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“Luke?”
I saw the moment his focus returned and he smiled at me. “Sorry, I was a million miles away.”
I approached the bed, sat sideways next to him, and gathered his hand. Luke repositioned himself so he was facing me. “Are you okay? Are your ribs painful?”
“Yeah. I was thinking about the court case. I don’t know how I’ll face it. Face my father.”
“When is it?”
“In just under four weeks. On the Friday. I’m dreading facing my father again, especially in an environment which is like a second home to him.”
“What does your lawyer say?”
“He said the photos which were taken, along with documents from police and the hospital, should make the decision a no brainer and dad should get jail time.”
“So, what’s the problem? Why are you worried?”
“I’m not sure the lawyer is working for me. My father has influential, powerful friends. He has the means, and contacts, to pay off the judge and anyone else who might get in his way. Most of his friends are homophobes like him and will condone what he did. He’ll coach them to say what he wants the judge to hear. He’ll convince everyone in the courtroom, I have a short fuse and violent temper.”
“So, he’ll say it was self-defense?”
“Yes.”
“How can he, you said he wasn’t touched?”
“He wasn’t but he’ll convince them I did something, say he felt threatened or some bullshit.”
I shook my head. Luke had been beaten with a fucking cricket bat for fuck sake, and if I remembered correctly, Luke’s dad was a huge man. At least a head taller than his son but flabby and overweight. Luke could have been killed. The thought of coming so close to losing Luke caused my heart to miss a few beats.
“I don’t know how this works, but couldn’t you speak with his lawyer, tell him you’re concerned your father will likely try and rig the case?”
Luke laughed, a bitter, resigned laugh which sent chills through my entire body.
“My father is representing himself. He tried to deal with me, said if I dropped the charges, he’d give me the money to buy a property and I’d never hear from him again. He flew into a rage when I said no, but fortunately a couple of other cops who were visiting, were outside the door of the hospital room. They’d stepped out to give us privacy. As soon as they heard his raised voice, they barged in and made him leave.”
“Why did you say no?”
“I wanted him to pay for what he’d done. I guess in some ways, I wanted to destroy him. Now, I’m seriously considering dropping the charges., I don’t know that I can go through the humiliation of my sexual preference being aired in public. I’m not ashamed of who I am, of how I feel, but it’s my private life.”
I gripped his hand tight. “You can’t let him get away with this, babe.”
Luke stood up and paced in front of me. “You don’t get it.”
“Tell me, babe. Tell me what I don’t get.”
“It’ll be a circus. Our pictures will be splashed over the front pages of newspapers and all over the internet. I don’t think I can go through it and it’s not fair to put you in the spotlight and have your life scrutinized. Maybe if you stayed in the hotel you wouldn’t attract attention from reporters.”
Fuck! I hadn’t considered the possibility he would want me by his side during the court case. I loved Luke, but I couldn’t do it.
“Luke, I can’t be with you. I want to be, but I won’t come out on the six o’clock news. I won’t allow my parents and neighbors to find out about me in a news report. I won’t stay in a hotel and wait for you either; I can guarantee word would get out and they’d find some way of getting a picture. I’m sorry.”
He stopped and gave me look of disbelief. “You won’t go with me?”
“I can’t, please understand.”
Luke’s voice rose, and although he wasn’t angry, he was very annoyed. “So, the man I love; the man I want to spend the rest of my life with, won’t support me when I need it the most?”
“Luke, please.” I reached for his hands, but he pulled away.
He lifted his arms above his head. “No. I’ll probably drop the charges, but knowing you couldn’t find it within yourself to stand by my side makes me question everything. I came out, Kyle, for you! I withstood a beating and didn’t care, because I knew once it was over, I had a chance to be with you. Now I can see I was the only one willing to be all in.”
Luke stormed from the room and a sense of dread washed over me. At least he hadn’t slammed the door and woken Wendy. I wanted to go after him, tell him I’d be here waiting when he returned, but I knew it was useless while he was so upset.
