Fantasy Pt. 06: Full House

"Now. First, the sexual assault. Physically, it's not as bad as it could be. It was several days ago. There's vaginal bruising, consistent with multiple, forced penetrations, which is resolving. There's a vaginal tear that is healing well. No obvious infections. We've taken samplings, and we're doing some labs, but I don't expect any bad news. I'm giving these to head off incipient problems." He held up a pill bottle. "I'm also giving her these to help with her anxiety." He looked around. "Where are they?" The nurse held up a bottle.

"Her breathing. It's bronchitis, probably viral, most likely exacerbated by the blowing dust we've had so much of lately. It's fairly severe, so we've got her on a personal, cool-mist inhaler, and Ruth has helped her practice using it. That should help. Also, some cough medicine to use as needed." Ruth held up another bottle. "We've taken a sputum sample, to cover the bases, but it should start to resolve itself.

"Then there's her body bruises and lesions."

"Lesions?" asked Sherrie.

"Cuts. Wounds. Here's the thing." He turned and stared at Henry, and there was no warmth at all in the stare. "They are much more recent than the sexual assault injuries. When did she first arrive?" The NP was glaring too.

A brief pause. "I let her in yesterday afternoon."

"Yesterday. All your troubles seemed so far away." Where did that come from? Whatever, he glanced over at Mickey. "Mickey, the wounds appear to be about a day old."

It was Henry who responded: "Okay. Okay. I see what you're getting at."

"Do you have anything to add to that?"

"No. No I don't."

Mickey didn't say anything.

"You said you 'let her in.' What do you mean?"

"We're not living together."

"You're estranged?"

"I've filed for divorce."

"But she came here anyway, and you let her in."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't know. She said she didn't have anywhere else to turn."

"So, you let her in."

"She said she didn't have anywhere else to turn. She's still my wife, you know!" Mickey stirred.

"Where does she live?"

"I don't know."

"How did she get here?"

"I thought she'd walked. I don't know. She said her car is broken down somewhere."

"Your house is pretty far out. How did she get here after sustaining those injuries, without a car? Without clothes?"

"I can't answer that. She had clothes on."

Mickey interrupted, "What kind of wounds are they?"

"Open-hand slap marks and flogging with a belt. Face and body. On bare skin. Both ends of the belt were used."

Mickey didn't make a face as he considered this. "How bad are they?" Meanwhile, Sherrie, who had been standing, walked over to the coffee table and sat down on it.

"None are infected. I used Dermabond on a handful."

"What's Dermabond?" asked Sherrie.

"Medical super glue. They should heal uneventfully."

Sherrie and Mickey nodded.

"What," Mickey asked, "has she told you about the incident?"

The doctor kept glaring at Henry. "Very little, except that she thinks the good Mr. Jekyll here will 'protect' her."

"Well, I will. I..."

Mickey broke in: "Can I see her--with you and Ruth--and ask her a few questions?"

"Sure."

As they walked out of the room, Mickey leaned down toward Sherrie and whispered: "The belt is showing."

*****

A couple of minutes later, Mickey opened the door. "Sherrie? Could you come in here a minute?"

Shortly, the four of them emerged together.

"This is our plan," said Mickey. "Alice will spend the next few days at Sherrie and Paul's."

"Okay," answered Henry. Paul didn't say anything, but anyone could see his mind working. "Um, I think she might need to see a counselor or therapist. She's had issues. Night terrors and such."

"Yes, PTSD. Ruth?" The doctor seemed surprised that it was Henry who brought it up.

"I'll arrange it."

"Also, I want to see her again, Monday morning, at ..."

Ruth the NP finished, "I've checked. We have that urgent-care slot at 7:30."

"7:30 Monday morning. We'll have all our test results and Ruth will have made arrangements with a therapist."

Mickey: "Given her experiences, I think a really discrete person is called for."

"Mickey!" exclaimed Ruth. "You know us better than that." She turned to Henry. "Be sure to bring her insurance information."

"I think her purse and all her information were stolen."

"Well," answered the doc. "That will give you something to do--while you're here all alone." He wouldn't talk to Henry except through gritted teeth.

*****

After the minivan pulled away, Mickey turned to Henry. "Jesus! Just how many times did you hit her?"

"Look. If you think you need to call in law enforcement, I understand. I do."

"But," interjected Sherrie, "you should get the whole story first."

"I'm not going to ruin my credibility with Bill. But I want the rest of the story."

"Henry, you should you show him the photos and video."

"Photos? Video?"

Sherrie's eyes widened. "He doesn't even know about them? And he's your investigator?"

"There are phone recordings too. You've heard those."

"I don't want to see them again," muttered Sherrie. "But I think I'd better."

Paul looked happy.

*****

It got worse after Henry played everything.

Oh! My apologies. My readers are mainly guys. They want to find out how this viewing went down with Paul, and especially with Sherrie. Well. Some things I'll hold to play back in my mind, when I'm alone. Hah! But, yes, they were affected. With Paul it was about what you'd expect. Now that he knew what was coming (no pun intended), he waited for the good parts. If you'd watched him closely, you'd half expect to see him start rubbing the front of his zipper. Which he kind of did. With Sherrie it was harder to tell. It's odd, but it seemed--to me, the author--that seeing it again, she was a bit, well, aroused. I could be reading too much into this. Remember, I'm a guy (despite what Mr. Anonymous sometimes says), but her eyelids got that heavy look, and she grew flushed, and she didn't look away from anything. She ran her tongue over her lips once during the deep throat scene. And she drew a hand up, but not to her mouth. No, to just above her breasts, maybe almost touching a nipple, and she kept it there until the finish. She stared at the screen for a moment after everything was over. Like I said, I could be reading too much into everything.

And Mickey? He almost punched Henry out for being a client but keeping important material from him.

Then it got worse, because Alice wouldn't go with Sherrie and Paul.

"Can I stay here? With Henry?"

"Look, we promised the doc."

"He won't know."

Henry turned away to Sherrie. "What do you think?"

"Well," and she got snide. "If you don't mind putting up with her." Shake it off, Sherrie. My God, you'd think she was falling for the guy. "But I'm bringing you guys some dinner tonight. And I'm coming by again tomorrow. And taking her to her appointment." Why not just be a nanny, Sherrie? You know Henry could do all those things.

"Just remember," said Paul. "No sex." He grinned a big, wide grin.

"Yeah. Right." said Henry, but he thought, "Fuck you!"

"Where's the belt?" It was Mickey.

"It's under the couch cushion."

"I'm going to get rid of it."

Sherrie glanced back at Alice. "I could put it to some good use, first."

End of Part Six.