As promised… another day, another chapter!
Aquababy58: you are right; the next few chapters are going to be pretty emotional! Thank you for always taking the time to leave such wonderful reviews!
Texas50Fan: thank you so much for reviewing! I was so glad to hear what you think! I'm happy that you like the way I describe the relationship between Steve and Annabeth. I just love writing about them so much!
Stephanie: as always, thank you for your words! I really hope this story becomes addictive enough for you! :D
And here it is… Enjoy!
When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Steve sitting on a chair to her left. He had his eyes closed but she couldn't tell if he was asleep or not. She glanced around the room and saw the door to her right, a small TV on the opposite wall and a door next to the window which she supposed led to the bathroom.
She took a couple of breaths and tried to recall what had happened the night before. She was still feeling weak from the drugs and her throat felt dry. When she tried to move to get into a more comfortable position, an intense burning sensation came from the inside of her legs and she couldn't suppress the moan that escaped her lips. At that, Steve opened his eyes and bolted from the chair to the side of the bed.
- Hey! You're awake! How are you feeling? – she looked at him and could see the concern written all over his face. She found his hand near hers and took it, needing the contact as she remembered everything that had happened to her. Her breathing was becoming agitated and her eyes were starting to glass over – calm down – said Steve, holding her hand with as much force as she was holding his – you're safe now.
- I'm sorry – she said.
- What are you talking about? You have nothing to be sorry for.
- I let myself get drugged; I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. I … - a couple of tears escaped her eyes and he gently wiped them.
- So, you remember what happened? – he asked, almost afraid to know the answer. When she nodded he closed his eyes for a second.
- Do you know? – she asked.
- Yeah. The doctor told me – she looked away from him and focused her gaze on the ceiling – listen, you have nothing to be sorry about and there's no shame in what happened to you. Look at me – he said, when she had refused to look him back – this wasn't your fault.
- This shouldn't have happened to me! – she whispered harshly, wiping her tears away with her free hand rather hard – I'm trained to avoid situations like this, I can fight whoever comes at me but I just couldn't move!
- It's okay. Calm down. You were drugged Anna, there's nothing you could have done to fight him off and I promise you we're gonna catch the son of a bitch who did this to you – Steve didn't know exactly what to say, he was swimming into uncharted waters here. After that he could only hold Annabeth's hand while she got herself under control. After a few minutes, he had to ask – Annabeth, to catch the man who did this the doctors need to perform a test to collect evidence but they need your permission first.
- A raping kit – she cut him off – I know – Steve swallowed.
- Will you do it? – he asked. She thought that for a moment. She thought it could be easier to forget and move on from what had happened if she just let it at that. But then she remembered the last words the man had told her and she actually shivered. She started getting agitated again and she tried to sit up, wincing when the burning came back on – Annabeth, what's wrong? Are you in pain?
- Why does it burn so much? – she complained while finally sitting up in bed. Steve adjusted the bed so she could rest there but still being in a sitting position.
- The doctor said they couldn't heal you if they didn't know your decision. Will you do it? – she looked him in the eyes then. She could see he wanted her to agree to the raping kit because he wanted the evidence to track her attacker. A part of her wanted to say yes but the other part, the one hurt and ashamed wanted to just pretend like nothing had happened and move on. She closed her eyes for a moment and pictured again the man's face (well, mask) close to her ear whispering and she knew she would never rest assured until the guy was caught.
- He said he'd be back – she whispered almost inaudibly.
- What? – Steve asked.
- Right before he left he said "Until next time…doll" – she almost spat. Steve felt like punching a wall – we need to catch him before he comes back for me or goes out for someone else.
- I'll call the doctor then. We'll catch him. I promise.
And with that, he left for a couple of minutes to go find her doctor and tell her that she wanted to do the tests.
I know this one's a shorty but I wanted to leave the actual raping kit scene for another chapter! Which hopefully I'll be able to update later today!
As always, I look forward to reading your reviews!
Until later!
