Chapter Twenty-Four

The Immediate Aftermath-The Same Day

"Mr. Winchester, Evy's been raped."

There's no way I heard that right, Sam thought. "Excuse me?"

"She's been raped, Mr. Winchester." Mrs. Moreau said. "She told Dr. Landry right before I called you and the police."

Sam turned to Evy, who was looking down at the floor, afraid to meet his eyes. "Is that true?"

Evy's breath was hitching in panic. "Yes."

"Baby, why didn't you tell me?" Sam asked.

"I didn't want you to know." Evy said. "I'm sorry…"

"Hey. Hey, baby, look at me." Sam said, turning his chair to face her. "Please look at me."

Evy turned to look at Sam, and his heart broke when he saw that the wall she'd worked so hard to put up the last few weeks was beginning to crumble. Sam felt an enormous, painful lump in his throat. His own emotions were going haywire, but he had to push that aside right now. Sam swallowed hard and cautiously took Evy's hand.

"This is not your fault. Do you hear me? It isn't your fault. Don't say you're sorry. It's not on you." Sam reached up and wiped away a tear falling down Evy's face. "I'm here now. You're safe, okay?"

Evy nodded.

"We'll get through this." Sam assured her again.

"Okay, daddy." Evy said.

"Do you know who did this?" Sam asked.

The question made Evy tear up again, so Mrs. Moreau answered for her. "Bill Evans. She told us it was Bill Evans."

"Bill…" The name sounded familiar, but it took Sam a few seconds to place it. "Bill Evans, your basketball coach?"

"Yes." Evy said simply, unable to say much else at the moment.

"So you didn't just quit the team?" Sam asked.

"No. I just didn't go back." Evy answered.

"Son of a bitch." Sam said, unable to hold it in. He felt Evy squeeze his hand, and reassured her for a minute before something else occurred to him. "Wait, is he here in the building now?"

"He's in a class." Mrs. Moreau said. "I've sent him a note to come straight to my office once school's out."

"I will kill this bastard." Sam said without thinking.

"NO!" Evy suddenly shouted, grabbing Sam's face and pulling it to her. "Promise me you won't go after him."

"Baby..." Sam said, shocked at how intense her reaction was; it was more emotion than he'd seen from her in weeks.

"Promise me you'll let the police go after him." Evy said. "I need you now. Please don't go after him."

"Okay. Okay, baby, I won't. I promise." Sam said. "I'm sorry, baby, I'm just…really hating that he hurt you like this."

"Make uncle Dean promise too. And Cass." Evy said. "Please."

"I will. I swear." Sam said. "I will." He turned towards Mrs. Moreau. "Can we go to the hospital now or should we wait for the police?"

"They should be here in just a couple minutes. I'd wait for them, but it's up to you." Mrs. Moreau.

"What happens now?" Evy asked.

"The police are going to talk to you for a few minutes. Then when they release you, you'll go to the hospital to get checked out." Dr. Landry explained.

"It's been three weeks." Evy said.

"That doesn't matter." Dr. Landry assured her. "You still need to get checked. Okay?"

"Okay." Evy said.

"I won't lie to you. This will be a long process. But you've taken the hardest step." Dr. Landry said.

"Sweetheart, I need to tell you something." Mrs. Moreau said, finally coming away from the filing cabinet. She stood in front of Dr. Landry's desk and leaned against it, looking down slightly towards Evy. "I know you feel like you're alone right now. But you're not. Unfortunately, this happens a lot. Just like it did to me when I was just a little younger than you."

Evy, surprised, asked, "It happened to you too?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it did." Mrs. Moreau said. "I was fourteen. My parents called a babysitter so they could go out for their anniversary. It happened while they were at dinner."

"What happened after that?" Evy asked.

"I told my parents when they got home. But, um…they didn't believe me." Mrs. Moreau said.

"Why not?" Evy asked.

"Because the family friend that was watching me was a policeman. They didn't believe that he could do something like that. So he got away with it." Mrs. Moreau said.

"He got away…" Evy said, panic setting in again.

"That's not going to happen with you." Mrs. Moreau promised. "We all do believe you. Me, Dr. Landry, your father. We're all here for you. Okay?"

"That's right, baby." Sam said. "We're here for you."

"Does it ever go away?" Evy asked Mrs. Moreau.

