Renee noticed the detective catch himself. Attacked. He was going to say Attacked.
“Do you think someone attacked her?”
“Please, take a deep breath and slow down, Mrs. Clements. As I said, we don’t know much yet. We were able to locate her roommate by scanning her student ID, which we found inside her backpack. Zoey got there before Julie was placed in the ambulance.”
“Oh my God, she went in an ambulance?” Renee’s voice was rising in panic.
Jess must have heard her through the duplex wall. She had a key and Renee heard her sister come in downstairs. She heard Molly give Jess a rambunctious greeting, even though it was the middle of the night, then Jess sprinted up the staircase, a questioning look in her eyes.
“Something happened to Julie,” Renee whispered to Jess.
McGregory continued to try to reassure her. “She appears to be fine physically, Mrs. Clements. Something has her upset. I’m sure you would feel better if you could see her, so why don’t you drive over? But, for goodness sake, be careful—there’s no need to speed. Julie will want you here in one piece.”
“OK, tell me exactly where she is,” Renee demanded, still scared to death but going into her tough functioning mode. She could break down later. The cop was right: now wasn’t the time.
Hanging up after she had the address of the hospital, she threw on clothes and grabbed a duffel bag. Jess ran into the bathroom and scooped up toiletries for Renee, including her glasses and some disposable contacts. Dumping everything in a big baggy she found under the sink, she threw it all in Renee’s duffel. Renee tried to fill Jess in, but she didn’t know much yet.
“OK, Renee, breathe.” Jess took hold of her sister’s shoulders and forced her to look at her. “I’ll stay here with Molly. You go, but be careful. I’m calling Mom and Dad, too. They may want to meet you at the hospital. I don’t think you should call Robbie until you know more. No sense worrying him at this point.”
“Right, right. But will you be OK here by yourself?”
“Yes. Tell you what. I’ll give Grant a call so he knows what’s going on. He’s right here if I need anything. Now go.”
Renee ran out to her Toyota, tossing her bag in the passenger side. She jumped in, slammed the door—then dropped her keys and couldn’t find them on the floor. She could feel her panic rising. She was still so far away from Julie, and her daughter needed her. A tap came at her window and she screamed.
“Jesus, Grant, you scared the shit out of me!”
“Sorry, kiddo,” Grant apologized, opening Renee’s door. “It looks like you were having a little trouble getting going. Jess called. I’m so sorry something happened to Julie. Are you sure you’re OK to drive? Maybe I should take you. Grace could go stay with Jess in the duplex.”
Any other time, Renee would have refused. But she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to be able to hold it together all the way to the hospital.
“Would you do that for me? I’m so scared,” Renee admitted, a lone tear slipping down her cheek.
“Absolutely. Give me three minutes. I’ll run back to the cabin and then we’ll take off. I need my wallet.”
“OK, please hurry. Julie needs me.”
True to his word, Grant wasn’t gone long. He threw the SUV into reverse and sped out of the lot, heading for Julie.
Renee knew Jess probably already talked to their folks, but she needed to talk to them, too. Sometimes you need your parents, no matter how old you are. Her mom picked up on the second ring.
“Honey, do you know any more yet? We talked to Jess. We’re coming to the hospital, too. We don’t want you to deal with this alone. Are you on the road?”
“Oh, Mom, I am so scared. Poor Julie. She’s there all alone, and we don’t even know what happened.”
“Renee, remember, she has Zoey with her. She isn’t alone. I’m worried about you driving when you’re so upset.”
“Actually, Grant offered to drive me. Grace will stay with Jess.”
“Thank God.”
“What time do you think you’ll get there, Mom?”
“Your dad put the address in the GPS. We should get there at three-thirty-five.”
“We should get there a little ahead of you. Call my cell when you get to the hospital, and we’ll tell you where to come. I’m going to try to reach Zoey now. Maybe she can tell me how Julie is or what happened.”
