Chapter 162: Found Elaine Rivers
Chapter 162: Chapter 162: Found Elaine Rivers
Chief Lowe’s entitled attitude infuriated everyone.
If it weren’t for the impropriety of the situation, they all really wanted to give him a beating.
Renee Jennings walked up to Chief Lowe and, without a word, started laying into him.
Watching this scene and hearing Chief Lowe’s anguished cries, everyone felt a sense of catharsis.
A fleet of police transport vehicles carried the criminals away.
Nurses gave the victims preliminary examinations, assigning them to medical vehicles based on the severity of their injuries.
Renee Jennings and Sawyer followed the entire time. Seeing the state of these girls, both of their eyes reddened with unshed tears.
They didn’t even have the courage to look at them directly, especially the ones rescued from the tower...
They could have lived happy lives, but because of these people’s wicked intentions, they had fallen from the world of the living into hell.
Only after watching the last medical vehicle drive away did Renee Jennings leave with the police.
「The next day.」
Renee Jennings and Sawyer went to the city hospital together.
The police were in the process of verifying the identities of the victims rescued the previous night.
Many of the girls had been tortured to the point of mental collapse, driven mad and delirious.
They couldn’t speak properly. Some would start laughing foolishly if anyone got close. If someone offered them food, they would instinctively lie down and draw up their legs.
Renee Jennings’s eyes instantly reddened, glistening with tears.
’This is just so heartbreaking.’
Sawyer turned her head and stared blankly at her. "Renee, you..."
She had wanted to comfort her, but when she spoke, her voice was choked with a sob.
The two exchanged a look, and with a silent understanding, left the ward to find an empty corner where they could cry in each other’s arms.
Although they could never truly know what these victims had been through, as women, they were still deeply affected.
After crying for a while, Sawyer’s phone suddenly rang.
She took out her phone, sniffled, cleared her throat, and answered in a calm voice, "Levi Hollis."
Levi Hollis said from the other end of the line, "We’ve found Elaine Rivers."
"Where?" Sawyer turned to look at Renee Jennings. "Should we go see Elaine Rivers?"
Renee Jennings wiped away her tears and nodded. "Yes."
"Levi Hollis, send me the room number." Sawyer hung up after she finished speaking.
Levi Hollis quickly messaged the room number to Sawyer.
Renee Jennings went with her to find the room.
They met Levi Hollis at the door of the hospital room.
The expression on his face was a little strange.
Just as Renee Jennings was about to push the door open and go in, Levi Hollis suddenly spoke up to stop her. "Wait a second."
Renee Jennings tilted her head and looked at him, confused.
"What’s wrong?" Sawyer asked.
Levi Hollis frowned, his voice low. "She was one of the ones from the tower. Her condition... isn’t good. You should brace yourselves."
The tower...
Renee Jennings knew exactly what kind of place that was.
To call it a living hell would not be an exaggeration.
She and Sawyer exchanged a look, both taking several deep breaths to compose themselves.
After a moment, Renee asked softly, "Sawyer, should we... go in?"
Sawyer pressed her lips together and slowly nodded.
Renee Jennings grasped the doorknob and gently pressed it down.
The door swung open, revealing a private hospital room.
This entire floor was dedicated to private rooms, and most of the victims rescued from the tower were staying in them.
Renee Jennings stepped inside quietly. When she saw the person lying on the hospital bed, she froze, and her eyes instantly grew red.
She turned away, tears immediately streaming down her cheeks.
Levi Hollis happened to see this. He pressed his lips together, feeling an immense sense of sorrow.
When they had rescued these girls last night, he had actually cried in secret too.
Elaine Rivers was missing an arm, and her other, intact left hand had also become somewhat deformed.
Her scalp had several bald patches, one of her eyes was ruined, and her face was a mass of crisscrossing new and old scars, making it impossible to discern her original features.
She bore no resemblance whatsoever to the person she was before this happened.
Renee Jennings’s gaze met Levi Hollis’s, and she asked in a trembling voice, "Could it be... a mistake?"
’If Bubbles saw Lana like this, how heartbroken would he be?’
Levi Hollis silently shook his head.
Renee Jennings lowered her gaze, heartbroken.
Elaine Rivers’s left eye was blind, so she could only use her right. She looked at Renee Jennings and Sawyer, her chapped lips moving as she spoke in a hoarse voice, "Who... are you looking for?"
Renee Jennings’s hands, hanging at her sides, clenched into tight fists.
She slowly turned back around to meet Elaine Rivers’s gaze and said softly, "Lana, hello. I’m Renee Jennings."
"Renee..." Elaine Rivers murmured. "I don’t know you."
Renee Jennings walked to the bedside, her gaze gentle as she looked at her. "Bubbles asked me to find you."
"Bubbles!" Elaine Rivers sat up abruptly, asking urgently, "How is Bubbles?"
After being tricked and brought to Yarrowdale Village, her biggest regret was not being able to say a proper goodbye to Bubbles.
That silly little cat must be waiting for her.
"Don’t get excited." Renee Jennings carefully reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. Seeing that she didn’t resist the touch, Renee let out a small sigh of relief. "Bubbles is very safe, you don’t have to worry."
"Really?" Elaine Rivers’s right eye was filled with anxiety. "Where is he now?"
"Bubbles is living at my friend’s house right now." Renee Jennings then recounted how she had met Bubbles and the story the cat had told her.
Elaine Rivers nodded, choking back sobs. "As long as he’s okay, I can rest easy..."
"Do you want to see him?" Renee Jennings asked softly. "Bubbles has been waiting for you. He was sure that his owner, Lana, hadn’t abandoned him."
"I..." Elaine Rivers hesitated. She lowered her eye, her voice dejected. "I’m afraid I’ll scare him."
"Don’t be afraid." Renee Jennings patted her shoulder comfortingly. "I believe that no matter what Lana looks like, you’ll always be the most important person to Bubbles."
Elaine Rivers was silent for a long moment before finally saying, "Okay. I want to see Bubbles."
’Perhaps,’ she thought, ’I won’t be able to see him again after this.’
"Then I’ll arrange it," Renee Jennings said, straightening up. "You get some rest first."
Elaine Rivers nodded. After watching her leave the room, she turned to Sawyer, who was standing to the side. "Officer..."
"Yes?" Sawyer asked with concern.
Elaine Rivers bit her lip. "Is... is there a mirror?"
’If I’ve become too ugly, will Bubbles not recognize me?’
Sawyer frowned slightly and turned to look at Levi Hollis, unsure if she should give her a mirror.
She was afraid Elaine Rivers would break down.
Levi Hollis frowned, also at a loss for what to do.
"Is there no mirror?" Elaine Rivers asked again.
Sawyer shot Levi Hollis a glare and then, bracing herself, answered, "The mirror is in the bathroom..."
Elaine Rivers blinked her right eye and pushed herself up with her left hand on the mattress.
Her movements were slow, like an old woman in her twilight years, as she tried to stand up, trembling.
Sawyer hurried over to support her. "How about... I use my phone’s camera to show you?"
Elaine Rivers: "That would work too."
"Then sit down first." Sawyer helped her sit back down on the bed.
Seeing Sawyer hesitate to take out her phone, Elaine Rivers spoke again. "Could you please show me..."
"Okay." Sawyer bit her lip, took out her phone, opened the beautifying camera app, and handed it to her. "Take a look."