Thanks to the reviewer from the last chapter. You put a smile on my face with your kind words. :-)

Format of this chapter is a little different. Just in case it's not clear, the words in italics are flashbacks. Words not in italics are present time.


Marjorie Jones took a deep breath as she listened to her fellow jurors argue. She could not believe she was the foreperson in the Alison McCord v. Giovanni Rossi case and that she, together with the 11 other jurors - Jordan Miller, McKenzie McIntyre, Ben Watkins, Tom Franklin, Abigail Hodges, Rachel Ivanov, Marshall Reynolds, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Rose Rodriguez, Kirsten Brown, and Jose Martinez - had to decide whether Giovanni Rossi was guilty of the charges against him. It had been a gruelling two weeks and everyone was tired and frustrated and wanting to go home. The judge had given his jury instruction a little over 5 hours ago and tensions were running high in the small room as they had still not come to a unanimous decision on several of the charges.

"Come on! She's the 18 year old daughter of the Secretary of State who got pregnant when she slept with her boss. Of course she's going to tell her parents she was raped!" Tom Franklin argued.

"What! You think all teenage girls tell their parents they were raped if they fall pregnant after they sleep with someone they're ashamed of or regret? Did you not hear what the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner said?" McKenzie McIntyre argued vehemently.

-:-

"Please state your name and occupation for the court?" Judge Matthews asked the witness.

"My name is Mrs Carole Smith and I'm a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner"

"Thank you. ADA White, your witness"

"Thank you, your Honour. Mrs Smith, I understand you were the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner who conducted the rape examination of Alison McCord on 18th August 2017, is that correct?"

"Yes"

"Please can you describe for the jury what was involved in the rape examination?" ADA White asked the nurse.

"I took the victim's medical history and queried whether she had had any recent consensual sexual activity - she hadn't. Then we discussed the attack and what she had experienced when she was raped. Afterwards I conducted a full body examination which included internal examinations of the mouth and vagina, and I photographed the evidence accordingly. I also took some swabs and urine and blood samples from the victim for testing as she advised she had recently discovered she was pregnant via a home pregnancy test".

"And can you tell me what you discovered during the examination?" ADA White asked.

"There were fading bruises on the victim's wrists, breasts and thighs that corresponded with the shape and size of a hand. Similarly, there were fading bite marks on the victims torso. The bruises and bite marks were approximately 3 weeks old at the time of examination and indicated that considerable force had been used in those areas. Internally the victim had several healing tears and abrasions" Carole answered in a professional tone.

"Was there any DNA evidence left on the victim?"

"No. The victim advised she had been raped 3 weeks prior to the examination"

"And what was the mental state of the victim at the time of the examination"

"She was extremely upset and flinched whenever she was touched. She asked for her mother to accompany her in the room when the internal examination was conducted and the victim was extremely distressed the entire time"

"So, in your opinion, was Alison McCord a victim of rape?"

"Based on what I witnessed during the examination it is my belief that the victim was raped"

-:-

"Yes, but did you not hear what she said when William Schulman questioned her?" Tom Franklin argued.

-:-

"Carole, may I call you Carole?" William Schulman asked genially.

"Yes, you may"

"You say that you discovered evidence of bruising, bite marks, abrasions, and tears during the examination. Could these not have been caused, by say, rough consensual sex?"

Carole glared at the attorney with loathing. She knew exactly what he was insinuating.

"Medically speaking, those injuries could occur during rough sex" she admitted reluctantly.

-:-

"See! That's exactly my point. They could have just had rough sex together" Tom continued to argue.

"Ha! I can tell you that no woman wants rough sex the first time she has sex" Kirsten Brown interrupted. "The thought of having something inside you is scary enough. You heard what the victim said..."

-:-

ADA White took a deep, steadying, breath as he risked a look at the jury, relief washed over him at the look of horror on their faces. Alison had just spent the best part of 6 hours describing, in detail, what had happened to her on the night she was raped and she looked drained. She had done remarkably well, and although she had shed a few tears as she described the most horrific acts, she had remained calm, poised, and confident throughout. He thanked the Gods that Alison had obviously been working hard with her therapist and Erica over the past few weeks to prepare for the trial.

