'Sir… I can give Sara a message…' Nick started, doing his best to stay level headed.
The man grinned slightly, and ran his hand through his hair 'I want to report a crime…I came here to tell that bitch Sara that I'm not scared of her, and I'll be filling charges…Look what she did to my face…'
Both Nicks and Archie's brows instantly furrowed 'What? Your saying that Sara, Sara Sidle assaulted you?' Nick said his voice dangerously low.
'No, I'm saying that that bitch raped me.'
Xxxxxx
Catherine's grip on Sara's hand tightened, and her thumb gently rubbed against the back of Sara's hand, neither of them spoke, and neither of them wanted to break the contact. A few moments later there was a soft knock on the door 'Room service' came a voice. Catherine reluctantly got up, and walked to the door, and took the food, offering a quiet thank you to the server. She noticed that there were glass tumblers and knifes on the tray, and thought about ditching them before taking the food in to Sara, but she also realised that she needed to show Sara a little trust if she wanted the younger woman to open up and talk about what had happened in that bedroom.
She also figured that Sara wouldn't be stupid enough to do something with her in the same room, and deep down she believed that the smashed glass had been an accident.
Walking back into the bedroom, she placed the tray gently on the bed, and climbed back on to the bed next to Sara.
'Breakfast is served…' Catherine said with a small smile, passing the toast to Sara.
'Thanks' Sara replied quietly, taking the toast and eating it dry.
Neither of them spoke again until they had finished eating, although Catherine spend most of the time looking at Sara, trying to figure out where Sara's head was at now, and where it had been before.
'How's your hand?' Catherine asked, gently pulling the injured hand up, the shirt still serving as a make shift bandage.
Sara shrugged 'Not sure really…I can't feel it all that well, but it's nothing new there'
Catherine flicked her eyes up to Sara's face, trying once again to read what was going on there, and then flitted her eyes back to the hand, slowly unwrapping the bandage.
'Well, it's stopped bleeding… it doesn't look as deep as I first thought… shouldn't leave too much of a scar…I'm sorry, I should have checked it before you showered, in case of infection…' Catherine trailed off, her hand running gently over the cut.
'It's ok' Sara said, her voice gentle.
'Can I ask you something?' Sara said after a few more minutes of silence, her injured hand still in Catherine's.
'Sure' Catherine almost whispers, her thumb still caressing Sara's hand.
'How long since your last Cocaine fix?'
Xxxxxx
'Sir…. Will… Will you come with me please…' Nick said his voice low and shot through with anger, whilst Archie stood next to him unsure what to do.
'Why?'
'I… I need to take your statement, and process you for evidence, to back up your statement.'
Nick had gripped the man lightly, but forcefully by the shoulder and had started walking him towards one of the side rooms. Archie followed close behind, he had no idea what was going on, but knew that Nick shouldn't be left alone with this guy, even for a second.
Once they were in the room, Nick closed and locked the door 'Sir…'
'Matt… Matt Hornby' the man said realising he hadn't announced his name
'Mr Hornby… Why don't you tell us what happened?'
'Ok… Umm… I was at the bar, the one on 5th, Oak and Bay, and had a few drinks… this nice looking girl was there, I thought, hell, why not, and bought her a drink. We ended up having quite a few drinks actually… and she got…handsy… she started kissing me, and… well, I didn't resist. Next thing I know, we're leaving together.' Matt paused in his story telling, running his hands through his hair 'God I feel so stupid…' he whispers, his voice breaking. Taking a few calming breathes, he carries on
'We umm… we made it out into the parking lot, it was clear neither of us could drive, but….but she pulled out her gun, and made me drive anyway… made me take her back to my place..' by now tears were streaming down his face, and both Nick and Archie had lumps in their throats. They'd seen from the bar footage that Sara had had her gun with her at the bar, and they'd thought nothing off it at the time, now though…
Xxxx
Catherine ripped her hand away from Sara's and turned to face her 'Excuse me?' she spat out, her previous calmness now gone, and anger grew in it's place.
'I… I need to know…please…' Sara whispered, for once not shouting back at Catherine at the earliest opportunity 'Please… I can explain things better if I know…'
'Explain what Sara?' Catherine spat out.
'My behaviour' Sara whispered, a tear threating to fall from her eyes.
Catherine took a deep breath, and ran her hands through her hair, and dropped her head into her chest. 'Lindsey is 9 next month… my last hit was…. 7 years, 5 months, 12 days and…about 6 hours ago…' she whispered, not daring herself to look at Sara.
'And the last time you came close to wanting a hit?' Sara asked quietly
Catherine took a deep breath, and wiped a tear from her eye in anger 'every god damned day' she spat out.
Sara reached out and took one of Catherine's hand in her own
'I last tried to commit suicide on my 27th birthday… but that doesn't mean I haven't thought about it every day, or wished for some god damned accident to take my life for me. I'm only 31 now.' Tears spilled down Sara's face, and she gripped on to Catherine's hand more tightly.
'Why?' Catherine said after a long silence, her breathing ragged as both women were trying to control the tears flowing.
'I'm not really right handed' Sara replied, her tone even and emotionless
'Excuse me?' Catherine snapped, her voice angry once again 'I asked you why, and all you can say is you're not right handed?'
'I'm trying to tell you why… please… just let me explain, please, just listen…'
Catherine nodded, and wiped the last of her tears away.
'I'm sorry if it's a little confusing… I've never been good at telling stories… 'Sara began
'One night…..One night I got in the way of… of someone being stabbed… in the process I took a knife to the arm… instant and almost irreversible nerve damage… since then, I've been trying to teach myself to use my right arm… see, I'm naturally a Leftie… it's why I didn't notice I had glass in my hand after the explosion… or the bottle earlier… and hence the 'chicken scratch' hand writing….'
Sara took a deep breath that was the easy part of the story, all things considered.
'A few months later… a few months later, I lost 8 lbs. overnight… and I don't know how much blood…'Sara moves her arm, Catherine's hand still in hers, and places it on her lower abdomen.
Catherine tried to pull her hand away from the bare skin under her hand, but Sara's grip keeps her hand close.
'It's how I got my first major scar…. 3 weeks later, I tried to kill myself…I…I couldn't live, not when Rose…not when my Sister… when my baby, my daughter, had died.'
