Chapter 119

Erin was called to the witness stand first. She stopped at the door and looked back at Sara and gave her a half-hearted smile. "Go get 'em" said Sara, her voice shaking. Erin's hands were clammy and shaking as she entered the courtroom and was sworn into the witness stand. She was scared and she didn't even understand why. This woman wouldn't be able to hurt her. She tried her best to avoid Susan's gaze but caught her eye every now and again. Susan's lawyer asked her a few questions setting the scene. Most of what happened as well as Susan's supposed mental state was discussed in court the previous day and Erin was relieved that she wasn't there for it. It was made clear that Susan didn't deny being there but that she wanted them to believe she was forced to do what she did. "Mrs Morgan... please explain to us what happened when you were seated at the defendant's desk and the man hit you and Ms Quin in the face" he asked. "Well... He hit Sara so hard that she almost drowned in her own blood that's what and he slapped me very hard and then... he... he choked me... he... " said Erin. "What did the defendant do?" he asked. "Um... at first, nothing. She eventually told him to stop but..." she got cut off. "There you have it Your Honour, she told him to stop" said the creepy lawyer. "Yeah but she..." said Erin. "You've answered the question Mrs Morgan thank you" said the lawyer. "No but" stammered Erin. "But nothing" shouted the creepy man. The DA shook looked at Erin and shook his head indicating that she should stay quiet. Erin bit her bottom lip as her chin started quivering. She was sensitive on the best of days and this guy just seemed to be trampling on her heart.

Tegan was breathing fast and sitting on the edge of the bench shaking her head. The district attorney got up after allowing the defense lawyer to put Erin through hell with many more unnecessary questions. "Mrs Morgan... tell us about what happened those few days" he asked. "Objection... what Mr Chapman did has no relevance today" he said. He lost his objection pretty fast and Erin started telling what she remembered about those days. She told them about Susan violently ripping the tape off her face, slapping them, kicking them, pulling their hair, laughing as the man kicked them in the stomach and ribs. Tears were streaming down her face now. Alex wiped some sweat from his upper lip and looked as if he was seconds away from throwing up. Tegan leaned forward and put her head in her hands and rocked backward and forward nervously. She pulled out her inhaler and took two deep puffs. Erin looked at her nervously. "You okay?" whispered Kate. Tegan nodded her head and leaned forward again putting her hands over her ears as Erin reached the part where Sara was punched so hard in the face that she lost consciousness. Alex put his hand on Tegan's back. Kate closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip. "She told him to stop but only because she was concentrating on hacking into my bank account... it didn't have anything to do with her being concerned for us" said Erin. "Objection! The witness doesn't know what the defendant's motive was to stop Mr Chapman" said the lawyer. "Yes I do... she said so in so many words... she said he was distracting her, that she needed to concentrate" said Erin loudly before the judge could even answer. She was not taking any more abuse from the cocky lawyer. "Overruled... continue please Mrs Morgan" said the judge. "He... he strangled me, I was starting to lose consciousness when she eventually stopped him... she said 'what are you doing... are you trying to kill the golden goose'" said Erin becoming emotional. Alex had heard all these stories so many times but it killed him every time. Tears were rolling down his cheeks now.

Sara sat nervously alone in the witness room. The door opened and Carmen walked in. "Sara... how nice seeing you" she said. Sara stared at her looking pale. "Carmen" she said and swallowed hard. "How are you holding up Sara?" she asked sweetly. "I'm fine thank you. How are you?" asked Sara. "I'm okay... I'm just... I still feel so guilty... I feel as if this happening to you is my fault" she said. Sara looked away. "We've been through this Carmen... really... it's not your fault" said Sara. "Sara... the way you... the way you spoke to me on that rooftop... I've never thought anybody could be so kind and wonderful... But you showed me you cared... you saved my life and I don't know how to repay you" said Carmen. Sara got up and walked towards the window. "You don't have to Carmen... let's just drop it okay" said Sara. "Sara... the first time I saw your face online I knew... you're special... I've always felt as if you're singing just for me... The first time I met you I felt a spark... I know you feel it too... I felt it on that rooftop..." said Carmen coming closer to Sara. Sara was breathing fast and it felt as if her heart was going to beat out of her chest. "I love you Sara and I know you love me too... I know you'll love me if you give me a chance... we were made for each other. We're soul mates. We should be together" said Carmen putting her hands on the wall on either side of Sara's head. "Carmen no... You're a lovely girl and I'm sure you're going to make somebody really happy one day but I'm not your soul mate" said Sara with wide eyes pressing her back tight against the wall in a futile attempt to get away from Carmen. "We are, if I can make you see, feel it. Once you've felt our first kiss you'll know too" said Carmen seemingly on another planet. She took Sara's face in hers and slammed her face violently into Sara's attacking her lips with force. "No... no Carmen please... Carmen noo... Please don't do this" cried Sara trying to free herself from Carmen's grip, Carmen kept kissing, forcing her tongue into Sara's mouth and grinding her body hard against Sara's.

