Page 8 of Quinn

Barry clapped eyes on the girl and strode to the bed. He rested his doctor’s bag on the mattress and flipped it open then pulled a stethoscope from inside. The girl watched him like a hawk.

“Hi sweetheart. Can I take a look at your injuries?”

She shook her head, shrank back, and gripped the sheet, holding it to her neck. Recognising the girl’s terror, Barry sat on the edge of the bed and spoke quietly.

“Sweetheart, I’m doctor Barry Vincent and I just want to help you to feel better. Can you tell me your name?”

Her eyes darted back and forth between us and it dawned on me what she was seeing. There were six big men hovering around her, no wonder the poor thing was terrified.

“Logan, Daly, Waigi, Mala, can you head downstairs and wait in the hotel’s bar? I’ll come get you when we’re ready to leave.” I flicked my eyes towards the girl and the guys got the message.

“Sure, we’ll grab a cold one while we wait.”

Once they’d left, the girl appeared to relax a little but fear was still evident in both her eyes and the stiffness of her body.

“Now those big bad wolves have left, can you talk with us, please?” I sat back in the chair and Barry pointed my way. “This is Quinn and I promise he won’t hurt you, sweetheart.”

“Arabella,” she whispered.

“Well, that’s a pretty name. Do you have a last name?”

She shook her head. “Not that I know of, I was too young to know it when I was taken.”

“How old were you?”

“One of the other women said I was about two when I was brought to the village.”

“How old are you now?”

“Twenty-three, twenty-four next month.”

“No fucking way!”

Arabella shrank back at my outburst, but the girl was tiny, undeveloped, there was no fucking way she was any older than fifteen at the most. To say I was shocked was an understatement.

“Sorry,” I mumbled when Barry glared my way.

“How do you know your age, sweetheart?”

“Our birthdays were always a big day. That’s when they hurt us the worst. It’s my birthday next month which is why I ran…" Tears streamed down her cheeks as she spoke and she shook her head. “I couldn’t go through another birthday with them.”

Her hands released the sheet and she dropped her head into them and sobbed. Barry moved closer and attempted to soothe her by running his hand over her back. She screamed out in pain.

“Gunshot, Barry,” I explained when he gave me a confused look.

“Shit. Okay. I’m sorry sweetheart. Can I take a look, I can give you something for the pain?”

The sheet was dragged back up to her chin and she shook her head frantically as her eyes darted back and forth between me and the doctor. I reached over and gently peeled the fingers of one hand from the sheet, taking it in mine.

“Honey, I promise, we won’t do anything to hurt you but if Barry can’t treat your wound, it could become infected and then it would be much more serious.”

Her eyes gazed into mine and there was no missing the fact she was scared.

“Please?” I tried again.

She nodded and lowered the sheet. I took her other hand and she turned towards me, presenting her back to Barry. He pulled down the top of her dress and thoroughly examined the puncture wound before applying a dressing to the wound. His eyebrows raised on sight of the weeping welts and he gently applied a cream he pulled from his bag. He then checked the wound above her breast and applied another dressing.

Barry settled the top of the dress back into place. “Through and through. Looks clean and from the lack of bleeding, I’m confident there’s been no internal damage done but when we get her back, I’ll organise a few x-rays. I think she would benefit from a thorough examination but I’ll get one of the female doctors to take care of that..”