Together they walked back in. “Ready?” Mr. G asked. Anna and Lily nodded simultaneously.

Her hand safely in Anna’s, Lily looked around. She felt the fright beginning to envelope her, swallow her. “Squeeze my hand,” Anna whispered.

“Could we ask questions?” The nurse asked.

“That’d be good.”

“Alright, Lily. Could you tell us how you got those bruises?”

Deep breath. In, out. She was sure she was breaking the bones in Anna’s fingers, but Anna didn’t seem to care. “He—grabbed me.”

“And—“

But now that she had started, it seemed to be safer not to stop. “He threw me on the floor. I got some bruises then. And he said I owed it to him, and he… he—“

“It’s okay. You can say it.” Anna’s voice was in her ear. “It’s okay. They’re just words, they can’t hurt you.”

But they can, she thought.

“He…raped me.”

There was silence after this statement, followed by a gasp from her mother.

Then, he spoke for the first time. “She’s making it up! My god, what a freak. She just wants attention or something.”