For the first time in my life, I allow it to bloom.