Several hours later Tyler woke up. He hadn't even realized he fell asleep.
He immediately took out his pager from his jacket pocket. It was almost
ten o'clock.
Tyler got up from the couch and stretched his arms over his head. He noticed Caitie was stirring, waking up. He quietly walked over to the bunk.
"Hey Caitie. How are you feeling?" Tyler asked in a low voice. Caitie opened her eyes and saw Tyler hovering above her. He had a look of concern on his face. She looked around the room and observed her familiar surroundings.
"What? Where . . . why am I here?" she asked with fear in her voice.
Caitie sat up and noticed she was wearing the same outfit from the night before. She quickly looked around and found herself at the station.
"Tyler. . . answer me. Why am I here?" Caitie's face grew pale, her eyes were filled with panic and she held back tears that started to form in her eyes. Last night was something she couldn't remember, and she greatly feared, it was something she didn't really want to.
Tyler sat himself down on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. "There is no simple way of saying this, so I'm just going to say it. Um . . . Brett drugged you last night."
Silence took over the room as tears rolled down Caitie's face. She quickly wiped them away and opened her mouth to speak. . . . only to find herself at a loss for words.
"What?" she asked moments later hoping she had misunderstood.
"It's called the 'date rape drug'. I think he slipped it into your drink. I was in the bathroom of Brett's bedroom, at the apartment . . . when I saw . . . " Tyler trailed off.
"What? What did you see?" Caitie demanded. "Saw what? What else. Tell me. I want details."
Her voice was broken and hoarse. She clutched the blanket and held it up to her body.
Tyler couldn't form sentences adequately enough to explain what he had witnessed. Everything just happened so fast. He began to ramble, "Well, he . . . was . . . shirtless . . . So were you . . . and. .he was kissing you. Um . . . um . . . his pants were unbuttoned . . . and he started to unbutton yours."
Caitie's eyes grew wide. "What? So . . . he did . . .he . . ."
Tyler interrupted her sentence. "NO! I stopped him before that."
"How can I be so stupid? I didn't even know what was going on," Caitie said as she tried to suppress a sob.
"No, you somewhat knew. I heard you . . . you were telling him to stop. At that point you were so out of it because of the drugs. You couldn't stop a 6-foot guy. " Tyler tried to reassure his frantic friend.
"Did you tell Jamie or Val?" Caitie asked softly.
"Do you want me to call them? I didn't want to tell them . . . without checking with you first."
No longer able to control her emotions, Caitie began to shake as she let out heavy sobs. She felt like her chest was about to cave in. Tyler pulled Caitie close for a hug and let her tears fall freely on his shirt.
"Tyler. . . I want to thank you for what you did. Just promise me. . . you won't tell them."
Tyler pulled away from Caitie and looked into her tear stained eyes. "Are you sure? When we receive a call like this. . . usually the victim needs some sort of comfort. . .or counseling. . ."
'I'm a victim.' Caitie repeated Tyler's words over and over in her head.
Tyler stopped speaking and looked at Caitie. She was staring off into space.
"Caitie?"
She broke away from her empty gaze. "Promise me."
Tyler hesitated but reluctantly nodded his head.
**************************************************************************** *****
Tyler was perplexed about the 'right' thing to do. He drove Caitie home in her car. She insisted that she was okay and that she needed some sleep. Caitie was very persistent about being by herself. Tyler decided that she needed some time to absorb the events that had occurred the night before. He slowly walked back to the station. He was stuck being a pedestrian until he went to pick up his jeep. Tyler didn't know exactly why he had agreed to keep this from Val or Jamie . . . or anyone else for that matter. Caitie was a tough girl . . . but he was sure it was only an act.
"Tyler? What are you doing here?" Brooke asked as Tyler entered the station.
"My trip got cut short" he replied absentmindedly.
"Should I schedule you for a shift then?"
"Oh yeah. Sure."
Brooke looked through the schedule and quickly penciled Tyler in. "All right. You can take the shift from 6 pm till 2 am. Val will be on duty with you."
'Val' was someone who usually dominated his thoughts . . . but this time, it was for a different reason. Tyler was usually happy about working late at the station with Val, but today it was different. Today, he had to keep a secret from her . . . a secret that involved her best friend.