"What, honey?"

"Feeling like it'll never be over." Evy said. "Being afraid all the time."

"After you come back to school, set up some weekly appointments with Dr. Landry. More than once a week if you need them. When you start feeling afraid like that, talk to someone. Her, me, your dad, anybody you trust. I'll be completely honest with you. It's probably going to get worse for you before it starts to get better. But the day will come when you'll realize that you haven't thought about this in a whole day. Then it'll be a week. And then one day, you'll realize that you survived it. You moved on. Think about that day when you start feeling overwhelmed. Does that make sense?"

Evy nodded. It did make sense, but at the moment, she felt like her whole life was wrapped up in what had happened between her and the coach. Mrs. Moreau smiled. She stood up again, before there was a knock, and the door to Dr. Landry's office opened. It was the school secretary.

"Dr. Landry? Mrs. Moreau? The police are here."

"Okay." Dr. Landry said. She turned back to Evy. "Do you want to talk to them in here? It'll give you more privacy."

"Yeah. Thank you." Evy said.

"Okay. Mrs. Moreau, let's go bring them in." Dr. Landry said. "Mr. Winchester, they're gonna want to talk to her alone."

"No way. I'm not leaving her…" Sam started.

Evy grabbed Sam's hand again and cut him off. "Daddy, it's okay. I..." She stuttered a bit, then took a breath and let it out slowly. "I'm not ready for you to hear all the...details yet."

Sam nodded. He wasn't sure he was ready to hear them either. At least not without exploding. After reminding himself that he promised Evy he wouldn't go after the coach, he forced himself to get ready and go.

"Okay, baby. I'll be right outside." Sam said. He thought of something else. "I need to call Dean. Do you want me to do it now or wait until we get to the hospital?"

"Um…" Evy thought for a minute, then answered, "can you tell him to meet us at the hospital and we'll tell him there? Don't tell him over the phone."

"I can do that." Sam said. "I'll be right outside." he assured her again. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay?"

"Yeah. I'll be okay." Evy said. "I mean it this time."

"All right." Sam said. He stood up to leave and squeezed Evy's hand. "You'll be okay." The doubt in Evy's eyes hurt Sam to his core, but she nodded.

When Sam was out in the hallway, two female detectives made their way into the office. They introduced themselves to Sam as detectives Jackson and Morris, and explained that they just needed to talk to Evy. Sam gave them permission, then started to sit down in a chair outside.

"Mr. Winchester? Do you want to come wait in my office?" Mrs. Moreau asked. "It might be a little while."

"Yeah. Thanks." Sam answered. "And call me Sam."

"Call me Cindy." Mrs. Moreau said as they went to sit down.

"What the hell?" Sam asked, to no one in particular.

"How are you feeling?" Cindy asked as she took the seat behind her desk.

"How am I feeling?" Sam asked. "Is that really important right now?"

"Yeah. Actually, it is." Cindy said. "You can't take care of her if you don't take care of yourself."

"I'm...worried. Confused. Beating myself up for not protecting her." Sam said. "All of the above."

"Sam, you can't do that." Cindy said. "Listen to me. Blaming yourself will not help. Just like you told her, this is not your fault. It's not her fault. As hard as it is for me to believe right now, it's not my fault for not protecting her here. She should have been safe at basketball practice. The only person at fault is the son of a bitch that hurt her. And he will go down for this. But right now she needs you. The floodgates are just starting to open here. You need to focus on being there for her right now. Okay?"

"Okay. Thanks." Sam said. "I'm really sorry about what happened to you."

"I appreciate that."

"Whatever happened to that family friend?" Sam asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

"He committed suicide." Cindy said. "Good riddance."

Cindy tried to keep Sam distracted, but it was a long interview. Around a half hour later, Evy came back to the office, escorted by one of the detectives. Sam noted she'd been crying again, but chose not to ask her about it. As they drove out to the hospital, Evy sat in the middle seat directly next to Sam, a hand on his jacket the entire way. It was the exact opposite of the last few weeks. Instead of being distant and not wanting to be touched, she didn't seem to want to let him go. Which was fine with Sam-it would be a while before he willingly let her out of his sight too. When he parked the car, there was a text from Dean.

