The characters belong to JE, the stories are mine, with some borrowing from canon for authenticity. Some disturbing memories.

Chapter 13: Stephanie's Testimony

I get up to confidently walk into the courtroom with my head held high. I look to the right where I see Ranger sitting front and center. Our eyes meet making me feel secure. I get to the witness stand where I turn around to sit. I see Joe for the first time. He's in a suit, a gray one with a white button-down shirt with a red and blue striped tie. He looks perfect, innocent, but the way his eyes are examining me makes me feel insecure and dirty. I swear on the Bible that I will be telling the truth and sit down. We start off going over my name and the basic history of my life, where I live, where I grew up, how long I've known Joe, how long we've dated. These questions are meant to get me comfortable, but I'm still nervous. I look at the seats behind Joe, expecting to see Angie Morelli and Grandma Bella sitting there with him but all the Morelli's are absent. However, I see my mother, Ellen Plum, sitting behind him, supporting him. I look on the other side where I see my husband, Ranger, along with Tank, Lester, Bobby, and Hector in the front row. Behind them, I find my in-laws. I see my Dad, Valerie and Albert sitting in the back row, looking towards my mom with disgust. My grandmother is nowhere in the courtroom. Now, the questions are starting to get harder.

"Mrs. Manoso, tell me, when did you and Mr. Morelli resume your relationship for this last time?"

"Last October, on the 15th. It was three days after my birthday."

"When did Mr. Morelli propose to you?"

"On Valentine's Day, after I discovered that I was pregnant. I told him about our child, then he proposed."

"Did you accept his proposal?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Mainly because I was pregnant. Being an unwed mother is still looked down upon in the Burg. I wanted to let at least everyone know that I had intentions of getting married, for the sake of the child."

"When did you begin to doubt the decision, you made?"

"A few weeks later, when I discovered that Joe had tampered with my birth control. I have been on birth control for years, initially to combat the symptoms of PMS, and then to prevent a pregnancy. I wasn't sure, and I'm still not sure if I want to have kids."

"How did he tamper with your birth control?"

"He switched it out with placebos."

"Anything else?"

"Yes, he tampered with the condoms we were using as well."

"So, you were engaged to this man, but you were still using condoms and taking birth control."

"Yes."

"So, what did you do when you found out?"

"I was livid, but at the same time, I was scared. I didn't understand why Joe tricked me into getting pregnant. I decided I didn't want the child after being forced to have it. I felt like Joe took my choice away from me. So, I asked my friend to help me find a doctor who would perform an abortion."

"Who was this friend?"

"One of my colleagues at RangeMan, Hector."

"Did he go with you when you had the procedure?"

"Yes."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him that I was afraid to be a mother, that I wasn't ready to bring a child into this world, that I didn't want to have Joe's child. I told Hector that I wanted to call off the engagement, but that as long as I was pregnant, I wouldn't be able to break off the engagement."

"Why didn't you ask him for help getting away from Joe?"

"Because I was scared to."

"Did you tell Joe you had an abortion?"

"No, I told him I had a miscarriage. I was in a dangerous job, so it was completely plausible."

"How did he react?"

"He made me quit my job as a bounty hunter."

"Where did you work then?"

"I continued to work for RangeMan. I also became a part-time 911 operator."

"Did Joe ever find out about the abortion?"

"Yes, a week or so after, the abortion clinic's office called me on my cell phone to make sure I was okay. I was in the shower. Joe picked up the phone and found out."

"What did he do when he found out?"

"He came up to the bathroom and confronted me. When I admitted that I had an abortion, he hit me. I tried to break off the engagement at that point, but he hit me again, telling me that I was his property, that if I wanted to continue to let the Burg think that I miscarried, I would stay with him or else he'd let everyone know what kind of slut I was. He then carried me to the bedroom and raped me for the first time."

"You mean you had sex with your fiancé."

"No, I mean he raped me. I didn't want to have sex with him, I didn't want to be with him, especially after he hit me, but he had sex with me anyway. When he finished, he handcuffed me to the bed and wouldn't release me. He raped me all weekend. He didn't release me until Monday morning so that I could go to work."

"Why didn't you tell any of your colleagues about Joe raping you? You worked around cops; certainly, someone would have helped you."

"I was too scared to say anything. I was engaged to Joe; I'm expected to have sex with my fiancé. No one would believe me."

"Why didn't you tell Hector? He took you to get an abortion; he would certainly have helped you."

"I was ashamed. I was afraid that Hector would be disappointed with me because I didn't fight back because I didn't escape. He, along with my other bosses at RangeMan, was always trying to get me to improve myself, to work out more in the gym and learn more self-defense. I always refused their help because of my pride and stupidity. Telling Hector, or any other them would be my admission that I was stupid and incompetent. I was afraid they would deem me not qualified enough to continue working there."

"So, then what happened."

