A moment later, the woman ushered them inside a long white building. A tall balding man was waiting in the large waiting room. "This way," he said.
He led them through a doorway and into a hallway. He opened the second room on the right and gestured them inside.
"What happened?" he asked while Chris placed Ariel down on the bed.
Chris explained about the beating their father had given her and about them being outcast from the village. As he told the healer about both beatings, the man's eyes grew more concerned. He pulled her shirt up enough that they were able to see her stomach for the first time. It was almost one huge deep bruise spreading almost to her back on both sides. He then raised her shirt a bit more, and there was an almost pure black spot over her heart.
"Dear God! Why?"
