Waking with a furious start, Adrienne gasped for a strangled breath that seemed to be smothered in the depths of her body. She was unaware of her surroundings, tangled within the nightmare that had haunted her for almost three hellish weeks. Ignorant of the pain from surgery, she began to rip away the tubes and cords that were connected to her body. She could feel the greasy sweat of the man pouring over her body as his stale, breath huffed over her face. His gnarled hands sweeping over her body in swift, demanding strokes, scratching her delicate flesh while his erection invaded her body time and time again till he expelled everything from his body into hers. But that would not satisfy his appetite, so he reached for something else to entertain him. The cold, steel blade of the knife he revealed caused a terrible shriek to expel from her sister’s lungs. Death had been imminent.
"Adie, Doll Face, no," Josette interjected softly, catching her sister's hands before they could rip out the IV tube. Holding their clasped hands to her chest, she leaned over until she could look Adrienne in the eye. Seeing the raw fear deep in the cinnamon brown pools, she whispered endearments softly until Adrienne stopped struggling. "We're safe, Doll Face," she murmured, tears slipping from her own eyes. She had been sitting at her sister's bedside all day, each beep from a machine seeming to tell her that there was less and less hope. "We're safe…"
“He’s dead?” Adrienne whispered hopefully, concentrating fully on her sister’s hands. Those last two days had been the longest. Usually he took breaks between attacks. To eat and rest. He would lock Adrienne in a blackened closet and go about his duties till he wanted her again. But those last two days had been consistent torture… He never grew tired… If anything, as life began to flood from her body, renewed energy seemed to seep into his. Then, when she was certain that death would come as his hands slid around her neck, Josette had managed to get free. The last tangible image she had was her sister wielding the bloody knife at their assailant.
"He won't hurt us anymore," Josette promised, unable to recall for certain what exactly had happened. She could only remember grabbing a knife and attacking the man, and then she was stumbling through the woods with Adrienne… "How do you feel?"
“…Fine,” Adrienne murmured, biting down on her bottom lip, though she winced at the twinge of pain that exploded from her nervous action. Pulling a hand away from Josette’s hold, she carefully brought her fingers to her lips, sensing the split in her bruised and tender lips. Feeling a wave of nausea rush over her from the anesthesia, she slowly lowered herself back upon the bed. The clenching stabs of pain invading her lower half felt like death a hundred times over, but she said nothing.
"Don't lie to me," Josette requested, reaching to push the nurse call button. She could tell just by looking at Adrienne's expression that her sister was in immense pain. Ignoring the pain in her own ankle, she leaned up to adjust the pillows before gently tucking the blanket around Adrienne's trembling body. "If you're in pain, say so, Adie."
“I’m fine,” Adrienne insisted, though the strength of her voice dropped significantly when the nurse entered the room. She tensed significantly when she realized the nurse was male, his welcoming smile poison to her when he reached up for her IV line, uncapping a syringe. Thinking that he would sedate her for other purposes, she jerked in horror and reached for her IV once more to yank it free.
"Excuse me… Danny Boy," Josette interrupted, stepping between the nurse and her sister. Keeping her stance protective, she met his eyes with a level gaze. "What are you about to inject in her IV?"
“Morphine?” the nurse answered in surprise, taking a step back to avoid any potential swing of a fist. It looked as if he had never been questioned before. “Her insides were shredded like tissue paper, so I thought pain medication would be in order before taking the blood and giving her the medication for sexual assault protocol?”
"Don't you know better than to just stomp in here and shove a needle after her?" AJ barked from the doorway, anger creeping into his voice as he witnessed the scene. Dropping the stuffed bears and flowers he carried into a nearby chair, he crossed the room to the bed. "After all she's been through, you come swaggering in with a grin. For all she knows, you're going to put her to sleep and do something else to her-"’
“And who the Hell are you?!” the nurse immediately exclaimed, glaring from Josette to AJ, who were preventing him from his daily tasks.
"I'm her sister's boyfriend, that's who I am," AJ informed with a scowl, glancing to see Josette attempting to soothe Adrienne. Turning back to the nurse, he raised a brow. "Why don't you send in the head nurse to take care of her? 'Cause apparently, you don't know how to treat a patient."
