"I can't believe this," Carter said. He was staring at Annie from the other side of the door. "Should I be in there?"

"Do you want to be in there?" I asked, knowing the answer would be no. No father would want to be in the room while someone was doing a rape kit on their daughter. And that's was Susan was doing. I rubbed Carter's back.

"This shouldn't have happened," he said. "She doesn't deserve this. She . . ." Carter broke down and started to cry. I pulled him in to a hug. He let me hold him for a moment and then pulled away. "I can't believe I let this happen."

"John, this isn't your fault. This is no one's fault."

Carter's expression changed from despair to anger. "It's your fault," he said. "You dated that bastard."

I didn't say anything. He was upset, he didn't mean it.

But Carter wasn't finished. "I can't believe you're stupid enough to date someone who'd do this to a little girl. How could you not have known . . ."

"I'm not fucking Nostradamous, Carter," I spat. "I never could have known he'd do this."

"There had to be some indication that he was psychotic!" Carter yelled.

Susan opened the door. "Can I talk to you?"

I started to follow her but Carter stopped me.

"Not you," he said. "Family only."

I stopped, my mouth hanging open. He'd taken it one step too far. But I consoled myself by going to see Annie. "Hey kiddo," I said, taking a seat next to her. "How ya doin'?"

"OK, I guess," Annie said. "Susan had to do a test."

"I know." I paused and looked at her face. Her beautiful face was bruised and swollen. She had a black eye, a fat lip, and a cut across her forehead. "Annie," I said, turning to face her. "You have been so brave," I said. "You've been so very brave. But you might have to be brave for a little while longer, OK?"

"Is that bad man coming back?" Annie asked, terror filling her chocolate brown eyes.

"No, no, of course not," I said. "You're safe now. I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure that no one ever hurts you again."

Annie nodded and rested back on her pillow. "Where's Daddy?" she asked.

"Talking to Susan," I said.

"Daddy!" Annie said, as Carter came in, shooting me a nasty look. I rolled my eyes.

"Hey baby," he said, giving her a weak smile. "You doing OK?"

"Yes," she said. "Mim made me feel better."

I was given another nasty look from Carter. "Look, baby, I need to explain something to you," Carter said.

"John, wait," I said, standing up. I pulled him out of the room.

"What did Susan tell you?" I asked.

He pulled his arm from my grasp. "Nothing that concerns you," he said.

"Don't push me away because you feel bad," I said. "I feel bad too but I know that it's not my fault. And it's not your fault either."

Carter looked at the floor. "He didn't rape her."

"Oh thank God," I said, taking my first deep breath in over 24 hours.

Carter nodded. "That's what I said."

"So then . . .what were you gonna explain to her?" I asked, slowly working my way closer to Carter.

"I was going to explain what could have happened. I never thought about it before now. I mean, I always told her not to talk to strangers, and not to take anything they give you but I never told her what to do if somebody hurts her. I never told her that it's OK to tell me. That she HAS to tell me."

I bit my bottom lip. "You should tell her that," I said. "But not right now. Give it a week or so. Let her recover a little bit."

"You're probably right," Carter said. He tentatively reached for my hand. I gave it to him. "I'm sorry," he said. "I know it's not your fault."

I smiled. "You're forgiven," I said, kissing him lightly. "Now let's get that little one home and to bed."

Response to reviews -

Carbybubbles - Forever and ever? That's a really long time.

Hyperpiper91 - Yay! More is on the way.

Carbyfan - Are you psychic or something?

Kattybaby2318 (chapter 5) - I'm so glad you're reading my fic! Yay! Be honest, OK?

Kattybaby2318 (chapter 7) - Well. . . he did seem like a nice guy. But then again, Ted Bundy seemed like a nice guy. So ya never know.

Kattybaby2318 (chapter 21) - Yeah, Jake is a poo-poo head.

Aaron - I'm not sure Jake should die. He should be made to live a long life with the knowledge that he hurt a little girl for no reason.