Chapter Text
The officer got there before the ambulance did. The officer introduced herself as Kelly and had some familiarity with BLS, having started her career as an EMT-B. She did a few checks, and asked a few questions. Later, Sally would learn it was a diagnostic called GCS, to determine how bad her head injury was. Kelly grimaced a little, but reported that overall Sally was doing okay.
"I'm going to stay with you until the ambulance arrives," Kelly promised. Sally tried to respond, but she felt foggy and forming words seemed like such effort. "While we wait, can you tell me what happened?"
It had been difficult to know where to start, making her first domestic violence report against Danny. Should she have begun with the evening's events, instead of when he'd broken her wrist? Maybe she should've started earlier, the first time he had made her feel small, the first time he'd yelled at her while she cowered, the first time he'd gripped her arms to bruising? Eventually, with Kelly's careful questioning, the entire thing had tumbled out. How quickly she had gotten invested in this relationship, and how maybe he had picked her because he knew she would; how she wondered if things would be different if she hadn't gotten engaged five months into their relationship, moved in with him after five dates, allowed him to make her believe she deserved his behavior. She rambled, telling Kelly how scared she was that if he'd chosen his timeline more carefully, if he'd done anything just a little different she'd have stayed until he killed her. She wondered what that said about her.
"It says he took advantage of your vulnerability. It says you'll know next time. It doesn't have to say anything else."
The ambulance arrived just then, and the lack of sirens was a comfort. Surely if she had been in great danger, the ambulance would've run lights and sirens. Kelly's demeanor altered immediately, from gentle and reassuring to efficient and practical as she gave them a rundown of her observations. The ambulance crew had listened carefully, nodding their understanding at the end. The paramedic said something to their partner. Sally couldn't focus and her consciousness was starting to drift as they rolled her onto the backboard. She tried to protest - it wasn't as if she'd been in a car accident, even though she kind of felt like she had - but her tongue wouldn't move, and she wondered if she was honestly going to pass out.
She must, because when she next came awake, she was tucked in a hospital bed, Bridgett in the chair beside her and Aidan, checking her vitals ostensibly.
"Sally, what happened?" He asked.
"Danny found the stash of money I was saving."
"Danny did this?" Bridgett blurted, and Sally got the feeling Bridgett believed there'd been a misunderstanding of sorts.
"It's not the first time," she answered, "you recall my fractured wrist?"
"Your concussion has you confused," Bridgett had said firmly. "I'll let you rest."
The concussion is such that she isn't even allowed out of bed by herself--and even then, it's only with assistance and for bathroom trips and scans, exclusively--for three straight days. Cops had all been in and out, too, with updates, clarifications, follow up on her report. She thought nothing of it when a cop she hadn't seen before came in.
"Good morning," he'd said amiably, closing the door behind him.
"Morning," she returned, "Officer..."
"Oh, just call me Bishop."
"Bishop. Pleasure."
"I just wanted to let you know that Danny has been arrested. I also brought the paperwork for your protection order, but you do need to be at that court date. Oh," he'd said, halfway out the door, "and tell Aidan that I said hello, will you?"
Aidan, much to her confusion, seemed scared and angry when she passed along that message.