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My coworker following me home after work saved me from something I never saw coming · Martin Animations

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: My coworker following me home after work saved me from
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: something I never saw coming. I was unlocking my car
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: in the dimly lit parking garage when I heard footsteps
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: behind me getting closer. My heart jumped into my throat
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: as I spun around, keys clutched between my fingers like
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: a weapon. It was Vanessa from accounting, standing there in
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: her business casual outfit with her purse hanging off one shoulder.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: She looked nervous, shifting her weight from foot to foot
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  Speaker 1: like she was about to deliver bad news. lily i
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: need to tell you something and you're going to think
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  Speaker 1: i'm crazy she said her voice barely above a whisper
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  Speaker 1: the fluorescent lights overhead flickered casting weird shadows across her
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  Speaker 1: face that made her look older than her 30 something
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  Speaker 1: years i'd worked at henderson financial for three years and
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  Speaker 1: vanessa had always been friendly but distant the kind of
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  Speaker 1: co-worker who made small talk in the break room but
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: never crossed into actual friendship territory we'd exchange pleasantries about
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  Speaker 1: the weather or weekend plans but i couldn't remember the
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: last time we'd had a real conversation beyond work topics
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  Speaker 1: now she was standing in the parking garage at 7
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  Speaker 1: 30 on a thursday evening looking at me like she
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  Speaker 1: was about to confess to a crime what's going on
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  Speaker 1: i asked trying to keep the panic out of my
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  Speaker 1: voice while mentally calculating how fast i could get into
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  Speaker 1: my car and lock the doors if this went sideways
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  Speaker 1: she glanced around the garage like she expected someone to
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  Speaker 1: jump out from behind the concrete pillars then stepped closer
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  Speaker 1: and lowered her voice even more. I followed you home
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  Speaker 1: last Tuesday, she said, and my whole body went rigid.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: I know how that sounds, but please let me explain
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  Speaker 1: before you freak out or call security or whatever you're
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  Speaker 1: thinking right now. My mind was racing through every possible
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  Speaker 1: explanation for why this woman would admit to stalking me,
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  Speaker 1: and none of them were good. I backed up against
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  Speaker 1: my car door, keeping my keys ready just in case,
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  Speaker 1: and told her she had exactly one minute to explain
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  Speaker 1: herself before I screamed for help. The parking garage suddenly
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: felt way too empty and isolated, with just our two
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: cars sitting there under the buzzing lights. Your husband picked
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: you up that day, remember? The silver Lexus? She continued,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: speaking faster now like she was afraid I'd run before
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  Speaker 1: she finished. I was leaving at the same time and
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  Speaker 1: ended up driving behind you guys for a while. At
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  Speaker 1: first I thought it was just coincidence, but then I
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  Speaker 1: noticed he took a really weird route to get to
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  Speaker 1: your neighborhood. I remembered that day vaguely because my car
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  Speaker 1: had been in the shop getting new brakes and David
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: had offered to pick me up. He'd been in a
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: good mood, talking about his day at the medical supply
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  Speaker 1: company where he worked as a regional sales manager. We'd
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: stopped for Thai food on the way home and everything
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  Speaker 1: had seemed perfectly normal.
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  Speaker 2: So what? I said.
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  Speaker 1: Still clutching my keys and trying to figure out if
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  Speaker 1: I should make a run for the elevator or just
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: get in my car and lock the doors. Maybe he
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: was avoiding traffic or needed to run an errand. That
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: doesn't explain why you followed us all the way to
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  Speaker 1: my house. Vanessa pulled out her phone and started scrolling
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: through something, her hands shaking slightly. He didn't go to
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  Speaker 1: your house though, that's the thing. He drove to this
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  Speaker 1: apartment complex about two miles from where you actually live.
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  Speaker 1: I watched him pull into the parking lot and you
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  Speaker 1: both went inside building C. You were in there for
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: about 20 minutes before you came out alone and walked somewhere,
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  Speaker 1: and then he drove off in a different direction. The
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  Speaker 1: air in the parking garage suddenly felt too thin, like
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: someone had sucked all the oxygen out through a vacuum.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: I tried to remember last Tuesday evening after dinner and
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  Speaker 1: realized I couldn't picture anything clearly beyond David dropping me
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  Speaker 1: off at home and saying he needed to run back
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: to the office for a file he forgot. But Vanessa
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  Speaker 1: was describing something completely different, something that didn't match.
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  Speaker 2: My memory at all. You're wrong.
