Black Rose

by Kris Thompson

  “Really?”

  “I’m going to name her Lillian. It feels right. Without Lee, we wouldn’t be here.” She gave me a short glance, her eyes nervous with what I had to assume was a look for approval.

  I nodded and smiled. “I think she would feel honored.”

  “No, she will be annoyed, but she’ll get over it.” Anna laughed, and I joined in.

  Yep, she knew Lee all right.

  There was a long pause, and I could tell by the look on her face that she wanted to say something. I cleared my throat and leaned forward in my chair. “Anna, I can’t tell you how sorry I am for what happened to you, but I need to ask you something.”

  “Okay.”

  “I can’t imagine what went on down there, but I need to know, is she going to be my Lee when she wakes up?” I felt like shit for asking this, but I had to know.

  “Does it matter?”

  “No, I will love her no matter what, but I want to be prepared, for a lack of a better word.”

  Anna nodded and took a deep breath. “Each of us were hurt in different ways.” She wiped the tears that pooled at the corners of her eyes. “Lee . . . well, he punished her for giving us hope. She was always picking fights with him so he would hurt her and not one of us. She blames herself for Ruth’s death.”

  I held my face in my hands, trying to hold back the sobs that threatened to take over. The pain she must have gone through, the suffering. I don’t know why, but I had to know more. “Did he . . . did he rape her?”

  “No one was spared,” she whispered. “Except your sister.”

  I felt my body start to shake as my tears spilled over. Anna didn’t say another word, and for that I was grateful. I didn’t think I could handle hearing much more.

  “Doctor Kent to room 233, stat,” a voice blared in the hallway.

  “That’s Lee’s room,” I said, standing up and wiping my eyes.

  “Go,” Anna said.

  When I turned the corner, I could hear Lee’s screams echoing down the hallway. I ran into her room and was dumbfounded by the number of nurses and doctors that were trying to hold her down. She was thrashing around as they tried to tie her wrists and ankles to the bed.

  “What are you doing?” I yelled.

  I pushed one of the doctors away and held Lee’s face in my hands. “Lee, look at me,” I said. Her eyes were wide, wild with fear, and tears were streaming down her cheeks. She kept looking around everywhere except at me. “Lillian,” I said a little louder. “Look at me.” Her eyes moved to mine and she instantly stopped fighting.

  “Richard?” she whispered, sounding stunned.

  “Yes, baby,” I said. “You’re safe. You’re in the hospital. You were shot.”

  Fresh tears started to trickle down her face as she raised her hand to cup my face. “You’re here,” she said, almost sounding surprised.

  “Of course I’m here,” I said, smiling. I leaned forward and rested my forehead against hers. “Nothing will ever keep me away from you again. I love you too much to be away from you.”

  “I love you, too,” she said, sniffling and wrapping her arms around my neck.

  I turned my head and saw Noah ushering the doctors and nurses out of the room. I nodded when he mouthed that he would be right outside.

  I held Lee softly, so as not to hurt her, as she sobbed against my neck. “Shh, baby, it’s all right. I’ve got you, and I’m never letting you go.” I felt her nod and take a few deep breaths.

  “Where’s my mom and Noah?”

  I pulled back and kissed her cheek. “Noah is right outside, and your mom is on her way. She went to get food for all of us. She’ll be so upset that she wasn’t here for you.”

  “And the girls?” she asked, looking very serious all of a sudden.

  “They are all here, resting. Some of them are even being discharged soon,” I said. “Emma is leaving today. She will be happy to know you are awake. She’s been asking about you.”

  She didn’t smile. She just nodded and bit at her lip. “And what about . . . him?”

  I found myself hesitating, unsure of how to answer. “He’s upstairs. Adam . . . uh . . . Adam shot him. He’s recovering from surgery, and the police are guarding him around the clock.”

  Her eyes shot up at mine. “I want to see him.”

  “What? Why?” Why would she want to ever see him again?

  “I just have to,” she whispered, sitting back in her bed with a hiss.

