Danny's POV:
Dougie went out for a walk the next day and didn't come back for quite a while. I was starting to get worried when I suddenly heard the door fly open and Dougie run in. I shouted 'Hi' but he didn't reply, instead, he just sprinted up the stairs. I heard the bathroom door slam shut before hearing a number of bottles hitting the floor. I walked slowly upstairs and knocked on the door.
'Are you okay Dougie?' I asked. The reply I got was just a collection of cries and whimpers. 'Dougie you're scaring me now... What's happened?'
'Danny... I-it w-was horrible. H-he... H-he d-did it o-over a-a-and over and i-it hurt s-so m-m-much..' he choked out through heavy breaths and sobs.
'Dougie you're confusing me... What's happened? Who has hurt you? Open the door and talk to me... Please Dougs.' I pleaded. I heard some movement inside the bathroom before the door clicked open and I was met by a shaking, sobbing, bleeding Dougie looking up at me. He was breathing quickly but heavily. I took hold of his small hands and attempted to soothe him.
'Calm down Dougie. Come on, do this for me, just try to calm down and breathe. That's it. Come on, deep breaths, just try and get calm.' I soothed, gently stroking his hand. It was obvious that he was having a panic attack and, luckily, I had learnt how to deal with one in school. He calmed down slightly after around 10 minutes.
'Thats right Dougie.. It's okay now. You're okay, you're safe here.' I comforted, pulling him to my chest for a tight hug. I pulled away after a second and slowly walked Dougie into my room. He was still shaking violently and crying but his breathing had gone more normal. I decided to ask him what had happened again so that he could get all of his emotion out at once.
'What happened Dougs? Who's scared you like this?' I asked quietly.
'I-it was h-horrible. T-the man.. H-he d-did it o-over and over a-again. I th-thought t-that he w-would n-never stop. I-it was s-so p-painful. I-I t-tried to get h-him to l-leave. I a-asked him.. I s-said p-please a-and e-e-everything b-but h-he just w-wouldn't. I-I w-was so s-scared D-Danny... s-so so s-scared.' he blurted out, shaking more and more the further into the story he got. I still didn't have a clue what had happened though.
'What did the man do Dougie? How did he hurt you?'
'H-he t-took my innocence D-Danny. H-he v-v-viola-lated m-me. H-he r-r-r-raped me D-Danny.' he cried out. He burst into even more tears when he said that and, to be honest, I wasn't far off being in tears myself. I couldn't believe that somebody could do that. Especially to such a young and vulnerable boy. I pulled Dougie onto my knee and wrapped my arms around him, hoping to make him feel safe and protected. He cried into my shirt and didn't stop shaking for around 40 minutes. I knew that my parents were due home soon and I was hoping that Dougie would be calmer by then so that I could tell them in private what had happened instead of him having to relive the whole thing again in his head.
'D-DD-Danny?'
'Yeah Dougs?' I asked in reply, still holding Dougie tight to my chest.
'A-am I a-a-allowed t-to have a b-bath? I-I w-want to f-feel c-clean a-again. I f-feel d-dirty but I-I d-don't want to. I want t-to f-feel clean.' he mumbled, tears still flowing down his cheeks.
'Of course Dougie. Come on, I'll run you one.' I replied, slowly lowering him onto his feet and standing up beside him. I took hold of his small, shivering hand and walked him through to the bathroom. I ran him a bath and walked towards him. He flinched away slightly before putting his hands to the rim of his shirt.
'I-I c-can do I-it. I-I k-know y-you're just t-trying to h-help I-I j-just don't r-really w-want anyb-body t-touching m-my body r-right now.'
'Its okay Dougie. I understand. Do you want me to turn away while you get changed and get in?' I asked.
'N-no t-thanks. I d-don't r-really want t-to e-ever b-be out o-of your s-s-sight a-again. I f-feel safe-fer a-when I'm a-around y-you.' he muttered in reply.
'Okay then Dougie.' He quickly got undressed and climbed into the bath. He sat there for a little while, just staring down at the water, before slowly starting to scrub his arms with a cloth. His scrubbing got harder and harder before I couldn't take it anymore. He was doing it so roughly that he was starting to break the eking on his arms.
'Dougie! Dougie stop! You're going to hurt yourself!' I stated, prising his hands from the cloth.
'But Danny. You don't understand. I have to get clean. I have to wash away all of the dirtiness that he has left behind. I need to be clean again like I was before Danny.'
'I know Dougie, I know. Just calm down. Come on, come downstairs and I'll get you a drink and we'll watch a film to try and get your mind off it. Okay?'
'Okay.' he replied, sighing slightly. I helped him up out of the bath and passed him a towel which he dried himself with before getting into a pair of pyjamas. It was only 4.30 but it didn't matter. It's not like be was going out anywhere... Especially after the day he'd just had. We walked downstairs and I got Dougie a mug of hot chocolate before putting on a Disney film and sitting beside him. We sat watching it for a while before Dougie silently began crying again.
'Hey, hey, don't cry. What's the matter?' I soothed, pulling him closer towards me and putting my arms around me.
'I-it was s-so h-horrible Danny. I-I k-keep re-remembering it a-and I-it's horrible.' he mumbled, burying his head into my neck and crying more.
'You're safe now Dougie. I'm here now.' I replied just as my parents came through the door.
'Hey boys! Dougie? What's the matter? Why are you crying?' My dad asked concerned. Dougie didn't reply, instead he just continued sobbing into my shirt.
'I'll tell you later dad.' I told him, rubbing Dougie's back comfortingly. He fell asleep in my arms after about 20 minutes and I lay him down on the sofa, covering him with a blanket and supporting his head with pillows.
'So why was Dougie so upset?' my mum asked almost immediatly.
'Well he went out for a walk today and when he came back he was having a panic attack. I managed to calm him down and when I asked him want had happened he just said that a man had hurt him over and over again. I didn't know what he meant by that so I asked again and he told me that he had been raped while he was out. He said he felt dirty and when he had a bath, I had to pull his hands away from him because he was trying to get himself clean and he was scrubbing so hard that he was ripping the skin on his arms where he was washing them. I brought him down here and put on a film but he just started crying again and then you came in.' I blurted out quickly, leaving my mum and dad to process the information. My mum gasped and put a hand over her mouth while my dad just looked like he wanted to punch something.
'How could somebody do something like that to such an innocent young boy?' My dad asked in horror.
'I don't know dad. I was wondering the same thing. But that doesn't matter now.. All that matters is that we help Dougie get over the trauma of everything that has happened to me. I'm taking him upstairs to get some well needed sleep. I'll see you later. Love you.' and with that, I picked up Dougie's small body and took him to my bedroom. Trying to think of ways to help Dougie get over all of the horrors of his past.
