Chapter 16: Di

The female deputy was named Theresa Charles and wouldn't shut up. Di had pulled her knees up and huddled in the corner behind the driver's seat as soon as Jason disappeared from her view. The ride to the hospital seemed to go on for hours, but Di knew it was just her anxiety.

It was hard to believe one day could take her from the happiest she had ever been in her life to the back of a police car. Jason looked so scared and angry when he saw Deputy Charles dragging her out of the house that she was afraid he would do something stupid. There was no way she would ever talk to them about Jason. She resolved to say absolutely nothing to anyone.

"I know you may think he loves you and that you're protecting him, but if he's been touching you he needs to be in jail."

Oh, he's been touching me all right, she thought with a sly smile, then suppressed it before the deputy noticed.

"We're trying to help you, Diamond. Could you please help us a little?" Officer Charles sat up higher so she could see Di in the rearview mirror, but Di turned to stare out the window to avoid her eyes and pinched her lips together.

She hated her full name and hated her parents for saddling her with it. She didn't need a reminder of the man who caused her burns or the woman who had abandoned her. Her mother may have disappeared, but her father was rotting away in a Florida penitentiary. He'd written her a few times over the years to beg forgiveness, but she never wrote him back and never would.

"When we get to the hospital I'll need you to speak to the person who's going to perform your exam. Anything you tell them will be strictly confidential. There will also be some forms you need to sign. After the exam I'll take you to a nice group home for a few days."

Di rolled her eyes. There was no way in hell she'd be signing or saying anything. Whatever that crazy bitch in social services did, nothing would make her turn on the only person in the world who had ever cared about her.

They pulled into the hospital parking lot and Di felt her stomach tighten at the idea of someone examining her. If they tried she would hurt them if she could. And if that social worker, Lola, showed up, Di planned to leave scars.

Officer Charles opened the door and tugged on Di's arm to get her out of the car. After walking through the automatic doors at the emergency entrance, Di was seated in the waiting room while the deputy went to talk to someone at the nurses station. After a brief conversation, the deputy sat across from Di and picked up a magazine.

Fear and anger gave way to boredom as Di waited. The television was playing some inane celebrity morning show. Shutting her eyes, Di tried to reclaim the peace she'd felt that morning.

When they finally made it out of his bed, Di had danced in the kitchen as she made them breakfast. After he showered, she had a thousand questions about what they had done. She knew some of them were dumb, but Jason never laughed at her.

It was funny that while he'd explored her body, she had yet to see him naked. Most of her questions had to do with how things worked. She hadn't expected his scent to be so arousing or that he would love the way she tasted. It had been so much more intense when he touched her than when she touched herself and he said he felt the same way. She also worried that while he had managed to get her off twice, she had done nothing for him yet.

Jason answered every question, often with a cute blush over explicit details. He'd assured her again that he was fine with taking things slowly. They might have focused on her pleasure so far, but he promised to share his pleasure with her whenever she wanted. When she had suggested they return to bed after breakfast to play, Jason laughed and pointed out if they ever wanted to make it to Orlando he'd have to repair the RV in the garage. Then he kissed her and said they had all the time in the world.

Di opened her eyes and wiped the tears off her cheeks. Their time had run out a few hours later when she heard the hard knock on the door. She had put their sheets and towels in the washer and was preparing lunch when that bitch Lola had ordered her dragged out of the house.