Renee fumbled with her phone, trying to find her daughter’s friend in her phone contacts. Finally successful, she placed the call. The phone rang and rang. Zoey’s voice came through, but it was voicemail. Renee asked Zoey to call her back right away.
“She’s probably with Julie now. She might not even have her phone with her, running out when she found out about Julie,” Grant attempted to calm Renee, reaching across the dark interior to give her knee a reassuring squeeze. “Do you want to talk, or would you rather not?”
Renee could feel more tears coming. “I should have listened to her, Grant. She didn’t want to go back to school, and I made her go.”
“Renee, this isn’t your fault. You know that. Going back to school, even if she doesn’t know exactly what she wants to do, was the right advice.”
“But you wouldn’t let Grace go back.”
“That is different, and you know it. You’re understandably upset right now, but you can’t blame yourself for any of this.”
“I know that in my head, but my heart is screaming something different at me right now.”
“Believe me, I’ve been there, done that. But this wasn’t your fault. We don’t even know what happened yet. Let’s not jump to any conclusions.”
Renee didn’t answer Grant, only gave a brief nod, turning her gaze out the passenger window.
It started raining, pavement a slick black stretching off into the darkness. Mile after mile, the swooshing of tires was the only sound. Finally, their surroundings became dotted with more and more lights until they reached the city. They pulled into the hospital parking ramp shortly before 3:00 a.m.
Grant barely had the car stopped before Renee shot out the door toward the bright red Emergency sign. Wanting to be there for Renee, but not wanting to intrude, Grant hung back. He’d spent so much time in hospitals over the past two years, he wasn’t anxious to enter another one.
Automatic doors were too slow for Renee; she repeatedly pushed the button displaying a wheelchair, as if that would slide the doors open quicker. Sprinting up to a reception desk, she impatiently waited for the man sitting there to get off the phone.
“I am Renee Clements. My daughter, Julie Clements, was brought in a few hours ago. Where is she?”
“Oh, yeah, the college kid,” the man responded—slowly—searching a pile of paperwork on the desk in front of him—slower, still. He wasn’t moving fast enough to suit Renee.
“Come on, buddy, where is my daughter?” Renee demanded.
The man raised his head and frowned at her. “I’ll need you to fill out some paperwork,” the man replied, not to be rushed.
“Oh, for God’s sake, I am not dealing with that right now.”
Renee gave up on him and approached a woman walking down the hallway in a white lab coat with a stethoscope hanging around her neck and a tablet in one hand.
“Excuse me, I am looking for my daughter, Julie Clements. Can you help me?” Renee asked the woman.
“And your name is?” the white-garbed woman replied.
“Renee Clements, Julie’s mother. I came as soon as the detective called, but it was a three-hour drive.”
“Yes, Mrs. Clements, I examined your daughter. Why don’t we go have a seat in the family waiting room. I don’t think anyone is in there.”
Not waiting for an answer, she turned and headed down another hallway, Renee close on her heels.
The room was in shadows. The woman flipped a light switch, bathing the area in a warm glow. She took a seat at a round table to the right of the door and motioned for Renee to sit across from her.
/> “Mrs. Clements, my name is Dr. Roberts. I’ve been here since they brought your daughter in. After I finished examining her, I gave her a sedative to help her rest. The police are not happy with me because they want to talk to Julie, but since she wasn’t talking anyhow, I thought it would be best for her.”
“So what can you tell me?”
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you much yet. But the good news is there is no evidence that your daughter was physically harmed. We did a thorough evaluation.”
“So she wasn’t raped?” Renee asked, her voice catching on the last word.
Dr. Roberts reached across the table to squeeze Renee’s hand, tightly clenched on top of the laminate surface. “No, Mrs. Clements, we could find no evidence of any type of physical abuse.”
“Oh, thank God,” Renee whispered, slumping back in her chair. “You can’t imagine all the scenarios that have been running through my mind. So she’s OK?”
“Well, not exactly. Something has her extremely agitated. She hasn’t said a word since she was brought in. There were no tears, but she was shaking violently. She didn’t object to my physical examination, but she won’t tell us anything.”
