Aurora awoke a week later. It took a moment for her mind to clear, for her to remember part of the horrors that were forced upon her. She began to scream.
A nurse and doctor rushed into the room, trying to keep Aurora in bed.
"Dr. Pritchett ... Dr ... AURORA! You are in a hospital! You are safe!"
Aurora stopped struggling and looked at the man in the white coat as he continued:
"You came in a week ago. We've been fighting a terrible infection in your body, and once that is more under control, we will have to do some surgery on you. But otherwise, you are doing much better. It's good to see you with so much fight in you! Oh, and by the way, I'm Dr. Unger. I've been taking care of you for the past week ..."
"A WEEK?! I've been here a week?!"
"Yes, but for the most part, you've been in a drug-induced coma. Whoever did this to you did a marvelous job of messing you up. We are going to try to make it better, but you will never ..."
Aurora closed her eyes and whispered, "I know"
Dr. Unger placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. The police have come around every day hoping to talk to you. I've been left with instructions to call the detectives when you wake up. Are you up for giving them descriptions and details?"
"I'm not sure what I remember, doctor," Aurora said quietly, "I think they gave me drugs."
"Yes ... yes they did. We have already screened your blood and have identified what they gave you. It was quite a concoction! Frankly, I'm amazed you lived through it!"
"They knew what they were doing." Aurora turned away and looked out the window at the sun shining on the trees. As beautiful a day as it was, she felt storm clouds brewing in her soul because she knew she would be a dead woman if she identified her attackers.
Dr. Unger made some notes in her chart and left the room, leaving Aurora to her thoughts. And to her deep despair.
In the little house in the next town, Dinah fed Arielle and put her down for her nap, and then began the task of making dinner for Ian. She busied herself with domestic chores, loving her new role as wife and mother.
It was 5 o'clock when Ian came through the door. She flung herself at him, smothering him with kisses, but when she pulled away, she noticed that his face was a bit of a glower rather than his normally relaxed countenance.
"What's wrong, Ian?" Dinah ran her soft hand over his furrowed brow.
Ian sighed loudly and stepped away, making his way to the couch and flopping down like a rag doll.
"Baby? What's wrong? Did I do something? Are you mad at me?" Dinah's mind flew into a panic. Ian didn't normally back away from her. He was rarely silent in her presence. All this made her think there was trouble between them that she hadn't seen before.
"Huh? Oh ... hi, darlin. No, I'm not mad. Just a lot on my mind. C'mere" Ian held his arms out and she sunk into them, instantly comforted by their strong cradle around her.
"So what's wrong?" Dinah nuzzled his chin with her nose and took a long, deep smell of him. His scent still aroused her so much, and she felt her nipples harden in her bra.
He squeezed her more tightly to him. "I couldn't wait to get home tonight. Hell, I couldn't wait to get out of there. I am NOT cut out for the political realm, Di. I think I need to get out of there." He absentmindedly stroked her hair, and Dinah sunk further into him, relaxing more than she had all day.
"So, what do you want to do, Ian? What would make you happier?"
Ian looked down at the love of his life. "Di, I was happiest at the clinic."