Iain had been beside Rita's bedside all night, he held onto her hand tightly he never wanted to let go. He had a phone call from the detective earlier on, they had managed to gather all the evidence and secure up Rita's house. Dixie had also gone and left him on his own with Rita. He didn't know how he was going to cope, how he was going to help Rita get through this.
He kept looking at her monitors to see how she was doing, her BP was still low and pulse was still weak but she was getting there. He looked at her properly, he had tried to avoid doing this because he couldn't bare seeing her in this way, in this state. Her head and arm had been thickly bandaged up and wires were all over her arms and hands. He then paid attention to the bruises around her wrists, they looked so sore. Iain could make out the finger marks, it made him feel sick he could feel the burning sensation in his throat.
The beeping from the machines had stopped him from getting any sleep, he couldn't sleep even if he wanted to, he wanted to watch over Rita he needed to be there for her. He was told that the operation had gone well and she could possibly wake up soon. He remembered the doctor telling him that her spleen had been damaged beyond repair and they had to remove it completely. He rubbed circles on the back of Rita's hand with his thumb, being careful to avoid the catheter that had been placed there.
Looking at Rita's eyes he noticed that they flickered slightly,
"Reet?" He whispered hopefully, desperately wanting a response.
"Mmmm" she mumbled quietly, this made Iain jump to his feet with hope that she was going to wake up.
He watched as her eyes flickered open and then slowly scanned the room that she had been placed in, she then looked at Iain with worry in her eyes.
"Sweetheart it's 's okay" He coaxed gently, he could see that she was scared and didn't have a clue what was going on.
"Wha... My throat" Rita gestured towards her throat, Iain got some ice chips from the side and fed them to her slowly. Rita sucked on them feeling weak from the trauma that her body had endured, she hated Iain was acting like a slave for her. She wanted her independence back. There was a few moments of silence before Rita spoke again,
"Am I okay?"
"What do you mean love? Of course you're okay sweetie" Iain cupped her cheek and stroked it softly with his thumb, it was killing him inside seeing her lying there so vulnerable and weak.
"I mean why am I here?" Rita looked Iain in the eyes, she felt so weak and tired.
"Don't you remember what happened?" Iain frowned, he sat back down in his seat and took hold of Rita's hand softly trying his best to comfort her. She seemed so empty, like she wasn't his Rita anymore. It was like Mark had taken so much of her away from him, the spark in her eyes had gone. Mark had replaced that with cuts and bruises.
"Nothing happened Iain. I fell" She snapped harshly, Rita winced as snapping harshly caused a pain which shot through her body. Each time she closed her eyes she could see Mark, she could still feel him on top of her and it made her skin crawl. But she couldn't tell Iain, she couldn't let anybody get involved or Mark would hurt her again. She would do anything to stop Mark from hurting her again.
"Okay sweetie" Iain swallowed the hard lump that had formed in his throat, he knew from her face that she was lying. She looked scared and hurt, it hurt him that she was lying to him. He knew what happened, he knew she was raped but why didn't she trust him enough to tell him. Falling wouldn't explain the bruises, or the condom, or the fact her clothes had been ripped open and he had found her half naked.
They both sat there in an awkward silence, it was clear to Iain that Rita was not going to talk about what happened. That she was not going to admit she had been raped, it hurt Iain that she had been placed into this position. She was such a good person, she didn't deserve this. There was no noise apart from the beeping of the machines Rita had been hooked up to, neither of them looked at the other. Rita stared at the ceiling thinking about how dirty she was, while Iain remained in a deep stare looking at the metal railing on the bed. He was so angry, he could feel his hand itching from the stitches but he continued to ignore it.
"Iain please tell me what happened, why am I here" Rita pleaded, she needed to know the extent of her injuries, she needed to know why she was in hospital.
"You were internally bleeding in your brain.. They had to operate, you also had to have your spleen removed.. And there's several stitches from a cut in your arm" Iain replied quietly, he looked at the floor, feeling guilty about what had happened. He could have stopped it, he should have been there with her. He should have got to her quicker, been more professional when tending to her injuries. He was tracing back all the little mistakes he had made that afternoon, it was all his fault that she was lying there in the hospital bed.
"Oh" Rita tried to adjust herself in the bed but her body wouldn't work, she just ached all over. The hospital gown was itchy and the bed was too hard, she could feel bandages wrapped around her stomach and around her head. She looked at her arm and felt a flush of embarrassment, did Iain know that it had been caused by self harm? She decided not to say anything, maybe she could say she fell in the shower?. That wouldn't explain the bruising on her wrists or inner thighs though. She had noticed that one of Iain's hands had been bandaged up but decided not to say anything.
Iain sat and thought, still holding on to her hand, he needed to tell her about the Police. About how they had collected all the evidence from her home, the condom and her clothes which had been ripped open.
"Reet we need to talk, I know what happened.. The police will need to" She cut him off instantly,
"Police? Iain nothing happened, I'm not talking to the Police about anything. I fell" Rita panicked, why were the Police getting involved? How could Iain be so stupid, Mark would never let her live if she got the Police involved. It would be easier to ignore what had happened and move on with her life, hope that Mark wouldn't come near her again.
"Babe please I just"
"Just what? Thought you'd be my knight in shinning armour? Just go Iain... Please just go" Rita said sourly, she was trying to hold in her tears she needed Iain to go. She pulled her hand out of Iain's grasp and looked away from him instead looked at the monitors which were by her bedside.
"Okay.. Call me if you need me, please?" Iain was desperate he needed to be with her but she didn't want him, he could see she was getting worked up about it all so he decided it would be best if he went. She needed to rest and keep calm and obviously it wasn't going to happen with him there. So with that he stood up and begun to walk towards the door, he let himself out and then closed the door behind him. It was then he allowed himself to cry as he began walking down the corridor towards the Hospital exit.