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  Speaker 1: I said but my voice came out weak and uncertain
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  Speaker 1: we went straight home after picking up dinner i was
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  Speaker 1: there all evening watching netflix while he worked on some
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  Speaker 1: presentations in his office you must have followed the wrong
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  Speaker 1: car or something she held up her phone so i
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  Speaker 1: could see the screen and there was a photo of
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  Speaker 1: david's silver lexus with his license plate clearly visible parked
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  Speaker 1: in front of a generic apartment building i'd never seen
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  Speaker 1: before the time stamp showed last tuesday at 6 15
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  Speaker 1: in the evening exactly when i thought we'd been heading
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  Speaker 1: home my stomach dropped like i'd just gone over a
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: cliff in a car with no brakes i took more
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  Speaker 1: pictures vanessa said quietly swiping to the next image this
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  Speaker 1: one shows you getting out of the passenger side and
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  Speaker 1: this one is about 15 minutes later when you came
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  Speaker 1: back out and started walking down the street you looked
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: really confused like you didn't know where you were i
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: stared at the photos in complete disbelief because the woman
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: in the pictures was definitely me wearing the same navy
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  Speaker 1: dress i'd worn to work that day but i had
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  Speaker 1: absolutely no memory of being at that apartment complex or
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: walking around some random neighborhood looking lost the last thing
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: i clearly remembered was eating pad thai in our kitchen
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: while david complained about a difficult client this doesn't make
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  Speaker 1: any sense I whispered, feeling like the concrete floor was
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: tilting under my feet. Why would he take me to
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  Speaker 1: an apartment and then leave me there? And why can't
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  Speaker 1: I remember any of this? Vanessa's face went from nervous
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: to deeply concerned, and she put her phone away before
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: speaking again. Lily, I'm going to ask you something really personal,
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  Speaker 1: and I need you to be honest with yourself about
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  Speaker 1: the answer. Do you ever wake up feeling really groggy
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: or have gaps in your memory, like whole chunks of
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  Speaker 1: time you can't account for? The question hit me like
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: a punch to the chest because the answer was yes,
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  Speaker 1: but I'd always blamed it on stress and my terrible
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  Speaker 1: sleep schedule. There were mornings when I'd wake up exhausted
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: even after supposedly sleeping for eight hours, and evenings that
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: seemed to disappear entirely. Just last week, I'd somehow lost
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: three hours between getting home from work and eating dinner,
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  Speaker 1: but David had explained that I'd taken a nap on
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  Speaker 1: the couch and just didn't remember. Sometimes, I admitted, hugging
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  Speaker 1: my purse against my chest like it could protect me
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  Speaker 1: from whatever Vanessa was about to say next.
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  Speaker 2: But that's normal, right?
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  Speaker 1: Everyone has fuzzy memories sometimes, especially when they're tired or
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  Speaker 1: stressed from work. She shook her head slowly, and I
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: could see genuine fear in her eyes now. Not like this,
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  Speaker 1: not where you're in completely different locations with no memory
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  Speaker 1: of how you got there.
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  Speaker 2: Lily, I think your husband might be drugging you.
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  Speaker 1: I think he's been doing it for a while, and
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  Speaker 1: I think something really bad is happening during those gaps
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  Speaker 1: you can't remember. The words hung in the air between
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: us like poison gas. and I felt my whole body
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  Speaker 1: start to shake. Part of me wanted to scream that
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  Speaker 1: she was insane and making up horrible lies about my husband,
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  Speaker 1: who I'd been married to for five years. David was
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  Speaker 1: successful and charming, and everyone at his company loved him.
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  Speaker 1: He brought me coffee in bed on weekends and remembered
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  Speaker 1: my mom's birthday and planned romantic surprises for our anniversary.
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  Speaker 1: He couldn't possibly be the monster Vanessa was describing. But
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  Speaker 1: another part of me, a small voice I'd been ignoring
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  Speaker 1: for months, whispered that maybe this explained why i'd been
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: feeling so strange lately the missing time the exhaustion the
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: weird gaps in my memory that david always had convenient
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: explanations for the way i'd wake up sometimes with bruises
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: i couldn't explain or soreness in my muscles like i'd
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: been exercising when i knew i'd been home all evening
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: i know this is overwhelming vanessa continued reaching out like
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: she wanted to touch my arm but stopping herself but
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  Speaker 1: i need you to think about whether there have been
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: other times when things didn't add up times when david
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  Speaker 1: told you one thing happened but you had this feeling
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  Speaker 1: that something else was going on I leaned back against
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  Speaker 1: my car and tried to breathe normally while my brain
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: went through months of memories looking for inconsistencies. There was
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: the weekend trip to the mountains he'd planned where I'd
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: supposedly gotten food poisoning and slept through most of Saturday,
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  Speaker 1: waking up in the hotel room with no memory of
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  Speaker 1: the day, the dinner party at his boss's house where
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  Speaker 1: everyone kept commenting on how quiet I was being. even
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  Speaker 1: though i had no recollection of being there at all
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  Speaker 1: the anniversary celebration at an expensive restaurant that existed only
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  Speaker 1: in the photos on david's phone because i couldn't remember
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  Speaker 1: a single moment of that evening oh my god i
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  Speaker 1: breathed out sliding down the side of my car until
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  Speaker 1: i was sitting on the cold concrete floor how long
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  Speaker 1: has this been happening how many times has he done
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  Speaker 1: this to me vanessa crouched down next to me keeping
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  Speaker 1: her distance but staying close enough to help if i
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  Speaker 1: needed it i don't know but we need to figure
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  Speaker 1: out what's really going on and get you somewhere safe
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  Speaker 1: do you have family nearby or friends you could stay
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  Speaker 1: with tonight someone david doesn't know about my mind immediately
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  Speaker 1: went to my older sister page who lived across town
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  Speaker 1: with her husband and two kids we'd been close growing
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  Speaker 1: up but had drifted apart after i married david partly
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  Speaker 1: because he always had some excuse for why we couldn't
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  Speaker 1: make it to family dinners or birthday parties looking back
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  Speaker 1: now with fresh eyes i realized he'd been systematically isolating
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  Speaker 1: me from everyone i was close to always with reasonable
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  Speaker 1: sounding explanations that i'd accepted without question my sister i
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  Speaker 1: said pulling out my phone with trembling hands, but I
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  Speaker 1: need proof before I go to her with this story.
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  Speaker 1: She never really liked David, and if I show up
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  Speaker 1: saying he's been drugging me without any evidence, she'll think
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  Speaker 1: I'm having some kind of breakdown. Vanessa stood up and
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  Speaker 1: held out her hand to help me off the ground.
