Thanks for the reviews guys... hope this one is ok xx

Chapter 7

Harry's eyes shot open as he bolted upright in bed; despite his promise he had fallen asleep. He looked over at Nikki sleeping on his bed. Her face appeared agitated but at least she was asleep. He ran his hands through his hair and checked his alarm clock; the digital screen read 05:43. He'd had at least 6 hours. He had led with Nikki while she slept, she had wanted him to stay, he had wanted to stay too, but as she slept he felt an overwhelming urge to reach out and hold her close to him, yet he didn't; he was afraid of disturbing her sleep, worse than he hadn't wanted her to feel smothered, claustrophobic. Feeling restless, he climbed off the bed and made his way to the bathroom, he was going to grab a quick shower as he was still in his clothes from the day before. Although he was exhausted from the events of the last 24 hours he could not lay still; he had to keep his mind occupied. Scenes of Nikki crying for help and fighting her attacker played like a horror film over and over in his mind making his pulse pound through his entire body until he felt nothing but rage; he wanted to lash out, break or damage something or rather someone.

The steaming water sprayed over his body and he scrubbed the shampoo from his dark hair; he relentlessly tried to picture all of the male faces that he had seen at the Dinner, the various doctors and pathologists, coroners and the associate staff of each department. As hard as he tried there was no way he was going to remember all of them; there were over 200 people at the Dinner. He turned off the water, stepped out if the glass cubical and fiercely dried himself off. He pulled on his boxers and white T-shirt and padded over to the kitchen. When he saw his fridge door he thought it was nothing to what he would do to the bastard who hurt his Nikki, yes his Nikki. He set up his coffee machine and thought that he'd better text Leo; he'd want to know how Nikki had been in the night. He picked up his mobile and the screen read: 4 MESSAGES, he quickly read through the first three.

LEO MOBLIE: Harry call me asap there is some rather alarming evidence, CCTV and various other things.

CHARLIE MOBILE: Harry hows Nikki? Tell her to call me if she wants to talk. I tried her mobile but it was off. Charlie x

LEO MOBILE: How is she holding up? Call me

He knew that Leo would have been working with the lab all night trying to gather as much forensic evidence as possible to help catch Nikki's attacker. He considered the CCTV footage from the venue and what it might show; he felt sick at the thought of watching it. He would call Leo later, he knew that Nikki would want to know what he had found and Harry knew he had no right to conceal anything Leo had found from her. Harry scrolled back to his inbox and what he saw made him dizzy, he had to hold onto the kitchen counter for support;

NIKKI MOBILE: she was exactly how you'd imagine her to be. You should have heard her scream Harry, she loved every minute of it.

He was enraged. He read it again. Again. Over and over again. It couldn't be. He must have read it wrong. He checked the sent time. He checked the date. It had been sent in the early hours of this morning. He rushed to his house phone and started to dial Leo's number when cries from the bedroom stopped him in his tracks,

"Harry! Harry help me!" immediately he was at her side, trying to stop her from kicking and throwing her arms "he hurt me, he's hurt me again, he came back Har-" her body was entangled in the sheets and her forehead was damp with sweat which made her hair stick to it.

"Ssh, Nikki, it was a dream, it was just a bad dream, no-one's here it's just me, you're safe, ssh, ssh" he tried to hold her but she was still struggling,

"But I hurt, I'm sore, I ache- he came back-" she was doubled over in pain holding herself,

"You need more painkillers… he hasn't been here I promise, ssh it was a nightmare Nik," she shifted on the bed, Harry followed her gaze and saw specks of red,

"But-but there's blood Harry" Nikki started to hyperventilate,

"Nikki, Nikki look at me, look at me" he held he head in his palms "you- just must have pulled your stitches tossing in your sleep, it's not- you had a terrible dream and your kicking- it's just your stitches" She calmed as she took some deep breaths, "Come on let's get you to the bathroom," He held her under her arms as he guided her to the bathroom,

"It's such a mess Harry, I'm gross," she was so ashamed of herself,

"It will heal, go to the loo and see, it wont be as bad as it seems," he stopped at the bathroom door and she walked in then turned around to face him,

"It really hurts- I'm so sore" she wiped her eyes and attempted a brave face,

"I know- I know it's cuts and bruising -I promise it'll heal Nik" was has about to close the door when he saw her whole body shake

"What did he do- why didn't he stop? Harry why?" He stepped into her; he had no answer for her so he just simply held her and let her cry.

"Harry I hurt make it stop, please."

*

Nikki had just finished cleaning her self up and swallowed some more painkillers when she heard crashing and smashing from the kitchen. Her first thought was he's back, but then she heard Harry's shouts of rage and anger. She wanted to go out to him, to stop him, to hold him and tell him that they would get through this together and that she loved him. Then it was silent and she heard Harry talking, quickly and frantically on the phone. She heard him say her name and she knew that he was talking to Leo; she wanted to know what Leo had found, she had to know, so she pulled open the door, "The bastard text my mobile, he has her phone… yes, from her phone, it was definitely the person who raped her Leo the text they sent was vile, they were gloating Leo. Yes-we'll come down, we'll be about an hour or so we're going to stop by Nikki's to get some things for-" Harry turned around and saw Nikki stood there in his green hoodie holding the joggers in one hand, with the other clasped over her mouth,

"I have to go." He sat his phone in the charger and saw that Nikki had her focus on his mobile that was on the kitchen counter, she dashed towards it and grabbed it before Harry could stop her.

"Nikki don't, give it to me… It won't help- Nikki-" he attempted to snatch it off her but she wriggled from his arms and stood on the opposite side of his kitchen table. "Nikki please don't" he begged,

"I have to, I have to" She wanted to know exactly what Harry had been explaining to Leo; she didn't understand what he had meant but she knew that there was a text message in Harry's phone from her mobile, whatever it was it had made Harry trash his kitchen. Shaking hands scrolled through his inbox until she came to the texts sent from her mobile. There was one she didn't recognise so she opened it;

NIKKI MOBILE: she was exactly how you'd imagine her to be. You should have heard her scream Harry, she loved every minute of it.

She hurled the mobile across the room and screamed Harry's name painfully as she collapsed to the floor.

"I DIDN'T, I did not-" She felt Harry's strong hands soothing her, rubbing her back and stroking her hair "Why? What did I ever do that was so terrible to them? They know us both Harry? Why text you something like that otherwise?" she breathed slowly trying to control her anguish.

"I know- but we'll be able to trace them- I suppose. Come on we need to see Leo and the police… can you-"

"Yes. But-but I'll need some more joggers… these are ruined" She held up her hand and Harry took them from her, he kissed her forehead and helped her to her feet.

"I never liked them that much anyway" Nikki kissed him slowly on the cheek and grabbed his hand to show him how grateful she was for his sensitivity.

How was it? xx