The nurse looked baffled at the suggestion. “You--”
“Now,” AJ growled.
Josette glanced up when the nurse released an exasperated sigh, watching him hurriedly leave the room. Smiling her thanks to AJ, she returned her attention to Adrienne, murmuring softly as her sister began to sniffle. "It's okay, Twinkle Toes, he's gone… Alex got rid of him for us, it's okay…"
Adrienne said nothing to promise her sister that she indeed was okay, simply curling her arms about Josette’s neck for protection. All the words she had seemed to leave her when someone was in the room besides Josette. She didn’t have the strength to speak, nor the passion. She was overtly numb to communication, burying her face into the crook of her sister’s neck to suppress a startled sob. She had never been so terrified before in her life. She just wanted to disappear. To take flight from her aching body.
"Is there a problem in here?" an older nurse asked from the open doorway, seeing the patient sniffling in the bed. Casting a weary glance towards AJ, she slowly approached the bed. "Now, now… Everything will be alright, Miss Moreau. Sir? If you'll just step outside, I need to check her over." When the woman holding the patient stiffened, she offered a gentle smile. "You can stay, ma'am."
“I’ll be right outside, Josette,” AJ murmured softly, reaching to help pull the curtain surrounding Adrienne’s bed before stepping outside to wait.
“Who is he?” Adrienne finally whispered, watching the nurse push the needle into one of the IV ports to deliver pain medication into her system. Slowly, holding her breath to stop the hiccups that always occurred after she cried, she pulled her arms away from Josette. Lying back on the bed once more, she felt Josette reach for both of her hands as the nurse instructed her to take the pills that she had brought. They would help protect her from potential infections the assailant may have given her as well as antibiotics to prevent against infection from her surgery. She did as she was told, though tensed just the same when the nurse softly instructed that she’d need to take a look at the bandages and her body in whole. Feeling the blankets being drawn from her body, she squeezed her eyes closed. “Don’t look, Ette.”
"I'm not," Josette promised, gently pressing her face against Adrienne's neck. She had witnessed all of the torture her sister endured, she had no desire to see the wounds now. At least, not yet. When Adrienne was ready to show them to her, she would look. "And Alex is the man who saved us… He brought us here yesterday and he's been taking care of both of us, Adie…"
“…We’ve been here for a day?” Adrienne inquired in disbelief, pressing a hand over her mouth when she felt the woman’s hands moving over her body to assess the sutures and whatnot. She knew that the nurse was just doing her job, but the fear and mortification were still present. Her stomach churned nastily with sickness and she struggled to focus on something else. “…What’d they do? Are you hurt, Ette?”
"Just a sprained ankle and cuts, Twinkle Toes," Josette murmured, grateful when she heard the rustle of blankets as the nurse pulled them back over Adrienne's body. Knowing she had to tell Adrienne the truth, she sighed softly. "You were in surgery… They had to fix the tears-"
“The tears?” Adrienne whispered, watching the nurse jot some notes down before motioning that she would be waiting outside drawing up the discharge papers their mother had strictly ordered. “What tears? The cuts to my body?”
"To your… Where he used the knife and screwdriver," Josette whispered, hot tears of rage slipping from her eyes as she dropped into the chair at the bedside. Releasing a strangled tear of frustration, she reached to hold her sister's hand. "We're going to be okay, Adie, I promise…"
"Is it alright if I come in now?" AJ questioned softly from the doorway, having been told by the nurse that she was finished with her examination.
“What did they do in the surgery, Ette? Am I okay?” Adrienne inquired, her voice barely above a whisper as the curtain was gently pulled back by AJ. She looked over to him for a moment, immediately reaching to draw the blankets up to her neck. She knew that her sister trusted him, but his appearance was slightly startling. Wildly unruly, dark curls, slightly unkempt facial hair, extensive artwork to his body…
"They repaired tears to your vagina and cervix and… They had to stitch up your breasts and they said they couldn’t get rid of the initials there on your inner thigh…" Josette murmured softly so AJ couldn't hear, even though he had heard it all the day before. "And you're fine, Sweetheart, I promise."
