Hayden sat back in his chair and sighed. He knew the judge was right. And even worse, he knew that Tom was right. He was blowing this case. Everything was going wrong, and an innocent victim was paying the price. "Fine," he finally said. "But I'll need more time to prepare my witness."

"We'll convene at noon then," said the judge. "Have a good evening, Counsel."

Tom lay on the couch in his mother's living room, one arm across his eyes. He had just finished eating supper, forcing himself to eat more than he wanted but still less than his mother would have liked. And now he would rather be in his room alone with the door closed, but he sensed that his mother wanted him to stay close where she could keep an eye on him. The fainting spell had frightened her greatly, he knew.

He had come very close to telling her that he was ready to go home to his apartment. He simply couldn't stand having to come back to this house with her every night, the events of the day going unspoken throughout the evening. He knew how much it was hurting her, and she knew how much it was embarrassing him, but they had been going on day by day pretending that it wasn't happening. He sighed softly as he heard the kitchen light switch click off, knowing that she was coming into the room now, dishes finished. He uncovered his eyes and sat up as he heard her sit down in the chair next to the couch.

For several moments they sat in silence until finally Margaret looked at him and said, "We need to talk about it, Tom."

He looked back at her. "I know."

"I've been very patient with you. And I've tried…"

"I know, Mom. I know," he interrupted.

She moved from her chair to sit by him on the couch. "No, I don't think you do."

"Mom…"

"Tom…wait," she said. "Listen to me. I know you appreciate everything I've done. I'm not talking about that. But you need to understand…" She stopped for a moment as her voice broke. "You need to understand what this is doing to me."

Tears welled up in Tom's eyes as he said, "I'm sorry. I know. I wish…I just…I hate that I'm hurting you."

"God, sweetie," his mother responded, reaching out to take his hand. She shook her head. "It's not you. Please don't think that. It's not your fault."

He looked at her. "But I…if…"

"No," she said, shaking her head again. "It's not your fault. Someone else did this to you…to us. And the thing is…you aren't the only one hurting. I try to stay strong for you, but inside…my heart…my soul…they hurt so badly for you…from the moment I saw Captain Fuller walking up to the house to right this very minute."

"I know," Tom said, looking down and sniffing.

"You don't know, Tom. You can't know unless you're a mother," she said. He looked up and she placed a hand to his cheek as her own tears began to fall. "You're a part of me. You're my baby. You always will be. When I look at you now…and…when you were lying in the hospital…that's what I see. I see my child…hurt…and scared…and I can't do anything about it. I feel so helpless. To a mother, that's the worst kind of hell."

"Then…why are you there? Every day…you sit there and have to hear about it over and over."

She smiled sadly at him. "Same answer. I'm a mother. That's what we do…no matter how hard it is. I'm always going to be there for you." Tom nodded and looked down. His mother leaned over to look into his eyes. "It's hard for you too, isn't it?" she asked. He nodded again, wiping a tear from his face. She put her arms around him and pulled him close. He buried his face in her shoulder and cried as she held him. "I already know what happened, sweetie. There's nothing that you or they could say that would shock me or surprise me now, okay? You don't have to worry about it." She began to rock him slowly. "You don't need to be embarrassed or ashamed. You didn't do anything wrong. Okay?" He nodded again but did not look up. Margaret settled back into the couch with her son in her arms. "Okay, baby. It's going to be okay."

"Where is everyone?" Tom asked District Attorney Scott Hayden.

"We need to talk," said Hayden, and he led Tom and his mother to the conference room. He had decided to let them come to the courthouse on time…to not tell them that court would be starting at noon instead of 9:00. He knew that he was going to need that time to prepare Tom to face Eckert in court.

They entered the room, and Tom's stomach dropped when he saw that his psychologist, Dr. Hirsch, was already in the room. Tom sighed as he sat down. "What's wrong now?" he asked.

Hayden looked at Hirsch before replying. "Listen, Tom, it's not as bad as it's going to sound, okay?"

Tom took a deep breath, resolving to stay calm. The talk with his mother the night before had helped him feel much better about the whole process. He knew he had to resign himself to getting through this, no matter what it took. "What is it?" he asked.

"Well, you know the defense isn't finished questioning you. And you know we'll get our chance to refute anything they say or make you say that isn't right. We just…you need to get through this, that's all, okay? You just need to do it."

"What is it?" Tom asked again.

Hayden tried to make this as easy as possible. "Eckert wants to ask you a few questions," he stated simply, knowing Eckert wanted a lot more than that.

