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“Yes.”

He nods. “Please go on.”

“When he got me to the bedroom, he slammed me into the wall. I started screaming, hoping that someone would hear me. He slapped me once and punched me to shut me up. Then, he threw me on the bed and tied my hands to the headboard.”

Nelson and Rodriguez whisper to each other, pointing to things on the paper for a moment.

“And then what?” Nelson asks.

“And then he raped me.”

Tucker makes a choked sound behind me and Trey coughs gruffly. I close my eyes, feeling bad that they have to hear all this. Nix has his hands balled into fists in his lap and his knee is shaking. At least he’s not screaming like he did after I told him this story last night.

“What happened afterward?”

“Afterward, he untied me and fell asleep. I was able to get out of the house and I went to my brother’s house.”

“And when did you go to the doctor?” Nelson asks.

“The next morning.”

“Can you confirm this?” Detective Rodriguez asks Tucker.

“She did leave the house for about two hours that morning but I didn’t know where she was going.” Detective Rodriguez nods and Detective Nelson scowls at the doctor’s report in his hand.

“We’ll go get Detective Wheeler’s statement and be back. Please wait here.” They stand and leave the room with my folder full of evidence, shutting the door behind them.

“I’m so proud of you, baby.” Nix wraps his arms around me.

“Thanks,” I whisper, collapsing into him, suddenly feeling exhausted from reliving everything with the detectives.

“I love you, Emma.”

“I love you, too, Nix.”

* * * *

“Emma, why didn’t you ever tell us about everything?” Tucker asks as we sit in the room, waiting for the detectives to come back.

“I…it’s…I guess I didn’t want you guys to think of me like that.”

“Baby girl,” Trey whispers, shaking his head and looking at the floor.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the doctor’s report?” Nix asks.

“Because I could barely get through it. I wasn’t going to let you guys read it.”

All three of them pale as they imagine what could possibly be written on that report.

“Exactly.”

“Fuck,” Tucker growls.

The door opens and Nelson enters the room again. He sits across from us with a stern look on his face.

“Well, we’ve talked to Detective Wheeler. He said you have a history of mental health issues; is that true?”

“No.”