“Okay…” Adrienne answered with acceptance.
"Do you like stuffed animals?" AJ questioned carefully, keeping his distance from the bed as he clutched the two teddy bears he had brought up with him. "I stopped and got you something at the gift shop… Something for you to hold onto-If you want it, that is-"
“Go ahead, Ette, you love teddy bears,” Adrienne mumbled quietly to her older sister.
"He's talking to you, Doll Face…"
Confused, Adrienne finally moved her gaze from the scratchy blankets drawn over her body to the man standing in her room. She had done everything to avoid eye contact with him, but now she couldn’t avoid it, the way he smiled hopefully at her and nodded in agreement with Josette’s statement. She couldn’t understand why he had been so anxious to help them, much less buy her gifts. Shifting uncomfortably, she nodded meekly toward him, barely able to muster a soft, “Thank you.”
"You're welcome," AJ murmured, placing the bears on the side of the bed where she could reach them. Glancing across the bed at Josette, he cleared his throat, pulling his gaze from the warmth of her dark cocoa eyes. "I'll just go out and tell Nick that everything's okay, and then I'll pop back up here so we can get going to my house…"
"Thanks, Alex," Josette whispered, watching Adrienne pick up the teddy bears as AJ slipped out of the room once more.
“Everything must have been minor if I’m allowed to leave so soon,” Adrienne decided with a hopefully relieved smile when AJ disappeared. Delicately setting the teddy bears on her lap, she quickly had to move them because even the slight pressure caused an ache in her lower half. Playing with the purple bear’s ear, she was comforted by how soft they were. “…He’s nice…”
"Yes, he is," Josette agreed softly, lifting her foot to gingerly rest it on the side of the bed. "And…" Sighing, she raked a hand through her tousled hair, wondering how best to tell her sister that their mother wanted them to stay away. "He's invited us to stay at his house on the beach until we can travel home safely…"
“…Why can’t we travel home safely now?”
"Because you need your rest so you can heal properly and my ankle needs to be healed and our car has been towed back home, not to mention Father hasn't wired me any money for the return trip…"
“Father and Mother know?”
"Yes," Josette groaned, not wanting to get into an explanation of her conversation with their mother.
“…She’s mad at me, isn’t she?”
"No, Sweetheart, she's not mad at you," Josette promised, glancing up when the nurse reappeared.
“The surgeon signed your discharge papers and I’ve got several prescriptions for you, Dearie. One is for any anxiety you might feel. One will help you sleep at night. One is for the pain. The others are to prevent the sexual diseases. We’ve taken some blood from you, so you need to come back in a few weeks for another check-up and the sutures should be removed in a week and a half or so. Since you weren’t able to have the hysterectomy, I want you to be very careful about guarding your body. We’ve done our best to suture all the tears and stop the bleeding, but if you find that you’re bleeding heavier than before--”
“I couldn’t have a hysterectomy…” Adrienne murmured.
"I'll explain everything later," Josette whispered, easing out of the chair to retrieve the clothes AJ had brought for Adrienne the day before. Realizing how timid her sister was over men now, she cleared her throat, hopping slowly across the room with the pants and t-shirt draped over her arm. "I went out and got you these this morning… I'll help you dress, then we can get out of here."
“Mother doesn’t want us to come home, does she?” Adrienne guessed with a dejected sigh, watching the nurse remove the IV from her hand before smoothing a Band-Aid over the wound. Then, handing over the prescriptions and paperwork, the nurse wished the women the best of luck and walked out to give them privacy. Carefully, Adrienne shifted to lean over the side of the bed, immediately grasping the rail when she swooned slightly. She knew all too well what her sister was trying to hide. Their mother was the bluest-blooded aristocrat in California. She could trace their lineage back to royalty in France and everyone knew of their wealthy family. But, they did not know about the darkness that surrounded the family. After all, perfection was not dark.