"All right Brooke. I'll be back. I'm going home and taking a shower." Tyler grabbed his jacket and walked out of the station. As Tyler left the hallway, he ran into Jamie and Hank.
"Hey. I thought you were visiting your cousin this weekend?" Jamie asked.
"Yea . . . what happened to your weekend as a 'college man'?" Hank taunted.
Tyler wasn't really in the mood to participate in such pointless antics. He realized how ridiculous he was for wanting to be like his cousin, and for thinking the typical college life was something worth wanting.
"Partying and stuff like that is . . . stupid. It got cut short." Tyler's voice was filled with hidden hostility. "Listen guys, I'm beat. I'll be back for the night shift."
Jamie decided to back off. 'Golden boy's in a bad mood' he thought to himself.
"Bye guys," Tyler called out as he waved.
Jamie turned to Hank. "All right! No double duty tonight!!!"
**************************************************************************** **************************
Caitie couldn't sleep. She was in the shower . . . just sitting there, letting the water fall over her. Numerous thoughts ran through her head.
'Was it all a game to him? Did I lead him on? Why did I let my guard down? Why did I?'
With all these negative thoughts flowing through her head, she continued to cry.
Caitie didn't know how long she had been in that shower, but after a very long time, she decided to get out. She got dressed and looked in the mirror.
'Disgusting . . . I am disgusting!'
Caitie, with no energy left, crawled under her covers and sleep swept her away from her harsh reality.
**************************************************************************** ******************
After his shift, Jamie headed towards Caitie's house. He had two movies in hand and was excited to spend some time with his friend. He even borrowed a chick flick . . . something he knew Caitie would want to watch. He knew she pretended to dislike sappy movies, but secretly, she's a sucker for them. He knocked on the door and heard no answer. Jamie decided to try the back door . . . it was usually open. He carefully opened the door and called out for Caitie. He went upstairs into her bedroom and found her sleeping. He walked over and sat next to her on her bed.
"Hey Caitie" Jamie whispered. He nudged her slightly. "Wake up!"
Caitie woke up suddenly. She looked terrified. "Jamie! What are you doing here?" Caitie questioned.
Jamie was thrown. Caitie's house was like a second home to him for at least a few years now. He even slept there time to time, and was welcomed by Caitie and her mom. Today seemed to be an exception. He felt as if he was violating Caitie somehow.
"Tyler came back early from his trip and my shift was cut short. I thought we were watching videos tonight?" Jamie held up his two videos. He noticed that Caitie's face was stained with tears. Jamie reached out and put his arm around her. At his touch, Caitie flinched back leaving a stunned look on his face.
Jamie grew concerned. "Caitie, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
Caitie tried to hold back all her tears and simply nodded. "I'm fine. I just don't feel well. Can I take a rain check?"
Jamie was disappointed, but was nonetheless worried. It was obvious something was going on that Caitie refused to tell him.
"Jamie . . . Just go!" Caitie pleaded. "You can't help me."
Jamie heard the force in Caitie's voice. He got up from her side. "Whatever. I'm leaving. I get it."
Caitie didn't know what to do. She knew she was blowing him off lately, but she couldn't stand being around him without him knowing . . . but she also couldn't bring herself to tell him either. She couldn't stand anything. Caitie couldn't stand living anymore.
Jamie had movies to watch and nowhere to watch them. He didn't want to go home just yet, and obviously Caitie was not very welcoming lately. He was hurt that she refused to confide in him. Jamie knew where to go. 'Great . . . I'm hanging out the super squad way too much lately . . . thanks Caitie' he thought sadly to himself.
* * * * * * * * * *
Tyler and Val were busy doing their homework. Val attempted to make conversation with Tyler, but failed miserably. He seemed distant and grew angry at the mention of his trip. She backed off and lost herself in her reading.
Jamie entered the station with movies in hand. "I've got movies. Want to watch?"
Tyler felt horrible. Val and Jamie in the same place. Tyler wondered why Jamie was at the station when he was not on duty . . . 'that's so unlike him.'
"What are you doing here?" Tyler asked abruptly.
