I'll keep you safe

Chapter 8

"Excuse me? Are you Eddie by any chance?"

Eddie's head shot up from the floor. A blonde Nurse was standing in front of him, a kind smile spread across her face. He stood up abruptly.

"Yes, I'm Eddie Lawson. I came in with Rachel Mason" he nodded

"My name is Helen. I'm a nurse; I've just been with Rachel,"

"Is she ok?" Eddie asked immediately, cutting the woman off mid-sentence

Eddie wanted to kick himself for even asking that question. Of course she wasn't ok.

"She's a bit frightened, she's been asking for you. We need to do a couple of procedures to assess her injuries so we can treat them properly. I think it would be best if you could come in and be with her whilst we do them. Would you be comfortable with that?"

Eddie nodded

"Follow me" the Nurse instructed

Eddie walked behind her nervously, following her down the corridor. It felt like an eternity before they reached the little cubicle where Rachel was. The sight that was before him threatened to destroy him.

Rachel was lying on the hospital bed, her face stained with tears. Her body was trembling from head to foot, her legs placed in stirrups. She was whimpering and crying out in pain, ignored by the doctors bustling around her.

Eddie approached her, taking her hand gently into his own. She flinched at the contact, quickly relaxing when she saw Eddie's face.

"Eddie" she whimpered

"It's ok, Rach, I'm here" Eddie soothed, rubbing her hand gently with his thumb

"I'm scared, Eddie" she sobbed

Eddie stroked her hair softly, wiping away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. He wanted to tell her it was all going to be fine, that she was going to be fine. But he didn't know that. He'd have given anything in that moment to stop all this, to take her pain away, to turn back time, so this had never happened.

"If you could just stay with her whilst we do the exam, Eddie. That would be great" the Nurse said

"No, no! I don't want you to do it! Please!" Rachel pleaded, her body shaking with sobs

"Rachel, we have to do this so we can help you" one of the Doctor's reasoned

Rachel shook her head frantically, squeezing Eddie's hand even tighter.

He couldn't stand it. Why were they putting her through this when she wasn't ready?

Eddie turned to the Nurse

"Is this absolutely necessary? Do you have to do this now? She's just been brutally attacked and you want to prod and poke at her and traumatise her even more!" he hissed

"I'm sorry, Mr Lawson. We need to do all the checks, including the internal exam. Rachel has been raped; we don't know what internal injuries she might have"

Eddie stared at her, taken aback by her words.

"You think she was raped?" he questioned, his voice shaking

The Nurse nodded

"Her external injuries say so"

Eddie put his head in his hands. He was beginning to understand the true extent of what Rachel had endured tonight. Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse.

The thought of Stuart beating her up was bad enough. But putting his hands on her like that? Hurting her like that? It made his stomach turn.

"Look, Eddie, we need to do this. It's important. I brought you in here in the hopes that you would be able to keep Rachel somewhat calm. It's either that or we have to sedate her. The sooner we do it, the sooner we can get our findings off to the police so they can begin their investigation"

Eddie nodded reluctantly, turning his attention back to Rachel. He took her hand again. She stared at him, her big brown eyes filled with fear and tears. He hated that she was going through this, that there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"It's alright, Rach, I promise. I'm sorry, but we have to let them do this" he sighed

Rachel shook her head again

"I can't" she whimpered

"Hey, you can, I promise you. I'm right here with you, I'm not going anywhere, alright? If it gets too much they will stop, ok?"

Rachel nodded hesitantly, allowing the doctors to proceed and get everything ready. She gripped Eddie's hand tightly as he stroked her hair delicately away from her bruised and swollen face.