Chapter 6:

                Ryan raised an eyebrow as he pulled up in front of Andi's apartment building. Andi's car wasn't there. He'd told her he was coming over, she should have been expecting him. Oh well. Maybe she'd run out to the store for some groceries for dinner. Whistling, he took the bouquet of flowers from the back of his car and started up the front walk.

                He started to insert the key into the lock on the door when it was opened from inside. He looked up with a smile, expecting to see Andi, but instead it was Rose. "Ryan?" Rose said. "What are you doing here?"

                "I was supposed to have dinner here. Didn't Andi tell you?"

                Rose said, "Well, yes, but…she left a message here that there was a party for you over at your loft, and she was going. Look." She showed Ryan the note Andi had written. "Why aren't you there with her?"

                "There's no party," Ryan said slowly. "I haven't gotten a call from anyone. Andi's not the kind to play practical jokes…" He shoved the flowers at Rose. "Maybe she's waiting for me there." He turned and went back out to his car. As he stuck the key in the ignition, he tried to push away the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

                There were a lot of cars outside his loft; three he didn't recognize, a pink Jeep parked around the corner, half-hidden from sight, and—his heart leaped—Andi's silver convertible. He got out of his car, slammed the door, and started to walk up, just as another car pulled up. To Ryan's surprise, Uncle Jason got out. "What's all this, Ryan?" he said. "Someone overheard two guys talking about a party for you, for being tapped by the NYCB. You didn't tell me about it, and I didn't get a letter. What's this all about?"

                Ryan shook his head. "I don't know, but Andi's here. That's her car. I'm about to ask her what's going on. Come on up, Uncle." They mounted the steps to the loft's entrance, and Ryan pushed open the door.

                Total silence reigned for a moment. Ryan stared in disbelief. Four masked guys were standing around a table on which something lay; he couldn't see what it was. CD's were scattered all over the floor, most broken; and in the corner, half-hidden and trying to edge out the fire escape, Ryan saw Candace. He took a few quick steps toward her, wanting to know what she was doing there; but as he moved, he saw what was lying on the table, and he lunged forward. "ANDI!!!"

                She lay on the table, battered and bruised. Her eyes were closed; they fluttered weakly at the sound of his voice, but didn't open. Ryan was beside the table in an instant, fumbling with the chains wrapped around her ankles. "Who's got the key to the handcuffs!?" he yelled. "Give it to me now!"

                Jason had his cell phone out, dialing the police. "You, girl!" he shouted. "Stay where you are!"

                "She can't get out, Uncle!" Ryan said as he yanked at the chains digging cruelly into Andi's ankles. "The fire escape doesn't open. SOMEONE GIVE ME THE FUCKING KEY NOW!"

                Candace said, "I don't have them. I just took them; I forgot the keys." Ran stared in disbelief at Candace, then returned to Andi, lying still on the table. He unwound the chains from Andi's ankles, then pulled her strained, overstretched arms back over her head and down in front of her. Tears filling his eyes, he worked the wadded cloth out of Andi's mouth, and cried frantically, "Baby…oh, Baby, please…please be okay…say something, Andi, please!"

                Her mouth opened, and soft whine of agony came out. Ryan swallowed hard, pulling her off the table and sitting on the floor with her, crying. "Andi, please, oh, God, please be okay…oh God…" He cradled her in his arms, ignoring the blood from her torn flesh staining the dressy khakis he'd put on for their date. "How could you do this!" he screamed at Candace. "I knew you were a malicious, vindictive bitch but how the hell could you do this to her?" He hugged Andi tighter.