“But . . . I don’t understand.”
“I ran a tox screen to see if there were any substances in her blood that could account for her behavior. I was checking the results when you arrived,” said the doctor, tapping the screen of the tablet she carried. “I’m not seeing anything unusual here either. It’s looking more like something or someone severely frightened your daughter, Mrs. Clements, but help may have arrived before she could be physically harmed. At this point, we may need to wait until she can tell us what happened before we get any answers.”
“Can I see her?”
“Yes, of course. Please follow me.”
Renee followed Dr. Roberts, spying Grant sitting in the outer lobby area as they passed by. She motioned to the room she was heading toward with the doctor, but he gave her a thumbs-up of encouragement and stayed where he was.
A uniformed police officer was leaning against the wall outside the room. He stepped toward Renee, but the doctor shooed him away. Renee nodded at him but kept going, wanting nothing more than to see Julie. Lights were dimmed inside the room. Julie was lying in the bed, looking still and fragile. Renee didn’t see any equipment hooked up to her daughter other than a monitor softly beeping off to the left, showing her heartbeat on the black and green screen.
“Oh, honey, I’m here,” Renee said soothingly, stepping to Julie’s side and taking up her daughter’s hand. She looked questioningly at Roberts when Julie didn’t respond in any way.
“She’ll sleep for at least another hour. She’s sedated, so she won’t know you’re here yet,” the doctor assured her.
A slight movement in the corner of the room caught Renee’s eye. Zoey stood up from where she had been sitting, stepping to Renee.
“Oh, sweetie, are you OK?” Renee asked of her daughter’s best friend. Zoey crumbled into her arms, tears flowing.
“Renee, I’ve been so scared. I don’t know what happened.”
Renee patted her back. “Start from the beginning.”
“I was in our room, studying . . . Julie wasn’t home, studying in the library, went to meet a new study group at nine, and I hadn’t heard from her. My cell rang—campus police, telling me something had happened to Julie and asking if I could come over right away. When I got over near the library, I could see a group of people gathered under a street light by one of those blue alert buttons. The light was pulsing . . . it was so scary.” Zoey took a steadying breath. “Julie was lying on her side, shaking but not crying or talking. Two medics were working to get her to stand up so they could help her onto a stretcher, but it was like she didn’t know anyone was there. They got her on the stretcher, still all curled up in a ball. They let me ride in the ambulance with her when I told them I was her roommate. Oh, Renee . . . I’m so glad you’re finally here.”
“Oh, baby, thank you so much for being here for Julie. I would have gone crazy if I hadn’t known you were with her, taking care of her until I could get here.”
“I didn’t do anything. I don’t know how to help.”
“Zoey, that isn’t true. You have been a huge help. I’m sure Julie knew you were here, even if she didn’t acknowledge you. That’s what true friends do for each other.”
“Maybe Zoey would like to go home now that you are here, Mrs. Clements,” Dr. Roberts suggested. “She has to be exhausted.”
“Oh, of course,” Renee replied. “Zoey, do you remember meeting Grant, my brother-in-law?”
Zoey nodded, teary-eyed.
“He drove me here because I wasn’t in any shape to drive myself. He’s waiting out in the lobby. Would it be all right if he drove you back to the dorm? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”
“Oh, a ride would be great,” Zoey said. “My eyes feel like sandpaper . . . I need to get these contacts out.”
“Should I call your folks at all?” Renee asked.
“No, please don’t call Mom and Dad. A phone call at three-thirty in the morning would freak them out. I’ll be fine. I’ll call them later. Will you let me know when you find out what happened?”
“Of course. Now come on, I’ll take you out to Grant.”
Grant stood as they approached. He gave Zoey a small smile and nod of recognition. Renee was grateful for his calming presence. She updated him on what she knew. She saw the flash of relief in his eyes when she reported Julie hadn’t been physically attacked. Renee knew he harbored some of the same terrible fears. He was more than happy to give Zoey a ride back to the dorm.
