Page 214 - It Ends with Us

Chapter Twenty-Four

Atlas is stand ing on the othe r side of the room. He ha sn’t taken hi s
ey es off me the ent ire time the nu rse ha s been hel ping me. After
taking a blood sample, she immed iatel y ret urned and beg an to attend
to my cut. She ha sn’t asked me ver y many ques tions yet , but it’s

obvious my inj uries are the res ult of an attack. I can see the pitying
look on her face as she clea ns up blood from the bite mark lef t on my
sho ulder.
When she’s fini shed , she glanc es back at Atlas. She step s to the
right , blocking hi s view of me as she turns and faces me again. “I need

to ask you some pers ona l questions . I’m going to ask hi m to lea ve the
room, okay?”
It’s in tha t moment tha t I realize she thi nk s Atlas is the one who
did thes e thi ng s to me. I immed iatel y start to sha ke my hea d. “It
wasn’t hi m,” I tel l her. “Plea se don’t make hi m lea ve. ”
Rel ief washes over her face. She no ds her hea d and then pulls up a
cha ir. “Are you hu rt any where el se?”

I sha ke my hea d, bec ause she can’t fix all the parts of me R yle
broke on the ins ide.
“Lily?” Her voice is gent le. “Were you raped ?”
Tea rs fil l my ey es and I see Atlas roll across the wall, pres sing hi s
forehea d agains t it.
The nu rse waits unt il I make ey e cont act with her again to cont inu e

spea king . “We ha ve a cert ain ex amina tion for thes e situations . It’s
called a SANE ex am. It’s optiona l, of course, but I hi ghl y en courage it
in your situation. ”
“I wasn’t raped ,” I say. “He didn’t . . .”
“Are you sure, Lily?” the nu rse asks.
I no d. “I don’t want one. ”
Atlas faces me again and I can see the pain in hi s ex pres sion as he

step s for ward. “Lily. You need thi s.” His ey es are plea ding .