Life of Lust

Traitor and Heartbreak

            I woke to rhythmic beeping, pain shooting through my arm and legs. I took a breath, hot pain searing in my ribs. What happened? Where am I? I blinked and looked around, seeing a heart monitor beside me and a couple of IVs in my left arm. The memories came back; the beating, the yelling, the rape. The whole damn party where I was left for dead in a bedroom. Tears stung my eyes again and I bit my lower lip. 
              "You're awake," Tony's voice sounded from my right side. I turned my head slowly to face him. 
              "Where's Kathy?" I asked quietly, my voice raspy. 
              "She's waiting for you in your room," Tony replied softly, brushing my hair out of my face. "What happened at the party?" 
           I sniffed. I hated recalling those moments of pain the moment I did it. "Austin happened. He flirted with me a bit when me and Kathy went to get dresses, then he flirted a bit at the party. After that he got drunk and...," I stopped talking. I didn't want to tell Tony I'd been raped. 
               "He forced himself on you?" Tony guessed, his voice oddly calm. 
          I nodded weakly. "Yes..."
          Tony shifted in the chair and sighed heavily, pressing his hands to his face with his elbows on his knees before he looked at me. "Did he leave these bruises?"
              "Only the ones on my wrists and legs," I confessed. Johnson had done the rest.
           His brows furrowed. "Who did the ones on your arm and ribs?" 
           I swallowed. "Johnson came into the room..."
               "And?"
               "He untied me and then... He twisted my arm and slapped me. He punched me in the ribs and the gut... then he stomped on my arm," I muttered, the tears leaking from my eyes now. 
          Tony stood up and walked to my left side, picking up the doctor's clipboard from the foot of the hospital bed. "Four fractured ribs on the left, bruised stomach, fractured right shin, shattered right forearm and major bruising. Not to mention," He stopped reading the doctor's writing and looked at me, "Your black eye and busted lip from being slapped."
           I groaned, trying not to cry again. God damnit! I yelled inside. Tony put the clipboard back and shook his head, his lips set in a straight line. He was clearly pissed and I knew why. My body ached all over and I breathed out, whimpering slightly. 
              "Just try to get some rest," Tony told me gently. "I'll tell the officer you're not ready to talk."
           Officer? Fuck! I shook my head. "I'm ready to make a statement and press charges," I said sternly. Now I was pissed, Johnson sold me out, Austin raped me, then Johnson beat me and left me there to die. Payback. I wasn't kidding. I hated Austin and Johnson with every fiber of my being.
           Tony looked unsure for a moment before nodding and then stepping outside of the room. Moments later he returned with a tall black officer, who nodded to me with a calm look on his face. I felt my stomach twist with anxiety, the butterflies making me squeamish.
                "Go ahead and tell me about the party, Ms. Colmon."
            I sat up slightly, hissing in pain before relaxing again. "Well, me and my friend went together, but she left me for another friend. Austin Parker got drunk after flirting with me and led me upstairs where he tied me up and put duct-tape over my mouth. He slapped me and threw me down first, I kicked at him because he as forcing himself on me. He punched my legs until I couldn't move them anymore.  He fractured my shin. He forced his penis inside me."
               "He raped you?" The officer clarified. I nodded and he continued writing.
               "After that, my-- now ex-- boyfriend came in to find Austin on me. His name is Johnson Burgess. Johnson untied me and ripped off the duct-tape before slapping me and then screaming in my face. He twisted my right arm, punching me in the ribs. I slapped him for it and he punched me in the stomach before stomping my arm," I finished, blinking away the tears.
           The officer nodded and then clicked his pen before standing back up. "Thank you for this report. The doctors swabbed you and our homicide investigators were used to see what caused your injuries. The story adds up and you provided us with names."
           I stared at the officer. "I wish to press chargers for rape and assault," I told him steadily.
           The man nodded again, "As you should." He wrote it down and then left the room. Tony stared at me and I sighed heavily, trying to ignore the aching in my body.
           Tony stared at me, his brows furrowed thoughtfully before he gave my hand a light squeeze and walked out of the room.