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  Speaker 1: I have those photos from Tuesday, and I'm willing to
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  Speaker 1: testify about what I saw, but you're right that we
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  Speaker 1: need more concrete evidence. especially if you want to go
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  Speaker 1: to the police or file for a restraining order. Do
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  Speaker 1: you think you could check his car or his office
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  Speaker 1: at home for whatever he's been using? The thought of
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: going back to the house I shared with David made
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  Speaker 1: my skin crawl, but I knew Vanessa was right. If
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: he was really drugging me, there had to be physical
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  Speaker 1: evidence somewhere. Pills or powder or syringes, something he was
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  Speaker 1: using to make me lose time and memory. I thought
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  Speaker 1: about his home office that he always kept locked, claiming
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: it was to protect confidential work documents, and his car
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  Speaker 1: that he detailed obsessively every weekend, never letting me touch
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  Speaker 1: anything inside or even ride along when he went to
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  Speaker 1: the car wash. He's supposed to be working late tonight,
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: I said slowly, trying to remember his schedule. Some client
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  Speaker 1: dinner that's supposed to run until at least 9 or 10.
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  Speaker 1: If I go home now, I'd have maybe two hours
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  Speaker 1: to search before he gets back. Vanessa pulled her car
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  Speaker 1: keys out and jingled them nervously.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: I'll come with you.
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  Speaker 1: You shouldn't do this alone. And if he comes home early,
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: it's better to have a witness. Plus, I can take
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  Speaker 1: pictures of anything we find so there's documentation. We drove
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: separately to my house in the suburbs, and I kept
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: checking my rearview mirror the whole way to make sure
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: no silver Lexus was following us. The street was quiet
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: when we pulled up, with most of my neighbors still
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: at work or hidden inside their houses for the evening.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: I'd always loved this neighborhood with its mature trees and
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: well-maintained lawns, but now it felt like a stage set
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  Speaker 1: designed to hide something sinister my hands shook so badly
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: i could barely get the key in the front door
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  Speaker 1: lock and vanessa had to steady my wrist so i
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  Speaker 1: could turn it the house was dark and silent when
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  Speaker 1: we stepped inside smelling faintly of the lavender air freshener
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: david liked to use everything looked exactly the way i'd
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: left it that morning with my coffee mug still sitting
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  Speaker 1: in the sink and a magazine open on the couch
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: from last night but now knowing what i knew the
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: whole space felt contaminated like every surface was hiding secrets
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: i didn't want to discover where should we start vanessa
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  Speaker 1: asked keeping her voice low even though we were alone
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: She stayed close to the front door like she was
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: ready to run if needed, and I didn't blame her
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  Speaker 1: one bit for being cautious. We started in the kitchen,
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: going through every cabinet and drawer looking for anything that
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: didn't belong. I found the usual medications in the bathroom
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: cabinet upstairs, aspirin and cold medicine, and my birth control
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: pills that I took religiously every morning. But then Vanessa
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: picked up the bottle of vitamins David had bought me
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: last month saying they'd help with my constant exhaustion. She
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: opened it and dumped a few pills into her palm,
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: examining them under the bathroom light. These don't look right,
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: she said, holding one up so I could see. Vitamins
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: are usually a single color all the way through, but
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: these have this weird two-tone thing going on. See how
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: the capsule is slightly separated in the middle, like someone
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: opened it and put it back together? I took the
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: pill from her and looked closer, realizing she was absolutely right.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: The gelatin capsule had a faint line around the middle
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: where it had been pulled apart and reassembled, and when
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: I held it up to the light, I could see
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: different colored powders inside instead of the uniform vitamin blend
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: that should be there. My stomach turned over as I
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: thought about how I'd been taking these every single morning
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: with breakfast, David handing them to me with orange juice
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: and a smile. He's been putting something in my vitamins.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: I said, my voice coming out flat and distant like
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: I was talking about someone else's life. Every single day
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: for at least a month, maybe longer if he was
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: doing this with previous bottles too.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: That's why I've been so tired and foggy all the time.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: Vanessa carefully placed the pills back in the bottle and
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: sealed it, then took several photos with her phone from
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: different angles. We need to get these tested by a lab,
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: but first let's see what else we can find. If
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: he's been this calculated about the vitamins, There's probably other stuff.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: Hidden around the house. We moved to David's home office next,
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: and I had to use the emergency key I'd hidden
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: in a kitchen drawer for the locked door. The office
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: was exactly as I'd seen it a thousand times before,
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: with his big desk, an expensive computer setup, and shelves
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: full of medical supply catalogs and sales awards. But Vanessa
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: went straight to the filing cabinet in the corner and
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: started pulling open drawers while I stood there feeling paralyzed
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: by the violation of going through my husband's private space. Lily,
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: you need to see this. she said after a few minutes,
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: holding up a file folder that had been hidden at
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: the very back of the bottom drawer. Inside were dozens
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: of printed photographs of me in that same apartment complex
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: from the pictures she'd taken, but these spanned months instead
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: of just one day. There was me getting out of
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: David's car wearing different outfits from different seasons, me standing
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: in the parking lot looking confused, me walking down the
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: street in various directions like I was searching for something.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: In every single photo, I looked disoriented and lost. like
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: I had no idea where I was or how I'd
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: gotten there. What the hell has he been doing to me?
