Because I Love You

Chapter 2: Haven

Jamie clutched the new note pad and pen to her chest as the nurse wheeled her down the hall. She stopped at an office door and pushed Jamie's wheelchair inside, closing the door behind them.

Dr. Ellison looked up from a stack of reports she was reading at her desk. She took off her reading glasses and smiled tiredly at the pale girl in the wheelchair sitting across from her.

"Hello Jamie, feeling a little better now? She asked. Jamie opened the pad to a clean page and wrote something. She held it up for the doctor to read.

Everything still hurts.

Dr. Ellison nodded sympathetically.

"I'm afraid it will for a little while. But it should be better in a week."

Is Michael here yet? Jamie wrote.

"No, not yet Jamie. But in the meantime I was wondering if I could ask you some questions?"

Depends on the answers.

"Well for starters, could you give me your full name?"

Jamison Roxanne Scott.

"That's a pretty name," commented Dr. Ellison, as she wrote it down, mostly for the sake of conversation.

It was my great-grand mother's.

"Your age?"

20.

"And you live in North Carolina now?" said Dr. Ellison checking her records.

Yes but I was born here.

What are you studying in school?"

Dance.

"Do you enjoy it?"

Of course.

The slight cheek in the last answer made Dr. Ellison do a slight double take as she wrote it down. Jamie was already getting over her ordeal enough to sass her authority. She hid a slight smile. Jamie put down her pen, waiting for the next question.

"Could you tell me about what happened last night?" The reply was swift.

NO. Jamie glared at Dr. Ellison from behind her pad. She might like the doctor behind the desk and trust her enough to examine her bruises, but she wasn't going to talk about what happened yet. Her mouth set in a determined line.

"Why not? Don't you want to put them in jail?"

Not ready.

Dr. Ellison leaned over the desk, looking at Jamie.

"Jamie. I know you had a rough experience and I understand you are scared of reliving everything. But the sooner you tell us everything, the better chance we have of catching them, and the better chance we have of making sure that they don't attack anymore innocent girls like you."

The comment stung slightly but Jamie just pointed at her pad again for emphasis.

Not ready.

In afterthought Jamie added, Shouldn't the police be asking me these questions?

Dr. Ellison nodded. Why was she doing this? It wasn't any of her business. Her job was to examine the victim and if she happened to talk about the incident she was to be advised to repeat it to a police officer. The truth was...she had come to be rather fond of Jamie in the few short hours she had met her. There was a resiliency in the girl hiding under the surface that showed as she glared up at the doctor from her wheelchair.