                Andi's whole body was a flaring, burning mass of agony. She could hardly breathe through the pain, but she summoned the last of her strength to reach up to Ryan's face. She touched his cheek with numb fingers. "I'll be…okay…Charming…" she said with the last of her strength, using his pet nickname, the one he hated but she thought cute. Ryan hugged her tightly. Oh, God, please let her be okay, he thought. I'll never complain again when she calls me that, I swear, just let her be okay, oh, please…

                The sound of sirens cut through his thoughts, and seconds later police officers came storming up the steps and burst into the loft. They started cuffing the boys and Candace, who glowered in anger, then everyone stood aside a two paramedics came in with a stretcher. "Easy, son," one man said kindly. "We got her. Let her go." They eased Andi's nude, bruised body onto the stretcher, and gave her a quick check. "Vitals good," said one. "Heart beat okay, low oxygen, slight shock, nasty bump, but she's just bruised and in pain and exhausted." She turned to the assembled people. "Anyone we can call for her?"

Ryan stood up. "Tell me which hospital you're going to, and I'll call her mom," he said. "We'll meet you there."

*                                                              *                                                              *

                "WHAT!?"

                Ororo's startled, anguished cry broke abruptly through the conversation around the X-Men's dinner table. Jean spun, alarmed by her friend's sudden shift in emotions. Ororo had gone from relaxed to alarmed all in one moment.

                "Oh Goddess," Ororo sounded like she was going to start crying. Jean was out of her chair first, running to the doorway between the dining room and kitchen, and watched as Ororo spoke into the receiver. "Oh Goddess…Which hospital? When? I shall be there as quickly as I can!" She hung up the phone.

                "'Ro, what's wrong?"

                Ororo turned a stricken face toward Jean. "Andi was beaten badly by a rival over at the school," she said. "Her boyfriend just called me; they're taking her to the hospital right now." She turned and ran up the stairs.

                Moments later she came down with her jacket, and yanked open the kitchen drawer that held all the car keys. She scrabbled frantically in it. "Keys, where are my keys…"

                "Tell Remy which hospital an' he take you dere," said Remy, just coming in the kitchen door.

                "Thank you, Remy," Ororo said with relief, and they both turned and ran out the door. Jean called after them, "Call us as soon as you know anything!"

                Ororo saw Ryan pacing back and forth in the waiting room, and ran up to him. "Ryan! What happened?"

                He turned to her, and she saw the blood on his pants and shirt. Her heart dropped. She was about to say something when a taller man stood up from the chair where he'd been sitting, and walked over to her. "Miss Munroe?"

                Ororo turned to look at him. "Yes?"

                He held out a hand, which she took automatically. "Jason Matthews. I'm Ryan's uncle, and the principal at Julliard. Miss Munroe, I am so sorry about this--"

                The color drained from Ororo's face. "She's dead…"

                "Oh, no, no, no," he hastened to reassure her. "The paramedics said she's going to be fine, she's just bruised and dazed from the bump on her head. No, I'm sorry I didn't do anything about the situation sooner. This girl Candace Roth seems to have been the ringleader; she and four of her boy friends lured Andi away from her apartment to the loft my nephew uses for dancing, stretched her over a table and beat her rather badly. From what Ryan tells me, it's not the first time she has hurt your daughter; he told me, but I waited a week before doing anything about it. I'm sorry, if I had done something sooner, she might not--"

                The door to the waiting room opened, and a doctor walked in. "Mr. Matthews? Mr. Harper?"

                Jason Matthews indicated Ororo. "This is Andi's mother, Miss Munroe," he said.

                "Well, your daughter's going to be fine," the doctor said, reaching for Ororo's hand. "She's pretty badly bruised, and she's going to be in pain for a couple weeks, but she's going to be fine. Nothing was broken, which is a miracle considering the fragility of her bones; they're very brittle. She's going to have to take it easy for a couple days, due to that bump on her head. I get the feeling she's not going to protest too much, since she's not going to want to move much with all that muscle bruising."

                Ororo gave a huge sigh of relief, letting out the breath she hadn't known she was holding. "Can I see her?" she said.

                The doctor smiled. "Of course. We'll release her in a few hours, though she'll have to have someone with her for a day or so until she can get up on her own." He led the way through a set of doors, up through Emergency and to the elevators. They got out on the second floor and passed through a door marked 'Recovery', then the doctor turned into the second door on the right.