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: I whispered, flipping through the photos with growing horror. Some
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: of them showed me talking to people I didn't recognize,
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: and others captured me just standing still in the middle
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: of the parking lot like a broken robot. The dates
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: written on the back went back almost two years, which
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: meant this had been going on for much longer than
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: I'd realized. Vanessa pulled out more files, and each one
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: made the situation worse. There were medical records I'd never
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: seen before, showing visits to doctors I'd never heard of
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: and prescriptions for medications I didn't remember taking, consent forms
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: with my signature for procedures I had no memory of undergoing,
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: insurance claims for treatments that never happened, or at least
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: not that I could recall. Everything was in my name,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: using my information, but none of it felt real or
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: connected to my actual life. He's been taking you to
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: that apartment and doing something to you while you're drugged,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: Vanessa said, her voice shaking now. And he's been documenting
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: everything like it's some kind of sick experiment. We need
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: to call the police right now, Lily. This is way
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: beyond what we can handle on our own. I was
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: about to agree when I heard the sound of a
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: car pulling into the driveway outside. We both froze, listening
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: to the engine shut off and a car door slam.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: Heavy footsteps crunched up the walkway toward the front door,
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: and I felt ice water flood my veins when I
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: recognized David's walk. He was home two hours early, and
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: we were trapped in his office surrounded by evidence of
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: his crimes. Vanessa grabbed my arm and pulled me toward
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: the closet in the corner of the office and shoving
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: me inside and cramming in next to me. We left
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: the filing cabinet drawer open and papers scattered across the
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: desk in our panic, but there was no time to
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: clean up. I heard David's key turn in the front
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: door lock and his cheerful voice calling out my name
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: like this was just another normal evening. My heart was
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: pounding so hard I thought he'd hear it through the walls.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: Lily? Honey, are you home?
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: I brought dinner from that Italian place you love. His
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: footsteps moved through the downstairs. and i heard him set
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: something down on the kitchen counter your car's in the
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: driveway so i know you're here somewhere playing hide and
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: seek there was something off about his tone a forced
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: cheerfulness that made my skin crawl vanessa's fingers dug into
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: my arm as we listened to him climb the stairs
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: and walk down the hallway i could see a thin
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: strip of light under the closet door and i watched
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: his shadow pass by the office before stopping the door
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: handle jiggled and I realized with sinking horror that we'd
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: left it unlocked after opening it with the emergency key.'
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: That' s interesting,' David said, his voice right outside now.' I' m
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: absolutely certain I locked this before I left this morning,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: and it's definitely unlocked now, which means someone's been in here.'
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: He pushed the door open, and I heard him step
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: into the office. There was a long silence where I
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: imagined him seeing the open filing cabinet and scattered papers,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: putting together what had happened. When he spoke again, his
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: voice had changed completely, dropping the friendly husband act and
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: turning cold as winter.' Lily, I know you're in here somewhere.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: I can see you've been going through my things,' which
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: is really disappointing. We're going to need to have a
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: serious conversation about boundaries and trust. Vanessa's hand found mine
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: in the darkness of the closet, and she squeezed it hard.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: I could feel her whole body trembling against mine, and
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: I knew we were thinking the same thing. If he
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: opened this closet door, we'd be cornered with no way out.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: The office window was too high up to jump from safely,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: and he was blocking the only door. I'm going to
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: count to three, David continued, his footsteps moving around the
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: office slowly, and then I'm going to open every door
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: and look in every space until I find you. 1.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: I heard a drawer open and close. then the sound
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: of something heavy being picked up two his footsteps stopped
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: right in front of the closet door and i saw
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: the shadow of his feet in the strip of light
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: at the bottom my breath caught in my throat and
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: i pressed my hand over my mouth to keep from
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: making any sound vanessa did the same next to me
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: both of us frozen like prey animals hoping the predator
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: would pass us by three david said and i watched
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: the door handle start to turn but before he could
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: open it a loud crash came from downstairs like something
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: heavy had fallen over david's footsteps immediately moved away from
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: the closet and out of the office heading toward the
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: stairs who else is in my house he shouted his
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: voice echoing through the hallway as soon as i heard
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: him reach the bottom of the stairs vanessa grabbed my
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: hand and we burst out of the closet she pulled
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: me toward the office door but i stopped and grabbed
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: the folder with all the photos shoving it under my
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: arm we ran down the hallway in the opposite direction
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: from the stairs heading toward the guest bedroom that had
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: a small balcony off the back i could hear david
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: searching downstairs opening doors and cursing and knew we only
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: had seconds before he realized the noise was a distraction
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: and came back up looking for us vanessa got the
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: guest bedroom door closed behind us and locked it then
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: rushed to the balcony door the drop to the backyard
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: looked terrifying from up here at least 12 feet down
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: onto the grass but she didn't hesitate climbing over the
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: railing and hanging by her hands before letting go she
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: hit the ground hard and rolled then looked up at
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: me and gestured frantically for me to follow i heard
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: david's footsteps thundering up the stairs and knew i was
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: out of time i clutched the folder against my chest
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: and climbed over the railing my arms shaking with fear
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: and adrenaline below me vanessa was positioned to try to
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: catch me or at least break my fall behind me
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: someone started pounding on the guest bedroom door and i
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: heard david screaming my name with rage i'd never heard
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: from him before I let go and fell through the
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: air for what felt like an eternity. I hit the
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: ground wrong and felt something twist painfully in my ankle,
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: but Vanessa was already pulling me up and dragging me
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: toward the back fence. I limped along as fast as
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: I could while David's voice echoed from the balcony above us,
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: shouting threats about what would happen when he caught me.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: We made it through the back gate and into the
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: alley behind my house, where Vanessa's car was parked with
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: the engine still running. She'd planned this escape route, I realized.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: She'd left her car in the alley instead of the
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: driveway because she knew we might need to run. We
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: threw ourselves into her car and she peeled out, driving
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: way too fast through residential streets while I looked back
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: to see if David was following us. His silver Lexus
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: appeared at the end of the block just as we
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: turned the corner, and I watched him speed up to
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: try to catch us. Vanessa ran a red light and
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: took random turns, clearly trying to lose him in the
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: maze of suburban streets. My ankle was throbbing and I
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: was pretty sure I'd twisted it badly in the fall,
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: but all I could think about was the folder of
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: photos in my lap and what they meant. David had
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: been systematically drugging me and taking me to some unknown
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: location for almost two years. The question was why, and
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: what had he been doing to me during those missing hours?
