Jade (Wildflowers 3)

We all laughed. I saw Star staring at me.

"What?"

"Nothing," she said.

I smiled at her.

"It's all right. We're all going to be all right," .I said.

"Another pair of rose-colored glasses working away," she declared.

Misty and I laughed and then we heard Dr. Marlowe returning with Cat. I looked through the patio door and watched Cat sit and Dr. Marlowe leaning over her, offering some comforting words.

"Maybe I'm not doing her any good," I thought aloud.

"Dr. Marlowe wouldn't let you talk if she thought that, would she?" Misty asked. "I mean, she knew most of what you're telling us, right?"

"Most," I said. "But not all," I admitted. "More seems to come back to me than usually does when I'm alone with her, but there's still a lot left to tell."

"I guess that's why she wanted us to do this," Star said. "The same was true for me."

"Me too," Misty said.

I nodded.

Dr. Marlowe took her seat and looked out at us. "Time to go back," I said. I took a deep breath as if I was going under water. "Let's get it over with."

We returned to the office and our seats.

"How are you doing, Jade?" Dr. Marlowe asked.

"I'm all right."

"We could stop and let you continue

tomorrow."

"No, I don't want to sleep on any of it," I said and she nodded, smiling in understanding.

I turned to the girls.

"He didn't rape me," I said quickly. "When I was unconscious, I dreamed of someone's lips on my cheek, in my hair, then lightly over my eyelids and finally on my lips, but nothing more had happened. Star was right. Everything he did, he did mostly to keep me from leaving. In his madness he figured that if I didn't have clothes, I wouldn't try to escape."

Cat looked like I had taken a weight off her shoulders, as if what had happened to me could have happened to her.

"When you realized what he had done, did you break the window?" Misty asked.

"I couldn't reach it," I said.

"What? Why not?" Misty followed. Star nodded like she already knew.

"He had tied my left ankle to the bed and my right wrist. He used the computer cables--I guess he didn't want me to be able to call for help over the Internet. If only I'd thought of that sooner. Turn and twist as much as I could, I was unable to reach the knots and the movement cut through my skin. My ankle actually started to bleed."

"Oh no," Misty cried. "What happened next?"

"I lay there as quietly as I could, trying to keep from passing out again. I was terrified of what he might do next.

"It seemed like hours before he returned. He entered the room, smiling. He was carrying a children's book in his hand.