Dr. Marcus sighed heavily. "And…" he said, "we found evidence that…he'd been…sexually assaulted as well."

Suddenly, it seemed as if all of the air had been sucked from the room as the weight of the doctor's words settled over everyone. Doug felt like he was going to be sick, uttering "Jesus" under his breath, Margaret sat stunned and silent with her mouth open, and Fuller spoke for all of them as he asked, confused, "What?"

Dr. Marcus cleared his throat before continuing. "It appears that he's been sexually assaulted. But…I mean…I don't know the young man. It could have been consensual and…"

"No!" Doug interrupted. He shook his head vehemently. "No…he doesn't do that…he's not…like that. You saw the marks on him! He was tied up...they…he was…"

"Doug, calm down," Fuller said, though his own mind was racing with a million different thoughts.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply anything," the doctor answered. "The fact is that there are signs of sexual activity. That, coupled with the injuries and the restraints, would suggest assault. I'm just saying that without further investigation and hearing what happened from Tom himself, we can't automatically jump to conclusions. Not just yet."

Doug and Fuller turned their attention to Tom's mother who had yet to respond to this devastating news. For a moment, she looked like a woman who had just lost every ounce of life left inside of her. And then, she blinked back her tears, refusing to let even one fall as she asked, "How long before I can see him?"

The doctor and the other two men looked at each other, surprised that she seemed to still be holding up well. "Barring any complications, he should be out of surgery in a few hours. He'll be in recovery for at least an hour after that, depending on how things go. Then we'll move him to Intensive Care. You can visit him once we have him settled in there." He watched as she took in the information, nodding her head. "There's a waiting room for surgery on the third floor. They'll come out and let you know how it's going and when he's sent to recovery."

Doug stood up and put his hand on Margaret's shoulder. "Come on. Let's go up to the waiting room." She looked up at him and nodded, then allowed him to escort her out of the room. Captain Fuller rose to leave as well, but was stopped by the doctor.

"Captain Fuller," he said. "I just want you to know…we did recover a lot of evidence from Tom's body and his clothes. I think you'll catch whoever did this."


"He's coming out of it."

The two nurses assigned to monitor Tom in the recovery room hovered over his bed, checking the screens and machines as he slowly regained consciousness. The surgery had gone well, although the surgeons had been forced to remove his spleen as the injury to it was too severe to repair. The good news was that there had been no damage to his liver, although his kidneys showed severe bruising.

As their patient began to stir slightly on the bed, moving his head from left to right against the pillow and moaning softly, the nurses kept careful watch over him.

Dark. It was still dark. He could swear it had been daylight a moment ago. Or maybe it was the moon. The moon? Oh God…oh God.

"Carol!" one of the nurses called to the other who had walked back to the desk for a moment. "I need you!" she exclaimed as she watched the young man on the bed begin moving around more furiously, his moans increasing.

"Settle down…you're gonna like this." Touching him…he was touching him all over.

Tom's breath was coming in fast pants now as he writhed on the bed. The nurses stood on either side of him, talking to him and trying to calm him down as he regained consciousness.

"Anybody ever tell you what a fine piece of ass you are?" God stop, please…please.

One of the nurses, Maggie, held Tom's hand and put the other on his forehead. She spoke words of comfort, trying to assure him that everything was okay. Carol had gone to call Dr. Marcus to the recovery room to assist.

"God ain't gonna help you now." Oh Jesus...let me go….please…it's enough…please. He could hear the taunts, smell the refuse from the dumpster, and feel the gun against his head. "…I can do it again."

Suddenly Tom's thrashing increased and he bolted upright, screaming. Maggie was knocked backward as he pulled his hand from hers and flailed his arms wildly in her direction. One of the monitors went crashing to the floor along with the IV pole.

Dr. Marcus and Carol were just arriving and heard the commotion. They rushed to the curtained area and saw Maggie trying to get Tom to calm down, but she was unable to get close to him as he sat hunched over on the bed, one arm slung around his middle and the other wrapped around his head. He was rocking back and forth, sobbing, and he flinched and cried out every time she tried to touch him.

Concerned that the patient was hurting himself or that he would tear his incision site, Dr. Marcus ran to the side of the bed and grasped Tom's shoulders, trying to force him to lie back down. His actions only caused Tom to fight harder. "Get me a sedative!" the doctor shouted to the nurses. Unable to get the distraught patient to stay still and lie down again, Dr. Marcus resorted to wrapping his arms around him, trying to contain his wildly thrashing arms and keep him from hurting himself. "Calm down, son…it's okay…you're safe…it's okay." But his words went unheard as Tom continued to struggle.

The doctor finally got Tom back down on the bed, although it was taking all of his strength to keep him there without hurting him. Tom's crying intensified as he felt his body being forced down against his will, and he threw his head back, his back arching off of the bed as he let out a loud, desperate scream of anguish.

