“Tagged you?” I repeat in confusion before I finally understand what she means. They inserted a tracker into her body? “Well, um,” I struggle to reply. “We’ll have the doctors take it out at the hospital soon, and I will personally kill anyone who tries to come near you if I have to.”
“Promise?” she asks.
“I do,” I tell her honestly. I would do anything to stop this from happening to her again. I can’t and don’t want to imagine what she’s been through during the last twenty-four hours since I last saw her. Everything has changed. Her entire life has now changed.
“You’re safe with me. And don’t forget Paul. He’ll be the most dangerous fiancé ever, not letting you out of his arms again.”
“He-he’s here? Paul’s here?” Tessa asks, eyes widening with panic.
“Of course. He’s been out looking for you all over town with his brother, Steven. I can’t wait to tell him the good news. He’ll be so happy you’re okay.”
“No,” Tessa says with a shake of her head. “I’m not okay, Charlotte! And I can’t see him! Please…please don’t make me face him like this,” she sobs before a flood of tears chokes her voice.
“Like what, Tessa?” I ask in confusion.
“Broken,” she replies. “They broke me.”
The final shred of my heart splinters and disintegrates. Whatever they did to her to make her feel this way, to completely destroy the spirit of my best friend, and the knowledge that there’s nothing I can do can fix it rips me apart.
“You are not broken,” I tell her. “You were just…hurt, badly, and, um, it’s going to take time, but we’ll get you through this.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be better.”
“You will,” I reassure here. “Slowly and gradually until you’re all healed up again.”
Tessa doesn’t respond before the ambulance comes to a stop and the paramedics open up the back doors to get her into the hospital.
“I want to stay with her,” I tell them.
“Sorry, but you need to wait here. If you want to have a seat in the waiting room, the nurse or doctor will come get you as soon as they see her,” one of them tells me as they start to whisk Tessa away.
“Tessa?”
“I’ll see you in a few?” she asks.
“Yes. I’ll be right here,” I promise.
“Okay. I’ll be okay,” Tessa says softly to herself.
In the waiting room, I pull my phone from my purse and see several text messages from Paul, Bev and the ladies, who have made it safely back to Raleigh and are wanting to know if I’ve heard anything.
I call Paul first so he can stop searching.
“Charlotte! Please tell me you’ve heard something!” he says in a frantic rush.
“We found her. She was in a storage facility in Shallotte.”
There’s several seconds of silence on the other side of the line before he asks, “Is she…is she alive?”
“She’s alive.”
“Oh, thank god!” he gasps. “Where are you?”
“We’re at the hospital just outside of Shallotte.”
“I’m on my way,” he says.
“Paul, wait! There’s something I have to tell you.”
“What? What is it?” he asks.
“Tessa…she said she’s not ready to see you just yet.”
Again, there’s a long pause. “She doesn’t want to see me?”
“Not yet. I’m sure she will soon, but right now she’s been through a lot, you know?”
“I’m coming, and I’ll wait, however long it takes,” he assures me.
“I know. I just wanted to warn you before you get here.”
“Understood. Thanks, Charlotte,” Paul says before he ends the call.
After I end the call on my end, I’m at a loss for what to do. Thankfully, I’m not alone long before Roman and the rest of his guys show up.
I’m so glad to see him that I throw my arms around him, crushing our bodies together.
“Hey. Any news yet?” he asks as I hold on to him like he’s the only solid thing in the world right now.
“Not yet.”
Finally, after several minutes, I extract myself from him and we all find a seat or, in most of the men’s cases, find a wall to prop up against while we wait in a heavy silence. There’s nothing to say, no small talk to make after the horror we all just witnessed.
In fact, the next time I speak is when Paul and his brother Steven come through the door.
“Is she okay?” Paul asks me.
“We’re still waiting,” I tell him. “Hopefully it won’t be much longer…” I say just as a man in dark green scrubs appears.
“I’m Tessa’s fiancé. How is she?” Paul asks the man.
“Her physical injuries are not life-threatening,” the doctor begins as he raises his hands and pats the air in a soothing gesture. “She’s got quite a few scrapes and bruises, and…” he hesitates, as though he is searching for the correct words. “…some trauma that is consistent with a sexual assault. Right now, she’s dehydrated, so we’re going to keep her overnight for observation. In the morning, we’ll see how she’s doing and get a mental health evaluation…”
“Wait, like a psych exam?” Paul asks.
“What Tessa’s been through was incredibly traumatic. She’s going to need to talk to a professional to deal with the events she endured over the past twenty-four hours. When we asked her how long she thought she was in the storage unit, she told us she thought it was several days rather than hours. She’s incredibly paranoid…”
“They put a tracker in her neck!” I interrupt him. “Were you able to get it out?”
The doctor pats at the air again soothingly when he replies. “We didn’t find any devices, not even microscopic ones, which leads me to believe her paranoia is extreme. She also keeps asking for blankets. I think she had eight the last time I checked.”
“Maybe she’s just cold,” Paul suggests, mirroring my thoughts exactly.
“Everyone copes with surviving a crisis differently,” the doctor says. “All we can do is be patient and ensure that Tessa receives the support she needs. And as of right now, she’s only asking that Charlotte visit. I’m very sorry,” he says to Paul. “She told me about the wedding you two had planned. It’s a shame something so awful ruined what would have been a beautiful day.”
“Ruined it?” Paul echoes. “What do you mean ruined it? Does she — did Tessa say she doesn’t want to marry me anymore?”
The doctor looks to me and says, “That was just my impression, but hopefully Charlotte can spread more light on the subject?”
“Ah, yeah,” I agree. “I’ll go talk to her and report back,” I tell Paul.
He gives a nod but doesn’t say another word. His face is just blank, like he’s trying to figure out how his future with Tessa went from bright and happy to this…not being able to see her or talk to her while she recovers from the worst possible terror imaginable.