Esme’s POV
“Here,” I dabbed at the fresh cuts on her face with a wash cloth, causing her to wince. “I know it hurts, I’m sorry.”
Liam was in the kitchen making a pot of tea, and Anna was still in a fragile state as she settled onto the couch. It pained me to see her in this condition. I knew firsthand from experience that Tate was dangerous—I had received my fair share of bruises and aches—but I never thought him capable of something this cruel. The girl sitting here, shaking not from cold but from fear, was no longer the girl I had once called my best friend. Tate had that unruly effect on his victims—because that’s exactly what we were to him; his victims, his little dolls to do with what he pleases. He got you, and slowly broke you down to nothing, so not even you knew yourself anymore. I don’t know if it was guilt or pure hatred towards myself, but I could not help but think this was my entire fault. She told me was going to take care of it…should I have tried to take care of it myself? Had I been the reason behind his beating?
“I’m sorry.” She murmured, sliding further into the couch, bringing her knees carefully to her chest. “I’m so so sorry,”
“No,” I said, taking a seat beside her. “Anna don’t you dare blame yourself for this. If I had gotten rid of him on my own, if I told him to just-”
“Es, I promised you I would take care of this.” she paused, biting her lip trying to prevent tears. “I made a promise and I broke it. I thought I could take him, stand up to him. I thought I was taking care of it. But now…” her voice trailed off, and her shaking became more intense. “What if I made it worse? What if he tries to come after you again?”
I knew that idea wasn’t entirely unrealistic. Knowing Tate, he’d probably come after both of us again. I placed my hand on her back, trying to soothe her shivering. I was about to speak, about to reassure her that nothing about this was her fault, when Liam walked in with the tea.
“Here ya go,” he handed both Anna and I a mug, I placed mine on the coffee table. Anna took a sip and then placed it beside mine on the table.
“Anna, I know that you don’t want the police involved, but I do think we should bring you to the hospital. Just to make sure your injuries aren’t worse than they seem.” Liam’s tone was soft, in the hopes to convince her to cooperate.
“I think he’s right An,” she looked at me with worried eyes.
“Say we do go to the hospital, and they ask me what the cause of this was; what the hell am I going to tell them that won’t end up involving the cops?” she quickly became defensive. I knew how sensitive she must be feeling. Anna doesn’t exactly have the cleanest track record—no serious felonies, just little things like trespassing or shoplifting here and there—so I understand her reasoning for not wanting the law enforcement to get involved. But another part of me knows that if they don’t…this situation could, and most likely will, become gravely worse.
“I know you’re scared, and I don’t blame you. But things could get a lot worse if we try to handle all of this on our own.” I tried to really get into her head the severity of Tate’s actions. I was well aware that she thought she was the one who would somehow get in trouble for this if we called the police, so I needed to show her that that was not the case. “Please, just let us get help.”
Her tears were light, but they were falling from her eyes once again. She bit her lower lip hard, attempting to keep the heavier sobs at bay. She looked from Liam to me and then down at her lap. “Okay,” her voice was barely above a whisper that I had almost not heard her.
Liam didn’t hesitate for even a moment; he took out his cell phone and walked out of the room.
I put an arm around Anna as she leaned against me, lightly weeping into my shirt. “It’s all going to be okay.” I attempted to calm her down. “I promise.”
***
We had arrived at the hospital to get Anna checked out and agreed to meet the police there to question her.
“Ms. Baker what exactly happened?” the officer had a pen and a pad of paper in hand and was sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed. Anna sat up straighter.
“I was in his truck, he wouldn’t tell me where we were going.” She paused, the nervousness more than evident in her shaky tone. She looked at me for reassurance to go on, I nodded. “He finally stopped the truck in some empty parking lot. He told me to get in the back, and I did. When I got back there, he followed me and started to kiss me. I knew where it was headed and I didn’t want to do it.” she took a deep breath. “When he tried to undress me I told him to stop, that I wasn’t in the mood for it…and he slapped me across the face. Before I could stop him he got my jeans off and then my underwear. I kept telling him no, I tried pushing him off of me but I just couldn’t do it. He kept getting angrier and angrier and he just kept hitting me and hitting me. Eventually he stopped and that's when I got away. When he was getting back into the front of the truck I ran for it.”
The officer was writing as she spoke. “And what is this boy’s name?”
“Tate Gandee.”
“What’s his address?”
“17 main street.” Anna’s voice was barely audible.
“Alright Ms. Baker thank you for your time. I can assure you that you’re safe here.” The officer put away the pen and paper and stood up. “We’re going to find him and bring him in for questioning.”
When the officer left, the doctor came in to update us on Anna’s injuries. “Anna your x-rays show that you have a couple of broken ribs and a concussion. We are going to have to keep you here overnight for observation; just better to be safe than sorry. You should be able to go home tomorrow.” Anna nodded. “Thank you,” she said softly.
The doctor left along with the nurse, leaving the three of us in the room.
“You guys should go home, get some sleep. I’m fine here.” She insisted.
“No, we’re staying.” I quickly assured her. Liam nodded in agreement.
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A/N: Hello Lovebugs! Hope you all had a lovely weekend! What did you all think of this chapter? PLEASE leave me your thoughts, opinions, AND PREDICTIONS! NO silent readers please, I am begging you!
LOVE YOU GUYS.XX
