085

Tapping on her computer keys, "Mr. Rivers, yes, I see Lisa here. She's in room 410. Your wife is still in surgery, she took a blow to her face, suffered a concussion, and they're hoping to stabilize her pregnancy."
"She hasn't lost the baby?" I asked.
"Not to my knowledge."
"What happened to her face?"
"A blow to the face, a broken orbital I believe. I'll know more when she's done with surgery." I looked at Marcia again, my fists clenched.
"What happened to Lisa," I asked.
"Broken nose and a couple cracked ribs. They reset her nose and taped her ribs. It hurts to breathe, but she's on pain meds."
"Can I see her?" I asked.
"Are you a relative?"
"No, we live together. We're lovers."
She looked at me curiously. "Your wife is here, and your lover?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Is that what the fight was about?"
"No ma'am, not between them. They're lovers too. They were attacked by another man."
"Is he a lover, too?"
"No, an ex-husband. Ma'am, the police are investigating. I'm sure they can explain the whole thing when they're done. In the meantime, I need to see Lisa."
"Hospital policy doesn't allow non family members without checking with the patient."
"Could you please check with her so I can see her."
She looked at Marcia. "Are you a lover too?"
"I'm a Los Angeles County deputy sheriff. I drove him here. I know what their relationship is. Let the man see her."
"Do you have ID?"
Marcia pulled out her credentials and badge. She was in civvies.
Mabel checked them carefully. "All right. Room 410. There's a policeman outside her door"
As we took the elevator, I asked, "Is Lisa under arrest?"
"Doubtful. More likely under protection until they find the perpetrator. He may not be done yet. Try not to confuse people too much with reality. Tone down the Master/slave stuff. Human trafficking is a real issue and BDSM slavery might not go over well. Go easy on the lover stuff. You're just a very good friend who the patient lives with."
We got off the elevator. Only one door had a policeman in front of it, so we headed that way. He stood as we approached.
"We're here to see the patient," I explained.
"You are?"
"The patient lives with me. I'm a very good friend."
"Your name?"
"Scott Rivers."
"Husband to the other woman they brought in?"
"Yes, sir."
"Detectives were looking for the husband of one of the women."
"I don't believe it's me, but if they want to talk, I'll talk. I want to know what happened."
"How do I know it's not you?"
"Because he was in Los Angeles attending a class," Marcia said. "I just drove him up here under the most god awful traffic you've ever seen, following a California Highway Patrolman, lights and siren, otherwise he'd only be halfway here by now."
"Who are you?"
Marcia handed him her credentials and badge again.
"You're a long way from Los Angeles, deputy," handing everything back.
"I'm just a friend of the family, chauffeur today, to get him here on time. When he left, he didn't know what happened or if everyone was okay."
"How did he know anything happened?"
I showed him the alert I received on my watch. "When my wife called 911, I was immediately notified as next of kin. It's the emergency procedure we set up on our iPhones. All I know is something happened which caused her to call 911, not what happened."
"Can he please see the patient, officer. You're welcome to observe. We're not here to cause trouble," Marcia said. "My dispatch said the perpetrator was stabbed by this patient. You can check him over. He's not wounded."
The deputy nodded and we went in. He followed us, standing by the door.
Lisa looked horrible. She had two black eyes, tape over her nose, a drip running in her arm, whether nourishment or pain killers, I didn't have a clue. She looked like she was asleep.
I went in and took her hand. "Lisa, can you hear me?"
She opened her eyes. "Hello, Master. I'm sorry," she whispered.
"I'm not your Master here, love," I whispered back. "The walls have ears." In a normal voice, I asked, "What are you sorry for."
She nodded her head, understanding. "I opened the door without looking. Jack burst through the door, knocking me down, kicked my ribs, screaming at me because I filed a restraining order against him. Then he ripped off my robe, and started raping me. I tried to fight him, but he punched me in the face. I don't remember too much after that until I noticed he was raping Julia. I found a knife on the floor and I tried to stab him in the back. The knife wouldn't go through his ribs. He roared at me he was going to kill me, but police cars were pulling up outside, so he ran out the back door. I'm sorry, sir. Julia was unconscious and I'm afraid for the baby."
"I think the baby's okay, Lisa. They're still working on Julia. Jack hurt her."
"It's my fault."
"It's not your fault, Lisa," Marcia said. "How could you know there was a madman on the other side of the door? It's not normal to expect the worst."
"Hello, Marcia. What are you doing here? Isn't Lucia coming?"
"I drove Scott. He was in a big hurry to see you, so I helped him get here as fast as I could. Lucia's coming up with Sam. They didn't need to hurry as much as we did. Who called 911?"
"Julia must have. I didn't. It's good to see you, Marcia. I'm sleepy. Is it okay if I sleep?"
"Of course, angel," I said. "Go back to sleep. We'll see you later."
She closed her eyes, drifting off.
"I need to see Julia and find out from the doctor what's going on."
We went to the surgical center and checked in.
"Scott Rivers checking on my wife, Julia."
"They just moved her to ICU. She's still under from the anesthetic. I'll let the doctor know you're here."
"Thank you."
We sat down and waited. About ten minutes later, a doctor came out. He spoke to the receptionist, she pointed to us and he came over.
"I'm Doctor Andrews, Scott Rivers. You're Julia Rivers husband?"
"Yes, can you tell me how she is? I haven't gotten much information."
"We think she'll be fine. We repaired the break to the zygomatic bones, the cheekbone, and the underlying sinus cavities. Dr. Sturgis was able to prevent a miscarriage of your child. We'll be keeping her for a couple days observation to make sure everything's copacetic. I'd like you to talk to our Social Worker, please."
"Why?"
"When both women were brought in, they had collars around their necks and leather cuffs around their ankles and wrists with which they could be confined. Additionally, Mrs. Rivers had metal jewelry around her neck and wrists which couldn't be removed without a key. We had to cut them off for x-rays and MRI's. It's our duty to report signs of abuse to the police."
"Did you find any signs of abuse to their bodies, doctor?" Marcia asked. "Burns, old breaks, bruises, or the like not related to the current crime?"
"No, we didn't."
"Nor would I expect you would, doctor. I'm very familiar with Mr. and Mrs. Rivers and their relationship. It's one of the most loving and closest relationships I've ever witnessed."
"Who are you?"
"I'm a Los Angeles County deputy sheriff, doctor. Are you familiar with people who practice dominance and submission?"
"I'm familiar."
"Scott and Julia tried it out for a couple weeks and both of them enjoyed the experience very much. So much, in fact, that Julia begged her husband to put the collar on after Scott was reluctant to do so. I witnessed this. It was in Los Angeles where I lived and they were visiting. Scott would no sooner harm his wife than he'd stab himself to death."
"And the other woman?" Doctor Andrews asked.
"They're all in a polyamorous relationship, both of them loving this man and agreeing to serve together."
"He still needs to speak to the Social Worker. We have to determine the risk ourselves."
"I'll talk to whoever I need to speak with," I said.
"Before you see Mrs. Rivers. I don't want you telling her what to say," Doctor Andrews said.
"Whatever you want. Where do I find him? I want to see my wife."
"It's a her, Room 112, this floor," Doctor Andrews said. He left, hurrying off.
"Change of plan, Scott," Marcia said. "Don't downplay your relationship anymore. If the Social Worker is involved, you'll need to be honest about how things work. They may find it strange, but they can't arrest you if you're not breaking the law and if they feel you're lying to them, you may not be able to see Julia. Why don't you get the paperwork from your car Zoe prepared before seeing the Social Worker? It may help explain things."
"Thanks, good idea."