Ignoring the gasp from his mother, Tom asked calmly, "On the stand?"

"Yes."

"He wants to question me? On the stand?"

Dr. Hirsch spoke up. "Tom, I think you…"

"Okay," said Tom. "Let's do it."

The other three people in the room looked at him in surprise.

"Tom, are you sure you're okay with this?" asked Hirsch tentatively.

"Okay with it?" Tom laughed humorlessly. "Hell no, I'm not okay with it. But…I'm tired of it. I'm tired of their games and I'm tired of sitting up there every day and having no control over what people say about me, and I just want to get it over with…I just want this to end."

The doctor looked at the D.A., then said to Tom, "You understand what going to happen this afternoon, right? Eckert will be in front of you, asking you questions and saying things that…well, it's going to be bad, Tom."

"I know."

"He's going to make it look like you're lying," the doctor continued.

Hayden added, "And you don't get to question him. You do understand that? He is exercising his right as a defendant to confront his accuser. And you'll have to answer him under oath, no matter what he asks."

"I know," Tom said again.

Hirsch and Hayden looked at each other again and then at Tom's mother who looked ashen but did not say anything.

"Well then," said the D.A., "we've got a few hours to go over everything and prepare, so…"

"I'm ready," said Tom.

Dr. Hirsch and Mrs. Hanson left the room, and for the next two and a half hours, Tom and Hayden discussed what would be happening that afternoon.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," began Judge Andrews, "as you are aware, the defense is currently cross-examining one of the prosecution's witnesses. The defendant, Lee Aldon Eckert, has decided to exercise his right to confront his accuser, which means that he will be allowed to question the witness this afternoon. You should make no judgment based on this fact. Rather, you should consider only the testimony given, just as you would if the defense attorney was doing the questioning. Thomas Hanson, please take the stand, and remember you are still under oath." He looked at the defense table. "Mr. Eckert, you may begin."

Eckert stood and approached the stand. He looked as he had throughout the trial…clean shaven, neat hair, dress clothes.

Tom had avoided looking at Eckert since this whole process had begun, but now he would have no choice. He sensed the man approaching and his eyes rose to look at him.

Hey there, buddy!

Tom jumped and then shook his head slightly. Oh shit. This was going to be harder than he thought. He could feel his insides churning already and his hands were shaking. He clasped them together tightly. He would die before he would let Eckert see the effect he was having on him now.

"Are you okay?"

Tom looked up. "What?"

Eckert was smiling. "I asked you if you were okay."

Are you fucking kidding me?! The man who had put him through so much hell and torture was actually asking him if he was okay? This can't be real…this just can't be real. Tom steeled himself and answered, "Yes."

"Good," said Eckert as he started to pace in front of the stand. "So, Officer Hanson, we've heard your version of what happened that night, but I'm not sure you've gotten your facts straight. Isn't it true that you came back to my apartment that night and willingly had sex with me?"

"No, it isn't."

"Which part? Being in my apartment or the sex?" asked Eckert.

"Both."

"Really? Because the evidence presented by the prosecution says otherwise. They found proof that you had been there. And that you had sex…well, at the minimum you had an orgasm, because your semen was on my bed sheet. How do you explain that?"

Felt good, didn't it, blowing your wad with my dick up your scrawny ass?

"I can't. I was never there."

"Objection," said Hayden. "The defendant will get to tell his story later…under oath. He's trying to get this witness to tell it for him now."

"Your Honor," Defense Attorney Rosa Sheffield spoke up. "We won't have the opportunity to get this witness' testimony about the defendant's side later." She looked at Hayden. "Unless, of course, the prosecution is prepared to have us recall this witness as we see fit."

"Counsel?" The judge looked at Hayden.

Hayden cursed under his breath, then replied, "Objection withdrawn, Your Honor."

"Just the same, Mr. Eckert, you're treading on shaky ground with this line of questioning."

"Yes, Your Honor," said Eckert, and then he turned back to Tom. "But you were in my old apartment. You admit that?"

"Yes," said Tom. "I was working undercover. It was my job to be there."

"Was it part of your job to come see me in prison later? Or was that because you realized that you actually had feelings for me?" asked Eckert.

"What?!" Tom nearly laughed. "No." he shook his head. "I had feelings for the girl you knocked up and for the baby you left behind. I felt sorry for them."

Eckert smirked at that. "Regardless, during the time you were 'undercover', did you ever spend the night at my apartment?"

"Of course, but it wasn't…"

"Did you ever use drugs there?"

