“Again!”
Dr. Patterson’s back was to the main building, so he did not see Ashley and Dr. Keller come out.
“Higher!” Katrina screamed.
Ashley stopped in the doorway, frozen. She watched her father playing with the little girl, and time seemed to fragment. Everything after that happened in slow motion.
There were flashes of a little girl being thrown into the air… “Higher, Papa!”
“Hang on. Here we go.”
And then the girl being tossed onto a bed…
A voice saying, “You’ll like this…”
An image of the man getting into bed beside her. The little girl was screaming, “Stop it. No. Please, no.”
The man was in the shadow. He was holding her down, and he was stroking her body. “Doesn’t that feel good?”
And suddenly the shadow lifted, and Ashley could see the man’s face. It was her father.
Looking at him now, in the garden, playing with the little girl, Ashley opened her mouth and began to scream, and could not stop.
Dr. Patterson, Victoria Aniston and Katrina turned around, startled.
Dr. Keller said quickly, “I’m terribly sorry. This is a bad day. Could you come back another time?” And he carried Ashley inside.
They had her in one of the emergency rooms.
“Her pulse is abnormally high,” Dr. Keller said. “She’s in a fugue state.” He moved close to her and said, “Ashley, you have nothing to be frightened about. You’re safe here. No one’s going to hurt you. Just listen to my voice and relax .. . relax…relax…
It took half an hour. “Ashley, tell me what happened. What upset you?”
“Father and the little girl…”
“What about them?”
It was Toni who answered. “She can’t face it. She’s afraid he’s going to do to the little girl what he did to her.”
Dr. Keller stared at her a moment. “What—what did he do to her?”
It was in London. She was in bed. He sat down next to her and said, “I’m going to make you very happy, baby,” and began tickling her, and she was laughing. And then…he took her pajamas off, and he started playing with her. “Don’t my hands feel good?” Ashley started screaming, “Stop it. Don’t do that.” But he wouldn’t stop. He held her down and went on and on…
Dr. Keller asked, “Was that the first time it happened, Toni?”
“Yes.”
“How old was Ashley?”
“She was six.”
“And that’s when you were born?”
“Yes. Ashley was too terrified to face it.”
“What happened after that?”
“Father came to her every night and got into bed with her.” The words were pouring out now. “She couldn’t stop him. When they got home, Ashley told Mother what happened, and Mother called her a lying little bitch.
“Ashley was afraid to go to sleep at night because she knew Papa was going to come to her room. He used to make her touch him and then play with himself. And he said to her, ’Don’t tell anyone about this or I won’t love you anymore.’ She couldn’t tell anyone. Mama and Papa were yelling at each other all the time, and Ashley thought it was her fault. She knew she had done something wrong, but she didn’t know what. Mama hated her.”
“How long did this go on?” Dr. Keller asked.
“When I was eight…” Toni stopped.
“Go on, Toni.”
Ashley’s face changed, and it was Alette sitting in the chair. She said, “We moved to Roma, where he did research at Policlinico Umberto Primo.”
“And that’s where you were born?”
“Yes. Ashley couldn’t stand what happened one night, so I came to protect her.”
“What happened, Alette?”
“Papa came into her room while she was asleep, and he was naked. And he crawled into her bed, and this time he forced himself inside her. She tried to stop him, but she couldn’t. She begged him never to do it again, but he came to her every night. And he always said, “This is how a man shows a woman he loves her, and you’re my woman, and I love you. You must never tell anyone about this.’ And she could never tell anyone.”
Ashley was sobbing, tears running down her cheeks.