Chapter Twenty-Four

Atlas is standing on the other side of the room. He hasn’t taken his eyes off
me the entire time the nurse has been helping me. After taking a blood
sample, she immediately returned and began to attend to my cut. She hasn’t
asked me very many questions yet, but it’s obvious my injuries are the
result of an attack. I can see the pitying look on her face as she cleans up
blood from the bite mark left on my shoulder.
When she’s finished, she glances back at Atlas. She steps to the right,
blocking his view of me as she turns and faces me again. “I need to ask you
some personal questions. I’m going to ask him to leave the room, okay?”
It’s in that moment that I realize she thinks Atlas is the one who did
these things to me. I immediately start to shake my head. “It wasn’t him,” I
tell her. “Please don’t make him leave.”
Relief washes over her face. She nods her head and then pulls up a chair.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?”
I shake my head, because she can’t fix all the parts of me Ryle broke on
the inside.
“Lily?” Her voice is gentle. “Were you raped?”
Tears fill my eyes and I see Atlas roll across the wall, pressing his
forehead against it.
The nurse waits until I make eye contact with her again to continue
speaking. “We have a certain examination for these situations. It’s called a
SANE exam. It’s optional, of course, but I highly encourage it in your
situation.”
“I wasn’t raped,” I say. “He didn’t . . .”
“Are you sure, Lily?” the nurse asks.
I nod. “I don’t want one.”