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: Where are we going? I asked as Vanessa merged onto
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: the highway, still checking her mirrors constantly for any sign
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: of the silver Lexus. My hands wouldn't stop shaking, and
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: I felt like I might throw up from the combination
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: of fear and pain in my ankle. She glanced over
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: at me before focusing back on the road. Police station downtown.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: We're going to walk in there with all this evidence
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: and file a report for assault, drugging, and whatever other
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: charges apply. And then we're getting you somewhere safe where
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: he can't find you. I nodded and pulled out my
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: phone to call my sister Paige, but stopped when I
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: saw 15 missed calls from David in just the last
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: 10 minutes. There were also a series of text messages
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: that started out loving and concerned, but quickly devolved into
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: angry threats. The last one, sent just two minutes ago,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: said he knew where Paige lived and suggested I think
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: very carefully about where I went next. He's threatening my sister,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: I said, showing Vanessa the phone screen. He knows I'd
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: go to her for help, and he's already planning to
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: look for me there. I can't put her and her
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: family in danger because of this. Vanessa took the next
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: exit and pulled into a gas station, parking under the
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: bright lights where we'd be visible to anyone around. She
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: turned to face me with an expression of grim determination
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: that reminded me why I'd always respected her quiet competence
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: at work. Then we go to the police first, get
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: everything documented, and they can send officers to protect your sister.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: But Lily, you need to understand something important. This isn't
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: just about drugging you and taking you places. Those medical
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: records and consent forms we saw suggest he's been doing
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: something much worse. My stomach clenched as I thought about
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: those papers with my signature, authorizing treatments and procedures I
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: had no memory of agreeing to. The insurance claims for
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: hospital visits that never happened, or at least not in
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: any version of reality I could remember. David worked for
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: a medical supply company with access to drugs and equipment
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: and connections throughout the healthcare system. What if he'd been
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: using those resources to do something unspeakable? What do you
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: think he was doing?
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: I whispered, not sure I wanted to hear the answer
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: but needing to know anyway.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: Vanessa pulled out her phone and showed me something she'd
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: photographed in David's office while I was looking at the pictures.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: It was a medical journal article about experimental drug trials.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: and the use of memory-suppressing medications to prevent patients from
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: forming traumatic memories during procedures. The margins were covered in
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: David's handwriting, notes about dosages and timing and effectiveness. I
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: think he's been using you as a test subject, she
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: said quietly, running experiments or trials or something, wiping your
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: memory afterwards so you wouldn't know what happened. Those consent
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: forms were probably forged or signed while you were under
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: the influence giving him legal cover for whatever he was doing.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: The implications of what she was saying hit me like
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: a physical blow, and I doubled over in the passenger seat,
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: gasping for air. My husband, the man I'd loved and
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: trusted for five years— had been systematically violating my body
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: and mind for his own purposes, using me like a
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: laboratory animal while maintaining the facade of a normal marriage.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: Every kind word, every romantic gesture, every moment of seeming
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: affection had been a lie designed to keep me compliant
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: and unsuspecting. I'm going to be sick, I managed to
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: say before opening the car door and throwing up onto
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: the gas station pavement. Vanessa got out and came around
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: to hold my hair back, rubbing my back while I
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: emptied my stomach. When I was done, she handed me
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: a bottle of water from her car and helped me
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: sit back in the passenger seat. We're going to get
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: through this, she said firmly, crouching down so she was
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: at eye level with me. You're not alone anymore, Lily.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: I saw what was happening and I followed you because
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: I couldn't just ignore it, and now we're going to
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: make sure he faces consequences for everything he's done. I
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: wiped my mouth and looked at this woman who I'd
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: barely known beyond casual workplace interaction, who had risked her
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: own safety to help me. Why did you follow us
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: that day?
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: I asked. What made you think something was wrong?
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: Vanessa stood up and leaned against the car, staring out
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: at the traffic on the highway. My older sister was
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: in an abusive marriage for years. Her husband never hit
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: her where anyone could see, and he was so charming
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: that everyone thought she was lucky to have him. But
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: I noticed little things— inconsistencies in her stories and gaps
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: in her memory. By the time she realized what was happening,
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: he'd isolated her completely from everyone who might help her.
