Chapter 7 Answers

Two hours after receiving permission, Lucy heads to Carlos' Garcia's doctor to find out the results of his examination.

She meets her outside a private hospital room, which is fully closed up, making sure the patient inside has privacy. The doctor's name is Dr. Angela Mack and Lucy is surprised to see her look utterly exhausted as she comes out of the room.

"Dr. Mack? How did it go?"

"That poor boy. He struggled a lot in the beginning, we had to hold him down during the entire examination. I've never felt so guilty. He finally stopped struggling after a while, so we could get all the tests done. Those men… the things they did to him.. I just don't have any words for it."

"So there were signs of physical abuse?"

"Oh, absolutely. This boy was completely tortured. Not only did they hit and kick him with their fists, but I found evidence of cigarette burns on his arms. I alos found multiple small puncture wounds on his arms, meaning you were right about him being injected with sedatives. We sent the blood work to our lab already, so pretty soon we'll find out what exactly they injected him with. Next to all of this, I found signs of recent broken bones, but old ones as well. Some were older than the two years he was held up there, but most fractures were caused within the two years. He has some burn marks on his neck as well. I think they shocked him with a Taser more than once."

"Oh my god.."

"That's not all." The doctor says with sadly.

"There's more?"

"I'm afraid so. He tried very hard not to let us see him without his clothes. But after a while he let us remove his shirt and we found even more evidence of physical torture. It's as if they tried out every single way to hurt him. We found bruising on his chest and back, evidence of being hit by a belt or maybe even a whip. And.. they carved letters into his back."

"What did it say?"

"Loser and worthless." Lucy shakes her head in disbelief.

"What about the rape kit?"

"Well, that is the last part. Even without the kit it's pretty obvious that they did rape him, multiple times. But the injuries he sustained for that are more recent than his other bruising. I don't think it's been going on longer than three months max."

"According to the other kids, his personality fully changed a few months ago. Could that be the reason for it?"

"It wouldn't be the first time someone would react that way. In what way did his personality change?"

"Well, from what we understand, he was very energetic in the beginning. He used to make jokes and sing to the other kids, just to try to cheer them up. Then a few months ago, in just one night, everything changed. He does remain overprotective of the other kids, but he stopped talking completely. And since we got him out, no one has been able to touch him, without him freaking out." The doctor sighs.

"Well, I'm not a psychologist, but this is a reaction common to rape victims. And I can say that the angry struggling seems to be over now. Unfortunately since I ran the rape kit, he has completely shut down. I'm afraid he's catatonic now."

"Thank you, doctor. Let me know when you get the results from his blood tests."

"Will do, detective."

Behind the corner, three figures are in complete shock as they just heard the list of tortures inflicted on their best friend.

"No wonder he stopped talking…" Logan whispers.

"Oh, god, Carlos…" James cries out in another whisper.

"Those bastards… those fucking bastards!" Kendall shouts as he punches a wall.

Then all three just slide down the wall next to each other.

"What are we going to do?" James asks.

"We need to be there for him. It's all we can do."

"But he doesn't want anyone to touch him. He barely recognizes us if even."

"Of course it's not going to be easy, but he needs us. We have to try."

"I can't believe they…"

"What are you doing out here?" Lucy's voice suddenly sounds from next to them.

"We just wanted to see how Carlos was doing when we heard you and the doctor talking." Logan explains. Lucy's eyes go wide.

"How much did you hear?"

"Everything…"

"Bos, that really wasn't meant for your ears."

"He's our best friend. We have a right to know and besides, we already know now anyway." She sighs when she realizes they're right.

"Was he the only one they… you know?" James asks out of the blue. They all look at him.

"Well, as far as we know right now, he was, yes."

"Why would they do that? Why him? Just because he's always so nice.. was it just to shut him up?"

"I'm sorry, boys, I really can't answer that question. We don't know why they picked him."

"Maybe it was his age." Logan quietly says.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asks.

"Well, he was the eldest one there, right? At least, that's what I got from the news report. So, maybe they picked him because of his age."

Suddenly it dawns on Lucy. "When was his birthday?" The boys look confused.

"Why does that matter?"

"When was his birthday?" She asks again.

"Like three months ago, why?"

"Oh no.."

"What? Why is that important?"

"Listen, I have to go talk to my partner. Just go back to the waiting room, please. I'll let you know the results from the bloodwork." The boys still look confused, but she hurries away from them before they have a chance to ask more.

She picks up her phone and selects a contact from the list.

"Come on, pick up, Nathan.."

"Hello? Lucy?"

"Nathan, I just talked to the doctor who examined Carlos Garcia. Now I know why he's so messed up."

"Lay it on me."

She explains in detail everything the doctor told her. Nathan is quiet the entire time.

"Damn…" Is his only response when she's done.

"Yeah, I know. But Nathan, these guys were a lot more messed up than we think."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because I think they waited with the rape until his birthday."

"His birthday? Why would that matter to them?"

"Because three months ago, he turned eighteen."

"So you think waited especially until that day? Why?"

"I think they wanted to break him down. They were sick of him still being himself after all that torture and in some sick twisted way they gave him this as a birthday present. And, since he won't talk and they're all dead, we'l never be able to prove that it really was rape…"

"Everyone will know he didn't give consent, Lucy."

"Yes, but there needs to just one person who wants to fight that accusation. And we won't have any proof. He's legally an adult…"

"Okay, let's just try to sort this out. I guess all we need is him to talk, right?"

"Yeah and I think this examination just made that even more difficult. The doctor says he became catatonic after she examined him."

"Well, then we need someone he knows, someone he can trust."

"Yeah, that won't work. His best friends from that same boy band showed up. He tried to kill one of them when he tried to touch him."

"Hm… Well, I'm out of ideas then. I'll go try to talk to a friend of mine; he's a psychologist. He's bound to have some ideas on how to deal with this. I'll call you when I get a hold of him."

"Okay, thanks Nathan." They both hang up. Lucy sighs and runs a hand through her hair. Exhaustion is getting to her.

She's regretting ever getting so close to these kids. But she can't help it; she's already sucked in to it. And now she wants to do everything she can to help them. She's especially growing a weak spot for Carlos Garcia. Poor thing, he went through so much. She even feels for his friends. They care so much about him, but they might not realize how hard this will be. They might never get their friend back. But they do sure seem determined.

She wishes he would just start talking again. But she also knows this may never happen again. He has shut himself down, prepared to do anything to protect himself from getting hurt again.

But still, for some reason she doesn't believe he really killed those men. There's just something inside her telling her it's not right. But what did happen then?

And just like that, she decides to head back to the scene of the crime. Since the only witness won't talk, she'll have to get the story from the evidence. Even though, she is very afraid of what she'll find out…

Yes, this chapter is a lot shorter than the previous ones, I'm aware of that. I just had a little less inspiration for this chapter. I just wanted to let you all know what he's been through and the have the boys find out as well. Because now the healing process can start. Or at least, they can help to try and get him to heal.

Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter somewhat. I'll try to come up with a better chapter next time, hopefully make it longer again as well.

Until then, I hope you enjoy reading this one.

Love, Baxxie