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.