'Shhh, you're all right now.'
Mum?
Something troubled Jill, batting around her thoughts like a blowfly. It's best not to notice, she told herself, unwilling to face the feeling. Just listen to the noises in the back-ground. The page of a book being turned. Quiet breathing. Gentle repositioning noises of someone in a seat next to her.
Lying down or sitting up? I'm lying down. Must be night-time. But it doesn't feel like it. Smells funny in here. Kind of medicinal.
Jill felt the memory inexorably building at the edges of her consciousness, a far-away roar of knowledge gathering pace, drowning everything in its wake. Before the wave of recall hit, her stomach clenched in frightened anticipation.
She sat up, frantic. Wild-eyed. Where was he?
'Jill, it's okay.' A female voice, familiar, yet not. 'It's Claire. We met earlier.'
'What happened?' Her heart in her throat.
'The officers got him off you, love. Nothing happened. You're okay.'
'Who was it?' She already knew.
'Edward Pavey, I'm afraid. They call him Teddy,' said Claire.
'Where are we?'
'The clinic. The doctor's coming. Just lie back for a while.'
'I'm okay.' Jill bent down, fighting nausea, searching for her shoes. 'I passed out. I've had an injury. Supposed to be in bed,' she muttered. She felt so ashamed. What did the officers think of her? Attacked with her own pen. She just wanted to go home.
'You have to wait for the doctor anyway, Jill,' said Claire kindly but firmly. 'We have to fill in an incident report or we're all in trouble.'
Great. They'd have a record of her humiliation.
'Where's Pavey now?' She hoped she wouldn't have to see him. She didn't think she could walk past any of the men on the unit right now.
'Getting charged. He's over at the hospital. Got his arm broken when they got him off you.'
At least there's that, Jill thought.
Claire stood over near the sink. 'The unit's on lockdown, of course,' she said, walking back with a glass of water. 'Here.' She offered it to Jill.
Jill took it. 'Kellie said Pavey's a serial rapist?'
'He breaks into houses and ties his victims up. He likes to beat them with a dog chain.'
Jill drained the glass and leaned back against the pillows, lightheaded again. After giving Claire a watery smile, she closed her eyes and resigned herself to the wait, to making the report, to the check-up by the doctor. It wasn't like she could just walk out of Long Bay Gaol.
Besides, she thought, I'm going to need to get something stronger from him to get to sleep tonight.