"Prior to the night of 28th July 2017, had you had sex with any other people" he questioned the victim carefully, mindful that his line of questioning was close to encroaching on Alison's rights as a victim.

"No, I was a virgin. I wanted to wait until I was in love" Alison admitted, a blush lighting up her cheeks.

"So, were you in love with Giovanni Rossi when you had sex with him?"

"No!" Alison replied emphatically.

"Did you want to lose your virginity to him like the defendant claims?"

"No!"

"Did you want to be handcuffed to a bed?"

"No!"

"Did not want to be 'taken roughly' as the defendant claims?"

"No!"

"And did you want to be forced to perform oral sex on Mr Rossi?"

"No!"

"Did you imagine any of those thing happening to you when you thought about what losing your virginity would be like?"

"No. I thought I would be in love and it would be tender and romantic"

"But it wasn't, was it?"

"No" Alison whispered in a choked voice, her body visibly shuddering as she remembered the moment he had entered her for the first time and she had felt her hyman rip, a moment she would never get back.

"What did you want on the night of 28th July 2017 when you went into Mr Rossi's bedroom?" ADA White asked kindly.

"I wanted to borrow a shirt, like he suggested, as mine was stained" Alison answered softly as she fought not to look at her hands in shame. She reminded herself she had nothing to be ashamed of, and gathering all her courage, she turned to look directly at Giovanni Rossi. "But he fooled me into going to his bedroom where he raped me"

-:-

"Ok, but..." Tom began before he was cut off by Jordan Miller.

"You saw the CCTV footage. Her shirt did get stained by a drink on the dance floor and everyone at the party who's testified confirmed that it was an accident. His lawyer couldn't get her to waiver on her story at all, I say she's telling the truth"

"I don't think she's lying about her shirt being stained. But if, like she says, she cried out for help, why didn't anyone hear her? The corridor outside his bedroom was full of people, they would have heard her" Tom challenged.

"That's a good point" Rose Rodriguez agreed.

"Were you not paying attention when the forensics guys gave their testimony?" Ben Watkins demanded in a frustrated tone.

-:-

Chris Sheridan swallowed thickly as he prepared to be questioned by ADA White.

"On the day you collected evidence at Giovanni Rossi's apartment, Detective Erica Johnson asked you to conduct an experiment, is that correct?"

"Yes" Chris replied in a professional tone.

"Can you tell me what that involved?" ADA White questioned inquisitively.

"Detective Johnson asked me to go and stand outside Mr Rossi's bedroom door and wait for one minute before coming back in"

"And what was the purpose of the experiment?"

"To test whether Mr Rossi's bedroom was soundproofed or not. After a minute of standing outside the bedroom I opened the door, only to hear Miss Jasmine Foureaux screaming at the top of her lungs. Detective Johnson told Jasmine to stop screaming and asked me if I had heard anything outside the room - I informed her I had heard nothing. Detective Johnson informed me that Jasmine had been screaming for a minute before I entered and I heard nothing".

"And what did you discover from this experiment?" ADA White continued.

"We deduced that the room was soundproof. Detective Morales joined us briefly in the bedroom before leaving to talk with Mr Rossi again and Detective Johnson instructed us to take a sample of the wall material for testing. When we tested the wall material at the laboratory we were able to confirm that the composition of the wall meant that the room was completely soundproof - no sound would be able to get in and no sound would be able to get out" Chris informed the court.

"So if there was someone standing outside that bedroom door with a party going on in the next room, would there have been any way for someone to hear what was going on inside that room?"

"No. The room was built to a very high specification, there was no way anyone would have been able to hear what was going on inside that room even if they were standing outside the door and there was no party. It would have been impossible" Chris confirmed with conviction.