Erin had finally finished testifying and court was in short recess. Erin and Sara weren't allowed to talk to each other before they've both testified. Tegan went to throw up in the bathroom, these graphic details were all too much for her. Alex was comforting Erin in the DA's office next to the courtroom. Kate wanted to quickly check on Sara and opened the door to the witness room after being let past by some cops trying their best to keep the media away. "No Carmen please don't do this..." she heard Sara's desperate plea.

Kate was the kindest, most gentle person in the world but rage completely overcame her when she saw Carmen forcing herself onto Sara. "Get away from her!" she screamed. She violently ripped Carmen away from Sara and held her hand out to her, her natural instinct not to hurt people overcoming her rage in that moment. "Get away from her!" she breathed. "Sara? Sweetie are you okay? What happened? Sara did she hurt you?" she said and took Sara in her arms. "I'm fine... I'm fine" said Sara through tears. "I'm calling the cops" said Kate. The second she turned around she felt a hard punch meet her nose. She bent over and saw blood seeping onto her hands. Another blow, this time to the jaw and mouth. She felt her lip split open. She stumbled backward and landed on her back. "Noooo! Don't you touch her!" screamed Sara and tried to get Carmen off Kate. Carmen jumped onto Kate and kept hitting her, continuously throwing fast and hard punches. Kate didn't even have half a second to compose herself and tried to protect her face with her arms without much success. Sara screamed in rage as she tried pulling an irate Carmen off Kate "Aggghhhh... noooo... fuck you, get off her" she screamed. Tegan came running into the room. "Help!" she yelled out of the door and sprinted towards the fight. "She's mine... Sara's mine... we were made for each other" Sara finally had a grip of one of Carmen's wrists but the free hand kept punching Kate who were seemingly growing weaker with every blow. Tegan grabbed her other arm "No... get off her... Carmen no!" she yelled. Sara was desperate to get Carmen off her love and she started hitting her and pushing her away as hard as she could. Two burly cops finally pulled Carmen off Kate. Carmen managed to get in two hard kicks to Kate's torso and one to the stomach before the cops pulled her away and cuffed her hands behind her back. "Kate... oh my god Kate are you okay?" said Sara kneeling next to Kate. Kate didn't answer and simply spit out some blood and coughed weakly still lying in the same position.

"Kate... Katy... come on buddy talk to me" said Tegan on her knees, shaking Kate's shoulders. Kate was pretty out of it "Mmm okay" she mumbled. "Somebody call 911" screamed Tegan. "Already have, ambulance is on the way" said a cop. "Oh god Kate... oh baby..." wailed Sara. Kate's nose was still bleeding profusely and she choked on some blood running down her throat. Tegan turned her on her side. "There we go bud... you're okay" she said. Kate moaned in pain.

