Montecito

Mary had been pacing back and forth on the casino floors, constantly checking her cell phone for any messages from Ed or Danny, or even Sam.

They haven't called yet. What is happening? Where is Sam?

Mary jumped as her cell phone went off. With trembling hands she answered it.

"Danny?" she asked anxiously.

"Mary..."

"Did you find her?"

"Yes, but Mary-"

Mary interrupted him.

"Oh god, I'm so glad. Are you all okay?"

Danny hesitated before he answered: "No, Mary, I'm sorry. Ed and I are fine, but Sam...he did things to her. I- we're quite sure that he raped her, Mary," Danny was trying to find words to tell Mary how Sam was doing, but he couldn't think of words that were not too disturbing. "You should have seen the look on her face, and... it looks like she resisted because she's all beaten up. I'm sorry, Mary."

Mary gasped.

"Danny...that's so horrible...I don't know what to say."

Mary tried to pull herself together.

"Where is she now?"

"In the hospital. They're doing a rape kit on her, she's in the exam room now. Ed's waiting in a family room. I felt I had to let you know."

"Do you know if Sam has anyone that I should call?" Mary asked while biting her lip.

"Uh, no, I have never heard her talk about family or friends outside the Montecito. Mare..."

"Should I come, Danny? I think I might help. To tell her she's not alone. After all, we kind of share the same experience now," Mary's last words were almost a whisper.

"I figured she'd want a woman to talk to, Mary. So yes, I think she'd really appreciate it if you came over."

Mary was already on her way to grab her coat and headed to the exit when Danny told her in which hospital they were.

"Danny, I'll be right there!"

Hospital

Both Ed and Danny stood up as Mary entered the family room. She walked up to Danny and hugged him. He gently placed a kiss on her forehead. Ed, who had become like Mary's father over the years, pulled her against his chest.

"Hi honey. Thanks for coming."

"Is she ready yet?"

At that moment a woman, who seemed to be the doctor entered the room.

"Are you miss Marquez's family?"

"Uh, well..." Danny started to say.

"Yes. Yes we are her family," Ed interrupted.

"I'm doctor Antonia Moritz and I did the rape kit on miss Marquez," the doctor paused to look at their faces.

"Miss Marquez is ready to see visitors now, but one at the time please," she said with a serious look.

"So, so how is she? She alright?" Ed asked.

"Well, there is no way of saying what happened to her that isn't disturbing," doctor Moritz paused after her warning, to let her words affect the people in the room. Then she continued.

"Miss Marquez told us she was forced on the bed, after which her rapist tried to put his tongue in her mouth, but she bit it. Then she was backhanded in the face, her clothes torn off her body. Then she was roughly raped- although there really isn't a soft way of raping someone, but it was obvious he violently forced himself into her. If that wasn't enough already, she got beaten some more to shut her up so her rapist had time to escape before you came," the doctor looked at Ed and Danny, "I presume you were the ones. Oh, and he pinned her down by pushing her shoulders into the pillows, they are bruised as well. Miss Marquez's statement will go straight to the police, so...," the doctor nodded.

"Anyway, we'll talk about that later. She's ready to see someone now. But I have to warn you: her cheek is swollen and bruised and she can be either sad, or scared, or pretend to be strong."

"Thank you, doctor," Mary took the doctor's hand and enveloped it with her own hands.

"You're welcome. I am truly sorry about what happened and I hope miss Marquez will recover soon, although it might take years to get over her mental trauma. This is one of the worst cases I've seen so far, and I have been working here for three years now," the doctor shook hands with Ed and Danny, "There really is no way of getting her over what happened, but you can help by talking to her, maybe moving in with her for a while. She really needs her family."

Sam's Room

Mary popped her head into the room and glanced at the hospital bed. Sam was lying back in the pillows. Her eyes slowly turned towards Mary and Mary sat down in the chair next to Sam's bed.

"Hi, honey," she stroke Sam's forehead.