Just as Grant and Zoey turned to leave, Julie’s grandparents burst in. After accepting a teary hug from Lavonne and a hearty handshake from George, along with words of thanks for getting Renee to the hospital safely, Grant left with Zoey.
“How is Julie?” Lavonne inquired, hugging her daughter next.
Renee updated them with what she knew. George went in search of coffee for his girls while Lavonne and Renee sat by Julie’s bedside waiting for her to wake up. Renee talked briefly with the police officer. He wanted to talk to Julie but was needed back at the precinct so asked Renee to give them a call immediately when Julie started to come around. Renee promised to do so.
Julie didn’t wake up in an hour as the doctor had said; it took her almost three hours to come out of the sedation. The nurse kept assuring Renee not to worry—sometimes, she said, it took people longer to wake up.
***
The sun was up when Julie began to stir. Lavonne had just left to find a bathroom and both George and Grant were out in the waiting room. Renee hadn’t let go of Julie’s hand for the past two hours and she must have dozed off. She was awakened by a slight squeeze of her fingers. She opened her eyes to see Julie looking at her. It took Julie time to focus, to recognize her mom.
She must not have her contacts in was Renee’s first thought.
“Hi honey, how are you feeling?” Renee softly asked her daughter.
A tiny shrug was all the response she got. No tears, no words.
“Zoey was here with you, but Grant took her home so she could rest. We can call her when you’re feeling better.”
Renee didn’t know how to handle this. The shaking the doctor told her about was gone. Renee pushed the button to raise Julie’s bed up so she was sitting more than reclining. She stood at her daughter’s side, fingers softly brushing her hair back from her forehead.
A nurse came in. “Well, hello there, Julie. We were wondering when you were going to wake up,” she said as she circled around the hospital bed, checking the single monitor and feeling Julie’s pulse. “How are you feeling?”
Julie looked down at the blanket covering her. Renee met the nurse’s gaze, silently asking what would happen now.
“I’ll go let the doctor know you’re awake, Julie. She will be in shortly to see you.”
When they were alone again, Renee sat down on t
he edge of the hospital bed holding Julie’s hand.
“Honey, do you want to talk about what happened?”
“Why . . . why am I here, Mom? Why are you here?”
“Do you remember anything that happened last night, Julie?”
Julie thought about it, a look of vague consternation on her face. “I remember eating supper and then meeting my study group in the library . . . we were studying for a math test. Oh my God, what time is it? I’ll be late for my test!”
Renee jumped back up, placing her hands on Julie’s shoulders and gently pushing her back against the bed. “Don’t worry, honey, you can make up the test. Do you remember anything after you were finished with your group? Do you remember walking back to your dorm?”
“No.”
“You don’t remember anything at all?”
“No.”
Renee wasn’t sure whether that was entirely true. She thought she heard some hesitation in Julie’s reply.
“Honey, I’m sorry, but the police wanted to talk to you as soon as you woke up.”
Julie looked at her, scared now. “Why do the police want to talk to me? And why am I in a hospital bed? Mom, you aren’t making any sense.”
“Julie, something happened last night. Police were summoned to one of those on-campus alarm stations and found you there next to it, very upset. You were brought here so the doctors could check you over and you could rest. You were so upset, honey.”
Julie looked at her mother as if she had grown two heads.
At that moment, Dr. Roberts came in.
“Hi, Julie. How are you feeling this morning?”
“Why does everyone keep asking me that? I feel fine, other than the fact that I’m freaking out a little because my first math test starts in an hour, and, oh yeah, I’m stuck in some stupid hospital room but I have no idea why.”
“Julie, something happened that upset you a great deal last night. We couldn’t get you calmed down, so we gave you something so you could sleep. Do you remember anything at all?”
“Did someone attack me? Oh my God . . . was I raped?” Julie’s voice rose with the beginnings of hysteria.
Whispering Pines (Celia's Gifts Book 1) Page 34