Chapter 35
They all looked at Horatio expectantly as Frank and Eric rose to their feet and stood beside Horatio. They all glanced over to Zoë when they heard a glass smash. They watched her crouch and begin to pick up the glass shards and they could see her hands shaking.
"Zoë, are you okay baby girl?" Alexx questioned as she quickly walked over to her with Horatio. As they got closer they could hear her heavy breathing and saw her wipe her cheek with the back of her right hand. Horatio quickly crouched beside her and placed a hand on her back as he stopped her from picking the glass up.
"Zoë, take a deep breath sweetheart." He said softly and she looked up at him. Alexx could see the tears falling from her eyes. Horatio pulled her up and then pulled her away from the glass as Alexx placed her hand on Zoë's back.
"I can't do this Horatio." She said as she broke down and fell against him. Eric and Frank quickly shooed everyone out apart from Alexx and Joe.
"I can't do this." She sobbed as he hugged her tightly.
"You can do this Zoë, I know you can." Horatio said softly as he rubbed her back as Alexx did the same. Alexx quickly moved and took hold of her right wrist. Zoë quickly pulled her hand away from her and placed it between her chest and Horatio's chest.
"I'm sorry Zoë, I just wanted to take your pulse." Alexx said softly. Zoë turned her head so she couldn't see anything but the wall beside them. Horatio shook his head at Alexx and Alexx backed off. Zoë pulled away from Horatio a couple of minutes later and looked up at him as she began to pull at the bandages once again.
"Zoë, please try and stop pulling at them." Horatio said softly as he took hold of her hand.
"What have you done to your hand, Zoë?" Alexx asked softly. She didn't answer she just looked away and pulled her hand from Horatio's grip.
"I want to go home, I can't do this." Zoë said quietly as she looked up at Horatio.
"Eric can take you and Joe back, I'm going to stay here." Horatio said softly as he placed his palm against her cheek.
"No, I want to go back with you." She asked him.
"I can't sweetheart, I've got to get on with Mr Wolfe's case." Horatio said softly.
"Are you supporting him?" Alexx questioned and they looked over to her. Horatio shook his head.
"What? You're not supporting him? What has he done?" Alexx asked and Zoë shook her head at Horatio and then pulled away. She quickly bent down and began to pick up the glass again.
"Horatio, talk to me, please." Alexx asked and then looked round to Zoë as she hissed as she caught the tip of her finger on one of the shards.
"Baby are you okay?" Alexx quickly asked as she crouched beside Zoë and placed her hand on her back.
"Please don't touch me." Zoë tensed. Alexx quickly backed off and stood and looked round to Horatio. Zoë quickly stood with the glass and then threw it in the bin. She turned to Horatio and looked at him. She shook her head at him and then looked down as tears began to fall again. Horatio quickly walked over to her and engulfed her in his arms.
"Please, can we go, I can't do this." She pleaded him.
"I can't let him walk away, Zoë." Horatio said softly.
"H, I'll take the case over, you go home with Zoë, I can handle it." Frank said as he walked over to them and Zoë shook her head.
"I can be done in 10 minutes Zoë, I just need to ring Nathan, his trial is tomorrow." Horatio said softly.
"No, please." She pleaded as she looked up at Horatio and Joe walked over.
"Zoë, please. He needs to be charged." Joe said as he placed his hand on Zoë's back.
"Will someone please tell me what's going on?!" Alexx asked loudly.
"He sexually assaulted me, Alexx!" Zoë snapped. "Are you happy now?" She questioned before she fell against Horatio again. Alexx and Frank stared at her wide eyed.
"He assaulted me after I'd come home from the hospital after being poisoned. I didn't remember him doing it to me, at the time I was experiencing a blank-episode that I get between black-outs sometimes. When he did it to me I had no idea what he was doing and I couldn't stop him. He would have raped me if I didn't blackout when I did." She cried.
"Has that satisfied your curiosity?" She asked bitterly before turning and hiding away under Horatio's protective arms.
"Is that true?" Alexx asked Horatio quietly and Horatio nodded.
"Do you want to see the CCTV footage too? I may as well bring it in and put it on display for everyone to see, everyone can see how pathetic I am, how weak I am. That's a great idea." She cried as she pushed away from Horatio and then briskly walked out. Horatio and Joe quickly rushed out after her while Frank and Alexx stood there shocked and turned to Eric.
"Did you know this?" Alexx asked and Eric nodded.
"We found out when we were stranded." Eric said quietly.
"What did he do to her?" Alexx asked.
"I'm sorry; I'm not going to give that information out." Eric said as he shook his head. Alexx quickly headed out to find them heading over to Horatio's office. She quickly followed them.
"Zoë, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." Alexx apologised as she walked into the office.
"I want to drop the charges; I can't do it to him. You saw everyone earlier. His life would be completely destroyed." Zoë said as she looked up at Horatio.
"Zoë, he assaulted you. He took advantage of you, he would have raped you Zoë. Don't make me let him go free, please." Horatio begged her.
"I know, Horatio. But I can't ruin his life over it. I don't know why I can't." Zoë said as she looked up at him.
"Zoë, I know you're not just thinking about him. No-one will think that you're weak, no-one will think any less of you, I promise you that." Horatio said as he placed his hands on the sides of her head.