                And there was Andi, white as the sheets she lay on, except for the ugly greenish-black bruise on her forehead. Her eyes opened as she heard the door open, and she tried to struggle upright.

                Ororo ran to her bedside, leaning over as Andi reached up to hug her. "Mom," Andi said, and as if Ororo's touch had released the tears she was holding back, she began to cry. "Oh, Mom, it was awful, I thought I was used to this kind of thing after Mother and Father and Dr. Hebron, but it hurt worse than I remembered it…oh, Mom…"

                Ororo hugged her gently but firmly, trying not to show her that she was crying. Andi broke the embrace before long, reached up, and wiped Ororo's face. "You're crying, Mom," she whispered.

                Ororo disengaged, wiping the last traces of tears from her cheeks. "I was worried, Andi," she said. "Ryan called me to tell me you had been hurt and I needed to get to the hospital. He didn't have any other information for me; I did not know how badly you were hurt."

                Andi closed her eyes. "Nothing's hurting right now," she said. "Everything's kind of numb from the neck down. I feel like I'm floating in a fog." She opened her eyes. "What happened?"

                Ororo looked at Ryan, and he and his uncle hastened up to her bedside. "I went to your apartment for dinner," he said, "And Rose answered the door. She said you'd gone to a party for me at the loft; so I went there. I thought it was a joke. Uncle Jason met me outside the loft; he'd overheard someone talking about the NYCB and he wanted to know if it was true. I went up there, and I saw Candace and four of her boys beating you with belts. I got you off while Uncle Jason called the police." He fell to his knees by her bed with a soft sob. "Oh, God, Andi, I'm so sorry, I knew she was going to get expelled and I didn't warn you…"

                Jason Matthews put a hand on Ryan's shoulder as he gripped Andi's hand in an agony of self-loathing. "Easy, old son," he said. "Andi, I'm glad you're going to be okay. I am sorry, I did not expect her to do this either, or I would have had Ryan warn you when I expelled her--"

                Andi was frowning. "Do I know you?" she asked.

                "Jason Matthews, the school principal?" he said with a twinkle in his eye. At Andi's startled gasp, he smiled. "I hated giving you detention for fighting with that Candace. She needed it. Her older sister attended our school some years back; when Candace came to visit her she was an awful brat, too."

                "Fighting? Andi?" Ororo's brows drew together. "Andi, you know I don't approve…and you didn't tell me--"

                Andi turned pink, and started fidgeting with the end of the blanket. "I didn't tell you cause I figured you'd be mad," she said. "Candace poured glue in Rose's dance bag. Ruined all her stuff the day before tryouts were being held for the student show. I got mad when Candace lied and said she didn't do it, and I slapped her."

                Ororo sighed. "We'll talk about this later."

                Andi turned to Ryan. "You never told me your uncle was the school principal," she said quietly.

                Ryan laid his cheek against the side of Andi's hand. "I don't tell anyone," he said. "I don't want anyone to think he's playing favorites."

                Andi reached up with her other hand and ran her fingers through his hair. "Thanks for finding me, Charming," she said softly.

                Ryan's eyes filled with tears he tried not to shed. "I'm sorry I couldn't prevent it, Baby," he whispered. 'I should have told you, oh God, why didn't I tell you--" He stood and kissed her. Andi forgot about Ororo, watching, and kissed him back.

                Ororo's eyes widened. So. Things had gotten a lot further than she thought between the two of them. She couldn't decide if she was upset or happy about that.

                The doctor turned away from the monitor where he was scribbling something on a sheet of paper, and said, 'I'm sorry, but you're going to have to leave now, she needs to rest. We'll probably release her tomorrow morning. Miss Munroe, if you will give us your contact number…" and, still talking, he herded them out of the room. Ryan looked back at Andi, and blew her a kiss as he left. 'I'll come back, Baby," he said. Andi blew him a kiss back, then closed her eyes and went to sleep.