Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer

Part 21

21

Any time Caitlin was quiet, I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. But it was a hospital and there were always doctors and nurses coming to check on her. Once there was a med student, too.

I tried to ignore them and kept my eyes closed, but I couldn't help listening.

Maybe it was the sound of her voice – cute and young, but serious, too, like she really cared about her patient. "She's probably pregnant. With rape a possibility it's best to know as early as possible," she argued.

My heart contracted, as if I were crushing it in my own clenched fist. Hadn't Caitlin been through enough? She needed to recover from her ordeal and one day learn to forget. She didn't deserve a lifelong reminder, a child belonging to one of the bastards who'd hurt her. She'd have scars enough as it was.

"No, she isn't. We checked twice. Both were negative." The other voice was calmer but sad.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Like I said, it could have been a mistake or too early to tell."

The sad voice sighed, heavily. He sounded Irish. "Or she was very early into the pregnancy and she miscarried. But that would have been before she was admitted..."

There was blood everywhere. Her eyes were open, staring at the stars in the sky. I'd thought she was dead.

"Do we know for certain she was raped?"

Another sigh. "If she was awake, I could ask her. But she's a seventeen-year-old girl who's been through hell and a lot of pain, given how long she was missing and the state she's in now. I'd say it's pretty much a certainty. I've left a note in her file and I'm leaving it at that. There's no need to ask her or even mention it. She's definitely not pregnant."

"I'd ask, Dr Lannon, just to be thorough. What if..."

"Did you see her when she came in?" he demanded.

Blood and bruises everywhere. So cold. Twisted, broken fingers. Haunted eyes. Screaming...

"Have you been here when she has nightmares?" he pressed.

Endless screaming, wanting to run…

"No, I've just read her file because she was on my patient list today." Her voice sounded subdued.

I'd never seen such a long list of injuries. Line after line of damage.

"This girl was beaten and raped repeatedly for weeks then left on a beach to die. It's been all over the news. Would you want to be the one to remind her and make her relive all the gory details?"

No, but I don't have any choice. I have to ask her. I need to know.

A pregnant pause. A quiet, "No, Dr Lannon."

"Besides, she'll tell us everything we need to know when she wakes up. She's a med student," said Dr Lannon with satisfaction.

Even the fucking doctor knows more about her than I do.

"Do you know her?"

The doctor laughed. "She stole my parking spot on her first day on prac here."

A sharp intake of breath. "What did you do?"

"I parked somewhere else and told her what happens when you steal a doctor's parking space." Dr Lannon sounded amused.

"What?"

He took a deep breath, no longer laughing. "A midwife I met when I was an intern told me I'd be at that doctor's beck and call, running paperwork to the airport with medical evac patients and the like." He paused and sighed. "But that was a country hospital, a long time ago. Here, she'd probably just get me coffee."

Caitlin's medical chart clacked as it was dropped into the slot at the end of her bed.

"Did she buy you a coffee?"

Dr Lannon laughed again. "No, my wife would kill me if I let strange girls buy me coffee."

"Which country hospital were you an intern at, Dr Lannon?"

Footsteps leaving.

"Albany Regional." I heard the voices fade away down the corridor. "I'd feel more comfortable if you called me Aidan. I still look around for my father whenever someone says 'Dr Lannon', though it's been me for six years now…"

I drifted into sleep, trying to shut out the images of what Caitlin had looked like when I found her. Instead, they blended into a nightmare that I couldn't run from.

When Caitlin's scream woke me, it was almost a relief.

"Angel, it's all right. I'm here. Wake up, angel. It's over." I said the words as I settled into the chair by her bed, hoping her nightmares would keep me awake for a while.