Rachel looked over at Gerard and the room went silent. The two just stared at eachother. Gerard couldn't help but think of what had happened to her, and he couldn't help but wonder what she thought of him being here.
Bree rocked forwards and backwards and smacked her lips. "So, uh, Frank? Why don't we go grab some coffee?"
Frank nodded, looked at the two, and then at Bree. "Good idea. Let's go."
Once the door closed, Gerard walked over to Rachel and sat down in the chair besides her. He stared into her eyes. They reminded him of the water. They used to be such a calm, soothing, misty blue color. But now, they were a raging and fearful dark blue. He wanted so badly to say something. Anything really. To ask if she was ok and such, but nothing came out of his twitching mouth. So, he looked down at the ground and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Hi, Gee." She said.
Gerard looked back up, both in shock and relief. He was in relief that, not only was she actually talking to him, but she had a small smile on her face, too.
"Hi. How, uh, how are you feeling?"
Rachel sighed and shrugged. "I've been better, I guess."
"Yeah. Same here. So, what happened with the nurses?"
She rolled her eyes and grunted. "Damn bitches. Trying to stick about fifty fucking needles in my fucking arm. I told them no, Bree told them no. But, they didn't listen. So, I did what I do best. Unleash the Hell within me."
Gerard wanted to laugh at that, because she was right. Rachel, being only 5'4", sure let out a big explosion of anger every now and then. But he couldn't. Too much had happened to her and he thought it would be disrespectful.
"Well, serves them right." He said with a shrug and soft smile.
Rachel's left side of her mouth lifted slightly, then dropped. "Gee...I've missed you."
Gerard put his head down, bit his lip, and then looked back up. He really didn't expect to hear that today. "I...I've missed you too."
"I'm glad to hear that." She said, smiling. Not a half smile. Not a slight lift of the corner smile. A full smile.
He couldn't take it any more. He needed to know what happened last night. Gerard wanted to comfort her, hold her close. He wanted to make it all better.
"Rachel...can...can I ask you what happened last night? I mean, Frank told me some details...but I want to hear it from you. If...if you don't mind..."
"I don't mind. I mean, it's really hard for me. So, if I cry I hope you don't mind."
"Wait." Gerard made her stop. "Don't tell me if you're going to cry. I don't wan-"
Rachel interrupted him. "But I want to tell you, Gee. I really do. Yes, I most liekly will cry, but it's worth it. Everything that involves you is worth it."
Gerard didn't say anything then. He wanted to, but Rachel was Rachel. She didn't ever take no for an answer. So, he braced himself for the full story.
Rachel closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. When she let it out, she opened her eyes and stared at the wall across the room. "Yesterday was Dad's birthday. He, being the work-all-day type of guy, wasn't home. He'd promised Mom the day before that he'd take yesterday off completely. But when Mom woke up the next morning, and this was at 5:30, he was gone. She didn't bother calling him. None of us had. We figured he had to turn in some papers or something and that he'd be back by nine. Come nine, he hadn't come home. So, he guessed about lunch. When lunch came, and still no sign of him, we expected dinner. Anyway, he didn't come home until 11:26 that night. Mom, Bob, and I were all at the dinning room table with his birthday cake infront of us. When he burst into the door, he was so drunk. He almost fell down. Mom was furious. She went over and simply asked him where he'd been and why hadn't he called. He snapped at her and told her it was none of her damn busines. Mom start snapping then, and the two went at it. Then she said something and Dad got mad and called her a bitch. Bob got angry, jumped up, ran over to them, and slapped him. Dad punched Bob."
She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes again. When she began to talk again, her voice was shaky. "That's when Mom slapped Dad and...Dad pulled out a knife and he...he stabbed her twice. Bob ran over and grabbed me and took me upstairs. Dad was right behind us, threatening us and calling us cunts. When we got to my room, Bob threw me inside and told me to lock the door, then he slammed it shut. So, I locked it and jumped on my bed. For five minutes I could hear them outside. Yelling. Cursing. Punching eachother. Then there was a gasp and silence. I called out Bob's name but, when the door opened, Dad came in..."
Gerard knew perfectly well what was coming. Tears were already filling up his eyes, but more came when she began to speak again.
"He rushed over to me. He grabbed my hair and held that bloody knife up to my throat. I cried. I screamed. I begged him not to kill me. He told me only on one condition. So he...he took of my clothes." She looked over at Gerard, tears falling down her face. "He took of my clothes, Gee. He raped me! He hurt me, Gee!" She wiped the tears away on her arm. "Then...when he got up to grab his clothes...he left the knife on the bed. I grabbed it and I...I jumped on him. I stabbed the hell out of him, Gee...I killed him..."
Gerard had lost it. He was crying like never before. He jumped out of the chair and hugged her. He rushed while doing so, but he was careful not to hurt her. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, buring his face into her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Rachel. I wasn't there. I could've stopped this. I'm so sorry." He cried.
Rachel wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back. Then she pulled away and gently pushed him off, bringing him face to face with her. She wiped the tears from his eyes, ignoring the one's that streaked her cheeks. "Don't be, Gee. You're...you're here now. That's all I need."
On the outside, Gerard made it look like he was relieved with what she'd just said -afterall, he sort of was - but on the inside, he still hated himself. "I'm glad you do." He replied, wipping away the tears on Rachel's face.