Of Love & Sacrifice

21

-'I dont know how we're gonna deal with this' Mark confessed between sobs to Joe and Cynthia.
-'Together. All of us, as a family. She needs us now more than ever...this is gonna be very hard, but we have to be there for her', Joe was sobbing too hard to even speak so he just didnt.
The forensic doctor came out of Gaga's room with a notebook and sighed at the family, -'Okay, so I know this is gonna be hard to hear but I just have to inform you what we saw and how we'll approach it okay?', the three people nodded and listened to the medic, -'So, she was raped. Not with an object, luckily, but with forced penis penetration. Now, what happens with genitals when you enter without lubrication is they rip, or may tear, and this is what happened to her', the doctor sighed again, -'She was so terrified we had to sedate her to examine her, and we found these lacerations, which caused the bleeding, so she will need genital plastic surgery to repair the damage. She also developed incontinence which can be fixed as well', -'Whats incontinence', Mark asked, -'It's when the pelvic muscles cant control the flow of urine so ...its kind of like a loose rubber band, okay? So the general doctor insterted a tube directly into her bladder so she doesnt have to worry about that...uhm, she also has bruises on her face and neck, which tells us the attacker covered her mouth and squeezed her jaw forcefully, her ribcage is bruised and her knees are scrapped....so thats what we saw...this may be hard to digest for you' the doctor said, nodding at Mark, -'We found traces of semen as well, but we were able to successfully remove it and save it as evidence. We gave her an injection to obviously prevent any possible pregnancy, I just thought you should know that', Mark almost fainted at the thought of a man being such a soulless pig; the doctor looked away from them, -'She's asleep under sedatives, she wouldnt talk to us or let us touch her so...when she wakes up, it may be hard to deal with...the good thing is that physically she will be fine, what you'll have to work with will be the mental trauma...', -'Can we see her?' Cynthia asked, the doctor nodded, -'Of course, come on in'.

Joe leaned in and kissed her cheek, trying harf not to hurt her even though he knew she couldnt feel anything, Mark sobbed while holding her hand, he noticed her fingers were wrapped in bandages, probably because she had tried to claw her way out of the man's grasp; -'I'm sorry, princess, I should've protected you better', he mumbled, cleaning his tears off with the sleeve of his coat, -'You couldnt have known', Cynthia laid a hand on his shoulder and patted his back, -'We have to be strong for her now, and be with her and make her know that she's safe', -'Is she though? That rapist already left the country, the police doesnt know where to start!', -'Mark lower your voice please' Joe begged, -'I'm sorry I'm just desperate here', -'We feel the same way, but as you know, flustering around her isnt of any help'.

Mark stayed for hours by her side, just talking to her even if he thought she couldnt hear.
-'I'll always be by your side from now on Stef, I will never leave you alone again. You'll always be safe...'.
******
-'Miss, you have to eat your breakfast', Mark woke up to the voice of a nurse trying to make Gaga eat something, she still was not talking but she was clearly refusing food.
When she saw Mark approaching her bed, she grabbed the pillow and covered her head with it, she tried curling up away from him but her crotch felt like it was gonna split open so she stopped; -'Honey, please, you have to eat something' Mark pleaded, this time keeping a distance. She grabbed a pear and started eating it slowly, keeping a close intense glare on Mark, like she was prepared to run in case he tried something.

After a while of her trying to eat everything on the tray, Mark sat next to her bed and stared at her, -'I love you baby. You're safe now, You will never have to suffer anymore...We'll help you feel like yourself again', Gaga tried to contain the tears but failed. She suddenly pointed at her chest and sobbed 'Scared.'