Chapter 3 Revenge

The doctors had gotten Keely stabilized in the ER and now she was in a hospital room on a seemingly uncomfortable hospital bed with Phil sitting next to her, holding her hand. He stared at her sleeping form; it seemed so frail and fragile looking as though it might break. IV fluids were slowly dripping down into the IV inserted in her left arm. And Keely slept on…

Suddenly, her body began to move slightly and she began to stir. Her eyes gently fluttered open as she was greeted by the dreary sight and nauseating smells of the hospital room. Her vision slowly swam into focus as she carefully began to take in her surroundings.

Where am I?

"Phil?" she called out softly. Her head was pounding and throbbing badly and her right arm, now heavily bandaged, was burning with a sort of numbed ferocity.

"I'm right here, Keels," came the subdued male voice beside her as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. He brushed his thumb against her cheek and he noticed her tense muscles begin to loosen; her whole body started to relax again.

"Phil, what happened?"

Phil drew in a slow, sustained breath. "You don't remember?"

"No."

"The doctors gave you painkillers to ease some of the pain," he replied.

And then… silence. It seemed to drag on for some interminable minutes, minutes that felt like hours to Keely, until Phil finally spoke up again.

"Keely, you were…" he choked out, unable to form the right words all at once. He drew another sharp breath. "You were raped, Keels."

"I was…" her voice trailed off. "Oh my God, I remember!" she said suddenly as the images of the night's events began assaulting her memory painfully. "Phil, he really…" Her voice broke off and rose to a crescendo of painful sobs.

"Shhh, Keels. Shhh, it's okay," Phil said soothingly as he moved closer to the bed and draping an arm around her shoulders. "You don't have to talk about it now if you don't want to."

Tears continued to stream down Keely's pale face as Phil just sat with her and whispered comforting nothings into her ear.

"It was Scott," Keely said, her voice barely audible though Phil still heard her. "Scott, h-he d-did this to me."

"Scott, who's Scott?" Phil asked, concern clearly etched in the features of his worried face.

"Before you came to Pickford, I was dating Scott for awhile. It was only for a few months and then he moved because of his dad's work. When we dated, h-he was very possessive over me. I don't think I even realized it at the time. He used to criticize what I wore and how much I ate; a few times he even put me down in front of his friends. He hurt me, yes, but then he'd always come around and say how sorry he was and be really sweet and buy me flowers or take me out to dinner. Most importantly, he told me he loved me. I was so young at the time I guess I just thought the way he was treating me was normal, so I accepted it." She paused to take a breath.

"Did he ever…" Phil's voice trailed off.

"No, he never beat me or anything… until now."

"He's going to school with us now. I know Pickford University is a big school with a big campus, but I've seen him around. He knows we're dating and he's made eye contact with me, but he's never…"

A pause.

"Not until tonight, he's never done anything like that. He's never even approached me or talked to me. When I came in tonight, I left the door open for a few minutes and went to go get something. I had my back turned when he grabbed me and dragged me into my bedroom. All I thought he was going to do was beat me, but then my body felt like it was on fire and he said, 'Now you'll learn.' And it was then I realized… he had gotten inside of me.

Keely shook her head slightly and let out some exasperated sobs. She couldn't take it anymore and she hated having to relive her hellish ordeal. The memories… the moments… It felt like she was reliving the experience all over again.

She cried into Phil's chest, her tears soaking his shirt, but he didn't care. All he wanted was for Keely to be herself again.

"Keels, I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to say."

"You don't have to say anything," her soft, muffled voice answered. "Just be here. Just hold me."

"I am. I will," he promised her.

Another long stream of minutes passed, the clock ticking the minutes away as if it didn't have a care in the world.

Phil finally spoke up again. "Keely, do you know what he meant when he said, 'Now you'll learn?'" Phil held onto Keely even tighter, never wanting to let her go and not wanting to see her get hurt again.

"Revenge," Keely said slowly. "I think he wanted revenge."

Author's Note: And that's all for this chapter! A huge thanks and many hugs to all who have reviewed so far. You guys are awesome! Please leave a review for this chapter! I, once again, thank you all for you encouragement and kind words. Much appreciated!