Just got back from a tow. What's going on? My boss said you called and told him you were taking Evy to the hospital.

Sam sighed; what was he supposed to say? Just get to the Emergency Room. Evy asked me not to tell you over the phone. She's okay right this second, but she wants to tell you. In person.

What the hell, Sam? Dean answered. If she's okay why can't you tell me what's going on?

Trust me, Dean. Just get here. This is not a conversation for the phone. Sam insisted, putting the phone back in his pocket.

Sam helped Evy out of the car, then brought her to the emergency room admissions desk. He sat her down in a chair and walked to the desk. He got a surprise when he gave the nurse Evy's name.

"One second." The young nurse said, pulling a phone from next to her. "Dr. Moreau, come to the ER admissions desk. Your patient has arrived."

A young female doctor came around the corner that looked remarkably like Cindy. "Evelyn Winchester?"

"I'm her father." Sam said. "Evy's right here. Did you know we were coming?"

"Mrs. Moreau's my aunt. She called and asked me to take care of you." Dr. Moreau turned to Evy. "Come on, sweetie. Let's go where it's a little less crowded."

Dr. Moreau, who asked to be called Jane, explained to both of them what she was planning to do. A rape kit, a pregnancy test, and STD tests. Evy nodded that she understood what was going to happen, but she was thinking about what would happen after the hospital. Going to school, facing the other students and teachers, even sitting through class seemed impossible. She felt guilty for treating her teachers badly, and she wanted to apologize to them. She had done it because she hadn't been able to shake the feeling that Coach Evans was in the school, so there was no way she was safe, even in class. Just as Jane finished her explanation, a nurse knocked on the door.

"Dr. Moreau, there's a Dean Winchester here."

"Let him in." Evy said. "Please. Just for a minute."

Jane nodded to the nurse, and Dean walked in like a hurricane. "Kiddo, are you okay?"
"Dean, I'll talk to you in the hallway." Sam said.

"It's okay, uncle Dean." Evy said. "Go with daddy."

"Are you sure?" Dean asked. "I can stay."

"Dean." Sam said, grabbing his shoulder. "Hallway."

"Okay." Dean said. He hugged Evy again before going out. "We're here for you."
"I know." Evy said.

Dean reluctantly went into the hallway, followed closely by Sam. He didn't like the look on Sam or Evy's face. Something had happened, something very bad. He couldn't imagine what it was, but it was time for him to stop being in the dark.

"Sam, what the hell is going on?" Dean asked.

Sam opened his mouth to start talking, but was interrupted by Jane. "Mr. Winchester?"

Sam turned to face the doctor. "Yeah."

"I'm about to start Evy's exam. She asked to be left alone for that." Jane told him.

"Okay." Sam said.

"She said there's a café near here that you three go to a lot? Parker's?" Jane said. When Sam nodded, Jane continued, "She asked me to ask you two to bring her a piece of lemon pie from there."

"Can she have that now?" Sam asked.

"She can in about a half hour."

"Okay. Sure. We'll go." Sam said. "Will you tell her we'll be back soon?"

"Yeah." Jane said. "I'll tell her."

"Dean, let's go. I'll tell you on the way."

Dean was getting frustrated, but he followed Sam out. They took the Impala, so as Sam was getting in the front passenger seat, Dean stared at him, waiting to get the story. When Sam didn't say anything, Dean finally lost his patience.
"Will you please tell me what the hell is going on?" Dean asked. "It's been two hours since you called me."

"Sorry. I still don't quite know how to tell you." Sam said. He took a deep breath, as he'd had to do several times that afternoon. "She didn't just quit the basketball team, Dean. Her coach hurt her."
"What do you mean 'her coach hurt her'? Hurt her how?" Dean asked, his voice rising in fear that he already knew the answer.

"He raped her, Dean." Sam said, waiting for the inevitable blast wave of anger to come from Dean.

Dean did not disappoint. "SON OF A BITCH! Where is he? I will kill him!"

"Dean, you can't. I promised Evy we wouldn't go after him." Sam said. "She wants us to let the cops handle it."

"No way." Dean said. "No way we're letting him get away with this."
"He won't Dean." Sam said. "If he doesn't go away for this, I agree with you. But Evy needs us more right now. She's still really hurt and upset. We can't be getting angry about this around her. She already feels like it's her fault."

