“Can I take a look?” She motioned to the arm.
“I heard it pop.”
Kira crouched in front of her, barely close enough to touch. “You might need an X-ray if you think there’s damage to it.” She needed to phrase things carefully, or it would sound like an accusation. “You might need a cast to keep it secure until it heals.”
And Frankie might need to file another police report, if she’d even done that the other day. The police had shown up to talk to her after the nurse had called them, but Kira didn’t hear what happened after that. What happened next was this woman’s choice, whether she felt like she had one or not. She had to grasp the fact that she had the power to change her own life.
When a person felt stuck or trapped, they often believed they had no choices available to them. Whether there weren’t any options or the choices had been taken from them often didn’t matter. They believed there was no way out.
The change came when the person realized they still had power and the ability to change their life, even in a tiny way. Or the first of a series of tiny ways that, in the end, added up to a whole lot. In Kira’s case, it was because a friend had seen what was happening and offered her a new choice. Not out of an abusive relationship, as such. Just out of a situation where she felt stuck and things weren’t going well.
“Can I see?” Kira motioned to her arm.
Frankie unzipped her sweater with one hand and lowered it off her shoulder, gingerly pulling out her arm. Kira asked her a couple of questions before she palpated from Frankie’s shoulder down to her wrist, noting the girl’s reaction to what she was doing. Once she was done with that, she assessed what damage there might be to Frankie’s shoulder and elbow. Most of the injury seemed to be in her wrist.
“I don’t have my lab coat on right now, so this isn’t official.” She waited for Frankie to smile just a fraction, then said, “But it would be a good idea to get an X-ray and maybe have your wrist put in a cast.”
“It hurts a lot.”
“I’m afraid it won’t heal right if it doesn’t get treated. It’s something you might always have problems with.”
Kind of like the festering wound of an abusive relationship that was allowed to continue, getting worse and worse. That kind of thing inclined Kira toward amputation.
She eased a little closer. “The best way to give yourself time to heal is to find a safe place to be.”
Frankie tensed, and if Kira had still been holding her arm, she probably would have pulled away and hurt herself further.
“I know of a women’s shelter in South Eagle. It’s unregistered and unlisted, so there’s no way he would be able to find it.”
“He always finds me. It doesn’t matter where I go.” Frankie’s voice quavered.
“But you can’t give up. You have to keep trying.” Kira kept her voice gentle. “You never know if your next choice will be the one that sets you free.”
Kira shifted out of the crouch, turned, and sat on the bench so that she faced Frankie with a couple feet of space between them. “I can call you a rideshare on my account, which will take you to the house. No one will know where you’ve gone, and he won’t be able to find you.”
A tiny bit of hope lit Frankie’s eyes, and Kira was glad to see it.
“If you’re able to file a police report that includes your medical records from visiting the hospital the other day, that’s another little safeguard. And all of them add up. Everything you do. It all gives you a little bit more protection from him than you would have without it.” Kira laid her arm on the back of the bench. “You don’t have to be afraid. You don’t have to live like that.”
Frankie hugged herself again, staring out across the path to the irrigation canal that ran along the edge of the park. A group of ducklings waddled after their mother over to the water.
Last week, Kira had been watching them when a hawk swooped down and grabbed one of the babies, momentarily startling the mother. Since then, she tried not to pay too much attention to them. Nature was a savage thing, and that was yet another reminder she shouldn’t get too attached. She should do her job and stay home.
God didn’t want her to live her life swallowed up in a spirit of fear, but she wasn’t sure how to face the threats every day brought any other way than to just duck her head and keep going.
“What do you say, Frankie? I can get you a ride to the hospital, or I can ask the rideshare to take you to the shelter.” Kira smiled. “I volunteer there once a month on a Saturday, so I’ll be able to see how you’re doing.”
The young woman glanced over. “Shelter.”
Kira nodded. “I’ll order you a car.” She slid the cell phone from her leggings pocket and used the Renegade rideshare app. “Someone will be here in five minutes.” She glanced over at the far side of the park. “The pickup point is at the fountain.”
“Thank you.”
Kira smiled at her. “You deserve to feel safe and live your life without fear.”
The trauma of relationships like the one Frankie was in and a life lived in a war zone weren’t something the nervous system could differentiate between. A threat was a threat. Constant day-to-day trauma created similar responses in a lot of people, and Kira knew all too well the taste of fear on her tongue—and the way rest seemed like such an elusive thing when peace was hard to come by. When the next moment could be anything.
Kira walked the young woman to the car, closing the door for her. Promising to check on her the next time she was at the shelter. Aside from this small thing, there wasn’t much she could do for Frankie. If the young woman was going to change her life, then it would be up to her to make those changes.