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: She turned back to look at me with tears in
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: her eyes. She didn't make it out, Lily. He killed
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: her during one of his episodes and made it look
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: like an accident. I've spent the last six years wondering
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: if I could have saved her if I'd just paid
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: more attention. or been braver about intervening. When I saw
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: those same warning signs with you, the isolation and the
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: memory gaps and the controlling behavior, I couldn't let it
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: happen again. I reached out and took her hand, squeezing
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: it hard. I'm so sorry about your sister. And thank
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: you for being brave enough to get involved this time,
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: even though it put you at risk. You saved my
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: life tonight. We sat there for a few more minutes,
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: gathering our strength before driving to the police station. Vanessa
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: called ahead to let them know we were coming in
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: with evidence of a serious crime, and they promised to
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: have detectives ready to take our statements. My phone kept
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: buzzing with more calls and messages from David, each one
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: more desperate and threatening than the last. We pulled into
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: the police station parking lot just after 8 o'clock at night,
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: and I limped through the front doors leaning on Vanessa
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: for support. The intake officer took one look at us,
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: disheveled and scared and carrying folders full of evidence, and
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: immediately called for the detectives on duty. Within minutes, we
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: were sitting in an interview room with Detective Rachel Washington,
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: a woman in her 40s who specialized in domestic violence
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: and assault cases. I spread out all the photos and
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: documents on the table between us, while Vanessa showed her
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: the pictures she'd taken of David's car at the apartment complex.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: Detective Washington listened carefully to our story, taking detailed notes
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: and asking clarifying questions. When I got to the part
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: about the doctored vitamins and the medical records, her expression
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: darkened and she called in another detective who specialized in
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: medical fraud. This is one of the most elaborate cases
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: I've seen, Detective Washington said after examining all the evidence.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: But you've done an excellent job of documenting everything, and
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: with Ms. Hayes' eyewitness testimony, we have a strong foundation
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: for prosecution. I'm going to need you to give us
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: the full address of that apartment complex so we can
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: send officers to investigate. I gave them my home address
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: and described the apartment building from Vanessa's photos, though I
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: still had no actual memory of being there. Detective Washington
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: made some calls, and within 30 minutes, she had a
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: team headed to both locations. She explained they'd need to
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: get a warrant for david's office and car but the
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: evidence we'd already gathered gave them probable cause what happens
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: to me now i asked my voice small and scared
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: he knows where my sister lives where i work where
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: all my friends are how am i supposed to stay
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: safe while you build a case against him the detective
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: pulled out some pamphlets about witness protection and domestic violence
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: safe houses we have several options depending on how threatened
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: you feel. Given the sophistication of what he's been doing
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: and his access to medical resources, I'd recommend our highest
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: security location at least until we have him in custody.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: It's not permanent, but it will keep you safe while
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: we investigate. Vanessa spoke up then, surprising both me and
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: the detective.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: She can stay with me.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: I live in a secure building with doormen and cameras,
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: and David doesn't know where I live since we're not
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: close at work. Plus, I work from home most days,
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: so she wouldn't be alone. Detective Washington looked skeptical, but
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: I felt a wave of gratitude toward Vanessa that almost
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: brought me to tears. The idea of going to some
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: anonymous safe house full of strangers felt overwhelming. but staying
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: with someone I knew, even if we weren't close friends yet,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: seemed manageable.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: Are you sure? I asked Vanessa. This could get dangerous
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: if he figures out I'm with you.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: He's clearly capable of much worse things than I ever imagined.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: She nodded without hesitation. I'm sure.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: Besides, I've got a baseball bat and excellent aim, and
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: now that the police know what's going on, he'd be
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: stupid to try anything that would make his situation worse.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: We spent the next three hours at the police station,
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: giving detailed statements and answering what felt like hundreds of questions.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: Detective Washington arranged for the vitamins to be sent to
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: a lab for analysis— and she personally photographed every piece
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: of evidence we'd brought from david's office around 11 o'clock
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: she finally said we could go but made me promise
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: to check in twice a day and report any contact
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: from david immediately vanessa drove us to her apartment building
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: across town and i saw what she meant about security
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: there was a doorman who checked ids and a key
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: card system for the elevator her apartment was on the
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: 14th floor with a nice view of the city and
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: she showed me to her guest room like this was
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: the most normal thing in the world i collapsed onto
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: the bed my injured ankle throbbing and my mind reeling
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: from everything that had happened in the last four hours
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: vanessa brought me ice for the swelling and some pain
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: medication then sat on the edge of the bed try
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: to get some sleep she said gently tomorrow we'll figure
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: out next steps but tonight you're safe i promise i
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: wanted to ask her so many questions about why she
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: was doing this and what would happen next and whether
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: the police would actually be able to stop david but
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: exhaustion crashed over me like a wave and i fell
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: asleep still fully clothed with the ice pack on my
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: ankle i woke up to my phone buzzing on the
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: nightstand next to me and groggily reached for it before
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: remembering where i was the screen showed another incoming call
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: from david and i dropped it like it had burned
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: me vanessa appeared in the doorway holding coffee and she
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: gently took the phone from my hands don't answer him
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: she said firmly the police said not to have any
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: contact until they've made an arrest he's trying to manipulate
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: you into coming back or at least revealing where you
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: are i nodded and accepted the coffee wrapping both hands
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: around the warm mug morning light streamed through the guest
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: room window and i could hear traffic sounds from the
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: street below everything looked so normal and peaceful like the
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: nightmare of last night couldn't possibly be real but then
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: i shifted position and pain shot through my ankle reminding
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: me that it had definitely happened Detective Washington called about
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: 20 minutes ago, Vanessa said, sitting down in the chair
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: by the window. They executed search warrants on your house
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: and David's car early this morning. They found a lot
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: of evidence and they're building a case for multiple felony
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: charges including assault, unlawful imprisonment, and administering drugs without consent.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: I sat down my coffee before I dropped it, my
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: hands shaking too badly to hold anything.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: Did they arrest him? Is he in jail right now?