"Maggie! Hurry up with that!" Dr. Marcus shouted as the nurse arrived with the sedative. She injected it quickly, and the doctor continued to hold Tom down as he slowly relaxed, his eyes closing. A moment later he was still, save for his chest rising and falling steadily with his breathing.

Carol began wiping the sweat and tears from Tom's face with a cool cloth as the others looked on. Dr. Marcus pulled the sheet back to examine the incision site and found some slight bleeding from a few torn stitches, however it was not severe enough to warrant any repairing. He sighed heavily as he contemplated what to do next. He made his decision, instructed the nurses, and left the recovery room.


Doug, Fuller, and Hanson's mother had been sitting in the surgery waiting room for hours, sometimes quiet, sometimes making small talk, but never discussing the reason they were all there. There would be plenty of time for that once they knew that Tom was going to be okay…at least physically.

After several hours of waiting, they had been informed that the surgery had gone well and that they would be able to see Tom in about an hour. So when they saw Dr. Marcus entering the room, they were relieved that the wait was finally over. When they saw the solemn look on his face, however, they realized that something was wrong.

Margaret was the first to rise to her feet. "What's happened?" she asked, alarmed.

"Sit down, please, Mrs. Hanson," the doctor said kindly, "and I'll update you."

She did as he asked and waited anxiously for the news. Doug and Captain Fuller sat on either side of her for support, both on alert and expecting the worst.

Dr. Marcus took a seat across from them and began explaining. "He's still fine. We just had a few…issues…as he was coming around. We've gone ahead and moved him to the Intensive Care Unit."

"What kind of…issues?" Margaret asked, concerned. "And if he's in the ICU now, I want to see him."

"You can go in soon," he replied. "But…we've had to sedate him again."

"What? Why?" Doug asked.

"He woke up from the anesthesia and…" Dr. Marcus chose his words carefully. "He became very agitated."

"What does that mean?" Margaret demanded. "Dr. Marcus, please…just tell me what's going on!"

The doctor nodded. "Well, he didn't know where he was, of course. He was scared…out of it…hysterical, really. He was fighting us physically, and…we were forced to sedate him again. We can't take the chance that this will happen again the next time he wakes up."

The others were listening intently, harboring emotions that ran the gamut from sadness to anger. It seemed as though nothing was going right for Tom, even though he had been rescued and saved from certain death. It just did not seem fair. And they felt helpless.

Dr. Marcus had more to say, although it seemed clear that it was difficult for him. "We also had to put restraints on him."

"Are you crazy?!" Doug blurted out.

"Doug!" Fuller said forcefully. "Let him finish!"

"No! This is bullshit! After what he went through? How do you think that's going to help?! He's going to be even more scared when he wakes up and finds himself tied up again!"

"I'm sorry," Marcus replied, "but it's better than having him hurt himself or someone else."

"He's right, Doug," Margaret said quietly. "We need to let him do what's best for Tom."

Doug shook his head, disgusted, and began pacing up and down. "Then what?" he asked angrily. "What happens when he wakes up and freaks out again?"

"We won't let that happen. Believe me, we're as concerned for his wellbeing as you all are. What we're going to do is wean him off of the sedative slowly, and Mrs. Hanson, we want you there when he wakes up. If he wakes up gradually and he has someone there with him that he recognizes…someone that he knows he's safe with…I think he'll do okay. Or at least better. And we can move on from there."

Margaret looked at the doctor. "How long then? How much longer will you keep him like that?"

"I'd like to keep him sedated for several more hours at least," Dr. Marcus replied. "As upset as he was, and with his physical injuries, he really needs as much rest as he can get before he has to start dealing with everything."

She lowered her head and nodded, fighting back the tears again. "Okay," she answered quietly.

The doctor touched her arm sympathetically and said, "Actually, it's getting late, and I'm heading off shift. I'm going to keep him under until the morning when I come back. Why don't you go home and get some rest as well?"

"No." She looked up at him. "I can't leave. What if…? I need to be here."

"I promise you, he's going to be fine until morning. And I will not let him be awakened until you're here and with him."

Doug stepped over to her and said, "Come on…maybe we should all go and get some sleep. I'll pick you up first thing in the morning and we'll come back."

Margaret hesitated. "I don't know."

"It will be a long day tomorrow," Fuller added. "It would probably be best if you were well rested, don't you think?"

Exhausted already, she finally gave in. With the doctor's assurance that there would be no change and that her son would be sleeping all night as well, she allowed Fuller to drive her back home. Sleep did not come easily for Margaret, however, and it was nearly dawn when she finally drifted off, the thoughts of her son now occupying her dreams.


A big thank you to those who are still reading and especially to the reviewers!