-:-

"Jasmine Foureaux, Detective Erica Johnson, and Detective Samuel Morales or corroborate that story so I think we can safely assume that the room was soundproof and that the people at the party wouldn't have been able to hear Alison cry out for help. In fact, no one at the party recalls hearing anything from the bedroom, despite several witnesses remembering seeing them go into the room" Marjorie snapped, finally having enough of the bickering in the room. "What we can all agree on is that they had sex. If the DNA on her clothes and underwear weren't enough, the baby's DNA's proves that Giovanni Rossi is the father, plus they both had the same strain of chlamydia. What we have to figure out is whether he forced her to have sex or not. Do we believe the bruises, bite marks, tears, and abrasions are caused by rough sex that she now regrets, or because she was raped"

"Don't forget she has PTSD" Abigail Hodges added timidly. "Her therapist testified to that..."

-:-

"Dr Alexis Castillo, you have been treating the victim since August 2017, is that correct?" ADA White asked the therapist.

"Yes, that is correct" Alexis confirmed.

"And how was the victim's mental health when you first met with her?"

"When I first met with the victim she was displaying typical signs of a woman who had been raped. She wasn't sleeping or eating, she was very jittery and anxious, she was isolating herself, and she couldn't stand to be around men, including her father and brother. She was struggled to accept the pregnancy that resulted from being raped and this caused her much distress".

"You diagnosed her with PTSD, is that correct?"

"Yes. She continues to suffer from PTSD which includes panic attacks, flashbacks, and nightmares..."

-:-

"But you heard what the expert witness said" Marshall Reynolds countered.

-:-

"Dr Blackman, you have read through the victim's medical files, is that correct?" William Schulman asked his expert witness.

"Yes"

"The prosecution argues the victim has developed PTSD as a result of the alleged rape, do you concur with that assessment?"

"No. The nightmares and panic attacks could all be attributed to the stresses of an unplanned pregnancy. She could have been suffering from pre-natal and post-natal depression. The flashbacks as she calls them could simply have been hallucinations - delusions caused by her unbalanced metal state caused by the depression and pregnancy hormones"

-:-

"Oh come on!" Kirsten Brown scoffed, "We've all seen the victim, does she look depressed or delusional to you?"

"People hide depression very well" Marshall countered.

"If she was depressed then why hasn't her doctor prescribed her anti-depressants?" Abigail piped up as she held one of the evidence bags in front of her, the one containing a copy of Alison McCord medical records.

Silence descended over the room.

"I guess what I find strange is that she kept the baby. If she was raped, why did she decide to keep it? I don't think I could raise my rapist's child" Rachel Ivanov stated thoughtfully.

"Exactly!" Tom announced victoriously, as if Rachel's statement proved that Giovanni Rossi was innocent.

"They never really covered that during the trial" Abigail pondered thoughtfully.

Marjorie sighed heavily. "There's only one thing for it; we're going to have to recall the witness"


Alison McCord paced fretfully across her hotel room.

"Why haven't they made a decision yet?" she asked in a distressed tone. ADA White had called 5 hours ago to say the jury had gone into deliberations, but they had heard nothing since.

Elizabeth McCord peeked up from her laptop where she had been running the State Department for the past 36 hours. After giving her testimony Alison had decided that she wanted to be in the courtroom when the verdict was given and there was no way that she wasn't going to be by her daughter's side when the verdict was announced. Yesterday, ADA White had called to say that they were coming close to the end of proceedings, so Alison, Henry, and she had come up to New York last night. Henry was currently working remotely from the CIA's New York office, whilst Stevie and Jason were back in Washington DC looking after Lola with the help of Miss Janie, which left Alison and she alone in the hotel suite.

"The jury can take a long time to decide sometimes, remember they all have to agree on the verdict on the charges" Elizabeth tried to assure.

Alison looked at her mother in alarm. "But if it's taken them 5 hours that must mean that some of the jurors don't believe me! ADA White said he thought the trial had gone well, what if he's wrong?"

"Noodle..." Elizabeth began helplessly before the sound of her daughter's phone ringing disturbed the quietness of the room.

"Hello?" Alison answered her phone frantically.

"Yes...yes...I understand" she replied to the caller.

"Alison?" Elizabeth queried as she got off the bed to comfort her daughter who looked completely baffled.

"That was the courthouse. The jury has recalled me to give evidence" Alison stated in confusion, before panic hit her. "Mum...!"

"Hey, it's ok" Elizabeth soothed as she gathered her daughter in her arms. "They just want to check a part of your story. No big deal, right?"

