You Light Up the Sky Like Lightning

Chapter Twenty Nine

Chapter Twenty-Nine

When I regained conscience, I was in the same storage room. I was in so much pain that it hurt to move even a little bit. But I managed to see that the duck tape was on the floor and not on my mouth and hands anymore. Dried blood was visible on my clothes and on the floor underneath me. There was a collapsing feeling in my chest and stomach that made it hard to breathe, and I felt all the cuts from where Cameron had cut me with that mirror, as well as bruises from where he slapped, punched, and kicked me. 

Miraculously, I had my clothes on again. But I knew what Cameron had done to me because I was sore in that area. 

He had raped me. 

I didn't know how long it had been since I was out, and I didn't know what happened to Cameron. 

But I do know that someone was messing with the door from the outside, probably trying to unlock it. 

I got scared again. What if it was Cameron coming back to finish what he did? Or do it all again? I don't think I would be able to take any more pain. 

My fears were relieved when the door opened, revealing Carin, of all people. When she saw me, she looked like she was going to have a heart attack. 

"Oh my god, Landry!" she screamed, rushing over to me. "What happened?"

She put her hand on my side- right on my ribs- and I gasped out in pain.  She immediately lifted her hand, and stepped back. 

I started to cry again. I felt so helpless. So worthless. 

Carin pulled out her phone and started frantically talking into it. I couldn't process what she was saying because my head started pounding with a headache. 

After a brief call, she hung up and sat down next to me. She was very careful not to touch me, and she asked, "Who did this to you?"

I continued to cry, and I started to try to push myself up. As much as I didn't want to sit here and be helpless, it didn't work. I fell back to the ground, making Carin flip out. 

"No no! Don't try to get up! I called Kenny and he is going to come help."

I let out a whimper- of pain, or of relief that Cameron was gone and Kenny was coming, I don't know. 

I rolled onto my back with all the energy that I had. I felt completely broken. My head and face hurt from the slaps and punches. My chest and stomach hurt from the punches and kicks. My body had cuts all over, which would start to bleed again if I moved the right way and opened them back up. And my . . . area . . . hurt really bad. 

I don't remember Kenny coming because I passed out again, but when I woke up, I was in Justin's and my hotel room with Carin, Kenny, and some other person I didn't know. 

The pain was still there, definitely, but not as much as I had felt before. I was probably drugged up now. 

"Excuse me, doctor," Carin said to the guy I didn't know. "Will you please give me a minute with Landry? Kenny, you too?"

They nodded and left the room. 

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. It was all dry, and it felt swollen. 

Carin opened a bottle of water for me and helped me sit up and drink a little bit of it. It hurt to sit up, but at this point, I was almost used to pain. 

I looked at my arms, and saw that there was a lot of really bad cuts and bruises on them. I let out a little cry, and I looked at Carin again. She had tears in her eyes. 

"Carin," I choked out. It was very hard for me to speak. 

"Landry . . . what happened?" she asked, almost losing it already. 

I swallowed hard. "What has the doctor said?"

"I know what I need to know, medically speaking," she said. I've never heard her sound this upset before. 

"So you know . . ." I trailed off, not knowing a nice word for what happened to me. 

She nodded.

Since she knew, it was easier for me to start slowly explained to her the whole situation and what had happened. It took me a full forty five minutes because when I tried to move, somewhere in my body would scream out in pain, causing me to stop taking for a minute to breathe through the pain. 

According to the doctor, I had four broken ribs: one on the right, and three on the left side. I had a dislocated left shoulder. A thousand bandaids and strips of gauze covered my legs and rest of my body. Bruises were purple and green on me, and my stomach and ribs had a long piece of gauze wrapped around me.  I didn’t know what that was for, though. 

By the time I had finished explaining to Carin what had happened with Cameron and how he raped me, we were both in tears. She was just from hearing what happened, and I was from reliving it. 

"Oh, Landry," she whispered. She wiped a tear away from my cheek and then her's. 

"Please," I whispered. "I can't face Justin tonight."

She nodded. "Okay."

"Can you just tell him that I love him, and I'll see him in the morning? And can you not tell him what happened?"

Carin nodded slowly. "Landry, you'll have to tell him sometime. He will find out."

I attempted to nod, but it was very weak. 

"Please?" I whispered. "You can tell Pattie, Jeremy, and Scooter only if they want to know, but that's it. They're the only people I trust enough with this."

She nodded. "Okay. When Justin gets back from his concert, I will tell him to sleep on the couch."

I thanked her, and she told me that if I needed her, I could call her. She left my phone right next to me where I could reach it, and a bottle of open water on the nightstand, seeing as I wouldn't be able to twist the cap off. 

She didn't want to leave, but I basically made her. I wanted to be alone. For now, at least. 

About an hour later, I heard the main door open out in the other part of the hotel suite. I heard Justin frantically scream, "Where is she?"

I sighed. I wanted nothing more than to be okay. To be able to be in his arms without it hurting. To be able to have seen him preform tonight. To be able to roll over without my broken ribs yelling at me. To be able to move my pillow without a problem. 

But I couldn't do any of that. 

And I had lost my virginity in the process. 

I sighed and listened again to what Justin was saying. 

"What happened to her? Why wasn't she there? Is she okay? Did something happen? Why can't I see her? I don't want to sleep on the couch! I want to see my baby!"

I heard Carin explain that I had said that I loved him and I would see him in the morning. He finally gave up after twenty minutes of arguing with Carin, and I didn't hear him again all night. 

It was quiet after that. I let out another cry, but this one was not for pain. It was for how I was going to explain this to Justin.