"I'm not welcomed anywhere else. Hey man . . . does it bother you I'm here?" he questioned defensively.
"No, I was just curious is all. What movies you got?" Tyler asked trying to change the subject.
Jamie read the spine of the videos. "I've got . . . 'Riding in Cars with Boys' and 'Training Day.'"
"Oh Caitie wanted to see 'Riding in Cars with Boys'" Val stated as she closed her book.
"I know." With a saddened and frustrated look, Jamie popped 'Training Day' into the VCR.
**************************************************************************** *******************
Caitie stood in the bathroom, her gaze fixed on a bottle of pills. They were prescription sleeping pills her mom took when she couldn't sleep. Caitie desperately wanted all this to be over. She couldn't sleep . . .she couldn't do anything anymore. She couldn't bear to face tomorrow . . . or any day for that matter.
Caitie took the white bottle and headed towards her nightstand. She picked up the glass of water and began swallowing the pills . . .one after the other. One by one, the pills made it's way down her throat.
'Soon I can sleep and it'll be over' she thought grimly to herself.
Tyler excused himself from the movie and sneaked away from the group. He took out his cell phone and dialed Caitie's number. If Val and Jamie knew, he would feel less uncomfortable being around them. Tyler also wanted to see if Caitie was okay after seeing how bothered Jamie seemed. The phone rang and rang. 'Come on. pick up!' he thought to himself.
Caitie was on the floor, barely conscious. She couldn't stand to hear the continuous ringing. She managed to reach the phone.
"Huh?" she indistinctly spoke into the receiver.
"Caitie? It's me . . . Tyler! Are you okay? You sound. . . "
The receiver drifted away from Caitie's ear. The telephone rested by her side. Before darkness took her away, she seemed relieved that she made the ringing stop.
Tyler continued to shout into the phone. "Caitie? CAITIE? Are you there?"
Tyler ran to the station and hit the alarm. Jamie and Val looked startled to see Tyler's disturbed expression.
"What's up man?" Jamie asked Tyler.
"We have a call. . . at Caitie's."
A/N: PLEASE review! : ) Oh and also, not all college students are this 'bad'. It was just for the sake of the story.
Tyler got up from the couch and stretched his arms over his head. He noticed Caitie was stirring, waking up. He quietly walked over to the bunk.
"Hey Caitie. How are you feeling?" Tyler asked in a low voice. Caitie opened her eyes and saw Tyler hovering above her. He had a look of concern on his face. She looked around the room and observed her familiar surroundings.
"What? Where . . . why am I here?" she asked with fear in her voice.
Caitie sat up and noticed she was wearing the same outfit from the night before. She quickly looked around and found herself at the station.
"Tyler. . . answer me. Why am I here?" Caitie's face grew pale, her eyes were filled with panic and she held back tears that started to form in her eyes. Last night was something she couldn't remember, and she greatly feared, it was something she didn't really want to.
Tyler sat himself down on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. "There is no simple way of saying this, so I'm just going to say it. Um . . . Brett drugged you last night."
Silence took over the room as tears rolled down Caitie's face. She quickly wiped them away and opened her mouth to speak. . . . only to find herself at a loss for words.
"What?" she asked moments later hoping she had misunderstood.
"It's called the 'date rape drug'. I think he slipped it into your drink. I was in the bathroom of Brett's bedroom, at the apartment . . . when I saw . . . " Tyler trailed off.
"What? What did you see?" Caitie demanded. "Saw what? What else. Tell me. I want details."
Her voice was broken and hoarse. She clutched the blanket and held it up to her body.
Tyler couldn't form sentences adequately enough to explain what he had witnessed. Everything just happened so fast. He began to ramble, "Well, he . . . was . . . shirtless . . . So were you . . . and. .he was kissing you. Um . . . um . . . his pants were unbuttoned . . . and he started to unbutton yours."
Caitie's eyes grew wide. "What? So . . . he did . . .he . . ."
Tyler interrupted her sentence. "NO! I stopped him before that."
"How can I be so stupid? I didn't even know what was going on," Caitie said as she tried to suppress a sob.
