CHARLIE'S POV
After Colby left, I go downstairs to get something to eat. I feel better after I have talked about it. Colby told me that no one thinks of me as being weak. But it's hard to believe his word. I mean, if you're told you're weak once a day for two weeks, you end up believing it, I guess.
I grab a bottle of water and head for the living room where Dad and Don would be watching the game. I sit down next to Dad.
"Dad, where's Don?" I ask him, hoping Don's not here.
"He went to his place to get more clothes," he tells me.
"Um, Dad, do you remember the bully from the 7th grade?" I ask him.
"The one who made you do homework for him?" he asks me. I can see he's confused.
"Yeah. Was I weak for doing it, I mean his homework?" I ask him.
"No. What's this about?" I can see the worry in his eyes now. I grab the remote and turn the game off. I look down at my feet. I can't look at him.
"Dad, the man who kidnapped me... he, um, God, this is hard." Dad puts an arm around me. "He, well, he said he had Don. He said if I wasn't a good boy for him then Don would be the one who got hurt. God, it hurt so much. He would touch me and make me touch him.
It made me felt so sick inside. I wanted to scream and yell for him to stop, to get away from me but I couldn't. I just couldn't let him hurt Don, so I let him do whatever he wanted to me. I'm sorry. I couldn't
stand back and let Terry do that to him." I break down into Dad's arms. I feel like a little kid again, begging Dad to take the pain away. He just holds me. I hear a voice behind me say, "I'm going to kill him." I look up in time to see Don run out of the house. I go after him, but I'm too late. He's gone.
DON'S P.O.V.
Something inside snapped when I heard Charlie telling Dad what Terry had done to him. Terry, my partner, the man I would have trusted with my life. Hell, he's a cop. I can't believe it. When I first found out about Charlie's kidnapping, Terry was the one to support me.
He kept pushing me forward and all that time he was the one hurting Charlie. To think Terry used Charlie's love for me against him, like a weapon. It burns knowing that I was the reason Charlie was hurt that
badly. I pull up beside the F.B.I. office and pull out my gun and load it. I walk inside. I know I will go to jail, but I don't care if it means my brother is safe. I see him in the break room and I walk towards him and pin him against the wall. I go for my gun out of its holster, but Colby cuts me off.
"Calm down," he tells me.
"He is the one who hurt Charlie," I yell back at him, never taking my eyes off Terry. I can see the fear in his face. It reminds me of the look of fear Charlie had in the basement.
"He was begging for it. You should have seen it. We're in love." I feel my whole body shake with rage at the word "love." How dare he claim to love Charlie, after what he did. I go to shoot him.
"I know how you feel but think about Charlie." I can't believe Colby is trying to defend this asshole.
"I am. If he's dead, then Charlie will be safe." Nothing will stop me from doing whatever it takes to keep him safe.
"You will go to jail and the guilt will eat him up. Is that what you want?" I close my eyes. I know he is right. I let Terry fall to the ground and run out. I sit down on the hood of my car. I can see my hands are shaking. How could I not see that Terry was a sick man who had a thing for Charlie? I look up and see Colby standing next to me.
"Why? Why Charlie? Why couldn't I see it?" I ask him, but I am really asking myself.
"No one saw it. You can't go and blame yourself for what he did," he tells me, but I'm the older brother. It's my duty to look out for Charlie. I get in my car and drive off.
CHARLIE'S P.O.V
I wake up to the smell of biscuits and eggs. I walk into the kitchen to see Don reading the paper. I look down at the floor. I remember the look of pure rage on his face. I stayed up until 2 o'clock in the morning,
waiting for him to come home. I cough to let him know I am here. He turns around and I can see the bags under his eyes.
"How are you sleeping?" he asks me and I can hear the worry in his voice.
"Okay, I guess. I see him every time I close my eyes. I can still hear his voice in my ear," I say as I grab a plate and some eggs. Don grabs my hands to give me support.
"I'm sorry for what he made you do for my safety." I pull my hands away. He shouldn't be sorry. He couldn't have done anything. He didn't even know about Terry. I go to take a shower. It's weird because every time I talk about Terry I start to feel dirty all over again.
I let the water fall over me.
I hear the door open and I sit up. Terry walks in and sits next to me. I draw my knees to my chest.
"I have had a bad day and now I want to have some fun." I feel the tears begin to fall. He starts to stroke my hair and I feel sick. He pulls me into a kiss. And then he pulls a book out of his bag.
"Let me watch you work, my love." I take the book and write quickly. If I'm lucky, he will fall asleep. He said that he loves me for how my mind works. If he loves me, then why does he hurt me?
I shake my head, trying to free my head of the flashback. I turn off the water and get dressed. That was the last time I did any math. He took away the one thing I'm good at, and I don't know how to get it
back. I walk down the stairs and stop dead in my tracks. Terry is standing over Don, who is bleeding.
ALAN'S P.O.V.