  “Are you okay? Are you in pain?” I panicked, searching for the nurses’ button.

  “I’m fine. I don’t feel too much.” She yawned.

  I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “Sleep, baby. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

  She looked up at me with tears swimming in her eyes. “Richard, I’m afraid.”

  I took her hand in mine and kissed her fingers. “Of what, baby? What are you afraid of?”

  “I’m afraid that I’m going to fall asleep and not wake up again. I’m afraid I’m going to wake up and I’m going to be in the dark. I’m afraid . . . I’m just afraid, and I hate it. I am just so tired of being afraid.”

  My chest hurt as I listened to her confession and wished I could take that fear and pain away from her.

  “Sleep, baby,” I said, kissing her hand again. “Sleep, and I promise I will make sure there will be a tomorrow.”

  I sat down in a chair next to her bed, giving her hand a soft squeeze, and kissing it one last time. She smiled and mumbled that she loved me. I told her I loved her, too, laid my head down next to her hand, and let sleep take over.

  —Lillian

  “The poor thing,” a woman’s voice whispered, rousing me from my dreamless sleep. “I can’t imagine what they must be going through right now.”

  “I know,” another woman’s voice whispered back.

  I kept my eyes closed, ignoring the soft pain in my back. I had developed a tolerance for pain by this point, and even though it was due to being chained up underground for weeks, I learned that tolerance can be an ally.

  “If I had it my way, I would have let that psycho die on the operating table,” one of them said.

  “I just hope he gets put away for a long time so he can go away and never bother these poor girls again,” the other one said.

  There was some rustling around and then they started whispering again.

  “Shouldn’t we wake her? Doctor Kent wanted her to start moving around as soon as possible.”

  “In a minute. Let’s add this to the computer and find her a good wheelchair.”

  I waited until they left the room before I opened my eyes. The room was dimly lit, the only sound coming from the steady beat of the machines around me. Richard was asleep in the chair next to me, his face buried in his arms as he rested against my bed. In the far corner, my mom was curled up like a cat on a small sofa bed. She seemed a lot more peaceful and relaxed than earlier when I woke up to her hysterical voice. Thank God Noah had been here to help calm her. I knew I looked bad, but getting that reaction from my mom made me realize I must have been worse off than I thought.

  Slowly pulling myself upright, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and bit down on my lip to hold back the sting of pain that shot through my body. I looked down at my right arm and quietly removed the blood pressure cuff. Just as I was about to let my feet touch the ground, one of the nurses from before walked into the room.

  “I know you ain’t trying to walk on your own,” she whispered, walking toward me. Her nametag said Tabby.

  “Just seeing if I can do it,” I said, producing the most sincere smile I could muster.

  Tabby held on to my left arm to help steady me as I tried to make my way toward the bathroom. I hated having a damn needle in my arm. I’d have to drag the stupid IV stand everywhere.

  “You seem to be doing pretty well, Miss Locke. Maybe I can get you a small walker to help you move around,” she said.

  I nodded and opened the bathroom door. “That woul
d be great. The more mobile I am, the quicker I can heal.”

  When I walked in the bathroom, Tabby looked over her shoulder and then back at me. “I’ll see if I can find one. Just don’t forget to put the clip back on your finger when you go back to bed and I’ll just hook up the rest when I get back.”

  I smiled. “I will. I promise.”

  Closing the door quickly behind me, and avoiding the mirror at all costs, I counted to twenty before peeking out into the room to see if Tabby had returned. She hadn’t. Everyone was still where I left them. I walked to the other side of the bed where Richard was sleeping. As carefully as I could, I slipped the clip on his index finger, and then started to make my way out of the room with my IV bag in tow.

  I opened the door quietly and peered out into the hallway. It was late, so I wasn’t surprised to find the hallway empty. There was a thick wooden railing that lined the wall, and I used that to help me walk down the hall. When I reached the elevators, I was relieved to find an abandoned wheelchair sitting off to the side. Tossing my IV bag into the seat, I used it to help me into the elevator, and quickly pushed the up button, not wanting anyone to see me.

