Friday, October 18th Pt. 9
“Take my hand Cole.” I reach out towards him. He slips his hand into mine but it’s impossible to miss the tremble.
“Do you know what I’m looking for?” He nods, I wait. “The pain is easier to tolerate now that I know where it comes from. I’m scared Dr. Leroux. The pain is intense and I’m only getting part of it.”
I nod. “I’m sorry, Cole. It will get worse before it gets better but her will to live is the biggest factor.”
He nods as I let his hand go and pick up her arm. I run my fingers lightly down her forearm looking for the best vein to use. She flinches with my touch but no longer has the energy to even pull away.
“Are you still awake, Jessa?”
“Barely.” She whispers.
“I need to run a lot of blood tests before I give you the medication that will start the dumping process so I will be giving you a multivitamin with iron to help with anemia. Are you aware of any panels that were done at Crimson Dawn?”
“I will contact Angela in the morning and have her medical records sent to you.” Demetri responds before she can.
“Have you done STI testing on her?”
“I don’t think so.” He shakes his head slowly. “Similar to my son, we have to give her Ativan every time we have to do any type of blood work or testing so we’ve tried to keep it minimal.” I nod, appreciating his input.
“Jessa, I need honesty with these questions. There’s no reason to be embarrassed or to hide your history.” She nods easily.
“Are you currently sexually active?”
“No sir.”
“It’s okay if you have.” Cole encourages her.
She shakes her head. “I’ve only dated the alpha’s son, Damian, during my time at the pack. We broke up a few months later, around the time you arrived. We never engaged in any kind of sex.” I simply nod.
“Have you been sexually active in the past?”
She shakes her head.
“I don’t know how to answer that.” She states meekly.
I can tell that she’s struggling with being honest in a room full of people.
“How can she not know how to answer?”
“Not now Luna Charlotte.”
I try to shut her down before she gets started. I place my hand in Jessa’s getting her to look at me.
“Have you ever had consensual sex?” She shakes her head against Cole’s chest.
“Good girl. You know where this is going but I have to ask, have you been raped?”
I drop my voice low in the hopes she might answer. She turns her head away, trying to disappear into Cole’s chest as she silently cries.
“Good girl.” I rub her hand gently. “Two more questions then I’m going to start the blood draw.” She takes a deep breath before nodding.
“Were you at multiple packs before Demetri’s?” She nods.
“Okay sweetie. This is the toughest one. I want you to show me your answer.” I instruct as I tap the hand I’m not holding. “How many packs did it happen at?”
She shakes her head. A common response when this type of abuse has happened multiple times. She lets go of my hand, turning her body so she can pull herself even closer to Cole. He embraces her tightly, ducking his head against her ear. He speaks so low that I can’t tell what he says, only that she cries harder as she hears it. I wait patiently for her to settle before trying a different tactic for getting the critical information.
“Jessa, it’s important that you understand that what happened to you while you were a rogue wasn’t your fault. I’ve fought with the council for years to advocate for transparency regarding empaths and intuitives due to the overwhelming majority of empaths being abused mentally, physically, and sexually. I am one of the lucky ones. My great grandmother found a safe haven here at Shadowlands and the story of her mistreatment was passed down to every empath that has been born here to encourage us to stay where it’s safe. Now, I would like to wait to tell you that story for while Demetri, Cole and I are helping you cope with the pain caused by the Silvex. I have a different story that I hope will allow you to trust me with the trauma you’ve kept inside.”
She turns her head and rests it against Cole’s chest as he continues his gentle rub on her back.
“The first empath I encountered during my training didn’t even realize she was one. Her alpha abandoned her at the earliest age one can become a rogue, sixteen. All she understood was her insistence when it came to what others were feeling made her a feral. Naturally she was very bold yet naive to the ways of the world. Her alpha had been tough on her but nothing like what she encountered when she was forced to be on her own. She bounced in and out of packs at a remarkable rate, only staying for a month or two before they would force her out. Every pack was abusive but only three used the power, the control that occurs when one is raped as a means of breaking her spirit, of forcing her to comply.
Unfortunately, when I asked her the same questions as I asked you when she was admitted to the detox hospital’s ICU she didn’t answer the sexual activity question the way you did. Where you were confused on how to define your sexual activities she kept it simple by saying no. Even though I was familiar even then about the abuses empaths suffered I was willing to believe that since she didn’t know she was an empath perhaps the packs that poisoned her didn’t either and spared her that atrocity. I made the mistake of listening to an older, more experienced empath in her last year of training. She told me not to run the STI blood panel that would have shown that she had been exposed to chlamydia. She claimed that running that panel when they don’t admit to being raped is embarrassing and accuses them of lying about being a virgin. Having just started my training in the hospital, I followed her advice even though she was my patient. When I gave her the same medication you will receive her wolf dumped portions of everything she had been exposed to, including the entire bacterial load of untreated chlamydia, into her blood.”
I sigh deeply as I pause as this still haunts me and it’s been ten years since it happened. When I open my eyes she’s watching me intensely and has changed her hand position so she’s holding mine now.
“Ten days later, after she had initially improved, I discovered that she was having a lot of pain during urination. We checked her for a uti and discovered the STI. Further blood tests revealed that all the medication she was on for silver poisoning reduced her immune system's ability to fight the infection. For reasons she never explained, she had the symptoms of chlamydia three days into treatment and didn’t report them until she couldn’t handle the pain. She got very sick, very fast. Another round of blood tests revealed she had gone septic. It’s not a normal occurrence with chlamydia but any infection has the potential. After a four day battle with the strongest antibiotics the hospital could give her she passed away.”
I hang my head as this is not something I ever disclosed to Cassius. Even though we grew up together, my years training my empathic abilities with my mother and grandmother set me up to leave the pack for a specialized medical school just before I turned sixteen. As much as I didn’t want to leave him, once you’re enrolled and accepted you must report. They gave me a week's delay due to Alpha Cannon’s sudden death in a car accident but as soon as the funeral was completed I had to fly south to South Carolina for training. I didn’t return until my training was completed five years later.
“Were you punished for her death?”
I’m surprised by Demetri’s question. I look up at him from the floor struggling to process the question.
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