The medics allowed Stephen to ride in the back of the ambulance. They put an oxygen mask on Reesa and started her with an IV. They also put a patch on her shoulder blade to help with the pain. She was breathing heavily but it was apparent that with each breath there was pain, he could see it in her eyes. Slowly she began to calm down as they neared the George Washington medical center. Stephen jumped out of the ambulance and watched as they wheeled her away.
He spoke to one of the admitting nurses, who recognizing him, told him that a doctor would be with her immediately and then report anything to him. She questioned him about family and insurance, he replying that her grandmother would be there shortly.
Stephen paced up and down, not exactly sure what to do. He immediately called Jack, the in-charge of security. Jack told him not to talk to anyone, except get the medical report from the doctor and wait till he arrived, which would be about thirty minutes.
Shortly after closing his cell phone a nurse came up to him, "Mr. Williams? The young woman we just admitted would like a word with you."
"Is she ok? Is there any internal damage?"
"We don't know yet Mr. Williams. The doctor ordered an MRI and only then will we know."
As Stephen thanked her for the information the nurse led him down a hall into a small room where Reesa was lying on a bed, hooked up to an IV, oxygen tubes in her nostrils, and several wires connected to a monitor.
Stephen rushed up to her and grabbed her hand, being careful not to touch her anywhere she might be bruised. She looked a mess. Someone beat her badly. There was a bandage on her head, and one across her chest, perhaps a few broken rips. Her face was puffed up, but at least no longer bleeding.
She started to talk, but Stephen hushed her, she didn't have to say anything, just relax.
"No ... Stephen, listen ... I have to tell ... you something. I'm sorry ..."
With short sentences broken by gasps, Reesa related to him how she got into this mess. Stephen sat there listening to her stunned by her confession. At some point he let her hand go, unable to believe the words she was saying, to believe that she was capable of such a thing. Reesa was crying and reached her arm out for him, but Stephen didn't have it in him to give her his hand. He couldn't say or do anything.
Shaking his head, more to himself in disbelief, he walked out of the room, nearly bumping into an older black woman. It took him a moment to realize that it was Emma Jackson, Reesa's grandmother.
She just looked at him then at Reesa, not believing that this was the man Reesa had been so anxious about for the past week -- Stephen Williams, personal advisor to the President. Her granddaughter, Reesa Jackson and Stephen Williams? Not possible, her mind was turning over in her head what was going on. And now he looked so despondent, so upset, while her initial thought it was bad news about Reesa, she sensed it was something else.
"Ms. Jackson, Reesa is inside. She's in a lot of pain and they are waiting to take her for an MRI to see the extent of internal damage. She's been beaten badly," Stephen was saying almost absent mindedly. But she had little time to listen as she rushed in to see Reesa, both women crying as Stephen walked away.
By the time he returned to the waiting area Stephen knew he had to call Jack back and give him the details of what Reesa had just confessed. Within ten minutes two men in suits walked into the waiting room and straight up to Stephen. They introduced themselves as FBI agents sent by Jack and were there to interview Reesa. Just then Jack strode in as well, a coffee in hand. It was now nearing midnight and it was going to be a long night. Jack spoke with the agents and then with the admitting nurse, eventually with some administrators before being taken back to see Reesa.
Jack came over and sat next to Stephen. "Let's go out to the car and talk, you need to tell me everything -- what she said, how she said it -- so we can try and figure this thing out."
Once in the privacy of Jack's car, Stephen told him everything, going back to the afternoon he first met Reesa on the basketball court and how he was supposed to meet Ryan there, but he cancelled last minute. He told him about the bet, the sex, and the early morning fuck after she found his childhood photo album. He also told him about how she left when he reported everything Jack had found at about her.
But what Jack was really interested in was her confession and explanation of why she was beaten up.