  When I got to the third floor, I stuck my head out and made sure no one was around before making my way down the halls. After a few minutes, I almost gave up—until I saw a police officer sitting outside a room.

  Found you.

  How the hell was I going to get him away from that door? I looked around and contemplated pulling the fire alarm, but decided against it. It wasn’t that I cared about getting caught; I just wanted to make sure I was done before I was caught. Looking around, I saw a small flower pot sitting on a table by some chairs. For a second I thought about hitting the cop on the head with it, but I threw it across the hall instead, cringing as the sound echoed everywhere. The pieces skidded to a stop and bounced off a few walls. I watched as the cop stood up from his chair and started heading toward the broken pot. As fast as I could, I rolled myself over to the door, opened it, rolled the wheelchair inside, and shut the door behind me.

  Wow, Adam got you good.

  He had wires, IVs, and tubes coming out of him from every direction. I smiled at the thought of him feeling some pain, but more than anything, knowing that he was going to be feeling a lot more real soon.

  I wheeled over to the chart that lay on the small table by his bed. I picked it up and opened it.

  “So your name is David,” I said to myself. “You’re a security guard for the mines.” I looked over and spat on him. “Loser.” I continued reading about him until I felt satisfied that I knew enough about who he was. I moved closer to him and noticed his wrists were handcuffed to the sides of the bed.

  “Who’s chained up now, bitch? Can you hear me, David?” I asked, giving him a light slap on the face. “Can you hear me in that fucked-up head of yours?” I slapped him again, hoping he could hear me. “I know what’s going to happen once you get well. There’s going to be a trial, and you’re going to plead temporary insanity, and the girls and I will have to live in fear wondering if you’ll ever get out and find us. Well, David, I’m here to tell you that isn’t going to happen.”

  I reached up and tightened my hand around his breathing tube, cutting off his air supply. All I could see was Ruth’s face as I watched the lines on the screen start to move erratically. I’m sure there had to have been beeping—maybe even alarms going off—but I didn’t hear them. All I heard was the thumping of Linda’s head as it was being dragged up the stairs. I could feel tears starting to sting my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. This was their peace. This was me fulfilling my promise to them.

  “It’s judgment day, asshole.”

  Chapter16

  —Lillian

  They say time heals all wounds, but I didn’t think I fell into that category anymore. I was once happy, safe, and carefree, but not anymore. Now I knew that every shadow, every sudden movement, every unfamiliar sound would be him, and his haunting memory. He had left his mark on me, on all of us, and no amount of time could remove that. We would all be that way. We would be sixty-year-old women, crying in our sleep, still afraid of the dark. His death wouldn’t change that, but it would have been a start.

  I didn’t even hear the door burst open, or the yelling that filled the room, because of all of the scenes flashing through my mind.

  Every cry of pain that echoed out when he hit one of the girls.

  Hearing his lighter flip open.

  Ruth’s neck snapping.

  Sara screaming for hours when he was done with her.

  That fucking laugh he would bellow when he was raping us.

  I could feel people around me, clawing at my hand as I squeezed tighter.

  “Miss Locke, let go,” a man yelled, but I wouldn’t answer. If they wanted me to let go then they were going to have to saw my fucking arm off.

  “Lee . . . Lee . . . let go,” I heard my brother say.

  Why is it when I hear my brother’s voice in pain, the waterworks turn on like a damn flood?

  I shook my head violently and maintained my grip. “He has to pay, Noah. He has to suffer,” I cried, not taking my eyes off him.

  “And he will, Lee. I swear to God he will,” my brother whispered, moving closer to me.

  “No, I’m not going to let some fucking lawyer get him off,” I said. “He has to pay. It has to be me. I promised,” I said a little more slowly, finding it hard to talk all of a sudden.

