My Father's Daughter

Fifteen

Vic's POV

We pulled into the hospital parking lot and got out. I opened the back door and I picked up Audrey. She was covered in bruises and cuts. I knew she was probably in a lot of pain. Alex followed us in and I set Audrey in a chair in the waiting room.

"You okay?" I asked like the paranoid father I am. She nodded. Her face was still red and there were dark circles under her eyes. She looked exhausted. Her eyelids kept flickering shut and reopening. "It won't take long, we'll go right back to the bus and you can sleep." She tried smiling but it didn't reach her eyes. It rarely had recently...really since we picked her up. I patted her shoulder lightly and walked up to the counter.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" The lady asked. I sighed and tried to focus on my surroundings.

"My daughter was raped about an hour ago..." I stated. The lady's happy expression contorted into one of horror.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry to hear that! Is that her?" She nodded to Audrey sitting next to Alex.

"Yeah. My friend said that you could do DNA tests here? To ID the guy who did it?" She nodded.

"Yes, would you want that for right away?" I nodded.

"As soon as possible, yes."

"Alright, I can get her in right now. The doctor will come out in a few minutes."

"Okay, thanks." I went back and sat with Alex and Audrey. "They'll come and get you in a few minutes." I told her.

"Okay." She leaned on my shoulder and I put my arm around her protectively.

"Audrey Fuentes?" A doctor asked. Audrey sat up and gave me a worried look. I squeezed her hand.

"Do you want me to go in with you?" She relaxed and shook her head. "Okay. I'll be right here when you get out."

"It'll only take a few minutes. It's not a long process." The doctor said. Audrey followed the doctor into a room leaving Alex and I alone. The lights kept flickering on and off. It was obnoxious as hell and I felt myself getting a head ache. I couldn't help but imagine the horror Audrey must have been feeling in those few minutes. She would have felt so weak and defenseless. Did she scream? No one would have heard her if she did, the restaurant was too loud. What was she feeling now? I shuddered at just the thought of being pinned to the ground and taken advantage like that. My daughter... I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed.

"Relax, Vic. Audrey's tough, she'll get through this." Alex said. I glanced over at him.

"Alex, she was raped! You don't just 'get through' something like that! This is going to change her forever."

"You said she's been through a lot. That doesn't really show, she can handle this." I squeezed my eyes shut.

"What do you think caused her anxiety, Alex? Do you notice how when she smiles, it never lights up her face like it should? Her entire life has been a living hell!" I groaned, rather harshly.

"Okay, sorry, I just never really realized, I guess... Calm down."

"Her life sucked so bad when I wasn't there that she started cutting." I said. I was just thinking out loud until I realized that I shouldn't have told Alex that. I looked over at him. His face held complete shock and horror. "I couldn't get her to stop without taking everything she had. And now even that I am here..." I dropped my head. "Even now, I wasn't there when she needed me..." I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry...I didn't know she was cutting." I shook my head. I didn't care about what he had said before. "But Vic, you're being too hard on yourself. Audrey needed you then, but more than anything, she needs you now. And you need her too. You can't shut down like this. It's not healthy. Audrey isn't going to be mad that you weren't there to stop it from happening. As long as she has you, she'll be okay." I looked up again.

"But I don't know if I can be there for her...not like this." Alex furrowed his eyebrows.

"What do you mean 'not like this?'" He asked. I froze, I didn't mean to say that. I didn't respond. "Vic? What do you mean?" He asked a little more sternly. I turned towards him, I'm sure I looked terrified. I swallowed and sighed. I didn't have anything to tell him but the truth. I stretched out my arm and pulled up my sleeve. It revealed all the ugly scars cross-crossing my arms. I hadn't cut in over a month, but it was obvious they were fairly new. "Oh, Vic..." Alex muttered. I closed my eyes and pulled my sleeve back down. "Does she know?" I shook my head.

"Don't tell her." He shook his head.

"I won't, but you need to stop, Vic."

"I know." I heard a door close and looked up. "Hey, Audrey, is everything okay?" She nodded and I got up. The doctor handed me  some papers to fill out.

"Everything went okay, we also cleaned up her cuts." I nodded.

"Thank you." I quickly wrote in all the information they needed and handed the papers back to the lady at the counter. "When do we get the test results?" I asked.

"They should be done by tomorrow." I nodded.

Audrey slipped her hand into mine and I led her and Alex back to the car. Audrey fell asleep sometime during the car ride back to the bus. Her pained expression never left her face even as she slept. At the bus, I carried Audrey back inside as Alex held the door open. After I set her in her bunk I turned to Alex.

"Thank you, for everything. It's really nice to know there's someone else out here looking out for her other than me." Alex shrugged.

"It's no problem, really. She's a great girl, and a good friend. I'll do anything for her." He turned to go. "See you tomorrow, Vic. Last show, what a tour!" I nodded.

"Yeah, see you."