Court was due to start again and Alex and Erin were in their seats again. Erin looked around for Tegan and Kate. The judge and jury entered a minute later a court official whispered something to the judge. She called the two lawyers closer and discussed something with them. "Where the hell is Tegan and Kate?" asked Erin. "Due to unforeseen circumstances court is adjourned for the day and will commence again at 10am tomorrow morning" said the judge. The DA turned around and waved Erin closer. "What's going on?" asked Erin. "There seems to be a bit of an issue in the witness room" said the DA. Erin immediately sprinted to the door in the courtroom that led to the witness room. "Sara? What... Tee?" said Erin confused. She walked up to the commotion on the other side of the table. "Kate! Oh shit what happened" yelled Erin. "Kate... it's Alex... I'm right here. You're going to be okay" said Alex and grabbed hold of his sister's hand. There was blood all over her face that was already swelling up and she seemed to be shivering slightly. "Oh shit... I'm sorry... Oh god I'm sorry... what did I do... what did I do... I'm sorry" screamed Carmen. "Shut up! Get her away from us" shouted Sara. "Baby, you're going to be okay... you're okay sweetie" cooed Sara stroking Kate's hair while Tegan applied pressure to her nose that was still squirting blood non-stop. A team of medics, including Nancy entered the room. "Kate?" exclaimed Nancy looking shocked. "Okay guys you're going to need to give us some room to work please" said Nancy. She rolled Kate onto her back but that seemed to cause a violent and bloody coughing fit. Kate wailed in pain. Everybody got up to give the medics room to work but Sara didn't move an inch. Nancy looked into Kate's eyes with her penlight. "Pupils 5mm, equal and responsive but sluggish." she reported. "Heeeey... can you tell me your name please?" she asked while feeling around Kate's ribs and abdomen. Kate just coughed up some more blood. "We need to stop this nosebleed please Tyler, pack that nose stat" said Nancy. "Squeeze my hand" she said. Kate followed instructions as Boone suctioned some of the blood out of her mouth. "Can you tell me your name yet" said Nancy calmly. "Kate... Morgan" she whispered softly. "Don't worry Doc... we're going to take good care of you" said Tyler as her started Kate on an IV while Boone took her blood presssure. "Let's hang a bag of O neg" said Nancy. "Is she okay... is she okay?" cried Sara. "I think so Sara. We're going to immobilize her spine just in case and take her to the hospital so they can check her out okay... She's lost a lot of blood through the nosebleed but don't worry we have everything under control" said Nancy. "I'm right here baby... I'm sorry... I'm sorry she did that to you... I'm sorry" cried Sara. "Sar... it's okay..." whispered Kate in pain. "Talk to me Kate" said Nancy calmly. "Ribs..." said Kate softly struggling for breath. "Let's run the saline wide open her pressure's taking a nose dive" said Nancy before listening to Kate's chest with a stethoscope. "OK... good breath sounds bilaterally... we don't seem to have a pneumothorax. Pulse is around 110. Let's get the C-spine on, get her on a board and get out of here. Suction please... 15 litres of O2 by mask" requested Nancy before sucking some more blood out of Kate's mouth. "How can anybody do this to you Katy" whispered Nancy shaking her head. Kate was becoming agitated and tried to sit up. "Take it easy... lie down" said Nancy. "I'm okay... I'm fine" said Kate. "We're just going to take your for a couple of x-rays to make sure doc" said Tyler. "No... I'm... I'm... f..." said Kate before her eyes rolled back in her head and she lost consciousness.

Sara completely lost it when Kate lost consciousness. "No no baby, Kate stay with me... wake up please" she screamed. Tegan was pacing up and down with her hands that were still full of Kate's blood in her hair. She started wheezing. Erin took her shoulders and felt around her pants pockets for her inhaler. "Here we go Tee. Breathe in" she said putting the inhaler to Tegan's lips. Tegan felt better almost immediately. "That fucking bitch... after we saved her life... she does this? I don't understand... I don't understand" she repeated.

The medics put a cervical collar around Kate's neck and gently pushed the back board under her. Sara was crying uncontrollably. Kate came to again after being strapped onto the backboard. The nose bleed seemed to be under control for the moment. "Sar... Sara... I'm okay" she breathed. "Yeah you are... I'm here baby, I'm here" said Sara. "Holy crap... how can such a small girl do so much damage" said a cop.

The press had a field day when they saw Tegan and Sara both covered in Kate's blood walking next to the gurney. Alex put his hand around Tegan's shoulder while holding Erin's hand. Tegan just looked down until they reached the car. Sara got into the ambulance with Kate. She was shaking and in obvious shock. "Okay looks as if she's stable" said Nancy. "Thank God" whispered Sara. "Don't worry sweetie" mumbled Kate from under an oxygen mask. "You okay Sara?" asked Nancy. "I'm fine" said Sara and closed her eyes to stop the tears from falling.

