Bonnie Sveen Fan: Me too, she's so good to her. Black Magic is a great song. You'll find out in this chapter. Thanks so much for such a lovely review :-)
Scarlett: Thank you! Oh my gosh, this comment almost made me cry! I love writing, but I honestly don't think much of my work. Yes, I loved the storyline and I might write it as a separate story at some point but it just wasn't working for this one. There will be more Connie and Lily scenes, I'm glad you're enjoying them.
Chapter Fourteen
"How is she?"
Connie looked up from her stack of notes to see that Elle was standing beside her. She wasn't sure how long she'd been there for, but it felt good to see her. She needed a friend, a close colleague, and someone to talk to. She was trying to stay strong, but she felt so close to breaking down into floods of tears.
"Charlie said that she'd been assaulted," Elle said, her voice soft and sad. "I won't say anymore."
"Just keep your voice down," Connie warned, stuffing her hand into the pocket of her black trousers. "She wrote this for me. Iain helped her."
Elle took the piece of paper from Connie and unfolded it.
Mrs Beauchamp,
Iain got me to write down my feelings, just like you'd suggested I do for him. I hate to admit it but it does help. Anyway, I know that you all think I'm totally crazy because I won't talk, but there is a reason.
I'm scared. Something happened to me and I guess I'm scared to talk in case I end up telling someone. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but I've now ruined that because Iain knows. He's told me that you need to know as well though, because if you do, then it'll be for the best. Apparently.
I was raped.
I'm sorry.
Lily x
"Oh my god," Elle sighed, shaking her head at the note in her hand. "Why is she sorry?"
"I don't know." Connie weakly shrugged her shoulders. "She probably blames herself, doesn't she? Poor thing. She's currently sitting in my office with Iain, but I need to take her upstairs for a rape kit. I checked Lily over briefly, contacted the ward, and they've agreed to see her."
"Is Iain staying with her?" Elle questioned.
"No." Connie shook her head. "And I know that it seems unfair, but Lily is going to be poked and prodded, and he really will not be the best person to support her. I'll be there anyway, and I'll probably have a little chat with Robyn to see if she'd mind coming. Lily needs a female friend right now, not her boyfriend."
"Boyfriend, eh?" Elle sighed. "I never would have thought that Lily and Iain would become an item."
"Neither would I," Connie said, a small smile appearing on her face. "But they do suit each other."
"In a weird way," Elle said. "Sort of like chips and gravy. They shouldn't go together but they do."
"Just don't say anything to anyone, alright?" Connie said quietly. "I'd appreciate it." Elle nodded, and Connie knew that she'd stick to her word. "Do you know where Robyn is at all?"
"Try cubicles," Elle said. "I think Ethan needed her help with something."
Connie thanked her and walked away to cubicles in search of Robyn. It wasn't hard to find her, and Robyn's stomach twisted in knots as soon as Connie asked to speak to her. She was nervous, scared that she'd done something wrong.
"Is everything okay, Mrs Beauchamp?" Robyn asked, as the two of them exited cubicles and made their way towards Connie's office.
"I really need your help with something, Robyn," Connie said gently, not only known how sensitive Robyn was but how close she'd become with Lily over the past few years. "Look, Lily is...Not severely injured but..."
"What's happened to Lily?" Robyn interrupted straight away. "Mrs Beauchamp, tell me."
"She was raped," Connie whispered, taking hold of the door handle. Tears formed in Robyn's eyes and her chest slowly started to rise up and down. "I know it's upsetting, but think about how Lily must be feeling. She's not been talking, has she?"
"Why...Why did you decide to tell me this?" Robyn choked up. "Does anyone else know?"
"Charlie, Doctor Gardner, and Iain," Connie said. "Don't mention it to anyone, okay? Lily needs to be taken upstairs for a thorough examination though, and you're a kind and gentle person, so I thought that you could come and offer her a little bit of comfort."
"I...I can try," Robyn stuttered.
She wasn't used to seeing Connie as a nice and caring person. She had her moments, but not always. She seemed almost scared this time though, and extremely upset as well.
She followed her inside and saw Lily and Iain sitting on the sofa side by side. Lily looked so different; so small and childlike. She wiped away her tears and forced a smile for her though, before walking over.
"Hi Lily," she whispered, and sat down. "I'm going to come with you, okay?"
"Can I come?" Iain asked, looking across at Connie.
"No." Connie shook her head and crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, Iain. It's not going to be very nice for Lily though, and...It just needs to be women."
Iain nodded. He felt hurt and disappointed, but he understood. He just wanted his girlfriend to be safe.
"Come here," Robyn spoke gently, and offered a kind hand out to Lily.
Lily avoided eye contact with the nurse, but didn't hesitate to accept the offer. She squeezed her hand and sniffed, whilst looking across at Connie who was stood at the other side of her.
"Okay, Lily," Christine said.
She was a doctor with a kind smile, but she was strict and liked everything to be done very thoroughly, so Lily still didn't feel very comfortable. She was scared, and she hated being the patient. She just wanted to get back to work.
"Now. Do you still have the clothes that you were wearing that night?" She asked gently, and Lily faintly nodded her head. "The police will need to see them, alright? They will also need anything that you might have had on you at the time, so maybe your phone and purse. I assume that they've been contacted."
"Um...Not yet," Connie answered. "I thought it was best to get this sorted first."
"Of course," Christine sighed. "But they should have been contacted by now, and this exam should have been done a lot sooner."
"She's only just told us," Connie hissed, realising that they were saying all of this with Lily in the room. "Sorry, Lily. This isn't your fault, alright?"
"Of course it isn't," Christine added with a sigh. "And you should never think that either, okay? Now, I'm going to take a few tests, so a pregnancy test and a test for any STI's as well. Nothing to worry about, just precaution."
Robyn took a deep breath, and felt Lily tighten her grip.
"I'm going to take some samples, and they will need to be sent off for investigation," Christine finished off.
Tears trickled down Lily's cheeks and she began to struggle with her breathing.
"When I was inspecting her bruises, I allowed her to listen to music," Connie said. "Would that be allowed at all?"
"I'm afraid not," Christine sighed. "I appreciate that it can be a good distraction, but I will need Lily to hear what I'm saying and I will need her full focus and attention. I'm sorry."
Connie nodded sympathetically. Lily's grip on Robyn's hand tightened even more, and she held her free hand to her chest. Robyn stood up and took hold of her other hand, standing right in front of Lily so that she could make eye contact with her.
"Hey," the red-head whispered, and removed a sweaty strand of hair out of Lily's face. "Look at me. You're fine, alright? I'm here. Listen, you don't need music. Connie's playlist can't be very good anyway, can it? I'll talk to you, and you don't even need to talk to me. You can just listen. It'll be over before you know it."
Lily's tears slowly subsided and she let go of Robyn's hand and dug her fingernails into her trousers.
"You'll be alright," Robyn comforted. "You're Lily Chao, right?"
Lily nodded and Robyn placed one arm around her. Lily had her arms around her neck and was clinging to her before she knew it, crying silently into her shoulder. Robyn held back the lump in her throat and hugged Lily tightly, allowing her to cry for as long as she needed to.
"So, shall we do this then?" Robyn asked, looking at Connie and Christine briefly before pulling away and holding Lily at arms length.
She wasn't expecting an answer, but Lily did manage a very weak nod.
This chapter has taken me all day to write. It was upsetting and hard, because I wanted to get everything right. It's a very sensitive subject so I made sure to do a bit of research.
I hope you liked it, and I hope Robyn was a good choice.
Thank you to "casualtyfics111" who helped me out with some research.