Chapter Five

"I'll be honest, I'm surprised you came here on your own two feet and not on a gurney. You were lucky enough to avoid damage to your bones but as far as I can tell that is the only part of your body that hasn't been injured. This wasn't just some random beating, it was thorough and efficient in its brutality. This was obviously done by somebody who knew what they were doing. There is heavy bruising and small cuts on over forty percent of the surface of your skin, most of your muscles have sustained enough blunt force trauma that they look like a piece of grade A meat that someone has tenderized to make steak and your tendons and ligaments are on the verge of snapping like threads. Luckily you have sustained minimal injuries to your internal organs except for your brain. You did however received a heavy blow to your head and you do have a concussion. Things to do with the brain are always complicated but I am cautiously optimistic about your case but for now you should be under constant supervision, you should not fall asleep for the next twenty four hours."

The little Indian man in blue medical scrubs with a tag on them that said Dr. Gupta stood in front of Jillian who had changed into generic blue clothes that all patients wore and rattled off a list of her injuries like a grocery list but Jillian was barely paying attention to him because she was too busy experiencing the pain caused by the injuries he was talking about.

Jillian's mind had slowly recovered on the ride from the police station to the hospital. While that might sound like a good thing, it meant that she now felt every cut and bruise on her body and as Dr. Gupta had pointed out, there were a lot of cuts and bruises to feel.

The good doctor had given some pain medication to her and it had helped a lot but since she had a concussion, he was unable to give her the really good stuff so she was somewhat distracted as Dr Gupta continued to speak.

Briggs was also in the room but he wasn't paying attention to the Doctor's words either. His eyes kept involuntarily drifting towards Jillian's back which was visible because the patient gown she was wearing wasn't properly fastened. Every time his eyes would drift towards her, he would remind himself that she was injured and tried to stop himself from staring but eventually his eyes would find their way back to her again. He couldn't really help it, he had always thought that Jillian looked pretty but he had never thought that beneath all of the thick sweaters and unflattering clothes that she usually wears hid a body that could make any man's imagination run wild.

He finally managed to get a hold of himself and turned away with great difficulty only to find doctor Gupta looking at him with a knowing smile.

"I don't know what happened and I don't know the nature of your relationship with this woman but I'm going to have to report this to the police and you are going to have to answer a few questions before I prescribe some pills for her and only then can you leave."

Briggs nearly chocked on his saliva when he heard the doctors sly insinuations, even Jillian who was in a painful haze suddenly straightened up and stared at the doctor.

Briggs quickly took out his badge before saying, "I'm a cop so that won't be necessary. You can give them my badge number when you report this and I'm sure they will be happy to confirm it for you. As for the other thing.... I work together with Ms Reed. We don't have a relationship of that nature."

"Is that right? So I am assuming you can't help look after Ms Reed for the rest of the day? Then Ms Reed, is there anybody that can keep an eye on you for the next twenty four hours? The hospital is very busy right now with the current wave of violence that has just broken out so we can't really spare a bed or a nurse to take care of you."

Jillian tried to think of anybody that would be willing to help her but all she drew up was a blank. Her mother was in Ohio with her step father and step brothers, she hadn't been in a relationship since she divorced Sam Wilkins from their play marriage in second grade, and she wasn't really close enough to anybody to call them for something like this.

Briggs saw the difficult expression on Jillian's face and stepped forward, "It's okay doc, I'll do it."

Jillian was very surprised when Briggs suddenly volunteered. She had a good opinion of Briggs but they weren't very close. They knew each other in a professional capacity but that was it.

"Are you sure Detective Briggs? I am already very grateful that you have taken me to the hospital, I don't want to take up anymore of your time."

"No, I insist. Plus I need to talk to you anyways. It is a good opportunity to ask you questions about what happened last night."

Jillian thought that Briggs was acting a little strange but she didn't sense any malicious intent from him and she didn't really have any other options so she accepted his offer.