Sweet Caroline

#63 The verdict

My heartbeat is so loud that I almost don't catch the verdict of the jury. It's like every cell in my body is trying to make itself heard. Blood rushing, pulse thudding, muscles screaming. And then my ears register the word.

"Guilty!"

Thank God. A collective sigh of relief goes through everyone present, except for Trevor and his shark lawyer, of course. When the jury is dismissed and the guards move to bring Trevor back to his cell, Elise stands up and turns to face her ex-boyfriend. As everybody watches, their eyes lock and her lips tremble when she opens her mouth. He just stares, straining to keep eye contact as the guards drag him away.

"Rot in hell!" Elise shouts out, taking another step. "Rot in fucking hell, you piece of shit!"

Suddenly, completely unexpectedly, Trevor's voice sounds through the courtroom. "Say hi to Rose for me," he sneers. "Tell her I will cherish her tight little pussy forever in my dreams."

A cry of sheer madness breaks out of Elise and she lunges forward, only to be restrained by her lawyer who puts his arms around her. No one is close enough to keep Nathan for running through the room, eyes ablaze as he tries to get to his daughter's abuser.

"Nate!" I call out, trying to get to him before he can reach Trevor. "Don't!"

Luckily, everyone seems so have the same idea. With help from John, Jennifer and Elise's parents, we manage to stop Nathan from getting close enough to hurt Trevor or get taken out by the guard or whatever would have gone down if we hadn't stopped him in time. Nathan doesn't appreciate our help, though, struggling against us. I gasp when his arm swings out behind him, hitting me in the stomach. He wasn't aiming for me, just trying to get all of us away from him, but it still hurt a lot.

"Fuck," he breathes when he hears my cry of pain. Finally, he goes limp and just stands there, breathing hard while he watches Trevor cast one last arrogant look over his shoulder before the door of the courtroom swings shut behind him and his guards.

"Nathan," I say softly, hugging him just as Jennifer does the same. "It's over. He'll never be able to hurt Rose again. It's over. We won. He's going to jail."

Nathan's arms go around both me and his sister, tears springing to his eyes. They spill over and before we know it, all three of us are crying. It's hard to say who's comforting who. We somehow manage to make it out of the room, out of the building, and back to the bench I was sitting on earlier. No one speaks, we just sit there, stroking backs and arms and sniffling.

Jennifer is the one to break the silence after what feels like hours. "I need a drink."

"Yes," Nathan agrees gruffly. "Scotch. My place. Let's go."

They stand up at the same time in perfect sibling synchronicity. I scramble to my feet as well, unsure if I should follow them or go home. I'm not a part of his family and he might want to share this moment with Elise instead of me.

"Caroline!" he calls over his shoulder, his emerald eyes finding mine. "Are you coming or what?"

***

17 years. That's how long Trevor will be behind bars all in all. 10 years for what he did to Rose and 7 for the child porn. It doesn't feel long enough, even though it's the highest sentence that he could have gotten, according to the lawyer. Trevor also has to pay for Rose's therapy as well as Nathan's and Elise's attorney's fees.

Rose will be around my age when her abuser gets out of prison, which is a weird thing to think about. I can't imagine how that will be for her. I just hope that I'll still be around by then to be there for her, talk to her, make sure she's okay.