"What? That doesn't make sense. Why would it be her fault that he hurt her?" Dean asked.

"Dean, I get it. I do. But listen to me. Evy was already sensitive before this happened. Her nerves are frayed right now. She's feeling a lot of stuff that's not going to make sense to her. We can't tell her that it doesn't make sense, or it'll make her feel worse. You need to just listen to her when she talks, tell her over and over again that she's not responsible for this. Just be gentle." Sam said.

Dean leaned against the driver's seat, his mind and heart raging. He heard in the back of his mind Evy as a baby calling for him. Deanie!, she'd yell, then coming running and jumping into his arms. Every instinct in his body told him to hunt down the coach and do anything that came into his mind to him. Hurt him the way he'd hurt Evy, and more. Make him pay for hurting his baby. But Evy didn't want that. Dean also felt helpless. She was hurting, and a hug and a kiss wasn't going to fix it this time. It wasn't a skinned knee or hurt feelings that could be fixed by making her laugh. There was a monster he could kill, but that wouldn't take the pain away from her.

"Dean?" Sam said. "What are you thinking?"

"I want to kill this bastard, Sam."
"I know. Believe me, I do too." Sam said.

"How the hell did this happen?" Dean asked.

"I don't know. But let's not push her to tell us. She will, with time. Let's just focus on helping her right now." Sam said.

"How? How the hell do we help her through this?" Dean asked.

"We can start by going to get this pie." Sam said.

"Yeah. We're not getting her a piece of pie, though." Dean said, starting the car.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"We're getting the whole pie."

Three hours later, Evy had been put into a room. She wasn't being admitted, but the room was empty, and she had wanted privacy. They were waiting on Jane to clear her to go home. The two detectives had come back. They told her that Coach Evans had been suspended from the school pending an investigation, and that he was at the police station being interrogated by another detective. A protective order had already been issued, ordering Coach Evans to stay away from Evy. If he came close, he would be arrested automatically. Dean's response had made the detectives cringe.

"If that bastard approaches her again, he'll never go near anyone else."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Detective Morris responded. "Mr. Winchester, I understand that you want this guy off the street. We do too. But let's do this the right way."

"Uncle Dean, please, please let them handle it." Evy asked.

Dean softened at the look on Evy's face. "Okay, kiddo. I will."

"All right." Detective Morris said. "Evy, do you have any other questions for us?"

"This won't get out, right?" Evy said. "It won't get around school?"

"It won't come from us." Detective Jackson promised. "It will hit the news that your coach has been suspended. But your name won't be brought into it."

"But we have to be honest." Detective Morris said. "If the grapevine at your school works like most others…"

"People will figure it out." Evy finished for her.

"Probably." Detective Jackson said.

"Would it be better at all if we came out and said it was her….?" Sam started to ask.

"No." Evy said.

"No what?" Sam asked.

"No. We're not telling anyone else we don't have to that it was me." Evy said.

"Baby, that's not what I meant…"

"I said no." Evy said through gritted teeth. "It's my choice. My story. I'm not sharing with anyone else."

"Okay." Sam said. "Okay, you're right. It's your choice."

"I'm just not ready for everyone else to know yet." Evy explained, slightly softer than before. "He already took my choice away from me once. I want to control this as much as I can."

Sam nodded. "That makes sense."

"I understand that, sweetheart, but I should warn you about something." Detective Jackson said. "There's nothing stopping Coach Evans from leaking your name. Most reporters won't release the name of a minor rape victim, but that doesn't mean there's not one that won't do it. Especially if he offers them a payoff."

"Why would he do that?" Sam asked.

"Revenge for turning him in." Detective Jackson said. "I've seen it happen a few times."

"Won't that be a confession?" Dean asked.

"Not if he just says that she's accusing him." Detective Morris explained.

"So, even though he's not allowed to come near me, he can still hurt me." Evy said bitterly.

Detective Jackson said seriously, "We are going to do everything to make sure he does not get away with this. Make sure he does not hurt anyone else. I don't know if anyone else has told you this, but you're brave for coming forward and exposing this guy. A lot of people don't."

"I don't feel very brave."

Immediately, Sam's mind went back to eight years earlier, in the hospital in Lebanon where Evy was recovering from the car accident. She'd said the same thing to him verbatim. "I don't feel very brave." Sam was sitting on the bed next to her, so he reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tight.

