Rachel was startled as the door opened again. She picked her head up from Finn's chest and wiped her eyes to find a female officer smiling at her. "Hello, I'm Sara."
"Hi. I'm…Rachel." She whispered, still frightened from her last encounter with the officer.
"I'm Finn, her boyfriend."
"It's a pleasure to meet you both. Well, not for the reasons I'm meeting you but…" She said with a smile still planted across her lips. "Did something happen with the Officer Lucas?"
"He was being very rude and disrespectful." Finn said. "He was rushing her and blaming her. He asked her if…if she enjoyed it. And he got annoyed when she had trouble saying things."
"Oh my. I'm so sorry. I will make sure his boss finds out. I never really liked him." Sara said. "I listened to the recording of what you told the doctor and I looked over Lucas' notes. I'm going to ask you some specific and personal questions. I know this may be very difficult for you so take your time and I will take a break as many times as you need. But you need to be honest and specific in order for us to help you. Your boyfriend can stay or if you feel uncomfortable answering questions with him around, he can leave."
"No, I want him to stay." Rachel said, watching as he stood up.
"Okay, I was informed you were assaulted five times. Is this correct?"
"Yes."
"Okay was other abuse involved during these assaults? Or any weapons?"
"There were no weapons. But there was abuse involved." Rachel's voice was low and unstable as if she would erupt into tears any second.
"Can you explain further? Like what did he do? Where did he strike you?"
"Well he…he grabbed my wrists a lot. But really tight. I…I have marks." Rachel weakly lifted her uninjured wrist from Finn's hand to display the angry red finger marks.
"Would you mind if I took a picture of that for more evidence?" Sara asked as she examined the scars on Rachel's wrists.
"I…I guess you could." Rachel held her wrist out further but let her arms drop to rest against the bed. She was still so weak and sore.
Sara pulled out a camera and took a few shots of the marks. "Do you have any other marks?"
"Her entire body is covered in bruises, scratches, bite marks." Finn said as Rachel placed her hand back inside of Finn's. "But I think the doctors took a lot of photos with the…rape kit."
"Okay, I'll check that out." Sara nodded. "Can you please continue?"
"He…he pushed me and slapped me and punched and kicked me. He…he bit me and scratched me and shook me and pulled my hair. And he held…he held me down and kissed me. And he…he tou…touched me roughly." Rachel swallowed, making a great effort to hold back the tears that were threatening to burst. But it was just too difficult. One by one tears streamed down her face.
"Rachel, where did he touch you?"
"All…all over."
"Did he touch your breasts and…between your legs?"
Rachel nodded shamefully as she sniffled. "Yes. I…I told him to stop but…he didn't…he didn't listen."
Sara nodded as she scribbled across the paper on the clipboard she was holding. "Where did he strike you?"
"Ev…everywhere. My face, my ribs, my arms and legs. He just…he didn't really care where he hurt me. He just…he just beat me and threw me around."
Sara nodded as she continued to write. "Okay. Can you tell me how he forced himself on you?"
"He…he held me down. I…I fought him but every time I fought he hurt me more. He…he was stronger than I was. And once he got…on top of me…it was too late. He pinned my wrist…above…above my head. He was…crushing me. I could…could barely move or breathe."
"Does anyone else know about the assault?"
"Finn and the entire glee club. I'm in glee club. My teacher knows too. He runs glee club."
"Oh you like to sing?" Sara asked, smiling again.
"She loves to sing. Her life practically revolves around singing. But I can understand why. She's the most talented person I know." Finn smiled as he glanced at Rachel.
"That's wonderful." Sara smiled. "When did you tell Finn about this?"
"Tuesday. A week after the…the first time."
"Why didn't you tell him sooner?"
"I…I was too scared. I didn't want him to get mad. I feel like this is my fault. And J…J…he…he told me if I told anyone it would get worse. Plus I just wanted to forget what happened…but that never happened. Especially since he kept…he kept doing it." Rachel explained as her tears quickened.
"When did the glee club find out?"
"Wednesday." Rachel croaked.
"Did everyone find out or did you tell them?"
"Well Tuesday I had been sitting on my floor crying because…it…it just happened for the…the fifth time. Finn had come over because he knew something was going on with me, but he didn't know what. I told him one minute because I was a mess. I had to cover the…the bruises and I had been bleeding. When I opened the door he hugged me and he touched a…a tender spot on my waist. I just couldn't do it anymore. I started crying. He asked me what was wrong. I told him I was fine, but I was still crying. I went to go downstairs and he grabbed my wrist. I…I freaked out and screamed because it…it reminded me…of…of him. Then Finn saw the giant bruise on my face because the tears washed away my makeup. He asked me where it came from. I tried to tell him I slipped but he didn't believe me. Then he saw my wrists and he knew someone had hurt me. He kept asking what was wrong and I…I kind of just blurted it out."