"I suppose..." Alison answered hesitantly.

"Come on, I'll call your dad on the way" Elizabeth encouraged as she ushered her daughter out the door, all the while trying to stop the sinking feeling in her stomach. Alison being recalled as a witness was not be a good thing in her mind.


Alison McCord stood nervously by the witness stand as she was once again sworn in. She took her seat as directed and turned to face the judge expectantly.

"Miss McCord" Judge Matthews began "The jury has a question they would like to ask you. They would like to know why you decided to keep your baby once you found out you were pregnant"

"Why I decided to keep my baby?" Alison repeated, perplexed.

"Yes"

Alison paused and thought about her answer, knowing instinctively that it was highly likely her answer would determine the result of her case.

"When I first discovered I was pregnant I was in complete denial. If it hadn't been for my dad finding my pregnancy test I don't think I would have told anyone what had happened to me until I couldn't hide my stomach anymore. I just wanted it all to go away, to pretend that what happened in that room never happened, but being pregnant meant that I couldn't. I was embarrassed and ashamed about what had happened to me and I felt like my body wasn't my own, like there was an alien growing in it and I just wanted it all to stop and go away. I didn't want a constant reminder of that night for the rest of my life, I didn't want to be a mother, I just wanted to be an 18 year old going to college.

But then I found out I had chlamydia and discovered that the STI could affect my fertility which complicated things. I didn't want to be a mother at 18, but I had always planned on having kids. If the pregnancy was my only chance at motherhood, I had to ask myself if I really wanted to give up the chance at parenthood despite how my baby had been made.

In spite of the baby possibly being my only chance, I still considered all options. I seriously considered having an abortion, but after I heard the heartbeat I realised there was a living thing growing inside me and suddenly it wasn't an alien anymore. I had a living creature inside me and that made things even more complicated.

Then I had an epiphany one day involving a spider in my bedroom. I'm terrified of spiders and my brother and dad came running into my room as I stood there screaming. My brother tried to kill the spider but I couldn't let him do it; then it hit me. If I couldn't let my brother kill a spider, how could I kill my baby? It occurred to me then what an amazing thing my body had done, it had made another human being and I felt my first real connection with my child. After that there was no way I could go through with an abortion. My baby was a part of me and if I killed it then it would have been like killing a part of myself. My baby couldn't help how she was conceived but I could change my perspective about the circumstances. Rather than focusing on that act, I started to focus on how the egg had implanted in my uterus, how the cells had then divided to create a fetus, how the fetus had already started to form eyes, and limbs, and organs. It became a human being and I just couldn't not have my baby. I knew it would be hard, but I knew my family would support me and with their help I could raise my child. So, I decided to keep my baby - my daughter - because she became a person to me and I couldn't not have the baby once I accepted she was real" Alison finished emotionally as she looked at the jury imploringly, begging them to understand that in her mind her daughter was not connected to him or to what had happened to her. "My daughter is a miracle my body created. She came to be because I was raped, but she is mine, and as far as I am concerned, she is nothing to do with Giovanni Rossi" she stated with finality.

"Thank you, Miss McCord. You are dismissed" Judge Matthews stated softly, tenderness evident in his tone.

"Court Officer, please accompany the jury to the jury room so they can continue their deliberations" Judge Matthews commanded.

Once they were safely seated around the table in the jury room Marjorie took stock of the other jurors. Alison McCord's answer had been emotive and it had obviously effected them all greatly.

"Let's take another vote" Marjorie announced. "If you think Giovanni Rossi is guilty, please raise your hand..."


So, the initial plan for this chapter was to have Alison testify fully. However, as I couldn't find out courtroom transcripts for rape cases on the internet and I learnt that rape victim testimonies go in for hours, I realised I couldn't write an effective interrogation. I know there must be a lot of errors in the testimonies I have given, but please go easy on me as I am not an attorney and I have never been inside a courtroom before. My knowledge of witness interrogation is from the tv/movies which I appreciate probably aren't true to real life.

Anyway, please let me know what you think. There aren't many chapters left, and I'll admit, I really like getting reviews!