Sara, Tegan, Erin and Alex were forced into a waiting room when they got to the hospital. A nurse came to check Tegan's vitals and helped her wash her hands when she was satisfied that she was okay. She checked Sara and Erin's blood pressure too since it looked as if they were both about to go down. Tegan's phone rang and she answered immediately. "Linds... I don't know she's in the ER now... I think she's okay... it was so fucked up and horrible" said Tegan and started crying. Sara spoke to her mom and switched her phone off. Speculation over what happened was already all over the media and internet.

Dr Owen Hunt walked into the waiting room after what felt like an eternity. "She's okay guys. We did a head and chest CT and X-ray and there's no bleeding on the brain, no scull fracture, spine is okay. But she's got a nasty concussion and a fractured cheekbone and nose. Not much we can do for that though. She did lose a lot of blood with that nosebleed but we're managing it with some fluid replacement. She's got three broken ribs and a bruised liver but there's no internal bleeding. She's going to be very sore for a while but all in all I think she's a lucky girl. We're probably going to keep her for a day or two for observation. We need to keep checking her neurological status for at least 24 hours. You can see her if you want" he said and smiled.

Sara started sobbing the moment she saw Kate. Her face was one giant bruise and she had a stitched up cut above her almost swollen shut eye and some more stitches in her lip. A nurse was holding an ice pack on her cheek. She had an two IVs, one with a bag of blood and one with some other meds. A large white cast was taped over her nose. She was on a heart monitor and had a BP cuff around her arm. "Sweetie... oh my dear Kate... are you okay... how are you feeling?" said Sara. "Ugh... I've been better. I need to practice my boxing on the Wii" she joked and flinched in pain. "Shhhh... my hero" said Kate and kissed her forehead softly. "We're just going to keep the heart monitor on for a little while to make sure everything's okay" smiled the nurse. "Hey sis... you're going to be okay. Your first fight and you didn't even get a punch in" smiled Alex and squeezed her hand. "Tee... Tegan" said Kate softly. Tegan stepped forward looking fragile. "Are you feeling okay" whispered Kate. Tegan wiped some tears from her cheeks. "I'm perfectly fine Katy... just relax... take it easy and don't worry about me. The nurse did check" said Tegan. "I... I need to speak to Abby to stay with you tonight" said Kate in pain. "Okay... We'll let you speak to her just relax and breathe now alright" said Tegan trying to compose herself. "We're going to give her some pain meds now that will knock her out pretty fast" said the nurse. "Okay... sweet dreams angel... I love you" said Sara. "I... love you too" said Kate weakly. "Go... home Tegan" she mumbled before slipping into darkness.

"The DA's outside to see you" said a nurse. "I'm not leaving her... can somebody please..." Sara trailed off. "Yeah... sure" said Alex and walked outside holding Erin's hand. "You're hard to get a hold of" said the DA. "Well sorry but my sister was brutally attacked and I kind of blame you for not leaving some cops with a woman that has a history of psychological problems" said Alex looking angry. "I'm sorry about that... I didn't know she was dangerous" said the DA. Alex just shook his head. "I've got good news for you though... Susan took a plea bargain. Sara doesn't need to testify tomorrow" he said. "What plea bargain... she deserves to be in jail for a long, long time" said Erin. "We knocked five years off the maximum penalty. I think she realised she wasn't going to win" said the DA. "She's still going to jail for a very long time Erin" he continued. Erin sat down and let out a deep sigh. "Well... at least Sara doesn't have to go through that too" she said. "Carmen has been admitted to the psychiatric ward again" said the DA. "Yeah well lots of good that did last time" said Erin shaking her head. "We'll definitely press charges of violent assault though" said the DA. "Good!" said Alex. "Don't worry, she's not going to be free to roam around any time soon" said the DA.

Alex and Erin walked back into Kate's room. Erin put her hands on Sara's shoulders and softly spoke into her ear. "She confessed... it's over Sar... you don't have to testify... she's going away for a long time... she's never going to hurt us again" said Erin and started to cry. She felt Sara's shoulders shake under her hands. "It's over" whispered Sara. Tegan smiled. "You're safe guys... everything is going to be okay" she said.

A/N: Quite a hectic chapter. Glad Kate's going to be okay. Let's hope this is the last of their drama for a while ;) Review please!