The serviceman from the power company dropped his clipboard and knelt down next to the unconscious woman. He had seen people react many ways to shutting off their power but this was a first for him. He could tell this was not an act, no one could force their skin to turn that color.
He gently turned Janine over and patted her face gently, "Ms. Grant, Ms. Grant", in his anxiety assuming the woman on the floor was Paul Grant's wife. As he moved his hand to gently pull her skirt down he noticed the ugly welted bruises up and down her thighs. There were fresh ones and a number that looked much older. They were yellow and starting to heal. He shook his head, it never ceased to amaze him what people would do to those they supposedly cared about. But for right now he was most concerned that she was not regaining consciousness. He noticed the large lump starting to form on her forehead and decided that he might now quite a bit about electrical circuits but he knew very little about the circuitry of the brain. He opened his cell phone and dialed 911.
Voices from far off were calling her name. "Janine can you open your eyes?" What a dumb question she thought, of course I can open my eyes. However, as she tried she realized it was going to be more difficult than she thought it would be. When she tried to move her head there was a heavy, dull pain and she groaned. "Get Dr. Ferris, I think she is starting to wake up." Another voice she didn't recognize. As Janine struggled to open her eyes all she saw was fuzzy gray outlines. Suddenly a light was shining in her eyes and she struggled to move her head but it was held securely. As the torturous light beamed in each eye, Janine began to see colors and distinct lines. "Now that is looking better", boomed a hearty voice. The voice was cheery but loud and Janine winced at the ache in her head. The Dr. smiled and lowered his voice considerably. "Sorry about that. But we are very glad to see those pretty eyes open. You, my dear, have a serious concussion and we have spent the better part of a day and night hoping you were going to wake up pretty soon." He patted Janine's hand as he realized the amount of shock she was in from all this information. "I am Dr. Ferris and you are at Mercy Hospital. I do believe a young man brought you in. That headache you have is going to last awhile unfortunately, although now that you are awake we can give you a mild pain reliever.
Janine heard nothing past a young man brought you in. Paul...it had to be Paul, he came back and found her. Oh God he saved her life. "Oh please can I see him?" The Dr. smiled, patted her hand again, gave the nurse orders as to what to give her and assured Janine she could certainly see her good Samaritan.
The Dr. left the room and within a few minutes a tall very slender man in a gray uniform walked in looking very awkward. His sandy brown hair was tousled and he had deep blue eyes that looked at Janine curiously. "Hey there glad to see you are doing better, you sure gave us a scare."
"Who are you, where is Paul", Janine's voice was sharper than she intended but this was becoming very confusing. The young man sat down in the chair next to her bed.
"Oh well your husband wasn't home when I got there. I guess you don't remember after that awful bump on your head." He winced as he looked at the huge lump which was now turning a horrible shade of deep purple. "All we could find in your purse was your name and information. I guess you use your maiden name since there was nothing with Grant on it."
Turning her head slightly to the side Janine winced, "He isn't my husband, we live together. I thought when they said a man brought me in that it was him." A few tears trickled down her cheeks. Her voice became cold and leaden, "Please leave, I just want to be alone." In her misery it never even occurred to her to thank the man who had seen to her safety.
Rob awkwardly stood up pushing the chair back and watching Janine crunch her face at the squeal it made on the floor. "I am sorry Ma'am, hope you are better really soon. I am sure I can get the power company to wait until this all gets straightened out." Waving her hand at him, Janine paid no attention to what he was saying. As the nurse walked in with a hypodermic Rob nodded and walked out the door.
As he started down the hallway the Dr caught him by his arm. Sorry son, I didn't get your name."
"Oh its Robert Powell, I work for the power company. When I came to disconnect the power today she fainted and that is when her head was injured."
The doctor nodded, "I see, so you are not her boyfriend or husband. We would like to talk to him if you happen to have any information about him."
Rob handed the doctor the card for the power company service office, "They can help you, all I know is that his name is Paul Grant and he lives at this address." Rob wrote it on the back of the card. "But the lady says it is not her husband, but that she lives with him." Rob shuffled his feet, "I couldn't help but notice all the well, bruising on her legs. Is she going to be alright?"
The doctor looked at him gravely, "That is what we would like to talk to Mr. Grant about. Thank you for your information. You have been very helpful.'
Rob started towards the elevator and turned back, "Is it ok if I come back and visit, just to make sure she if doing ok?"
The doctor smiled, "Of course you can and I am sure that Janine will appreciate it."
The nurse swabbed down the area where she had just given Janine a shot. "Now this will help the pain in your head and make you sleep. Don't you fight it sweetie. You need to rest." Before the nurse walked out the door she hesitated, "Janine is there anything you would like to talk about? You know, of course, we all saw your legs. Its hard to miss. Honey, is someone hurting you?"
It took a moment for Janine to get what the nurse was talking about. Her legs?.. Oh the bruises. "She shook her head, "No it is just because I did not do as I should, I deserved it." Then she repeated Paul's favorite phrase, "Bad girls get spanked." Of course had she been coherent she would never have revealed such information to the nurse but she was already sinking off to sleep.
The nurse left the room shaking her head. The doctor looked at her quizzically. "All she would say is bad girls get spanked." Her face was pinched in anger, "I would like to get my hands on the bad boy that did that to her." She stried off to the nurse's station.
Shaking his head the doctor went off to visit other patients not knowing that the woman with the abused legs and buttocks would become a very interesting mystery.
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