Chapter Ten

Missy and Whitney walked out of the elevators, gigging and sending glances in each other's direction. The evening had gone very well and they were both glad Spencer had butted in. Right before they turned down the girls' wing, Whitney stopped and turned to Missy. "Tonight was fun."

"It was." Missy leaned up and placed a soft kiss on Whitney's lips. "I hope we can do it again, and maybe without Spencer setting it up and then leaving us to our own devices."

Whitney chuckled and nodded. "Definitely. Let's get you back to your room now though." The two girls turned down the hallway and started walking, ignoring the girl sitting on the floor, softly crying. When they made it to Missy's door, Whitney looked back at the girl. "Wonder what happened with her?" she softly asked.

"I don't know. Hope nothing serious." Whitney nodded in agreement as Missy unlocked her door and walked inside. "Call me."

"Stalk you." Whitney bowed as Missy laughed and closed her door. Whistling, Whitney walked back to her door and realized the crying girl was sitting next to her room. Once she got closer, she realized just who the girl was. "Spencer?" Spencer looked up, tears streaming down her face, a nasty bruise forming around her eye and an even worse cut on her lip. "Oh my god Spencer, what happened?"

"Can we go inside please?" Whitney nodded and helped the blonde girl up. She quickly unlocked the door and helped Spencer walk in.

"You're even limping Spencer. What the hell happened between you leaving Missy and me and now?" Spencer shook her head and collapsed on Whitney's futon. Whitney kneeled next to the blonde and smoothed back her head. "Its okay Spence, you're safe here." Whitney grabbed an extra blanket off her bed and covered Spencer. "Get some sleep and we'll talk in the morning. Your first class is discussion right?" Spencer nodded. "Okay." Whitney sat on the floor, opposite the now sleeping Spencer and sighed. "What happened to you Spence?"

Spencer groaned as she woke up. Her entire body was aching. It felt like she had been through ten rounds with a sumo wrestler. Looking around, Spencer realized she was in Whitney's room, not her own. Breathing a sigh of relief for little miracles, Spencer rolled over and saw Whitney, leaning against the side of her bed, sleeping. Spencer slowly sat up and took a deep breath but then winced as it hurt. Spencer's sudden gasp of pain woke Whitney.

"Spencer lay back down." Spencer nodded and did as she was told. "You alright to tell me what happened?"

"Damn you are right to the point huh?" Whitney chuckled a little but Spencer knew she wasn't off the hook. "Well, as I am sure you know, I didn't have plans with my family, they actually decided to go visit my grandparents yesterday and are supposed to be leaving today." Whitney nodded and moved closer to the futon. She brushed back the errant strands of hair that seemed to constantly cover Spencer's face, careful not to touch her eye. Spencer's eyes fluttered closed. "Well, when I went back to my room, my roommate, Jess, was there."

"What the hell is that?" Spencer followed Jess's arm and realized she was pointing at her poster. Spencer gulped as Jess stood up and faced her. "Are you going to tell me?"

Standing straight Spencer decided not to back down. "It was a present from my girlfriend back home." Jess's eyes closed into little slits. It was obvious the girl was angry. "She knows how much I love that photograph."

"You mean that disgusting pornography?" Spencer looked at Jess like she was crazy. There was nothing pornographic about the two girls kissing, clothed. "If I knew you were a dyke I would have changed roommates."

Oh shit, not this again, Spencer thought as Jess started pacing, her hands flexing into fists. "I'm not a dyke Jess. I'm just a girl in love with another girl."

"You're disgusting." Spencer was about to say something when Jess whipped around and hit her. Spencer fell to the floor from the force of the hit. She lifted her hand to her eye and felt blood coming from a cut on her eyebrow. "You don't deserve to live." Jess punched her again, this time splitting her lip.

"Jess, stop, please," Spencer begged, covering her face with her hands. Jess didn't stop though, she just started kicking Spencer, over and over again. After what seemed like forever to Spencer, Jess stopped her assault.

Jess spit on Spencer and gave one final, swift kick to her ribs. Spencer could tell she was losing consciousness but before she blacked out, she heard Jess's final words. "You'll burn in hell." The door slammed shut and all Spencer could see was black before she passed out.

Spencer opened her eyes and saw tears streaming down Whitney's face. "As soon as I woke up, I ran over here. I had only been sitting at your door a few minutes before you and Missy came back."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Spencer shrugged. "I didn't want to ruin your night. It seemed like you and Missy had gotten along pretty well."

"Spence, I wish you had said something." Whitney looked at the clocked. "Come on, we need to get you to the hospital, or at least the health clinic. I'm going to call Missy and have her help us." Spencer nodded as Whitney stood up to call Missy. She was too tired and weak to fight. Spencer yawned and closed her eyes as she heard Whitney say hi and then fell back asleep.

Whitney hung up with Missy and noticed Spencer had fallen back asleep. There was a knock at the door. "Come on in Missy." Missy walked in and gasped when she saw Spencer. She ran over to Whitney and buried her face in the crook of Whitney's neck. Whitney wrapped her arms around Missy and pulled her close. "She's going to be all right. We just have to get her to the health clinic, make sure she doesn't have any serious injuries. I'm afraid she may have a broken rib or two."

"Should we let her sleep some first?" Whitney shrugged. "Maybe we should get an RA." Whitney nodded but didn't take her eyes off Spencer. Missy pulled back and saw the pain on Whitney's face. "Whitney, what's wrong?"

"If we had made her go to dinner with us, she wouldn't have gone to her dorm by herself. Jess wouldn't have been able to do this to her." Missy caressed Whitney's cheek. "I would have walked her to the door. She hates going in her room by herself. I guess her fears were justified."

"Whitney, you can't blame yourself for this. You are not the one who beat Spencer." Whitney nodded but Missy knew she didn't agree. "Come on, let's wake her and get her to the health clinic. We can get an RA after that, hell, I'm sure the health clinic will call the cops even. Okay?"

Whitney nodded again and went over to carefully wake Spencer. "Spence, you gotta wake up. We need to get you to the health clinic." Spencer slowly opened her eyes, groaning again. "Come on, the sooner we get there, the sooner they can help you feel better." Spencer nodded and let the two girls practically carry her out of the room.

Five hours later and all three girls had missed all their classes, but being questioned by the police had to be an excused absence. Spencer was sitting in the ER, leaning against Whitney, awake, but not really alert. She could hear someone in the waiting area, yelling. The voice sounded so familiar but she couldn't quite place it. "Spence?" Spencer looked up at Whitney. "I gotta piss so maybe you should lay down. I'll be back, I promise." Spencer nodded, still trying to place the voice that was yelling.

"Please let me see her! Look, just go back there, ask if she wants to see me. I'm telling you, she'll say yes."

Spencer couldn't hear the response but she looked up as a heavy set nurse came towards her. "Ms. Carlin, there is someone in the waiting area who wants to see you."

Spencer scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. Her father and brothers would easily be able to get back here, they are family. The nurses already knew Whitney and Missy could come back. "Who?"