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Mike scoffed and leaned in angrily towards me. I
didn't budge. "You think after that display you just
put on in my club....i'm just gonna let you walk on
out of here?" he gritted between his teeth. I thought
for a moment, never loosing my cool. "Unless you want
me to go to the cops...then....yeah, you would." I
said as I turned, opened the drivers side door and
climbed in, starting the engine as I noticed his husky
figure in my rearview mirror- walking back into the
club, cell phone once again attached to his ear.
"Thanks man, you just got me killed!" James exclaimed,
rubbing his head in a stressed out manner. "Relax...no
ones dying." I said quietly, pulling out of the
parking lot and heading towards the hospital..trying
to formulate a plan in my head.
When we walked into the hospital, a young nurse came
over and looked at Grace before telling me to carry
her and follow her into the emergency room. She opened
a cloth curtain, revealing a hospital bed and told
James and I to wait in the waiting room outside. I
laid Grace down on the bed, still wrapped up in her
comforter, and walked back out to the waiting room as
the nurse pulled the curtain closed around Grace's
bed. I knew eventually they'd ask for details of what
happened...and I had to figure out what I'd
say...praying that Grace wouldn't accidentally say the
wrong thing or spill the beans. Not that I wanted Mike
and that jerk to get away with what they did...but I
think having them after us would be even worse.
After a little while, the nurse said I could come back
and see Grace if I wanted to. I gave a nod to James,
who was reading a sports illustrated magazine from the
coffee table, and headed in..following the nurse back
down the hallway into the bustling emergency room and
through the curtain that hid Grace behind it. She was
still curled up in a ball on her side, now changed out
of her mcfly teeshirt and into a hospital gown, with
an iv drip in her arm to replace her lost blood. I
nodded and forced a smile to the nurse as she closed
the curtain behind me and turned back to
Grace..walking to the chair infront of her and sitting
in it.
She seemed off in a daze, just staring out into space
like I wasn't even here. I sat infront of her in the
chair and just stared into her eyes for a few minutes
before reaching down and grabbing her hand, which she
had curled around her stomach. "Hey.." i said, finally
breaking her trance as she blinked up at me a few
times. Before I could open my mouth to get any words
in, I heard the nurse returning with several other
sets of footsteps.
"Grace Carter?" asked a policeman as he drew back the
curtain and stepped inside the makeshift room. "Why?"
I answered for her. "We need her statement.." he
replied. "Oh..uhm..she's not really up to it..but I
can give you mine if you'd like?" I whispered quietly.
He eyed me suspiciously as I swallowed hard, then
nodded and motioned for me to follow him outside.
"Okay, go ahead" he urged me, opening a notepad and
clicking open his pen. "Okay. My dog." I started,
anxiously taking a deep breath to try and work out the
details of the supposid crime. "We were walking my dog
in the park...and my dog's pretty old...so we dont use
a....a.. leash!" I talking sped up as the plan began
to come together in my mind. "He saw a squirrel or
something and went chasing after it. So we split up to
look for him and after about 20 minutes, I heard her
scream and went running to find her." The policeman
leaned in towards me, interested in what was to come
next. "Well..the parks big! It took me a while to find
her, behind a bush, with duct tape on her mouth and
hands...and no one else in sight."
He pondered for a few minutes. "If you found her...in
the park behind a bush..then where were her pants and
where did the bedspread come from?" he asked
quizzically. Shit. I forgot he'd probably read the
hospital report. "Oh. uhm. I guess they were just
scattered or lost somewhere after the guy..ya know..
OH, and the comforter is mine..I had it in the back of
my truck because I had slept over at my friend James's
house the night before." WHEW! That should clear up
any doubts. It was totally convincing. Now I'll just
have to fill in James and Grace on the recent
developments of the story, so we dont contradict or
anything. "Well..thanks for your help. When she's up
and around, tell her to give me a call so I can take
her statement and the description of the guy." I
smiled and took a paper businesscard with the cheif's
name and number on it, nodded and went back to Grace's
hospital room.
"Oh sir!" A nurse stopped me in my tracks before I got
to Grace's curtain. I turned and raised my
eyebrows..as if to answer 'yes?'. "Are there contact
numbers for Grace's parents, to inform them of the
situation." Whoops. Forgot about that one. "Uhm. yes,
but their on vacation in ..uh...egypt, so she's been
staying with me and my mum. But I'll be sure to let
them know asap." I smiled and turned my back on her
quickly, before she could get another word in
edgewise.
A few hours and another iv bag later, Grace was
discharged from the hospital. Since she didn't really
have any clothes though, I had James run to the
visitors shop and buy a pair of shorts and a teeshirt.
