The Rabbit Girls(59)

Miriam watches the nurse look at the scars on her arms.

‘I’ll do some vitals and then get the doctor to come in and have a look at you,’ she says as the cuff deflates and Velcro snaps back into life.

‘Does anywhere hurt? Any pain?’ she asks and places a thermometer in Miriam’s mouth.

She shakes her head. And the thermometer knocks against her teeth.

‘Good. Doctor will be with you shortly.’ The nurse, a wide woman and short, takes the thermometer and walks away, closing the curtains around the bed once more.

Miriam looks around her and shivers. Her jacket is half off and she pulls it around her fully and buttons it up. She is sitting on the bed fully clothed, her tights hang like wrinkles against her skin. Her skirt is bunched. She gets off the bed, and although feeling light-headed stands steady and finds her underwear tucked into her skirt. Torn. She bends to remove her shoes and take off her tights and alongside her underwear she places them both into a brown paper bag, used for vomit, she presumes. She folds the top of the bag over, twice.

Miriam perches on the end of the bed and the plasters on her fingers are wonky and have collected blue dander. She takes each plaster off and stretches her fingers slowly. Pulling her wedding ring off, again, she places it in a yellow bin with a red lid on the table beside her. The ring gives a satisfying thump as it lands at the bottom of the bin.

She bends to tie her laces back up when the curtain springs open. A doctor of epic height and stance looks at a chart in front of him.

‘Miss, I am Dr Evellor.’ He turns and pulls the curtain closed behind him.

‘Do you have any injuries? Have you fallen? Hurt your head?’

‘No, no. I think I’m okay.’

‘How is it that you have found yourself in the emergency department then?’ His smile is wide and genuine, and he sits at the bottom of the bed, placing the chart down. He looks at her.

‘I would like to go home.’

‘Have you been visiting relatives? Some bad news, perhaps? It has been noted that articles of your clothing were torn?’

‘Yes, I took them off. I would like to go home now, I am feeling fine. I am sorry to waste your time.’ She stands.

‘Please sit. Let’s be thorough, shall we? What happened to you before you arrived in my department?’

Finding there are no words she smiles and meets the doctor’s eyes. They are bright blue, but red-rimmed. Tired.

‘My husband hurt me a little, that is all. I will be fine. I now need to go home to my dad.’ Then she realises, her father is on the ward, she doesn’t have anyone to return home for.

‘Hurt you? Where?’ He writes on the board in front of him.

‘It’s nothing.’

‘Did he hurt you sexually?’ he asks in the same tone.

‘Yes,’ she says, thankful that someone could name it. ‘Yes, he did.’

‘Do you think he intended to do this?’

Miriam nods.

‘Thank you. Now, if you don’t mind, I am not going anywhere, but I would like you to feel a bit more comfortable and I am very aware that I am a man, and discussing injuries you may have sustained during intercourse may not feel appropriate for you. My colleague, Sarah, will be with you very shortly. Until that point, can I ask you to tell me if you need anything?’

‘I’d like to go home, please.’

‘To your husband?’

‘No, my parents’ house. I left my husband.’

‘I’ll leave these forms for you, can you complete them and Sarah will be with you shortly. If we can check you over, give you a clean bill of health, then you can get on your way.’

She completes the forms, leaving the majority blank. Her marital status – unknown. Her medical history – complicated. She feels in a moment of rare clarity that her medical history may just have been the consequence of her marital status.

Sarah arrives in a red-headed blur, she stammers and blushes. Miriam feels more uncomfortable than ever, so declines an examination, declines blood and swab tests and declines contraceptive advice.

‘I don’t need that,’ she says as kindly as she can.

‘Because you have been hurt and attended to today I’d like to ask if you would like to speak to a police officer, there is a female officer who can take a statement from you. Or at least discuss your options?’

‘I really don’t need anything, honestly. This is not unusual, Sarah. He just caught me off-guard, that is all.’

‘Don’t you think it wrong, though, that he can do this to you?’

Miriam looks at her askance.

‘I mean, if you spoke to the police there would be a record that he harmed you. If you let me look at you for injuries, they could press charges. He could be punished for hurting you in this way. Because it is not okay.’ Miriam says nothing. ‘I’ll get you a glass of water and a biscuit. Have a think and I’ll be back in a few minutes. Is there anyone you would like me to call for you?’

Miriam shakes her head, ‘No, thank you.’

Sarah pulls the curtains closed, cutting out the vision but not the sound of people all around her. She thinks about the consequences and she thinks about ‘on the record’. Maybe people would believe her.

When Sarah returns, she agrees to the examination and the talk with the police officer following that.