"The rest of the week was fine. I spent some nights in my apartment, but that Friday, I went to Joe's. We were going to my parent's house for dinner. After dinner, we returned to his house. I thought things were better between us, that we would be fine, but two of his buddies were waiting at the house. They served together in the Navy. I met them, and I was gathering my keys and purse to go to my apartment. I was going to give them their 'guy time.' However, Joe refused to let me leave. He told me his friends were there to meet me. I was their entertainment for the weekend." I pause to take a deep breath. I look at Ranger. He nods his head for me to continue. "Joe picked me up, carrying me to his bedroom. Once there, the three of them started to touch me and rip my clothes off. I told them no, I tried to fight, but they hit me and punched me. Once they got my clothes off, they used Joe's handcuffs to restrain me to the bed. Both of my arms and my legs were tied down. I couldn't fight them. They spent the weekend raping me individually and as a group. They used condoms until they ran out of them and then just went along without them."

"There is a video of this attack and other attacks like this that Joe sent to Mrs. Manoso's husband. I'd like to place this video into evidence. I would also ask that we can show this first attack to the jury with the courtroom cleared."

"I will allow you to show the video, but I will not clear the courtroom." Judge Walters rules.

"Your honor, this video shows the violent rape of Mrs. Manoso, she's naked and violated. She deserves some privacy. She is the victim here."

"No. It is public record. If Mrs. Manoso can share her memories with a full court, then she can share the video."

I start to feel sick. I can't look at the video, but the location of the TV leaves me no choice but to watch. I feel each punch, every touch as if they were raping me again at this moment. I was sobbing and crying and starting to hyperventilate. I tried to control my emotions, but I couldn't. I heard myself screaming on the video, crying as I disappeared into another flashback.

Flashback

"Come on, bitch, spread your legs. You know you want me to stick this inside you. Spread them, whore. Good little slut. That feels good, doesn't it, slut. It feels good to have that long, slender bottleneck inside you. I know you like it. Maybe now you'll taste good."

"Turn her over so I can go in her ass." Joe says.

They maneuver me so that my ass is up in the air and the unknown man keeps the bottle inside me. Joe lines himself up with my ass. "You know I've wanted to do this forever, but you would never let me. Now, I'll have you any way I want you. I am your master; you are my little slut. No one can save you. In two weeks, you will belong to me forever. Once you have my child, and hopefully a son, I'll let you go to one of my friends. I won't need you anymore, Cupcake."

"No, stop, no, please stop." I'm trying to push whoever is holding me away. I need to break free.

"Babe, Ssh, it's okay, you're safe. It's me, Carlos. You're safe Stephanie." I open my eyes, only to realize that I'm in Ranger's arms. I'm crying, shaking and scared. Bobby is next to me, taking my pulse. He turns to the judge, "She needs to go to the hospital. Her heart rate is way too high. She's in the middle of a panic attack."

"Court is in recess until 10 am tomorrow when Mrs. Manoso will continue her testimony."

Ranger picks me up and carries me out of the courtroom. We leave the courthouse through a back door where Tank is waiting with one of the SUVs. Ranger sits in the back with Bobby and me, and Lester hops in the front with Tank. They take me to St. Francis. We pull in where Ranger carries me into the ER. Bobby has called ahead, so a doctor is waiting to examine me. I get an oxygen mask. I finally start to feel better.

After the doctor leaves the room to talk to Bobby, Ranger asks me what happened. "I had another flashback. This time, someone was putting a beer bottle inside me. Then, Morelli made him turn me over, so he could go in my ass while the beer bottle was still inside me. He said that he wanted me to have his son, and once I did, he would give me to one of his friends because he wouldn't need me anymore."

"Mother fucker!" Ranger was so angry and frustrated. "I want to go to that jail right now to wring his neck. I want to beat him senseless and leave him for the animals to eat in the woods. Nothing I can do is enough to make him pay for what he did to you, Babe."

"Carlos, I understand how you feel, but you can't do that. I can't have you going to jail because of him. I need you too much."

Bobby walks back, sits down at the foot of my bed. "Bomber, I think you need to see a psychiatrist. I think you have PTSD. You need to see someone. I have a doctor that some of the guys have used before. She's really good. She said she could see you today. If she talks to you, she should be able to get you a therapy dog for the rest of your testimony."

"A therapy dog? How does that work?" I ask.

"Several court systems have dogs that sit in the witness box with witnesses, usually children or rape victims. They can sense when the witness is getting anxious, and when they do, they put their head on the witness's lap to encourage the witness to pet their head. Often that is enough to calm the witness down to be able to complete their testimony. I think it would help you, Steph. Will you see her?"

"Do you think the judge would allow the dog?" I ask.

"Yes. If the doctor orders it, he will. She's one of the top psychiatrists in the country to deal with PTSD. It's her specialty."

"No. You are not calling her in." Ranger responds.

"It's too late. I already spoke to her. She'll be here in twenty minutes." Bobby answered.

"I don't want her involved in this. It's too personal."

"Ranger, this has nothing to do with you. It's about Stephanie and what's best for her. You know she's the best. And I think Stephanie will be better off speaking to a woman about this, don't you think?" Bobby counters.

"No, because then she's going to tell me everything I'm doing wrong and how I don't know the right things to do and how I should listen to her because she knows better."

"Guys, I'm sitting right here. Bobby, who is the doctor?"