I pull up in the driveway and start to unload the shopping from the back. I hope Charlie had a good night sleep. He has barely slept since his kidnapping. Last night he cried himself to sleep, like he was a
little kid again. When I open the door I see Don lying there, covered in blood. I bend down and check if he is still alive. He is. "Oh, God, thank you." I pull out my cell phone to call for help and they say they will be here soon and then I hear the sound of Charlie crying upstairs. I run to his room and open the door. What I see breaks my heart - my baby boy pinned under the madman Terry. I grab Charlie's book and hit Terry over head. He falls off the bed and I grab Charlie and hug him. I
help him stand and lead him out of the room. Half an hour later I find myself sitting in the hospital waiting room for the second time in a week. I am rubbing Charlie's back, trying to clam him down. He
hasn't said a word since I found him. I know I should get a doctor to check him out but he won't let anyone near him. I look up to see Megan, David and Colby walking towards us.
"Oh, my God, how are they?" Megan asks me with tears on her face.
"I don't know. You should talk to the doctor," I tell her and she walks off to find a doctor. Colby bends down to look at Charlie, and is shocked to see the black eye.
"Charlie, what happened?" David asks him, and his head snaps up and he says,
"You don't believe me about him, do you? You said I could trust you. You lied!" he yells. I move to hug him, but he pushes me away and
runs off.
COLBY'S P.O.V.
I fall backwards into a chair behind me. Charlie is right. He did trust me and I should have done something more to prevent this. Terry will be lucky if I don't kill him myself. I just hope that he didn't
have time to rape him again.
"The doctor said Don was shot in the lower back and they are working on him now. Terry was hit over the head and he will be okay, but they're keeping him in over night just in case," Megan tells me and I look up. Oh, God, why didn't I see this coming? Charlie told me Terry had threatened Don. I should have listened, should have done something, anything.
"Did Charlie say anything about what happened?" she asks me and I take a deep breath.
"Charlie told me yesterday that Terry was the one who kidnapped him and Terry had threaten to hurt Don, if Charlie didn't play by his rules." I look up to see their reactions, their disbelief. I walk away to find Charlie to make sure he's okay. I find him sitting outside by the parking lot.
"Look, I believe you, but I didn't tell the others because I didn't know if you wanted me to," I say as I sit down.
"It will never end, will it?" he asks me, with tears falling freely down his face.
"If you can give a statement, we can arrest him and he will go to jail," I tell him, trying to calm him down.
"I don't know, okay? I need time to think." With that, he walks away.
CHARLIE'S P.O.V.
I am sitting by Don's bed, while Dad has gone home to get some stuff for him. The doctor said they won't be able to tell the amount of damage done until he wakes up. There is a small chance he will be unable to walk again. I can't believe I let this happen. I am so stupid. Terry told me what would happen if I told people, but did I listen to him? I can only see one way of making sure Don is safe, but I feel sick even thinking about it, because it would mean I have to face him again. I kiss Don on the forehead and walk towards Terry's room. I pull out my phone and put it on the right setting. Then I put my phone away and enter. I see Terry lying on the bed and I can feel myself shake with fear. I feel someone put a hand on my arm and I jump. I see it's only Megan and I calm myself down.
"Can I have a minute alone with him, please?" I can see her eyes fill with worry and sadness. They remind me of my dad's eyes when I told him what had happened. She nods and leaves, but she tells me that she will be right outside.
"How are you feeling, my love?" he asks me and I feel sick.
"Fine. I just want to know why you shot Don," I say in my most pleading voice.
MEGAN P.O.V.
I look down at my watch. He has been in there for ten minutes. I shouldn't have left him alone with Terry, but I think it may help him feel safer if he talks with Terry in a controlled space. I see Charlie come out and I go to ask him if he's okay but before I can he pulls out his phone. I am shocked to her Terry's confession.
"Is this enough to put him away?" he asks me while tears fall down his face.
"If you gives me a statement," I tell him and he nods as he sits down.
"So how does this work?" Charlie asks me, while rubbing his hands together.
"Why don't you tell me what happened, and I can asks questions afterward?"
"Okay. He came to my office, saying he had something on the Smith case, and offered to drive me. But when we got to his car, he hit me over the head with something. The next thing I knew, I was handcuffed to a bedpost in a basement. Then he came down and told me that he loved me and that I belonged to him. He offered me some kind of drug, I don't know what, but I didn't want them. But he said if I didn't do what he wanted, then Don would get it. So I did what he
wanted. He would make me talk to him about my work and everything to do with my life. He would come morning and night. Sometimes he would just talk to me, but other times he would touch me and...um, um... I'm sorry I can't do this." I grab his hand to support him. I can hardly stand to listen to this. It makes me sick.
EPILOGUE
An hour later, Charlie was sitting at Don's bedside with Alan. It had been 18 hours since he had been shot. They both were half asleep so they didn't see Don's hand move and they almost jumped out of their
chairs when he spoke. Alan rushed out of the room to get a doctor. Charlie moved closer to the bed.
"Hey, Buddy, are you okay?" Don asks when he sees the new black eye on his brother's face.
"Yep. I'm sorry you got shot because of me," Charlie said while looking down, unable to look at his brother in the eye.
"What? No, you are not to blame," Don said, pushing himself in a sitting position. He would not, could not, let his brother keep blaming himself for something some freak did to him.
"But I knew the rules and I broke them." Charlie still felt guilty.
"Charlie, listen to me. This will never, ever, be your fault. It's his," Don said, trying to get Charlie to see the truth. Ten minutes later, when Alan reentered with the doctor, Don was back asleep and Charlie was asleep in his chair. Their hands were touching and Alan smiled because tonight Charlie looked like he was smiling in his sleep. Maybe Charlie
could heal after being broken.
THE END