The woman was awake, pressed against the headboard and staring at me with terror-filled eyes of the bluest cornflower shade I had ever seen. Her body was shaking with fright and I felt the urgent need to calm and reassure her.
I stood up and she whimpered, trying to back herself even farther away. I saw her glance between me and Bear, who was sitting on the bed, head cocked, looking at her, and I knew she wasn’t sure who she should be more afraid of.
I held up my hands in what I hoped was an innocuous gesture and smiled kindly. “He,” I nodded toward Bear, “won’t hurt you. He’s a gentle giant. He’s been watching over you all night.”
She continued to stare at me, frightened.
“I won’t hurt you, either. You’re safe. I promise.” For some reason, I wanted to tell her I’d been watching her too, but I kept that part to myself.
Her voice was shaky and raw when she finally spoke. “Who are you?”
“Josh. I’m Joshua. The huge beast sitting there is Bear,” I explained. “He’s my dog,” I added unnecessarily.
She nodded slowly. “Where am I?”
I sat down, thinking maybe she would relax a little if she thought I wasn’t about to pounce on her. I gave Bear the hand signal to lay down and this time he actually did what I instructed him to do.
“You’re in my house. You, ah, got caught in the snowstorm and crashed your car on my property. Bear and I found you.”
“You… you found me?”
I nodded. “I think you took a wrong turn and ended up on the road leading to my place rather than the main road. The storm is really bad.” I frowned. “You shouldn’t have been out driving in it.”
I paused, watching her. She was still tense and shaking, but didn’t seem as frightened as she had been.
“You must have lost control of your car and hit a tree. You hit your head on the steering wheel pretty hard. You were out cold when I found you.”
Her hand came up and gingerly touched her head. I saw her wince as her fingers made contact with the bruised skin. Then her hand drifted down to her cheek and paused. “I hit my face as well?” she whispered.
I paused, not sure what to say now. “You, um, seem to have several sets of bruises on you,” I said quietly, indicating she should look at her hands.
She stared down at them, examining the bruising, but saying nothing. She looked at the massively large shirt she was wearing and glanced back up me. “This isn’t mine?” she questioned, her voice hesitant.
I shook my head. “The passenger side door had flown open with the impact of the crash. You were wet from the snow being blown in. I took off your wet clothes.”
Her eyes opened wide in fear again. ”You took off my clothes?” I could hear the panic in her voice.
“I only did that to put dry ones on you while I check your injuries. I swear. I didn’t remove your underwear,” I hastened to assure her. “I only wanted to help you.” I wanted her to believe me. I wanted her to stop looking at me with so much fear in those huge, blue eyes.
“I saw other bruises,” I added gently.
“Where?”
“Your, ah, your legs and your arms.”
I watched as she pulled the covers back and rolled up the shorts I had put on her. In the dim light of the overcast day the bruises looked even darker, and I could clearly see the imprint of a shoe. She traced over the bruises again, not saying a word.
Then she glanced back up. “I don’t know you. How do I know you didn’t do this?”
I sat back, shocked, and felt a ripple of anger go through me. She thought I had done this? I took in a deep calming breath and stood up, approaching the bed. Instantly she shrank away.
“It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. I promise. I just want to show you something that will prove I didn’t do this to you.”
“How?” she questioned me, her voice trembling.
“Do you see the imprint on your leg?” I asked, pointing to the large bruise.
Looking down she nodded. “Someone kicked me?”
“Not me. It was not me. Can I show you?” I kept my voice soft and calm, feeling the desperate need, for some reason, to show her it was not me who inflicted those injuries.
She regarded me for a moment, and then nodded. I grabbed the back of the chair, knowing I wouldn’t be able to keep steady, and slowly raised my foot and laid it beside her thigh. We could both see my foot was easily two sizes larger than the imprint on her leg. I saw her shoulders relax a little and heard her breath release.
“I’m going to sit beside you now, okay?”
Again, she nodded.
“Roll up your shirt sleeve. Just the sleeve. Hold your arm out. Please. I won’t hurt you.”
She regarded me silently for a moment, then I watched her wince as she lifted her arm and rolled up one sleeve and held it out slightly, trembling in fear.