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: Vanessa's expression told me the answer before she spoke. He
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: wasn't at the house when they arrived and his car
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: isn't at his workplace. They've issued a warrant for his
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: arrest and put out an alert, but right now they
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: don't know.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: Where he is.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Detective Washington wants you to stay here and lay low
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: until they locate him. The fear that had briefly subsided
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: came roaring back, and I looked toward the window like
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: David might suddenly appear outside even though we were 14
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: floors up. If he knew the police were after him,
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: he was probably desperate and capable of anything, and he
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: was smart enough to evade them for at least a
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: little while, especially with his medical connections and resources. What
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: if he figures out I'm here? I whispered, pulling my
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: knees up to my chest. What if he's watching Vanessa's?
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: Building or following her from work? Vanessa stood up and
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: closed the curtains, blocking the view both ways. The building
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: security knows to watch for him. I gave them his
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: photo and description, and they'll call the police immediately if
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: he shows up. You're as safe here as you can
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: be anywhere right now. We spent that first day just
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: existing in her apartment, too scared to go outside or
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: do anything that might reveal our location. Vanessa worked from
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: her laptop at the kitchen table while I sat on
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: the couch staring at nothing, trying to process everything I'd learned.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: My entire marriage had been a lie, built on manipulation
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: and drugs and violations I couldn't even fully remember. How
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: many times had David taken me to that apartment? What
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: had he done to me during those lost hours? The
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: questions spun through my mind on an endless loop. each
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: one worse than the last. Detective Washington called again that
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: afternoon with an update. We found the apartment he'd been
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: taking you to, she said, her voice tight with controlled anger.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: It's a medical office space he'd been renting under a
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: false name. There's examination equipment inside and a locked file
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: cabinet full of documentation. We're working on breaking into it now,
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: but from what we can see, he's been conducting unauthorized
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: drug trials using you as the test subject. I closed
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: my eyes and felt tears slip down my cheeks. What
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: kind of drugs? We're still analyzing everything, but it appears
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: to be experimental medications related to memory suppression and cognitive function.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: Some of them aren't even approved for human trials yet.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: He's been documenting your responses and side effects in detailed
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: logs that go back almost two years. Two years of
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: my life, stolen and violated while I smiled and played
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: the role of happy wife. Two years of missing time
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: and gaps in memory that I dismissed as stress or exhaustion.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: I'd been walking around as a puppet while David pulled
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: the strings. and I'd never even known it. There's something
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: else you should know, Detective Washington continued carefully. We found
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: evidence that he was preparing to expand his operation. He'd
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: been researching other potential subjects and keeping files on several women,
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: including some of your co-workers at Henderson Financial. You weren't
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: going to be his only victim for much longer. The
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: thought of David doing this to other women made my
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: stomach turn, but it also hardened something inside me. I
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: couldn't just hide in Vanessa's apartment feeling sorry for myself
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: while he was out there planning to hurt more people.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: I needed to be brave enough to help the police
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: catch him and make sure he faced consequences for everything
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: he'd done.
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: What do you need from me?
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: I asked. sitting up straight or on the couch. How
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: can I help you find him and build the strongest
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: possible case? I could hear the detective's approval through the phone.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: Right now, the best thing you can do is stay
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: safe and be ready to testify when we catch him.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: But if you can remember anything about the apartment or
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: the procedures he might have done, any detail at all,
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: that would help us understand the full scope of his crimes.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: I spent the next few hours with Vanessa's laptop, typing
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: out every memory gap and unexplained incident I could think
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: of from the past two years. The weekend I'd supposedly
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: spent sick in bed while David claimed I was too
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: out of it to remember anything. The dinner parties where
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: everyone said I'd been there but I had no recollection
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: of the conversations. the random bruises and soreness that David
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: always explained away with mundane reasons, each memory I documented
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: made the picture clearer and more horrifying. Three days passed
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: with David still at large, and I started to go
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: stir crazy in Vanessa's apartment despite her best efforts to
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: keep me distracted. We watched movies and played cards and
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: talked about everything except the obvious topic hanging over us.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: She told me more about her sister and the warning
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: signs she'd missed, and I shared stories about my marriage
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: that I could now see were full of red flags
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: I'd ignored. On the fourth morning, I woke up to
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: urgent knocking on Vanessa's front door. We both froze, and
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: I watched her grab the baseball bat she'd been keeping
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: by her bed before creeping to look through the peephole.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: But instead of David, it was Detective Washington standing in
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: the hallway with another officer. Vanessa let them in quickly,
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: and I could tell immediately from their faces that something
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: significant had happened. We got him, Detective Washington said without preamble.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: he was hiding out at his brother's cabin upstate, and
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: we arrested him about two hours ago. He's in custody now,
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: and bail is being set extremely high given the flight
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: risk and severity of charges. The relief that flooded through
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: me was so intense. I actually felt dizzy, and I
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: had to sit down on the couch before my legs
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: gave out. David was in custody. He couldn't hurt me
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: anymore or conduct his sick experiments on anyone else. After
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: almost a week of living in constant fear, I could
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: finally breathe again. There's more, the detective continued, sitting down
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: across from me. When we arrested him, he had a
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: go-bag packed with fake ID's, cash and detailed files on
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: four other women he'd been targeting one of them was
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: your co-worker vanessa we both turned to look at vanessa
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: who'd gone completely pale and lowered the baseball bat to
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: the floor me she whispered he was targeting me detective
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: washington nodded grimly we found surveillance photos of you leaving
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: work detailed notes about your schedule and habits, and research
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: into your medical history. Our best guess is that you
