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Next out the door is Jackson and Tyson, both being carted off in the same way Maxen was. Again, I rake my eyes over them. Both are good. They nod my way and each adopts shattered expressions at Tora’s passed out body in the grass.
I hear more sirens in the distance and let out a breath. That’s definitely more than one ambulance coming and I don’t doubt they’ve called a few for the losers with the broken bones inside.
Jesse and Puck appear from behind the cop cars and stroll over as though they’re innocent bystanders. Jesse drops down on Tora’s other side and instantly runs his eyes over her body, taking in the blood on her arm. “What did he give her?”
I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know. They took a swab to find out. They haven’t given me an answer yet.”
He nods and looks up at me with a cringe. “We, um… Josh wasn’t there.”
“I know,” I murmur.
Pucks hand comes down on my shoulder. “We’ll get him.”
The ambulance comes to a stop and the cop directs them to Tora first. I give a brief rundown of what happened and before I know it, we’re closed in the back of an ambulance with Jesse promising he’ll get the boys out and meet us there.
We get to the hospital in a record-breaking three minutes and half an hour later, Tora is safe in bed with a drip keeping her hydrated. The doctor told me that all we can do is keep her under observation and wait for the drug to work its way out of her system.
He then lets me know that when she wakes up, she’ll be asked to give consent to do a rape kit and I want to punch the doctor in the face for suggesting it. I know it’s a legal obligation for them to ask, but I know Tora, and the last thing she is going to want is to allow someone to perform those kinds of tests on her after being touched by those bastards.
But also knowing Tora, I know she’s going to give her consent anyway. She will want to know for sure just how far it went before I got there, despite me telling her that she was still wearing underwear when I took her away.
It’s her body though, and I’ll support any decision she makes. One hundred percent.
Fuck, I hope she doesn’t recall it all. I want nothing more for her to wake up and not have a single memory of the attack. I’ll tell her the need to know shit and she can go about her days, not having flashbacks of strangers’ hands between her legs.
I take her hand in mine and give it a squeeze, hoping that in her unconscious state, she’ll be able to feel me here. With my other hand, I feel my jeans pocket for my phone. I should call her parents to let them know what’s going on, but then I recall throwing my phone down in my car and realize they’ll have to wait.
Tora would hate me for worrying them. I’d probably get my head bitten off by her father, accusing me of not taking good enough care of her. He’d be right too. I should have been there. I knew Josh was going to try something at some point, but after a few months, I’d figured he had given up. How fucking wrong was I?
This is on me.
The bruises and tears on her face. They’re on me.
Torn clothes. The hands on her body.
It’s all on me.
I should have been there. I should have been watching her, making sure she was safe. Instead, I dropped the ball and because of that, she’s been hurt.
I’ll never be able to forgive myself for this and even though she shouldn’t either, I hope she can find it somewhere deep within herself to still love me.
Chapter 23
My eyelids softly flutter open to a white room. Beep. Beep. Beep. A hospital room, it seems. My head hurts. Something happened, but…
The darkness takes over me and I fall into unconsciousness again.
———-
A soft squeeze of my leg has the fogginess slipping away. I open my eyes. It’s dark in here. Quiet.
I glance around and the pain behind my eyes instantly lets itself be known. Why do I hurt so bad?
Nate is asleep beside the bed, his hand held firmly in mine while his head rests on the bed. If only I had the strength to squeeze his hand, let him know I’m alright.
I should let him sleep. I’m sure whatever put us here has had him in his own personal hell. But it’s ok, Jesse is here looking over us.
I allow the darkness to claim me again.
———-
Quiet voices fill the room and have consciousness coming back to me. I peel my eyes open to a bright light and wonder how long I’ve been here for.
