is a rather unorthodox thing to ask, but I’m asking that you not discharge her until I find her someplace else to live. I’ll pay whatever it will cost to keep her here longer.”
“Of course, Mrs. Vallin. I won’t know how extensive her injuries are until we run tests, but at a glance, I can see that she’s been beaten and possibly sexually assaulted. I think we should get a therapist to speak with her as well. How long are you thinking?”
“Thank you. I’m thinking a few weeks, until I can straighten a few things out. A therapist could do her a lot of good. She won’t listen to me.”
After I finished up with the doctor, the waiting room became my hang out spot while they worked on Tash. I needed to see her again before I left, to let her know that I would be there for her, especially after what she went through.
My buzzing disposable alerted that a text had come in.
“6” was the number that appeared and made up the whole text. It was Angel letting me know that six members of the Haitian crew were already dead. Knowing those two, no one would notice them missing until they stopped showing up.
Their bodies were never going to be found. If Angel and Devil weren’t injured or killed in the act, they weren’t getting caught. I had that much confidence in them because they had blessed me with some of their training.
Devil had taught me how to handle knives like an expert. Angel taught me everything I needed to know about guns and how to use and clean them properly. Because of those two, I had learned to kill with precision at a distance and with sharp intensity, up close and personal. My own crew didn’t know the level of effort I had put into arming myself with tactical knowledge and survival skills.
I rapped softly against Tash’s door, my knuckles barely connecting before stepping in. The IV taped to the back her hand was attached to a beeping machine that pushed clear liquids into her.
“Hey, Tash,” I said, stepping closer to the head of her bed. She looked like a little kid, no more than twelve. Thin, but strong. Angry blue and black bruises and scratches marred her neck and decorated her body. They had dressed her in one of those blue hospital gowns that swallowed her.
“They said they want to keep me, but I’m okay. I don’t need to stay here.”
I took her small hand, which was trembling despite the determination set in her expression. “I want you to stay here, Tash. Let these doctors and nurses do their job and take care of you. You’ve been through a traumatic experience. You may not feel it now, but once the realization of all you’ve been through comes to light in your head, trust me, you’re going to want to be here.”
I reached into my purse, took out a disposable, and handed it to her.
“If you need me, call me. I may not be able to make it right away, but if I say I’m coming, I’ll be here.”
“I know. I knew that if you found out the Haitians had me, that you or someone would come. You are the only person that has ever had my back. That’s why I wanted to work for you. You care if I live or die. You risked your life…”
Her eyes flooded with tears, and although she fought to keep them hidden, a rush of emotions shook her body.
“You risked your life to come and get me. No one, not even my own mother, has done anything like that for me before.”
The flow of my emotional energy caused the lump in my throat to grow bigger. I gripped her hand tighter, hoping to force in the mental strength she would eventually need to face what happened.
“Tash. It’s my fault you were in that mess in the first place. If I’d forced you to go to college and get away from this life, you wouldn’t be in this hospital.”
She was already shaking her head. She lifted her hand, showing me her wrist that was covered in scars.
“If I’d never met you, I’d probably be dead.” Her words stunned me, kept me quiet. “The first time I saw you, I was ten, and you were fighting a grown man near our projects. He beat you really good, but you never gave up. The crowd kept yelling for you to stay down, but you