Chapter Twenty-Five

Every night you cry yourself to sleep
Thinking: "Why does this happen to me?
Why does every moment have to be so hard?"

Maroon 5 – Won't Go Home Without You

Having my stomach pumped was the worst procedure I'd ever endured within hospital walls. It had taken a long time to get all the drugs out of my system, leaving me exhausted, and frustratingly weak and sick. My throat was sore and it was painful to swallow. Talking was borderline bearable. I forced my eye lids open as Cory stepped into the room. I looked at her, a little uneasy. Now that they drugs were out of my system, my mind kept going over the fact that she was the one responsible for putting me in with O'Reilly in the first place.

I looked at her, noticing the hesitation on her face and the guilt shining in her eyes. Finally, I relented and raised my hand a little off the bed to wave at her.

"Hey." I murmured. Cory gave me a grim smile as she dropped into the seat next to me.

"How are you feeling?" she asked brushing the hair from my forehead.

"My face hurts, my throat hurts." I glanced down at my arm and the burns upon it.

"My arm and stomach hurt. I can barely move I feel so tired." I paused, gathering the courage to ask her what I really wanted to ask. "Why didn't you let me go home, Cory? I thought we were friends," I asked with accusation in my voice.

Cory flinched at my words and drew a breath before responding. "I didn't put you in, Carmen."

"But, Jacobson…" I trailed off when I saw a flash of rage in her eyes.

"That son of a bitch better be glad that I didn't kill him," she said. "Look. I'll admit I did consider asking you to do that, but when I realized how dangerous it was going to be…I couldn't do it. I couldn't put you in that situation because you have a family now." I looked up to see that tears were threatening to spill out of her eyes. She locked eyes with me and I could tell that she was still feeling guilt. "It's still my fault. If Jacobson hadn't seen you name on the short list, even after I told him that I wasn't willing to risk doing that, then he wouldn't have used you like that and our lives wouldn't have been shattered."

I carefully gauged her, realizing that she was beating herself up, but I knew that something else was going on. "What do you mean?"

Cory looked at me, trying to pull herself together. "Don't worry about it. Besides the obvious trauma, how else are you feeling?" she said with an abrupt change of topic.

"Still trying to remember what all happened. Any idea what they spiked me with yet?" I asked, letting out a deep breath.

"Rohypnol." She answered, studying me.

"Which would explain the memory loss and the black outs." I said out loud as things began to piece together.

"You still don't remember if he…" Cory trailed off, her hand going to her mouth concerned.

I wrapped my arms around myself at the memory of O'Reilly tearing my shirt, his hands fumbling at my trousers, while I tried to struggle against him and then nothing.

"I just remember his hands on me. He tore open my shirt and my belt and then I must have blacked out, since the next thing I knew was that I was lying on floor and he was running in the other direction through the doorway. My blouse was open, zipper down on my pants, but I don't know what he did." I admitted, feeling myself beginning to shiver. I'd never been that scared before. The fact I couldn't remember a thing was the worst part.

Cory reached out and touched my hand softly.

"You've come into tell me that the nurse is going to examine me." I stated quietly, studying Cory.

"And Don's pacing outside, he wants you to make sure I'm ok with him coming in." I told her. Cory stared at me for a second surprised. I looked down at the sheets distantly as tears pinpricked my eyes. I sniffed before looking up at Cory.

"I don't even think I want to know Cory, really I don't…I don't know how I'm going to deal with it if he did. The last two days have been a complete blur. I remember snippets of things and the only constant factor is pain and his words. I've never felt so weak in my entire life. I've always been able to fight you know?" I whispered, one strong woman to another.

Cory took my hand and pressed it between both of her own. Her eyes focused on me.

"You can do this. I know you can. You need to know what has happened so that you can move on and you're right Don is outside, pacing like crazy, wanting to make sure you're ok. He wants to know what happened so he can help. If you don't do it now, you're going to be wondering for the rest of your life. You'll become a victim." Cory hesitated, brushing the hair from my face; she gave me a warm smile.

"And you're anything but a victim." She told me, looking into my eyes affectionately.

There was a small tap on the door and the nurse popped her head into the door.

"Miss Devine, are you ready?" she asked as she pushed open the door, carrying the Sexual Assault Kit. I nodded my response as Cory stood up to leave.

"Will you stay?" I asked pleading. Cory knew I was showing her my vulnerability. Her grip on my hand tightened.

"Of course."

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It's not over tonight
Just give me one more chance to make it right
I may not make it through the night
I won't go home without you

The minute Cory stepped out f the room; Flack was on her interrogating her.

"Cory, how is she? Did he touch her? Should I go in? Does she want to be by herself? Did he touch her?" Flack's concern was heart warming. His hands were resting on his arms, his gaze intense.

Cory held up her hands in mock surrender.

"Firstly, the nurse tells me she wasn't raped, she is more than relieved. She's had her stomach pumped. She's doing better than she was and of course you can go in. You can even take her home in the next hour."

"Thank God for that."

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Cory glanced down as her phone began to ring for the fourth time in five minutes. Sighing, she hit the reject button again. "Get a clue, Messer. I don't want to talk to you," she muttered under her breath. "Thank God he's not off the clock yet." She unlocked her door and dragged herself into her bathroom, running the water as hot as she could stand.

A few minutes later, standing under the water, she broke down. Sobs racked her body as she thought about how in less than twelve hours, her life fell apart. Finally, the sobs subsided and she finished her shower.

Just as she wrapped the towel around her, she heard her phone ring. She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Agent Michaels. "Reid."

"Cory, it's Agent Michaels."

"Hi, how can I help you," she asked.

"Do you want to escape the city for a while?"

Cory's eyebrows rose. "That would be wonderful. What do you have in mind?"

"The Dallas office has requested your assistance. Something about a re-emergence of Mala Suerte. They figure that you could help them out a lot."

Cory thought for a moment, feeling relief at getting some time apart. "Definitely. When do you want me to leave?"

"ASAP. I booked a flight for you. It leaves in three hours. Can you make it to LaGuardia by then?"

Cory began to mentally calculate what she needed to pack. "No problem. I can be packed in thirty minutes and at the airport in an hour."

"Thanks. Dallas is really going to love having you back for a while."

Cory smiled, feeling grateful for the offer. "Thanks," she said as she hung up the phone, already walking towards her closet and her suitcase. Once finished packing, she left the apartment, making a mental note to call Flack to see if he could have Carmen swing by to water her plants every couple of days.

READ GOTHAM'S HEROES!!!

Bad2wolf2mcgee: lol you're a pretty demanding person. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

ForestAngel: lol Thanks. I worked really hard on this story arc, so it's nice to know it's appreciated.

Sparkycsi: lol I wanted to hug them both so badly. I feel really bad for Flack sometimes. I love seeing an emotional side to him.

Bluehavan4220: I'm glad you like the chapters. Carmen always likes to be the tough one but sometimes she can't be. Thanks for the review.

Axellia: No problem, sounds like a great mix, you ever tried a Steamboat? I wanted a good quick ending to the whole thing, and I thought Matt should get some time to shine! I wanted to give them both hugs. I felt really bad for Flack in particular here.