“I'm getting worried, guys. It's dark and she's still not back...” I sigh, looking out onto the docks, expecting to see Anna swimming in the water as we usually do together in the summer.

“Dude, you pissed her off. She's probably out sulking. Go and see Matt and ask if he's seen her,” Zack shrugs, helping me clean the mess the football team left behind.

“You don't understand, man.. She has a crippling fear of the dark. If she's out there alone she'll be terrified,” I say, biting the inside of my lip anxiously.

“Then go out and look for her,” Rian laughs “You're over-reacting. She's a big girl now, Lex.”

“I don't care. She's my best friend. I'm going out to look for her,” I huff, grabbing my jacket- the Autumn wind being bitterly cold at night in Baltimore.

I walk down my yard, opening the gate- pushing hard as it gets stuck half way.

“What the...?” I mumble, peeking round- seeing I'm pushing the dead weight of Anna.

I gasp and squeeze out the small gap, getting on my knees, slapping her face gently as I see the pool of blood around her, expecting the worst “Anna! Honey?”

“I tried,” she sobs, her eyes closed and swollen- her whole face battered and bruised “I wanted to keep my virginity for you.”

“Anna, don't talk, just breathe,” I whimper, starting to cry as I see her legs pulled tight to her chest. “Guys! Call for help, it's Anna, she's hurt.”

“I don't need help,” Anna mumbles, as stubborn as ever.

“You do, Anna. Don't worry, I'll come with you,” I assure, putting her head onto my lap- making her burst into tears.

“D-don't touch me,” she whimpers, using all her remaining energy to roll away from me, turning onto her stomach, exposing the extent of what someone has done to her.

I cover her lower half with my jacket so she can have a little dignity.

“Were you raped?” I whimper, already knowing, but not wanting to believe it.

“Just leave me to die,” she chokes- her mouth full of dirt and a trail of blood leading from the docks up onto the wall and across the dirt path to my back yard.

“You crawled back to mine?” I ask, slightly comforted by the face she obviously thought about me.

Anna looks at me coldly, her eyes a dim blue as she focuses straight ahead, zoning everything out.

I sit with her, not touching her as she asked for, but looking at her rising and falling slightly with each labored breath, begging the next one to come, and for her to not give up.

I run my hands through my hair as the paramedics arrive- a small crowd forming as they check her out, loading her onto a trolley.

“Leave her alone, don't you think she's suffering enough?” I snap as I pass the onlookers, standing at the back of the ambulance, watching as they hook a now barely conscious Anna up to several machines.

“Dude, is she okay?” Jack asks, pushing to the front of the crowd.

“I-I.. I can't talk right now,” I stutter, my throat tight as I try to keep a brave face in front of everyone. “She doesn't want to be around me, which I understand, kind of...”

“Alex...” Anna calls weakly “Please..”

“Go,” Rian encourages “she's asking for you. We'll call your parents and the cops and then come down to see what's happening.”

I nod frantically and jump into the vehicle, crouching beside Anna's bed, singing softly to her- not touching her bruised skin.

My heart pounds as we arrive at the hospital. The same one where my brother lost his battle 8 years ago. The thought of going in terrifies me, but not as much as the thought of Anna coming round properly and not having anyone there to comfort her.

I speed walk down the halls after her as they rush her into a private side room- the nurse holding me back as they sedate her and take various swabs for DNA and attempt to clean her tiny body.

“Fuck...” I mumble, lacing my hands behind my head- my elbows out wide as my head slumps against the viewing glass, unable to hold its own weight.

I stay there, staring at her body as they remove her little black dress that she'd taken so long to pick. Most guys would be staring at her breasts, but it's the last thing on my mind as I watch them stitching up various gashes on the surface of her skin- covering her with a hospital robe, making her look so much more clinical.

I catch the gaze of one of the older nurses who sees my tear stained face on the way out of the room. She smiles sympathetically and returns to Anna, brushing Anna's hair with a small comb from her pocket- pushing her hair over one shoulder. I smile thankfully as she exits the room, leaving Anna totally alone.

“Dude, the cops are here,” Zack says to me softly- the atmosphere tense and quiet “they need to speak to you.”

“No. No way. They can wait. I'm not leaving Anna,” I reply, shaking slightly.

“You've been here for hours. You need to go and talk to them. The rest of us have,” Zack explains, hinting to Rian and Jack who are standing slightly back. “It's for Anna.”

“We'll take care of her,” Jack assures, rubbing my back as I look at them- nothing truly processing properly in my mind.

“I-I... Okay,” I sigh, dragging my tired feet down the white halls, where Rian points me to.

I knock and enter- seeing a single officer sat at a table with a notebook and pen

“So you must be Alex,” he looks at me suspiciously, not shaking my outstretched hand.

“Yes, sir,” I sigh, knowing his rudeness is a sign of things to come.

I sit down, looking at the floor, thinking constantly of Anna- seeing her terrified, bruised face.

“It's good news your friend is going to pull through,” he says with a dead-pan expression, clearly not caring either way- just wanting to befriend me with small-talk.

“Yeah, well it would have been good if it hadn't happened in the first place,” I mumble, twitching my foot.

“Well sometimes people are asking for it,” I comments under his breath.

“Excuse me?” I question, my eyebrows raised in shock.

“I said sometimes girls are asking for it,” he shrugs, genuinely not seeing a problem with his remark.

“Well Anna wasn't, okay? She's not a whore who goes out every weekend. This was her first party,” I sigh, knowing it's no use arguing with a man like the officer.

“I'm just saying, I'd never let my daughter out in a dress like hers. It gives men the wrong impression,” he says, bluntly.

“Stop. Don't say another word.” I finally snap as he suggests it was Anna's fault “Anna is a bright, beautiful and perfect seventeen-year-old. She doesn't drink, she doesn't smoke, she doesn't do drugs and until she was raped- was a virgin. Does that sound like someone who was asking for it? Anna was- no, still is, perfect. I won't have anyone talk down about her or try to blame her for what happened. Just find the guy who did this to her. I can't help you. I saw nothing.”

I stand up, shrugging as I walk off- the officer looking at me in awe as I walk the same route back to Anna's room.

Notes

So it's A-level exam season in the UK, That means slow updates, sorry guys :(

I'll update a couple of times a week if I can, though.

Thank you for the comments, keep them coming!


All Time Lily
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