He stayed on the phone with me until he arrived at my house. I made a mental note to ask later how he knew where I lived once I knew my sister was safe. Daxton confirmed that her car was in the driveway and continued to stay on the phone as he knocked on the door. Riley's barks were audible in the background, so I took that as a good sign. My dog would have never let Craig into the house without a fight, and barking meant he was ok.
Daxton must have taken the phone away from his ear, because I could barely still hear him talking. I almost cried with relief, willing my legs to stay upright as I gripped the phone tightly when I heard my sister's voice.
“She’s okay, Rae. Do you want to talk to her?” He said into the line.
“Yes, please.”
“Rae? What’s going on?” She asked, the skepticism strong in her voice.
“Are you okay?” Even though Daxton had already assured me that she was, I needed to hear it for myself.
“Yes, I’m fine, I was in the bath earlier, that’s why I missed the phone call. What’s going on? Why is your therapist here?”
“Craig sent some photos in the mail. Photos of you outside my house, Mickey. In the last one, he was holding a knife.”
“Are you sure it was him?”
“Yes, I’m sure, who else would pull a stunt like that?” I tried to soften my tone when I spoke to her, reminding myselfthat she was on my side and was probably trying to process the information just like I was.
“Have you called the police?”
“Not yet, I wanted to make sure nothing had happened to you, and I’m scared they aren’t going to believe me.
“I’m going to take Riley back to my house tonight and have Gavin come over.” Gavin was her gay best friend that Riley had already met on several occasions and didn’t have any issues with.
“Please call me in the morning?”
“I’ll call you at seven sharp, Rae. Here, Daxton wants to talk to you, and I need to go get Riley's stuff.”
I said goodbye to my sister as Daxton came back on the line.
“I told her I’d wait here until she’s ready to leave,” he said quietly.
“Thank you, seriously, I can’t thank you enough for checking on her.” My heart had never known what it felt like to be this much of someone’s priority, even before the ordeal Craig had put me through.
“You don’t need to thank me, Rae, I told you I’d take care of you, and I meant it. After I make sure she leaves safely, I’m going to give my friend at the police station a call about this, so be prepared, they may send an officer to the hospital to collect the photos.”
“Do you think they’ll believe me?”
“My friend trusts me, and I trust you, so I guarantee at least one will. Your sister is coming out with your dog, if you can call that horse a dog,” I snorted a laugh at his comment. Riley was hugefor his breed, but he was my big baby. “I don’t think you should show anyone else the photos until the police get involved.”
“Kendi has seen them,” I uttered without regret.
“Kendi, I trust, but I wouldn’t let anyone else take a peek. You never know how people will react to things like that. I’ll come check on you tomorrow morning.”
“Okay,” I agreed, saying goodbye and hanging up the phone. The weight that had been bearing down on my shoulders since opening that envelope had lessened significantly. Knowing that I had someone in my corner to help carry the burden.
Making my way back down the hall, I tried to keep a neutral look on my face as I went back to find Kendi still in the lounge. She was still sitting in the same spot, her book propped open on her lap with the envelope tucked underneath.
“Is everything alright?” She asked quietly, not drawing attention to my return.
Picking up my book and finding my place, I nodded, whispering to her what had happened. We agreed that if the cops hadn’t come by the time we were required to return to our prospective bedrooms, we would hide the envelope in her room. It could easily be explained as paranoia, but after everything Craig has shown he’s capable of, having someone in here to fuck with me wouldn’t be that far of a reach.
We didn’t need to worry about hiding it. Daxton had pulled through with his promise of reaching out to his friend at the policestation. I didn’t doubt his word, but I did doubt that any officer would believe my story enough to make the trip to the hospital. Within thirty minutes of getting off the phone with him, an officer showed up, escorted by a security guard from the clinic.
We watched them arrive, stopping to speak with Shemar at the nurses’ station before they came to the lounge. The security guard asked if they could speak to me privately in one of the unused evaluation rooms. I nodded and didn’t say a word as I took the envelope from Kendi and followed them out. If anyone asked when I came back, I could easily say it was over the situation that landed me here in the first place. I hadn’t exactly been subtle when I explained how I had been committed here against my own will, so it should be an easy enough story to sell.
The security guard left us alone in the small room, promising to be back in a few minutes to escort the officer out. He took a seat in one of the chairs as I did the same. My nerves were almost completely shot around the police. I forced myself to steel my spine and refused to let Craig win this round by giving in to my fear.
