All Sam could tell me was the cross streets and that she was somewhere in the woods behind a playground. Terrell was already with me when she called; he showed up to make sure I was okay after I came to the conclusion that Sam wasn’t meeting me like I thought. He proved to be helpful with navigating because he knew the area better than I did. Neither of us said a word as we drove because we were unsure what we were about to find. Sam’s voice sounded so strained that I thought I misdialed. But then I realized that it was her and she was in serious trouble.
I pulled into the parking lot of a school near the intersection that she gave me and I could see the playground across the clearing. Cutting the car off was not a priority, so I jumped out almost as soon as I put it in park and raced off into the darkness. Terrell followed behind me closely as I tried to see as far off in the distance as I could. Just past the swings there was something white lying in the grass and I rushed over to pick it up. It was a striped dress and I recognized it immediately as being Sam’s. I almost fell apart right then, but I knew I had to find her quickly.
It was worse than I thought and I started to panic as I rushed into the woods to look for her. The leaves crunched a few yards in front of me and that was when I saw her lying there. I had my shirt off before I got to her and hurried to cover her naked body. I didn’t know where to touch her without causing pain. Her legs and mouth were bloodied and bruised and I could see that her face was purple on the left side with a small cut over her eyebrow. She was still clutching her phone in her hands from when I called her. I choked back tears and tried to focus so that I could get her the help she needed. Terrell turned his back when he realized that she was naked and growled in anger, pacing amongst the trees.
“W-who,” he stammered, and then gave up.
I’d just seen her the night before, making it hard to believe the state of her now. This wasn’t how the night was supposed to go. When I picked her up in my arms she didn’t respond at all because she’d gone into shock. Terrell ran back double my speed because I was carrying her, so he made it to the car and drove it to where I was near the playground. I climbed into the backseat still holding her and Terrell rushed us to the hospital.
I burst through the doors of the ER and got the attention of the first nurse I saw. “Someone has to help her!”
The woman assessed Sam’s condition and immediately motioned for me to follow her as she ran to an open bed. I lay her down and stared at her helplessly.
“What happened? “ The nurse asked while she was rushing around Sam quickly, prepping her for IV’s and checking her vitals.
“I don’t know, I-I-Icalled her and she said that she needed help and this-this-was how I found her.” While I was explaining, a doctor and three more nurses rushed past me to Sam’s side.
They did a quick assessment, deciding where to start. “There’s some obvious head trauma and possibly a sexual assault,” the doctor said quietly to the nurse, but I still heard every word. I paced in the doorway like a mental patient. I was supposed to have been there to protect her. This was all my fault. Once I figured out who’d done this to her, he’d better pray that the cops got to him before I did.
“What’s her name?” The nurse asked without turning to look at me.
“Samantha Kelley.”