Point of View -Catherine
"You were raped?", I said as my jaw dropped open.
"Tara, I don't understand. Why wouldn't you tell us that?"
She looked up at me with such rage and fury in her eyes that I had to look away. "I couldn't. I couldn't let Greg find out, find out that I was desperate enough to run back into the arms of someone who had once cheated on me. Besides, all the justice in the world couldn't return what he took from me." She spoke so steadily and calmly that it was almost eerie.
"What do you mean? What did he take from you Tara?", I asked, not really understanding.
"He, this, was my, this isn't easy for me to say. This was my first, um, first time. Having sex. And I didn't even want to!" She swallowed hard and burst into tears. She wiped her face with a shaky hand and looked at me again. Only this time, it wasn't rage in her eyes. It was fear.
"Oh my god, Tara.", I said as I took a deep breath. I felt horrible for her.
"The first time you ever had sex was because someone raped you. I- I am so sorry. This has got to be traumatic. I just want you to know, that even thhough this creep did this to you, all guy aren't like that."
"Don't you think I know that? This is why I didn't tell anyone. People treat me like a goddamn child just cause I hadn't had sex! I was raped, but I am trying to get over it. Deal with it."
"Tara, calm down. I need you to help me help you. I know you have been to hell and back, but I need to know where you got these wounds from, did he...?", I didn't have to finish. She knew the answer, and said it to me as calmly as she had explained before.
"Yes. He assaulted me when I fought back. After he raped me, I bit his tounge when he tried to kiss me. He exploded as he felt my teeth peirce the skin of his mouth, and blood start to trickle out. He threw me up against the wall with his hands around my neck and he pulled out a gun. I froze, just realizing that he could actually kill me now, but instead of pulling the tigger, he smashed his gun against me nose and my ribs. I was nearly unconcoius, lying on my cold hardwood floor next, when he grabbed a knife from the kitchen and attacked me. He cut my stomach, probably hoping i would bleed out, and then he cut my shins, just to cause me a little more pain. I only remember lying there, shivering on the floor in a fetal position, holding my wounds as I waited to die. I blacked out, and woke up this morning in a puddle of dried blood." She told me, as if it was just another day.
She thought she was going to die...
"Tara, I am taking you to the emergency room. I won't tell them anything, and they will let you keep this confidential. I won't take no for an answer. Let's go."
I better call Greg while she is being treated. He needs to know about this.