The Rosey Thorn

Chapter 8

Voices. Am I dead? Many voices were speaking. Some voices sound familiar; others don’t. I’m lying on something soft, and it’s cold where I am.

“…multiple beatings, lacerations, and drugs. Rose suffered countless agony. I don’t know how she survived.”

“Was she r***d?” Dad?

“I’m sorry to say, but the tests revealed that she was r***d repeatedly.”

Many gasps surrounded me. I want to open my eyes and see who’s here, but I can’t. They feel so heavy. “Oh, my poor little girl.” Mom? It sounds like her. I want to see her.

“So, did this all happen when she disappeared?” Jake! That’s him. I know his voice anywhere. My breathing came out hard and willed my eyes to open.

“Rose?” A firm grip grasped my arm, and suddenly it felt like El Toro’s grip and I panicked.

“No! Don’t touch me. Get away from me!” I thrashed wildly, fighting them off. Is this all a dream? Did I not escape? Am I back with him?

“Rose, relax. You’re safe. Calm down,” someone says.

“Don’t touch me.”

A small sharp stab pricked my arm, and I felt myself calming down. They put something in me. Is it drugs? Not again. Slowly I started to relax until I could no longer move and fell into another deep sleep.

“You belong to me, Rose.” El Toro grabbed my arm with a grip that would surely give me a bruise. “You are mine and even if you escape, I will find you.”

My eyes fluttered open, and a white tile ceiling came into view. I took a deep breath and let it out. A snoring sound turned my attention to the left, and I saw my dad slouched on a chair. Right beside him was my mom, then my sister. They were the only three in the room, in a hospital room. So, I am alive. I don’t know why, but I hoped that I would die.

“Rose?” My dad awoke with wide eyes that started to glisten as he shook my mom and sister awake. My mom shed her tears as my sister ran out of the room. My parents fussed over me like I was a child. They asked if I was comfortable, if I was thirsty, if I needed more blankets, and other things. My sister, Mary, came in pushing the doctor in front of her.

“Hi Rose,” the doctor began. “I’m Dr. Roberts on the base. I’m going to do some check-ups.”

He started his routine and I had to grind my teeth when he touched my arms or anywhere on my body. I hated his touch. His grip was just like El Toro’s. I hated it. My parents were still asking me if I was okay, but I remained quiet. I wasn’t ready to talk. Twenty minutes later, running footsteps were coming down the hall. My former boss, Captain Daniels, burst through the door, followed by Stan, then other men that were part of Jake’s unit, and other people I knew. Then, lastly, Jake came in. My breathing shuttered as our eyes connected, but he didn’t come to me. He just stared at me, but his eyes had something in them. It looked like guilt. He stood next to Mary, and she looped her arm into his. Is she comforting him?

“Rose,” Dr. Roberts called. I quickly looked away from Jake to look at him. “Can you tell us what happened?”

I looked away and stared at the blank wall. I came here to run away; not revisit the cruelty I endured. “Rose?” The doctor says softly.

“You think it’s easy to talk about what happened?” I asked, my voice straining. “Because it’s not. It’s not something I want to relive ever again. I’m already broken doc. They took everything from me, forced it from me. You’ve seen my body. You saw the bruises before I was hit by the car. I know you had to check to see if I had been r***d, and you know it was positive.”

There was hurt in his eyes as I talked. He didn’t want to know, but I know my former commander and my family do.

“So, tell me doc, do you still want to know what happened to me?” I asked and he gulped.

“I’m sorry, but yes, Rose. I do. I need to know what else they did to you and what drugs you consumed.”

“It happened an hour before my wedding…”

I told them my story of everything I endured even after I was broken, I told them how El Toro gave me to his men when he was unpleased with me. He lets them do whatever they want to me. Bruno was the worst of them all. Remember Bruno? He was the dark man that was sent to break me. Well, after that night, he has been fixated on me and ever since then, he has taken every opportunity to take me. And I mean every opportunity.

Trapped in my locked room, he would come in the middle of the night, pin me to the bed, gag me, and take me. When he was done taking everything from me, he would threaten to kill me and place my body where nobody could find if I told El Toro. Even when El Toro gave me to his men, Bruno took me. Bruno was always there. Both he and El Toro say they won’t let me go.

I continued saying how I managed to escape. “This was the one place I thought of to be safe…but I’m wrong.” It just hit me on why I’m wrong. They let me go on purpose. Why?

“Rose,” Jake’s soothing voice broke through, and he now stood in front of me. He’s so handsome. So strong.

I reached to stroke his rough cheek that had stubble, but he grabbed my hand and pulled it away from his face. Why was he doing this to me? Was he angry at me that I didn’t try to get away?

“Rose, what do you mean that you were wrong by coming here?” He asked, stepping away from me.

“I was sold and bought,” I began. “When you are sold, you are branded with a mark of a symbol that belongs to the owner. We are branded in case their “property” escapes. If caught, then the women are returned to their owner.”

“Rose,” Dr. Roberts began. “I didn’t see any brand.”

“Were you looking for tattoos?” Dr. Roberts nodded. “It’s not a tattoo.” I struggled to sit up using the handrail to pull myself up. My dad quickly came to my side and helped me. God, I didn’t know how weak I was until I noticed how hard I was breathing.

I shifted around to give them my back and said, “They don’t brand us with tattoos. It’s much worse than that.” I moved my hair to the side and pulled down the left side of my gown. I hear the inhale of breath as they see it. “We are burned and branded like cattle.”