They were oversized and absolutely hideous, but once
Grace put them on, I swear they looked 10 times
better. The nurses insisted we wheel Grace out in a
wheelchair, and she was barely speaking enough to
argue, so we obliged and wheeled Grace out to my car
and helped her into the backseat. I pulled out of the
parking lot and headed towards James' house. "Man is
my mum gonna be pissed..." he rolled his eyes before
hopping out of the car, "Hope it all works out dude"
he nodded before closing the passenger side door. I
looked over my shoulder to notice Grace in the
backseat, leaning against the door looking out at the
bleak and rainy weather. It was about midday. I
sighed, a bit upset that this happened. I wasn't there
in time. I didn't protect her, and now she might never
be the same.
I pulled out of James' driveway and headed a few
blocks to my flat. Ever since McFLY took off, I'd
moved out of my mum's house- first in with the other
boys in our shared house. Now we all had our own
apartments. I helped Grace into the new place, turning
on the lights and futzing around to clean up a little
bit of the mess. It wasnt a total disaster, but i dont
exactly have organizational skills. I was in my
bedroom picking up clothes off the floor when she
appeared in my doorway, leaning against my
doorframe...studying my room and me silently. "You can
have my room tonight.. I'll take the couch." I
offered. She looked at me blankly. "You can have all
the privacy you need and I'll change the sheets for
you and everything.." I continued, trying to get any
kind of emotion or word out of her. She nodded and
turned, walking back down the stairs into the kitchen-
where I heard her open the fridge. "She's probably
starving.." I said to myself. I tore the sheets off
the bed and put fresh ones on before hurrying
downstairs to find her sitting at the counter on one
of the stools drinking a glass of orange juice. "You
hungry?" I asked. "Famished" she replied. I froze for
a split second, taken back by her reply. I nodded,
"How bout I make us something? Chef Dougie can whip up
anything!!!" I smiled slightly and nodded.
I ripped through my fridge..finding no solace with the
lack of food in my flat. "Shoot.. I knew I shoulda
gone grocery shoppinggg" I groaned to myself. "Well..
I have eggs?" I offered hesitantly, somewhat
embarrased that I didn't have anything better to offer
her. She smiled, "I love eggs." Score. "EGGS IT IS" I
smiled, whipping out the frying pan and setting the
stove. "How do you take em, milady?" I joked. She
giggled. YES, finally! "Scrambled..."
After 'dinner', we were both struggling to stay awake.
I showed her back up to my room... ya know, showed her
where the bathroom was, the remote for the television,
etc. before grabbing a pillow and blanket and making
my way for the couch downstairs. I pulled my shirt and
shorts off and climbed under the blanket in my boxers
before flicking on the tv, just to see what was on...
before I knew it, the silent flickering of the tv had
put me into a drowsy sleep state.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
I jolted out of bed, Grace's ear piercing scream
resounding in my ears. I jumped off the couch,
listening carefully.... nothing. Absolute silence.
With my heart beating quickly, I tiptoed my way up to
my room and peeked in the door. Grace was laying on
her side facing away from me- seemingly asleep. Whew.
I guess I just dreamed her scream...from earlier
today. I was just about to head back downstairs when I
heard a sniffle... noticing Grace's chest rising and
falling in a not-so-normal manner. "Grace?" I asked,
stepping into my room, slightly concerned.
She sniffed, then turned over to face me- forcing a
smile. I frowned. She had tears streaming down her
cheeks and her eyes were red and puffy. I sat at the
end of my bed, softly massaging the soles of her feet.
I couldn't think of anything to say. What do you say
at a time like this? IS there anything to say?
Anything to comfort a friend who'd been raped against
her will...I didn't think so. Like i said, nothing
came to mind.
"I'm sorry.." I blurted out. She sat up in bed and
looked at me confused. "What are you sorry about?" she
asked sweetly...as if nothing had ever happened. I
scoffed.
"That I wasn't there in time..." I mumbled below my
breath, staring down at the floor feeling guilty. When
I looked back up, she was staring at me...completely
dumbstruck. "Oh Dougie" she replied, tears flowing
over her eyelashes and down her cheeks, as she threw
her arms around my neck and hugged me tight...crying
into my shoulder. I stroked her back softly, holding
her close as she had a total breakdown. I tried to
think of something to say..something comforting..but I
couldnt think of anything to say that didn't make it
sound like I was trying to brush off everything that
happened as no big deal. It was a big deal. But I
hated seeing her hurt.
After what was probably close to an hour of Grace just
crying on my shoulder, her breath gradually returned
to a normal, slow pace. I began to notice her grip
loosen around my neck. I loosened my hug around her
and leaned back..noticing her eyes were closed as she
drifted into a state similar to that of sleep.
Carefully, I laid her back down onto my bed and pulled
the blankets over her as she turned over onto her side
and folded her hands under her chin. I carefully
closed the door to my room and tiptoed back down
stairs to my less then desired couch.
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