I was done being used, beaten and controlled and the night Rick put me in the hospital gave me my chance to take off and never go back. Who knew undergoing surgery to save my life and fix the damage he inflicted would open a passageway of escape and give me enough freedom to run as fast as I could.

I could have killed myself leaving the hospital in the state I was in, and the looks I got boarding a train in a bloody hospital gown with a black bag in my hands with all my worldly possession didn’t deter me. I was nineteen, knowing my life was going...