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raped?
    Regina left the room and Dr. Cooper came in. Justin tried to release her hand and move away, but she tightened her grip. He was able to stand to the side and out of the doctor’s way.
    Dr. Cooper gloved his hands and touched the places that hurt the most with pinpoint precision. With each poke, pull, and pat, Ryan squeezed Justin’s hand tighter.
    When Dr. Cooper was satisfied he’d tortured her enough, he stepped back and removed his gloves. He turned to her parents. “It’s hard to tell the extent of the damage until the swelling goes down. The lip is a concern. I’m afraid some of these abrasions will leave scars.” Then he spoke to Ryan. “The important thing is to protect that skin. No sun, no makeup. I’ll write a prescription for some cream.” To her parents he said, “I’m here once a week. I’d like to see her either here or in my Dallas office in about a week.”
    Anger burned in Ryan.
Those bitches left me with a mangled face.
Tears threatened, but she’d be damned if she’d cry. She would not let them win. That meant no tears, no pity, no hiding away.
    Dr. Cooper shook Ryan’s hand and pointed to Justin. “And who is this?”
    Justin let go of her hand and stuck his out. “Justin Hayes.”
    Dr. Cooper shook his hand and smiled. “Kin to Alan?”
    Justin nodded. “He’s my dad.”
    “Ah. Then Ryan is in good hands.” He shook Ryan’s parents’ hands and left the room.
    Regina returned and shooed everybody to the waiting room. Ryan thought she’d be more nervous, but whether it was the pain pills, exhaustion, or Regina’s calm demeanor, she wasn’t sure. It wasn’t as bad as she’d imagined. Almost the first question out of Regina’s mouth was whether she’d been sexually assaulted.
    Ryan almost laughed. She assured her there was nothing sexual about it. The second question was whether it had been Justin, the third about her family. When she had assured Regina that it was nothing as heinous as that, she allowed her mom back into the room. Regina took scrapings from beneath her nails, clipped them, and meticulously placed each item in a bag, labeled and sealed. When she’d finished gathering physical evidence, she held Ryan’s hands. “This has been traumatic. You may not realize it now, but it’s bound to affect you. We have counseling available. Even if you decide not to press charges, you need to tell someone who did this to you.”
    Ryan started to tell her that she’d already done that, but Regina was on a roll.
    “I’m going to give you my card. It has my cell phone number on it. There are three of us who are certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners. I know you weren’t sexually assaulted, but you were assaulted. If at any time you need to talk, you call. There is one more thing.”
    Ryan was ready for this to be over with.
    “Even though you are not going to press charges now, a police officer would like to ask you a few questions. It’s important that she takes a statement in case you change your mind.”
    Ryan nodded and Regina released her hands.
    By the time everybody had asked their questions and examined her, Ryan was sure she was not going to press charges. She’d had enough. It was after lunch when they walked out of the hospital, and she hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours. She just wanted to get home, shower, and crash.
    She watched Justin walk to Austin’s truck. There was something about his casual gait that made her smile. She’d never thought about how anybody walked before and wasn’t sure why his counted—but it did. Or maybe she was just too crazy tired to make sense.
    Austin and Kelsey were ahead of Justin. Kelsey opened the back door of the truck and called, “Come on, Sir Goofy.”
    He smiled and jogged the rest of the way to the truck and Ryan wanted to hide forever. Had she really called him Sir Goofy?
Yes. And I held his hand like he was my boyfriend.
Surely he knew she was just drugged out. This whole boyfriend thing wasn’t