"What about the glee club?" Sara asked as she peeled her eyes off of the paper.
"Well the next day in school Finn stayed with me the entire day so…he couldn't hurt me. But he…he had been helping with glee club. So when we went to glee Finn started fist fighting with him. Everyone was really confused and the guys broke the fight apart. Finn wanted to tell what was going on but I didn't want him to. But then I started crying and my makeup washed away again. They saw the bruise and suffocated me with questions until I blurted it out."
"What did Jesse do when you told them?"
"He…he ran out."
"Did he say anything while he was fighting with Finn?"
"He…he told him…that…that I…I begged…to be…to be touched. But I didn't." Hot tears burned Rachel's cheeks.
"How did everyone react?"
"Finn was upset that it happened and shocked but he comforted me. I guess the glee club was shocked too. Puck, Finn's friend, punched J…J…him before he ran out. And they all tried to comfort me."
"How do you feel right now? About everything going on."
Rachel took a deep breath as fresh tears dampened her face. "Dirty, guilty, like it's my fault, terrified, empty, robbed, sad, worthless. I just…I wish I could forget it all. But every time…every time I close my eyes I see it…I see it happening again. I just can't get my mind off of it."
"Well Rachel, you did wonderful. I just want you to know none of what happened is your fault. And I'm so sorry this happened to you. You don't deserve it. It's a terrible crime and we're going to make sure we do everything to put him in jail and make him pay for what he did."
"Thank you." She whispered, although she didn't think there was a punishment that would pay for what he did for her. She was miserable and traumatized and somehow putting him in jail would not add up to what she was feeling. Even the death sentence would not add up to what she was going through.
"You're probably going to be questioned again, but I'll make sure you get me. And I'm so sorry what happened with the last officer. I will make sure someone is aware of what he did. I'm probably also going to question Finn and your glee club friends as well. Okay, feel better hon. And remember this is not your fault."
Rachel waited for the officer to leave before she finally let go and let her tears run down her face. She'd been crying through most of the questioning, but not this hard. Finn frowned and sat back down pulling her onto his lap. "Oh Rachel. Don't cry, baby."
"Finn, I…I can't do this anymore. I'm tired of living like this! I can't stop thinking about it. And every time I close my eyes…he's…he's there and it's happening again." Her breath shortened and she began to gasp for air. Her eyes whirled in her head as she wheezed.
"Rachel? Rachel, are you okay?" Finn's heart stopped as she began to tremble violently. "Rachel what's going on?"
"I…I can't breathe." She choked out.
Finn gently pushed her off of him and threw the door open. He stepped out of the room nearly crashing into a familiar nurse. "Help, it's Rachel. She can't breathe."
The nurse followed Finn back into the room. "Rachel, sweetie, breathe. Breathe sweetheart. You're going to be okay. Just breathe."
Rachel soon calmed down and caught her breath. But then the tears started again. Finn sat back down beside her and pulled her close. "Rach, it's okay."
"It's just a panic attack." The nurse spoke softly, a sympathetic feeling settling on her as she stared at the broken girl. "Is there anything I can do for you sweetie?"
"When can I go home?" She whispered, barely audible, but loud enough for Finn and the nurse to hear.
"I believe tomorrow. We just want to keep an eye on you. You had lost a lot of blood and had some pretty severe injuries."
Rachel nodded as her doctor entered the room. "Hi Rachel, how are you doing?"
Rachel shrugged and Finn spoke for her. "She's not doing too well."
The doctor frowned. "There's something I need to tell you. I didn't want to tell you at the time because I felt it was a bad time. Well…there's never going to be the right time, but…" Her voice trailed off and she took a deep breath. This was one of the hardest parts of her job. When she had to deliver terrible news to patients. Especially patients like Rachel who had enough sadness. "Rachel, you had severe damage due to the assault. Unfortunately, when the time comes you may not be able to have children."
Rachel froze and silent tears rolled down her cheeks. Finn pulled her closer, closing his eyes. Rachel had always talked about having children. It was something she had always wanted. She would always mention her future little stars to Finn. And the two of them always discussed what they would name their children and the things they would do with them and how they would have the best lives ever. But now they wouldn't have that opportunity. That bastard, for lack of a better word, had stolen yet another thing from Rachel.
"No, no. Please…please tell me you're not serious." Rachel sobbed staring at the doctor before her.
"I am very sorry, Rachel. I mean it is still possible, just very…unlikely."
Rachel shook her head. "No. I've…I've always wanted to be a mother. I want it as bad as being on Broadway. This…this can't happen. He can't take another thing away from me! He can't!"
"Shh…Rachel. It'll be okay. You'll have children. I'll do anything to make sure we have children. We can adopt or get fertility treatment or have a surrogate like your dads. We'll have children. I promise."
The world was being horrible to Rachel and he just wanted to fix it. But that was something he couldn't do.
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