"Hey, Mare," Sam tried to smile, but gave it up when she felt a stab of pain going through her bruised cheek.

"I've been so worried about you, Sam," Mary bit her tongue, trying to fight back the upcoming tears. Sam looked horrible, to be frank. Her once so pretty face was ghostly pale, her cheek swollen and bruised, like the doctor said it would be. The hospital pyjama, which sat loosely around Sam's shoulders, revealed the hand-shaped bruises. Her dark brown eyes looked tired and she spoke with a weak, exhausted voice.

"Yeah. I'm sorry," Sam sighed, noticing Mary was startled by the look of her body.

"Oh no, don't be sorry, Sam. You know this is not your fault."

"I look horrible, don't I?"

"What did he do to you, Sam?" Mary frowned and she was completely serious.

Sam looked her in the eye and then turned her head to the other side, so she wasn't facing Mary.

"You know, beat the crap out of me and stuff."

"Sam, he raped you, didn't he?" Mary did not want to ask Sam this question, she knew how hard it was to answer, to actually say the words. But it was a good way of starting to accept what happened and to move on.

"What the heck-" Sam said as if it all didn't matter to her anymore and turned back towards Mary. "Yes, he raped me."

"Oh hon-" Mary started to say, but Sam interrupted her.

"I'm fine though. Just a couple of ugly bruises. A bit sore everywhere. So how are things at the Montecito today?" Sam quickly tried to change the subject.

"It still stands," Mary answered.

"Sam, will you be seeing someone about this?"

Sam sighed.

"You know, Mare, I just want to get the guy, fucking kill him and then forget about it." Sam's eyes were filled with tears of desperation.

"I am sorry Sam, but you are not going to forget about this. Maybe you'll be able to put it away for a while, but at some point you will start to remember. And then, when everything is coming back, you wish that you talked to someone before. You have to talk about it. I don't care if you talk to me, to a psychiatrist or to a stuffed animal, as long as you can promise me you'll not try to just forget about this. I can tell you, it's not going to work."

"Listen, I really appreciate your concerns, Mary. And it's wonderful to know that you care about me, but I-"

"No, Sam! You don't understand it yet, but you will never be able to fully trust a guy again, you will feel like your body doesn't belong to you anymore because it gave away control once, which you'll feel like you'll never have again: total control about your body. And if you hear a phrase, a word, or even a way of talking that reminds you of him, you'll be going through every second of your rape again." Mary felt herself getting hot and shaky speaking of the things she experienced herself.

"Mary, how do you know all that?" Sam looked at her friend, who clearly was upset.

"Yeah, how would I know?" Mary wiped away some tears.

"Oh god, Mare...I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay, Sam. Don't think about me now. If you want to know we can talk about me later, but now you have to focus on yourself. On getting better. On getting over what happened to you. Or at least try. Will you please promise me that you won't just put it away and continue like nothing's ever happened? I can't let you destroy yourself like that. I care about you, Sam, we all do."

A tear trickled down Sam's cheek.

"Okay," she whispered, "I'll try."

"Thank you, Sam," Mary said and hugged her friend.

"Do you want to see Ed? Or Danny? They're both here."

"Yeah, I do. Could you get them for me?"

"Sure." Mary gently kissed Sam's healthy cheek.

"You get better, honey. And talk about it. Don't feel embarrassed, it was not your fault."

"I know. And Mare?"

"Yes?"

"Danny's a real sweetheart, you know that? Can't let a guy like him just walk around. You know what I'm saying?"

Mary smiled.

"Yeah," she said with a dreamy look in her eyes, "I know."

Mary opened the door and walked into the hall. When she entered the family room she found Ed and Danny both looking up at her.

"Mary, are you okay?" Danny asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "She would like to see you. Both of you. I'll wait right here."

Danny enveloped Mary in his arms before walking out of the door with Ed. When she was alone, Mary sighed and sat down on a couch.

I have to help her. I will be there for her. But am I strong enough? Strong enough to see myself, facing Sam?