"She wants us to stay gone like we had planned to, and when we get back we're to regale everyone with tales of our wonderful trip," Josette answered in a monotone, removing the tags from the clothing with an angry snap. "And we're not to breathe a word of what happened to anyone we know, because God forbid someone think we're no longer pure," she hissed under her breath as tears once again flooded her eyes. "God, Adie, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have let you go in alone, I should have told him to get his own fucking puppy by himself, I should have protected you better-"
“I’m the idiot that thought he had a puppy, Ette,” Adrienne gently interrupted, reaching behind her neck to pull the ties of the hospital gown. Just simply talking about the horror caused her hands to tremble. She couldn’t believe that she had so willingly gone with a man that she didn’t know. He had been so rough looking and clearly a danger. But she had persisted. Mother was right, she was unbelievably naïve.
"Hey… You're not an idiot," Josette chided softly, reaching for Adrienne's hand. "But we're going to be alright, Doll Face. We've got each other."
“…And you’ve got Alex…” Adrienne decided, reaching for the t-shirt her sister held. Keeping the gown close to her body, she did her best to draw the shirt over her body to conceal the bandages. She was so ashamed of herself at that moment, but she realized something was brewing between AJ and Josette.
"I don't have Alex," Josette disagreed, gently reaching to pull the t-shirt down. AJ had bought one several sizes too big, and it pooled over her hips when it reached them. Picking up the pants, she slowly pulled the blankets away from Adrienne's legs, keeping her eyes in a locked gaze with her sister. "And even if I did, I'm engaged to Rudolph, remember?"
“He’s so stuffy…” Adrienne sighed, not really enthused with the idea of her sister marrying the junior partner to their father’s law firm. He wasn’t the type of man she envisioned as having for a brother-in-law. He was pretentious, snooty, weak, and had no personality whatsoever. Her sister may have been elegant, prim, and proper, but there was a certain playfulness to her that only Adrienne was able to draw out. And, she feared that with Josette’s marriage to Rudolph the playfulness would die.
"Well… For the next month Rudolph the Brown-Nosing Asshole doesn't exist," Josette decided, carefully easing the pants up Adrienne's bruised legs. Once they were in place, she pressed a soft kiss to her sister's cheek before turning to pull the wheelchair close to the bed. "Alright, Twinkle Toes, let's roll."
Finding Nick in the courtyard outside the hospital, AJ headed over to the table his friend occupied, dropping the bag from McDonald's in front of an empty seat before sitting down. Nick seemed to ignore his presence, cell phone pressed to his ear as he angrily smoked on a cigarette. Shrugging as he withdrew his late lunch, AJ stole the younger man's soda, idly taking a sip before announcing, "In about thirty minutes we can take Adie and Josette to my place…"
“Hold on, Aaron, the fucknut who’s been gone since fucking yesterday is yapping in my ear about some insane plan to take two raped chicks back to his house,” Nick suddenly announced, pulling the cell phone from his ear to shoot AJ an incredulous look. They had been stuck at the hospital for an entire day and AJ had barely spoken ten words to him. He would simply run back and forth from the waiting room to the hospital rooms, muttering just to stay put. If Nick had any common sense, he would have taken the car and deserted the bastard. But, no, he stayed.
"Want some?" AJ questioned, pushing the carton of fries towards the younger man with an innocent expression. Biting into his burger, he released a sigh of satisfaction. He was stalling, he knew, but the incredulity on Nick's face was too hard to waste. "I would have gotten you something, too, but you weren't in the waiting room when I went there, so I didn't know if you were hungry or not-"
“Don’t be fucking retarded,” Nick growled, slapping his cell phone shut and shoving it into the back pocket of his jeans. “You just said that you’re taking the two chicks back to your house. For what? To call them a cab? Because, we can certainly ring up a cab here, throw some money at them, and wish them the best of luck--”
"They're coming to my house to stay for awhile," AJ interrupted. "Their mother doesn't want them to come home yet, so I'm doing the decent thing and offering them a place to stay. Oh, wait, you don't know what decent means, do you?"