"No, you somewhat knew. I heard you . . . you were telling him to stop. At that point you were so out of it because of the drugs. You couldn't stop a 6-foot guy. " Tyler tried to reassure his frantic friend.
"Did you tell Jamie or Val?" Caitie asked softly.
"Do you want me to call them? I didn't want to tell them . . . without checking with you first."
No longer able to control her emotions, Caitie began to shake as she let out heavy sobs. She felt like her chest was about to cave in. Tyler pulled Caitie close for a hug and let her tears fall freely on his shirt.
"Tyler. . . I want to thank you for what you did. Just promise me. . . you won't tell them."
Tyler pulled away from Caitie and looked into her tear stained eyes. "Are you sure? When we receive a call like this. . . usually the victim needs some sort of comfort. . .or counseling. . ."
'I'm a victim.' Caitie repeated Tyler's words over and over in her head.
Tyler stopped speaking and looked at Caitie. She was staring off into space.
"Caitie?"
She broke away from her empty gaze. "Promise me."
Tyler hesitated but reluctantly nodded his head.
**************************************************************************** *****
Tyler was perplexed about the 'right' thing to do. He drove Caitie home in her car. She insisted that she was okay and that she needed some sleep. Caitie was very persistent about being by herself. Tyler decided that she needed some time to absorb the events that had occurred the night before. He slowly walked back to the station. He was stuck being a pedestrian until he went to pick up his jeep. Tyler didn't know exactly why he had agreed to keep this from Val or Jamie . . . or anyone else for that matter. Caitie was a tough girl . . . but he was sure it was only an act.
"Tyler? What are you doing here?" Brooke asked as Tyler entered the station.
"My trip got cut short" he replied absentmindedly.
"Should I schedule you for a shift then?"
"Oh yeah. Sure."
Brooke looked through the schedule and quickly penciled Tyler in. "All right. You can take the shift from 6 pm till 2 am. Val will be on duty with you."
'Val' was someone who usually dominated his thoughts . . . but this time, it was for a different reason. Tyler was usually happy about working late at the station with Val, but today it was different. Today, he had to keep a secret from her . . . a secret that involved her best friend.
"All right Brooke. I'll be back. I'm going home and taking a shower." Tyler grabbed his jacket and walked out of the station. As Tyler left the hallway, he ran into Jamie and Hank.
"Hey. I thought you were visiting your cousin this weekend?" Jamie asked.
"Yea . . . what happened to your weekend as a 'college man'?" Hank taunted.
Tyler wasn't really in the mood to participate in such pointless antics. He realized how ridiculous he was for wanting to be like his cousin, and for thinking the typical college life was something worth wanting.
"Partying and stuff like that is . . . stupid. It got cut short." Tyler's voice was filled with hidden hostility. "Listen guys, I'm beat. I'll be back for the night shift."
Jamie decided to back off. 'Golden boy's in a bad mood' he thought to himself.
"Bye guys," Tyler called out as he waved.
Jamie turned to Hank. "All right! No double duty tonight!!!"
**************************************************************************** **************************
Caitie couldn't sleep. She was in the shower . . . just sitting there, letting the water fall over her. Numerous thoughts ran through her head.
'Was it all a game to him? Did I lead him on? Why did I let my guard down? Why did I?'
With all these negative thoughts flowing through her head, she continued to cry.
Caitie didn't know how long she had been in that shower, but after a very long time, she decided to get out. She got dressed and looked in the mirror.
'Disgusting . . . I am disgusting!'
Caitie, with no energy left, crawled under her covers and sleep swept her away from her harsh reality.
**************************************************************************** ******************
After his shift, Jamie headed towards Caitie's house. He had two movies in hand and was excited to spend some time with his friend. He even borrowed a chick flick . . . something he knew Caitie would want to watch. He knew she pretended to dislike sappy movies, but secretly, she's a sucker for them. He knocked on the door and heard no answer. Jamie decided to try the back door . . . it was usually open. He carefully opened the door and called out for Caitie. He went upstairs into her bedroom and found her sleeping. He walked over and sat next to her on her bed.
"Hey Caitie" Jamie whispered. He nudged her slightly. "Wake up!"
Caitie woke up suddenly. She looked terrified. "Jamie! What are you doing here?" Caitie questioned.