"No. I didn't use drugs," Tom said. "I went on some bogus buys though to make you think I was using."

"Really? That's all?" Eckert said. "You never smoked any pot?"

Tom started to answer, then hesitated. He saw a look of satisfaction cross Eckert's face. Aw hell. "Um…yeah. Yeah, one time."

"The whole evening, right?" asked Eckert. "And then if I remember correctly…and please, if I'm wrong, let me know…you spent the rest of the night in bed with a friend of the girl that I 'knocked up'…as you put it. Is that right?"

Tom remembered that night. He was well into the assignment, far enough in so that his two worlds were blurring together. That made for a good investigation, but it didn't make for a good cop. He'd had some alcohol…too much alcohol…and the pot was there, the women were there, and things just happened. She was older than her friend, though. She had come around the place a few times, always flirting with Tom. But soon after that night he had broken the case, and he never saw her again. He knew there was no point in trying to explain all of this, and the truth was that he knew what he had done wasn't right. So he simply answered, "Yes. That's right."

Eckert smiled smugly. "Okay, so you admit to being in my apartment, doing drugs, and having sex with a girl, but you say you were never there with me to have sex."

"That's right."

"Again, Officer Hanson," said Eckert. "The prosecution's own evidence clearly says that we did have sex. Your semen was on a sheet in my apartment. My semen was found inside of you." He laughed. "Unless there was some kind of forensic magic going on, the evidence proves that we had sex."

"We did not. You raped me," said Tom breathing heavily and doing his best to control his emotions.

"Look, I know you're embarrassed. It had been a long time, you weren't really prepared…" Eckert laughed. "I mean, even I didn't want to do it without a condom."

"Shut up," Tom said, quietly and evenly.

"Objection," said Hayden.

But Eckert continued, standing in front of the witness stand and looking directly at Tom. "And you were in such a hurry. No lubrication…it really hurt, didn't it? The doctor even testified to how much damage it caused."

"Shut up!" Tom said again, this time more forcefully.

"Your Honor!" yelled Hayden, standing.

"It couldn't have bothered you too much though," said Eckert. "You had an orgasm, didn't you? I know you were screaming and your semen was all over the evidence. You came, Officer Hanson…you came while we were having consensual sex."

"We did not have sex!" Tom shouted.

Eckert nodded. "Yes…we did…and you came because you liked it."

"No!"

"Objection, Your Honor!" Hayden yelled again.

"We did," said Eckert again, "and now you're trying to put me in jail for it."

"You raped me!" Tom exploded, throwing his arm out and nearly touching the man as he pointed at him. "You lousy motherfucking son of a bitch!" Tom was standing now as the judge pounded his gavel calling for order. Eckert was walking back to the defense table as court officers approached the stand. Tom continued to shout after Eckert, barely coherent as he choked up and tears fell. "You raped me! You kidnapped me, tied me up, beat me, and you raped me!"

"Officer Hanson, sit down!" said the judge. "Order! There will be order in this court! Counsel, get your witness under control before I hold you both in contempt! Jury is dismissed. We will reconvene in one hour."

The jury was quickly ushered out of the room, and Sheffield and Eckert left as well. Most of the people in the gallery stood and watched as several people gathered around Tom, trying to quiet him and get him off the stand. Hayden and Hirsch were there, Tom's mother standing nearby, weeping with fear and concern.

Hayden pulled Tom out of the witness box, the young man still shouting at Eckert even though the defense was gone. The group of concerned people surrounded Tom, and he sank to the floor among them, gasping and crying hysterically. Dr. Hirsch grabbed his arms and shook him, trying to get his attention. "Tom! Tom, look at me!"

"He raped me…" Tom said again through his tears, still not seeing the doctor or anyone else around him.

Hirsch shook him again and put one hand behind Tom's head, forcing him to look at him.

Tom looked at the doctor and quieted down some but was still breathing hard. "He raped me," he said again, this time quietly, a look of despair on his tearful face.

Hirsch nodded and spoke softly. "I know. I know he did."

Tom looked at Hirsch for a moment more and then suddenly threw his arms around him, clutching the man tightly and mumbling weakly, "He raped me."

Hirsch sighed as he held the distraught young man, rubbing his back with one hand. "I know…I know."

First off, I am so, so sorry this update has been so long in coming! I can only blame the holidays and an overload of things keeping me too busy during my normal writing times. But I really appreciate you waiting patiently for it, and I hope you enjoy it. Please keep the feedback coming. It's very helpful and much appreciated! :-)