Nick snorted with disgust, “I know those two are going to be fucked up in the heads for the rest of their lives and now you think you can take them home and bond them like that pack of dogs you’ve got yapping around your place--”
"Just shut the fuck up and go pull the car around," AJ growled. "And I'll drop your sorry ass off at the nearest bus stop-"
“Hell, I’d rather hitch-hike there once the guys find out what stupid stunt you’re pulling because you have some kind of retarded death-complex--”
"Is it so wrong that I want to help them? Goddamn, Nick, it's not like I'm giving them my house and all my money. They have nowhere else to go-"
“I’m sorry that you lost your girlfriend, J. I really am. But, trying to make the pain go away by putting your entire heart into… Look, what happens if something goes wrong with those two? They’re unstable and they could hurt us--”
"I trust them. Adie won't even talk, and Josette's too concerned with taking care of her sister to hurt anything," AJ informed, cramming the rest of his burger into his mouth.
“You know their names?” Nick groaned, slumping further into his seat as he clapped his hands over his face. Kevin, Brian, and Howie were going to strangle him because of this fiasco. He could see it now. And, it wasn’t even his fault!
"She said their names when we found them in the ditch, Dumbass. Here, go get the car and pull it around front," AJ directed, pulling his keys from his pocket to hand them over before he gulped down the remainder of Nick's soda. "We'll be down in a few minutes."
“Here, go get the car and pull it around front,” Nick mimicked in a whiny tone, throwing his head from side to side. Jerking up from his seat, he shoved the keys deep into his front pocket. “Like I’m a fucking chauffer! Millions of women scream over me. I can have my choice of whoever-the-fuck I want, but no, I’m playing ass-diddling chauffer to the grieving stick!”
"I love you too, Nicky," AJ cooed as he threw his trash away. "And while you're at it, clean out the backseat a little so they can stretch out and be comfortable," he added, quickly turning and heading back inside.
“Kevin’s going to throw my dick in a can and then Howie and Brian are going to grind up my balls, I can fucking feel it now,” Nick muttered, wanting to throw a swift kick into AJ’s backside but the vibration of his phone deterred him. Stomping toward the parking lot, he kept his head low as he jerked his phone out and pressed it to his ear. He didn’t want to get spotted here of all places, much less have to explain what happened. If anything, he’d tell the media that he had accidentally rammed his dick so far into AJ’s ass that he needed emergency surgery—“What the Hell do you want?”
"What the fuck did you hang up on me for?!" Aaron barked into his ear. "I was in the middle of talking about the best blowjob I ever received and you fucking hung up!"
“Because, first off, the blowjob was sloppy seconds from a bitch I dumped last week, and second, AJ was being a fucking idiot,” Nick defended, immediately matching his younger brother’s anger and disbelief. He wasn’t about to be defeated by a snot-nosed punk that barely made his older brother’s weight.
"I really appreciate you teaching her how to deepthroat without gagging, Bro," Aaron sighed. "What's AJ's problem now? Jesus Christ, just hire him a whore to fuck his frustrations out on and then he'll be okay."
“I think he just found himself two without forking over any money whatsoever. They’re damaged goods and God only knows what they look like without blood and dirt smeared over them… But, pussy is pussy, right?” Nick groaned, yanking open the doors to AJ’s vehicle. Rummaging for a plastic bag, he began to pile all the trash within it, never bothering to retrieve AJ’s new hat from the pile either, just throwing it all into the nearby trashcan.
"Jesus Christ… Are they hot?" Aaron questioned after a moment.
“Why don’t you take a visit to AJ’s and find out, Asshole?”
"Because I'm stuck in fucking Toronto recording my album, Fucknut."
“They’ll be there for a month, I’m sure you have plenty of time with the kind of shitty work you do.”
"And I'll be sure and dedicate it all to you, oh loving brother of mine," Aaron snorted. "Just lay the Carter charm on them and get your rocks off, then you can forget about 'em, right?"
“Glad to see I’ve actually taught you something,” Nick decided, hopping into the driver’s seat and firing up the engine. Wrapping his arm around the back of the passenger seat, he craned his neck in order to back out of his parking spot. Then, hurriedly directing the car forward, he sped to the front of the hospital, anxious just to get back to normalcy.
"Call me when you find out if they're hot or not," Aaron requested. "Later, Bro."