"You're not weak Zoë, you were unwell, you couldn't have changed what happened, you couldn't have stopped it. People understand beautiful." Horatio assured her.
"I don't want them to find out what he did." Zoë whispered as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Only those who need to know will know, don't worry." Horatio whispered back to her, trying to assure her.
"I don't care, I don't want anyone knowing at all. You heard everyone earlier, rumours are already spreading, I don't want any of that tied to me, please!" She said as she looked up at him.
"Zoë, he needs to be put away for this, what if he tries again because he's free?" He questioned.
"He won't try again, you've seen how sorry he is." Zoë said as she looked into his eyes.
"Nearly every criminal apologises, Zoë. He obviously meant it otherwise it wouldn't have happened a second time, he knew exactly what he was doing and think about what he did on that island, he didn't even stop then." Horatio said to her. She shook her head as she backed off from him.
"You can try and prosecute him, but I won't support, you won't use the CCTV footage, I'll delete it." She said as she stepped back again.
"Zoë, please don't do this. I need to see him put away. Please try and understand where I'm coming from, he did something to you that I can never forgive. I need some sort of closure, some sort of relief." Horatio begged her.
"Take relief in knowing that he's probably going to develop depression. He knows I hate him, it's probably going to destroy him to know I hate him. He probably hates himself." Zoë said as she looked up at him.
"Zoë that's not enough for me, I need to see him put away, I need to put him away." Horatio begged her.
"Zoë, I need to see him put away too." Joe added and she looked round to him. She ran a hand through her hair as she took a deep breath.
"I can't." She shook her head as she pulled at her hair, getting exceptionally stressed.
"You can, please." Horatio asked.
"Okay, okay honey, you need to calm down." Alexx said when she saw Zoë getting too stressed. Zoë backed off from all of them as they all took a step forward.
"Just… give me some space." Zoë pleaded them and then rushed out. Horatio ran his hands through his hair and Joe did the same.
"You can't force her, Horatio. You'll put more pressure on her." Alexx said softly as she looked to him.
"Alexx, I can't let him go free." Horatio said lowly as he placed both hands on his hips and began to tap at his belt.
"I understand that, Horatio. But forcing her isn't going to make her feel better." Alexx said softly.
"She doesn't want to do it because she doesn't want people to find out the details. That's the reason why most rapists get away with it, because the victims are ashamed and don't come forward." Horatio said as he looked up at her.
"She's a proud woman, she doesn't want her name associated with this incident, she doesn't want to be seen as defenceless Horatio, you know she never wants to be seen as defenceless and that is exactly what she was. I can understand that why she doesn't want to charge. I can understand where you're coming from too, but if you force her to charge him with the assault, you'll push her away from you. She needs your complete support. If he had raped her, I would be siding with you, but that didn't happen. The more you push her to do this, the more she'll want to run." Alexx said softly.
"He may as well have raped her, Alexx. The psychological damage he's done to her is close enough, that's why her hand is bandaged, she tried to burn her skin off because of something he did to her. She feels like she needs to get rid of the skin on that hand." Horatio said lowly. Alexx then looked down at Joe's bandaged hand.
"I got this when I tried to stop her from burning herself." Joe sighed.
"She was rubbing her skin raw in the bath, he's done more damage to her. She already has a lot of problems that none of you see, this is just going to add to them." Horatio said lowly and Alexx looked at him.
"You've seen her back, you know what she's been through. She does not need anything more. Putting him away will at least give her a sense of security. She was petrified of him when he was near when we were on that island." Horatio said as he looked at her.
"All I'm saying is that it's her choice, I agree with you, I think that she should go through with it, but you cannot force her. That's all I'm saying." She said as she looked at him and put her hands on her hips.
"She'll regret it if she doesn't go through with it." Horatio sighed as he ran a hand through his hair again.
"Maybe she will, but she can then charge him when she's actually made her mind up. She's not sure right now. If you go away and give her time to think and give her time for it to actually sink in, she may make her mind up for definite. She's just got over surgery, you've all been stranded on an island where you probably haven't eaten well or slept too well, she's exhausted, she doesn't need any more stress or pressure right now." Alexx said softly.
"How do I know that he isn't going to do it to her again, or to another woman?" Horatio questioned her.
"Ryan isn't like that." Alexx said.
"We also thought that he'd never do something like this, especially to Zoë." Horatio growled back at her.
"Horatio, I can understand how you're feeling right now. I know you want to see justice brought to him, but in doing so, you may push her away from you and you don't want that, do you?" Alexx asked.
"No, but–"
"No but's Horatio, go and find her and go and sort her out, she needs you. She needs your support." Alexx said and Horatio swallowed and then nodded.
"She's the important person in all of this." Alexx said as she placed her hand on his arm. He nodded and then exhaled.
"Thank you Alexx." Horatio said softly and she gave him a nod and a smile. He walked out with Alexx and Joe following. They looked around the lab and then peered into the break room.
"Have you seen Zoë?" Horatio asked and both Eric and Frank shook their heads. They walked out.
"I'll check the ladies." Alexx said softly and Horatio nodded at her. Horatio and Joe spoke while they slowly followed Alexx and then halted outside the ladies restroom.