CAUSE & EFFECT (Vol III)

Part 30-"Daisy, I have no idea what you are talking about"

"Alex! What are you doing here?"

Stepping into her apartment, Alex wasted no time in making himself at home despite not being invited inside.

Sitting down on her couch, he turned to face her as she stood by the door staring at him.

"Come sit" he tapped the seat beside him.

Daisy swallowed hard and contemplated asking him to leave. Having avoided Alex completely in hopes that she would gather the courage to finally ask him the dreaded question of, why did you do it?

"Alex why did you say what you said?" Biting the bullet, Daisy crossed her arms angrily, making no effort to sit beside Alex.

"Daisy, I have no idea what you are talking about" Alex remained collected despite his recognition of Daisy's impending outburst.

"What you said to Freddie"

Alex looked confused "what did I say"

Daisy slowly made her way towards Alex, her confidence growing with each step "you told him you slept with me"

"I said nothing of the sort!" Alex became defensive at the accusation.

Daisy took a seat opposite him and crossed her legs. She wanted to scream at him. She wanted to tell him that it was his words that had Freddie fly into a rage.

"You implied it" her tone was now raised slightly, a detail that Alex noticed clearly.

He smiled sympathetically at her "Daisy, I understand that you are hurt by the breakup...but this projection of your feeling into me is unhealthy! After all, Freddie has moved on! He's getting married"

The mention of Freddie's upcoming nuptials twisted an already deep dagger inside Daisy's heart.

"I don't care about that right now! Alex! What did you say!"

Alex let out a deep breath as though the idea of having this discussion were pointless for him "I was having lunch, Freddie came over to me and began to accuse me sleeping with you. I told him that he was ridiculous, he was drunk! There was no reasoning with him! I made no mention of any freckles Daisy I swear"

Daisy cocked her head curiously "neither did I"

"Pardon me?" Alex asked raising his brows.

"I made no mention of a freckle. I asked what you had said to him, I didn't mention what was actually said, so how on earth would you know that"

Daisy wanted to be wrong and hoped that there was a freak mix up, but Alex' slip up, confirmed it all.

"I must have heard it Daisy, you know how people talk" Alex explained, waving his arms around uncomfortably.

Daisy nodded, there was no need for her to argue or demand an explanation further. She knew why Alex had said what he said, the only question now was, how did he know about the freckle.

Abruptly, Alex stood up "anyway, I wanted to make sure that you were ok and let you know that you can take all the time you need to uh...recover, and when you're ready to return to work you can"

Hurrying towards the door, he was relieved that Daisy didn't probe any further. The fear in him rose to surface, he was almost caught out in something that could have potentially undone all of his efforts thus far.

The phone rang loudly having Daisy step towards it and reach for the receiver.

"I'll leave you to it" Alex waved while he dashed out the door.

Daisy answered the phone, her mood now a heavy combination of sadness, anger and confusion.

"Hello?"

"Daisy, Hello this is Nurse Nicole Jackson calling with your results from your recent gynaecological exam"

"Oh, yes hi" Daisy had completely forgotten about her results and was relieved that she was receiving a phone call, rather than being called to come in.

"Your results showed negative on all counts of STD's, however you do have a mild infection for  which I believe you were prescribed antibiotics. Confirmation was also made that there was significant damage to the vaginal walls...now in cases such as these, we will require you to come back to the centre and take a pregnancy test, and we can also refer you a counsellor who specialises in rape victims"

"RAPE WHAT?!" Daisy spat out loudly "pregnancy test? I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about but I was not raped"

The nurse paused for a moment and re-read the paperwork infront of her "Daisy Robinson correct?"

"Yes!" Daisy replied quickly, hear heart beating violently in her chest.

The nurse began to read out the notes in Daisy's file "It says here, that the vaginal tears are conclusive with possible rape the victim may be suffering from post traumatic stress, and it would be recommended that she seek counselling"

Daisy clutched at the side of her head. Her breathing became rapid and painful. She dropped the phone to the ground and collapsed on the couch.

Her eyes fell to the spot that he had just been sitting in. Suddenly it made sense. Her black out, her missing panties, the vaginal tears, Alex's knowledge of her thigh freckle, everything made sense to her.

A heaviness began to grow inside her before erupting from her mouth. She threw up on the coffee table while tears fell down her face.

Alex had drugged and raped her. She was certain of it now.

Her ears began to ring, she clutched at her temples.

Looking around she searched for her bag, then ran out the door as she found it.

                                    ***********

Roger had just stepped out of his front door as Daisy came running to him from a cab.

"ROGER!" She screamed, her piercing shriek had Roger panic thinking it was a crazed fan. A calmer expression came over him upon recognition.

"Roger!" She cried as she threw herself into his arms and collapsed, sobbing into him while her body shook from nerves.

"Daisy!" Roger's alarm was obvious, he quickly opened his door and went back inside with her still clinging to him terrified.

"He raped me, he raped me!" Saying the words out loud made her pain worse, her anger was beginning to show now along with her hysteria.

"What?! Who raped you?" Roger was completely lost and confused over what Daisy was saying. He sat beside her and took her hand in support.

"Alex! He drugged me and raped me!"

Roger turned his head away from Daisy and stared at the blank tv. His own breath now increasing. He looked down at his free hand which began to twitch with nerves.

Adrenaline coursed through him now. He stood up, and with a single movement he lifted the coffee table, throwing it across the room. It broke into multiple pieces  against the impact.