Tig sat on his own away from the others as he thought about what Chib's had said after he had asked him about what he had threatened to do to Juice, all that time ago in Nevada. He had not forgotten about the dog biting him, he would never forget about that, he still had to find a way to get back at the retard for that but he could understand what that had had to do with the kid biting him.
He heard Tara speaking in the other room and got up, walking into the room to hear she was saying to the others.
xXx
After Juice had gradually calmed down Chib's left him and returned to the main room of the cabin. Jax and Opie were there as well as Tara, he could see Tig out on the porch and had gone out to corner him over what he had just heard from Juice, to see if Tig could tell him why Juice had reacted the way he had this morning. When he had Chib's returned to the others and asked Tara what it was they were going to do to help Juice.
Tara looked over at him and then at the other two men in the room, she sighed before she spoke.
"To be able to help him, you have to understand what he is going through right now."
"Then tell us love." Jax said to her.
She saw both of his brothers nodding their heads as she spoke and Tig walking back into the room to listen to what she had to say also. She took another deep breath and began.
"To start with, you have to understand not just what rape victims go through but also society's perception of rape." She told them. "There are many in society that believes the victims of rape put themselves in a position where they are asking for it. Especially if it is a woman and men are not raped that only happens to women and children. Unfortunately, males are just as likely to be raped as females."
She started with and then waited for this bit of information to sink in and could see that at least one of them, Tig was having problems with accepting what she was saying.
"For the victims there are three stages of adjustment that they go through. The first is shock followed by denial and the integration."
"What's the difference between the three stages?" Chib's asked.
Tara nodded at him and continued with her explanation.
"During stage one, Juice's reactions could be anything from acute anxiety, fear, guilt, anger, his own reaction to the rape could therefore be anything from hysteria to numbness….During the attack he will have experienced a significant degree of emotional and physical trauma…..which will leave him feeling as though as though he is to blame for what has happened to him."
"That's ridiculous though, he could not have stopped what was done to him." Opie piped up.
"I know Opie but Juice's sense of self-worth will have been damaged and he is suffering from deep feelings of guilt….be doubting himself and feel that you guys will doubt him as well. He will see himself as 'unclean'…..contaminated even…..and in the emotional state he is in right now…..he will think the club and everyone around him will see him in the same way. He is probably scared that you will judge him, not believe him and then reject him. It's a normal reaction to what he has gone through Opie, his sense of personal power has been threatened and it will take time for Juice to acknowledge these feelings."
Tara stopped for a moment as she let the guys take in what she has just told them. When she saw that they were more or less alright with what they had heard and it looked as though it was sinking in before she proceeded to tell about the second stage or denial as she called it.
"During the second stage which I think he might be in now, he is probably trying to forget what has happened and by not talking about it….he is denying his feelings of anger and hurt by attempting to return to what he thinks is normal life. However by not facing it…What Dion did to him…..it will rip him apart emotionally."
Tig snorted to himself, when he heard Tara say that Juice was trying to return to normal life and thought to himself. 'Well he's never been normal emotionally so that won't be much damage then,' he heard Tara saying more about Juice's reactions and returned to the conversation.
"…continuing anxiety, severe mood swings….one minute he will be fine and the next minute….well his reaction may be anything from extreme violence to Juice bursting into tears."
"Already seen that." They heard Chibs chuckle. "When we realised he had Happy's gun and Tig tried to take it away from him," glancing over at Tig as he said it.
"He may also have poor recall of the rape and other memories or he may continue to experience flashbacks." Tara told them, she continued with "and these could show as physical symptoms, nightmares, stomach aches, headaches, depression and nausea, are all common. Phobias about his environment, he could react to this by being unable to sleep, refusing to be alone or avoid contact with people all together."
Tara stopped, she felt that the guys had enough to take in and she did not want to overload them, she could tell them about the third stage in a while. She knew that more than one of them was having trouble taking in all they had heard despite their attempts to.
xXx
When Juice had calmed down enough after Chib's had left him, he had gone and sat in one of the chairs on the porch and this was where Opie found sitting a few hours later. Tara had made some sandwiches for everyone and Opie had brought some out for Juice, hoping he would eat them but he made sign that he was aware of the food until Opie gave a small cough and told him to eat.
Juice shook his head, "I can't." Opie heard him mutter.
"You have to Juice; if you don't you will get sick." Opie told him.
Opie left him then and went back inside to the others but when he returned an hour later, he saw that Juice was gone and the sandwiches were still on the other chair, untouched.
"Shit." Opie cursed.