"That's what I'm here for." he said. "When you don't feel brave, you find me. Or Dean. Or Cass. We'll be brave for you. We're all here for you."

Evy looked relieved, and laid her head on Sam's shoulder.

"We'll leave you guys alone for now. We'll update you soon." Detective Morris said.

After the detectives left, Evy asked them, "Do I have to go to school tomorrow?"
"Not if you don't want to." Sam answered. "Do you want to stay out for a while?"
"No. It's Thursday now. I'll go back Monday. I just need a couple days to catch my breath." Evy said.

"No problem." Sam said.

"And guys? I'm sorry. I know it hurt your feelings when I wouldn't let you hug me." Evy said.

"Kiddo, don't worry about that." Dean said.

"Just, be patient with me, okay? Ask me for a hug, or let me hug you. And don't surprise me." Evy asked. "I still feel really jumpy about being touched. Especially if I'm not expecting it."

"We will, baby." Sam said. "You take your time. Just worry about getting better."

"Yeah, kiddo." Dean said. "We'll ask first. Promise."

There was a knock at the door. Jane told them that Evy was cleared to go home. Her pregnancy test was negative, she would have to wait for the results of her STD tests, and her rape kit results had been turned over to the police. Jane told her to come back in a few days to go over her test results, and they were on their way back home. When they pulled up to the house, a very anxious Jordan was waiting on them.

"Do you want me to tell him to go home?" Sam asked.

"No. It's okay." Evy said.

As she climbed out of the car, Jordan came to meet her. "Are you okay?"

"Let's talk about it inside." Evy said. "I just left the hospital. I'm really tired."

"The hospital? Is that why you weren't there today?" Jordan asked.

"Wasn't…" Evy was confused for a moment, then it clicked in her brain what Jordan was talking about. "Lunch! Jordan, I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay. Come on, tell me what happened."

Evy walked in behind Sam, and trailed by Jordan and Dean. Squish, who had been sitting on the back of the couch watching the street, pounced to the floor and scurried over to Evy. Squish waited as Evy sat down. He had gotten used to her pushing him away. Evy smiled at him and patted her lap.

"Come on. It's okay."

Squish happily jumped into her lap, turning so that she could pet every square inch of him.

"I've missed you." Evy said. "I'm sorry I haven't been very nice to you lately. But that's over now."

"Evy, what's going on?" Jordan asked.

Evy broke the news to him.

"Is that why you've been acting funny the last few weeks?"

Evy nodded. "Yeah."

"Are you okay?" Jordan asked.

Evy's patience, worn thin from the endless questions and probing that day, snapped a little. "I wish everyone would stop asking me that!" When Jordan flinched, Evy sighed and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just been a really long day." She opened her eyes again and turned to him. "Can I call you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Jordan said. "Sure." He stood up, then seemed to think twice about something. "Can I have a hug?"

Evy smiled and embraced him, never before so grateful to have him for a friend. "You're the best. You know that?"

"No. You are." Jordan said. "Call me. Please. Let me know you're okay."

"I will. Promise." Evy let him go and sat back down. "Good night."

"Night." Jordan started to walk to the door. "Good night, guys."
"Night, Jordan." Sam and Dean echoed.

By the time Jordan had shut the door, Sam noticed that Evy's eyes were heavy. "You ready for bed?"

Evy nodded. "Yeah. I'm gonna sleep here, though."

"Why?" Sam asked.

Evy frowned. "I didn't tell you, but I've had nightmares every night."

Sam nodded. "Okay. We'll leave you alone."

"Will you stay?" Evy asked. "Both of you? At least until I fall asleep?"

"You bet we will." Dean said.

"Of course we will, baby."

Sam took his seat at the head of the couch, and Dean sat at the opposite end. Evy's feet were in Dean's lap, her head in Sam's. At Evy's request, Sam stroked her hair and sang her to sleep.

"Don't you feel it growing, day by day…"

Though Evy was asleep before Sam even finished the first verse, he sang it through three more times. He looked to Dean, who simply nodded and grabbed a blanket to wrap Evy up. Neither of them left the couch that night.

Next Chapter: Evy's principal has bad news about Coach Evans' arrest and suspension.