Jamie was thrown. Caitie's house was like a second home to him for at least a few years now. He even slept there time to time, and was welcomed by Caitie and her mom. Today seemed to be an exception. He felt as if he was violating Caitie somehow.
"Tyler came back early from his trip and my shift was cut short. I thought we were watching videos tonight?" Jamie held up his two videos. He noticed that Caitie's face was stained with tears. Jamie reached out and put his arm around her. At his touch, Caitie flinched back leaving a stunned look on his face.
Jamie grew concerned. "Caitie, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
Caitie tried to hold back all her tears and simply nodded. "I'm fine. I just don't feel well. Can I take a rain check?"
Jamie was disappointed, but was nonetheless worried. It was obvious something was going on that Caitie refused to tell him.
"Jamie . . . Just go!" Caitie pleaded. "You can't help me."
Jamie heard the force in Caitie's voice. He got up from her side. "Whatever. I'm leaving. I get it."
Caitie didn't know what to do. She knew she was blowing him off lately, but she couldn't stand being around him without him knowing . . . but she also couldn't bring herself to tell him either. She couldn't stand anything. Caitie couldn't stand living anymore.
Jamie had movies to watch and nowhere to watch them. He didn't want to go home just yet, and obviously Caitie was not very welcoming lately. He was hurt that she refused to confide in him. Jamie knew where to go. 'Great . . . I'm hanging out the super squad way too much lately . . . thanks Caitie' he thought sadly to himself.
* * * * * * * * * *
Tyler and Val were busy doing their homework. Val attempted to make conversation with Tyler, but failed miserably. He seemed distant and grew angry at the mention of his trip. She backed off and lost herself in her reading.
Jamie entered the station with movies in hand. "I've got movies. Want to watch?"
Tyler felt horrible. Val and Jamie in the same place. Tyler wondered why Jamie was at the station when he was not on duty . . . 'that's so unlike him.'
"What are you doing here?" Tyler asked abruptly.
"I'm not welcomed anywhere else. Hey man . . . does it bother you I'm here?" he questioned defensively.
"No, I was just curious is all. What movies you got?" Tyler asked trying to change the subject.
Jamie read the spine of the videos. "I've got . . . 'Riding in Cars with Boys' and 'Training Day.'"
"Oh Caitie wanted to see 'Riding in Cars with Boys'" Val stated as she closed her book.
"I know." With a saddened and frustrated look, Jamie popped 'Training Day' into the VCR.
**************************************************************************** *******************
Caitie stood in the bathroom, her gaze fixed on a bottle of pills. They were prescription sleeping pills her mom took when she couldn't sleep. Caitie desperately wanted all this to be over. She couldn't sleep . . .she couldn't do anything anymore. She couldn't bear to face tomorrow . . . or any day for that matter.
Caitie took the white bottle and headed towards her nightstand. She picked up the glass of water and began swallowing the pills . . .one after the other. One by one, the pills made it's way down her throat.
'Soon I can sleep and it'll be over' she thought grimly to herself.
Tyler excused himself from the movie and sneaked away from the group. He took out his cell phone and dialed Caitie's number. If Val and Jamie knew, he would feel less uncomfortable being around them. Tyler also wanted to see if Caitie was okay after seeing how bothered Jamie seemed. The phone rang and rang. 'Come on. pick up!' he thought to himself.
Caitie was on the floor, barely conscious. She couldn't stand to hear the continuous ringing. She managed to reach the phone.
"Huh?" she indistinctly spoke into the receiver.
"Caitie? It's me . . . Tyler! Are you okay? You sound. . . "
The receiver drifted away from Caitie's ear. The telephone rested by her side. Before darkness took her away, she seemed relieved that she made the ringing stop.
Tyler continued to shout into the phone. "Caitie? CAITIE? Are you there?"
Tyler ran to the station and hit the alarm. Jamie and Val looked startled to see Tyler's disturbed expression.
"What's up man?" Jamie asked Tyler.
"We have a call. . . at Caitie's."
A/N: PLEASE review! : ) Oh and also, not all college students are this 'bad'. It was just for the sake of the story.