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: intervened with Lily before he could move forward with his
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: plans for you, but he was definitely setting up to
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: make you his next victim. The room went silent as
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: we all processed what that meant. Vanessa hadn't just saved
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: me when she followed David's car that day. She'd saved
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: herself too, without even knowing it. If she'd minded her
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: own business and ignored the warning signs, she might have
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: ended up in that apartment office being used for experiments
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: just like I had been. I need to sit down,
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: Vanessa said, even though she was already sitting. She looked
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: at me with wide eyes. and I reached over to
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: take her hand. We'd both been in David's crosshairs, but
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: we'd gotten out. We'd survived and helped catch him before
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: he could hurt anyone else. What happens next? I asked
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: Detective Washington, still holding onto Vanessa's hand like a lifeline.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: Trial preparation, she replied. The district attorney is building a
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: case for multiple felony charges including aggravated assault, unlawful imprisonment,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: practicing medicine without a license, administering controlled substances without consent,
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: and fraud. With all the evidence we've gathered and both
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: of your testimonies, They're confident about getting a conviction. The
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: trial took almost eight months to prepare. And during that time,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: I slowly started rebuilding my life. I moved out of
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: Vanessa's guest room and into my own apartment, one that
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: David had never been to and couldn't find. I started
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: therapy three times a week to process the trauma and
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: work through the violation of having years of my life stolen.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: Vanessa became not just my coworker, but my closest friend,
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: the person who'd seen me at my lowest and helped
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: me climb back up. The prosecution brought mountains of evidence,
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: including the doctored vitamins, the medical records, the surveillance photos,
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: and detailed logs David had kept of his experiments on me.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: Expert witnesses testified about the dangerous and unapproved drugs he'd
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: been using and the serious risks they posed. Other victims
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: came forward too, women who'd dated David before me and
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: had similar experiences with memory gaps and missing time. The
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: defense tried to paint David as a dedicated medical researcher
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: pushing the boundaries of science, but the jury saw through
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: it immediately. After less than six hours of deliberation, they
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: came back with guilty verdicts on all major charges. The
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison without the
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: possibility of parole for at least 15 years. When they
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: let him out of the courtroom in handcuffs, David looked
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: at me one last time with an expression I couldn't
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: quite read. Maybe it was remorse, or maybe just anger
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: at getting caught. Either way, I stared back without flinching
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: until the bailiff took him through the door and out
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: of my life forever. Standing on the courthouse steps afterward
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: with Vanessa beside me and my sister on my other side,
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: I felt something shift inside my chest. The weight I'd
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: been carrying for months started to lift, replaced by something
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: that felt almost like hope. i'd been david's victim and
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: his test subject and his puppet for two years but
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: i'd survived more than that i'd fought back and won
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: what are you going to do now page asked putting
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: her arm around my shoulders i looked at vanessa who
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: smiled and nodded like she already knew what i was
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: going to say i'm going to help other women recognize
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: the warning signs work with domestic violence organizations to teach
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: people what to look for when someone's being systematically abused
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: and manipulated make sure david's crimes don't just disappear into
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: the prison system without changing anything we're going to help
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: Vanessa corrected, taking my other hand. I'm not letting you
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: do this alone. We started this together when I followed
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: you home that night, and we're going to finish it
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: together too. Six months after the trial, Vanessa and I
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: launched a nonprofit organization focused on identifying and preventing covert
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: abuse in relationships. We spoke at colleges and corporations and
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: community centers, teaching people about the subtle signs of drugging
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: and manipulation. We worked with lawmakers to create stricter penalties
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: for administering substances without consent and to require better monitoring
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: of medical supplies. The apartment building where David had conducted
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: his experiments was torn down, and a memorial garden was
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: planted in its place for victims of medical abuse. I
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: went to the dedication ceremony and planted flowers while reporters
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: asked me questions about my experience. It was hard talking
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: about it publicly, but I knew my story could help
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: protect others from going through the same thing. Sometimes I
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: still have nightmares about those missing hours. and wonder exactly
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: what david did to me during the time i can't
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: remember my therapist says i may never recover those memories
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: completely and that might be a blessing in disguise but
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: i've learned to live with the gaps and focus on
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: the life i'm building now instead of the one that
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: was stolen from me vanessa and i have coffee every
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: tuesday morning before work a ritual we started during those
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: early days when i was staying in her guest room
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: we talk about everything from serious advocacy work to completely
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: mundane complaints about traffic and weather she's become the sister
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: i chose for myself the person who saw me in
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: danger and decided to act instead of looking away On
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: the anniversary of the night she followed me home, I
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: bought Vanessa a gift. It was a compass necklace with
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: an inscription on the back that said, for having the
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: courage to follow your instincts.
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: She cried when she opened it.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: And we spent the evening looking through everything we'd accomplished
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: in the year since David's arrest, the lives we'd potentially
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: saved by speaking out, and the changes we'd helped create
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: in how the legal system handled covert abuse cases. I
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: still can't believe how close we came to both being
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: his victims, Vanessa said, touching the compass pendant. If I'd
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: just minded my own business that day or talked myself
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: out of following you, everything would be different. I reached
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: over and squeezed her hand. But you didn't. You saw
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: something wrong and you trusted that instinct even though it
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: was scary and weird and uncomfortable. You saved both of
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: us and now we're saving others.
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: That's what matters.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: Looking back at everything that happened, I realized the scariest
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: part wasn't the drugs or the missing memories or even
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: David's crimes themselves. Thanks for sticking around until the end.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: If you enjoy these kinds of stories, be sure to like, comment,
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: and subscribe.