  The room was becoming fuzzy and I was having a hard time holding on to the tube. I felt hands separating my fingers and pulling me away from his body.

  “No,” I slurred.

  “It’s okay, Lee, I got you,” Noah whispered, kissing my forehead.

  “I promised,” I whispered, feeling the darkness take over.

  —Richard

  Lee had to be sedated after what she did to David. The hospital wanted to strap her down to the bed, but Noah and I told them to go fuck themselves. She’d been chained to a fucking wall for thirty days, and the motherfuckers wanted to strap her down! Idiots. We settled instead for mild sedation so she would still be somewhat coherent but unable to move around without our help. She hadn’t said a word since she had woken up from the first injection.

  I woke up to the sound of alarms going off in the hallway, and I noticed Lee wasn’t in her bed. I looked behind me and saw that Sadie was looking just as worried as I felt. I got up and ran to the bathroom, hoping that Lee was in there, but it was empty. When we walked out of the room, we saw a gurney being rolled down the hallway with an unconscious Lee on it.

  “What the hell is going on?” Sadie said, spotting Noah talking to a doctor at the nurses’ station.

  “There was an incident,” Noah said.

  “Can you be a little more vague for me, Noah?” Sadie said. She turned to me and pointed toward the group of people that were pushing Lee down the hall. “Follow them and I’ll catch up in a minute.” She didn’t have to tell me twice.

  Lee was taken to a room at the end of the hall that was almost like her other room . . . almost. The first thing that stood out was that the door was metal, and not wood. It also had a keypad on either side, which took me aback. ‘Has David escaped? What’s with the extra security?’ I noticed Tabby, Lee’s nurse, walking toward me, and I hoped she could give me some answers.

  “Tabby, what’s going on?” I whispered.

  She looked over her shoulder and leaned in to me. “Lee left her room, while you and her mom were sleeping, and went to his room.”

  “What?”

  “She tried to kill him. Wrapped her hand around his respirator and cut off his air supply, but her brother distracted her long enough for a doctor to sedate her.”

  I looked into her room and saw the doctors starting to strap her down to the bed.

  “Tabby, please, don’t let them tie her down,” I said. “She’s been through so much already.”

  “I don’t know, Richard. The hospital—”

 
“Tabby,” I said, taking her hand in mine. “That monster chained my girl to a wall and raped her. She had to sit down there and listen to him do that to these other girls, too. She sat there, defenseless, as he killed her friends.” I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. “Please, Tabby, I beg you, don’t let her wake up tied down again.”

  Tabby was definitely going on the family Christmas card list from now on. Lee might not remember her, due to all the drugs they were pumping in her, but I’d never forget her. She had no idea what it meant to me to see her go in there and call those doctors stupid for tying Lee down. She pissed off a lot of doctors that day doing that, but as she put it, “They can kiss my fifty-year-old black ass.” I developed a whole new level of respect for nurses that night.

  I wasn’t supposed to be staying overnight in Lee’s new room, but Tabby took care of that for me, too. Lee would wake up every now and then, to eat and move around a little, but she never spoke. She wouldn’t even acknowledge anyone, just nodding or shaking her head when asked a question. Sadie would leave the room to cry, and Noah would be gone for hours sometimes, always coming back smelling like smoke, but I couldn’t find it in myself to leave her. She was my forever. When she was in pain, then I was in pain, too. Even though she wouldn’t talk to me, or look at me, I knew she wanted me there. I held her hand and she squeezed back, and that was all the reassurance I needed.

  The only time she seemed at peace was when she was asleep. I would stroke her hair and kiss her hand as she slept the night away. I caught myself singing to her all the time, never knowing why I started—it just felt right. I sat back in my chair and scooted as close to her bed as it would allow, still keeping a soft grip on her hand. I kept my voice low as I hummed a melody to her. I leaned forward, and left a soft kiss on top of her index finger, and rubbed the tip of my nose over it. I lifted my other hand and caressed the silky soft skin that was exposed around the tape that held her IV to her arm.