“Fine,” Nick agreed, closing his cell phone once more before tossing it onto the dash. Reaching to put the vehicle in park, he glanced out the tinted window to see AJ driving a wheelchair out with another woman on crutches walking by his side. He immediately recognized the one with the crutches as the woman who had attacked him and found a scowl fixing to his face. But, knowing AJ would bitch, he slid out of the driver’s seat to assist them.
"Did you clean out the backseat?" AJ questioned as he stopped by the curb, reaching to set the brakes on the wheelchair before moving to open the door. Seeing the backseat was cleaned, he turned to assist Adrienne in first. Taking her hand in his, he offered her a reassuring smile as he helped her to her feet. "In we go," he murmured softly.
“Yes, Father, I made sure that I even licked the seats clean,” Nick muttered, leaning against the side of the vehicle to watch AJ’s tender movements. Sliding his arms across his chest in an aggressive manner, he felt his posture change ever so slightly when he looked to the woman being assisted. Despite her pale features from lack of blood, bruised face, and the tangled mess of long, dark ginger locks, Nick could see the remnants of a beauty. The soft heart-shaped angle of her face, rounded, button nose, large, cinnamon colored eyes. With a good rub down with soap, she’d be breathtaking. But, she didn’t seem to show the same interest when she clamped down on AJ’s hand and refused to budge an inch.
“Adrienne, that’s just my friend Nick. He’s not going to hurt you,” AJ assured. “He’s gayer than bahama-mama at sunset.”
"He's the ass that was jacking off while he looked at her lying naked in the ditch," Josette breathed in horror, raising one crutch defensively. "Get away from my sister!"
“What the fuck are you talking about?! I was trying to take a piss!” Nick squawked in horror, immediately dropping to the ground before she could swing the crutch at his body. “Jesus Christ!”
"Nick, get the fuck off the ground," AJ groaned with disbelief, turning his attention to Adrienne. "Alright, Adrienne… You can either stand on the curb until your toes grow to the pavement, or you can get in the car and we can get you home where you can rest…"
"He's not going, is he?" Josette questioned darkly, shifting on her crutches as Nick scrambled to his feet.
“Of course not!” Nick snorted, watching Adrienne climb into the vehicle without a word expressed from her lips. Instead, she carefully moved until she was in the very back and pressed quite tightly to the opposite side. “Why don’t we just tie my fat ass on the roof like a gay Christmas tree!”
"Sounds good to me," Josette decided with a casual shrug, leaning her crutches to the side of the car so AJ could help her in. When he handed her Adrienne's teddy bears, she passed them over with a soft smile, though she scowled when Nick climbed into the front passenger seat as AJ went to stow the flowers in the back.
Securing the seatbelt across his waist, Nick turned so he was facing the back of the vehicle while AJ climbed into the driver’s seat. He arched his brows curiously when Adrienne did everything within her power to avoid his eye contact and Josette scowled. “…You’re imagining lighting my dick on fire, aren’t you?”
"Among other things, yes," Josette conceded, reaching to hold Adrienne's hand protectively. She had held an intense dislike for the blonde man ever since spying him on the side of the road. Something told her that, unlike AJ, he was not just being nice.
“She’s a feisty broad,” Nick mused with a laugh, glancing over to Adrienne for another moment. “You must speak for her as well, huh?”
"Nick, sit down and shut the fuck up, please," AJ hissed between his teeth as he pulled away from the curb.
"Seems your friend has all the brains," Josette commented dryly, shifting so she was facing Adrienne.
“Yeah, but at least I have the bigger dick,” Nick admitted quite proudly before turning to face the front.
"If what I saw was the bigger dick, then I feel truly sorry for you," Josette returned, causing AJ to snort with laughter.
“You had that one coming, Asshole,” AJ immediately answered, defending Josette when Nick started to whine at him. Holding a hand up, he grinned in the rearview mirror to Josette when Nick jerked to stare out the window. When she smirked with pride, AJ let his gaze move to Adrienne and his smile instantly faded. She was merely staring out the window with the teddy bears clutched in her arms. Her face was placid with no emotion whatsoever, but he could tell there was significant pain in her features as she held tight to her lower abdomen. He could only assume that what was inside her was nothing short of a ticking time bomb.
