Chapter 14

As I stumbled up the front steps, I couldn't help thinking what my dad was thinking at that very moment. I wasn't thinking of Cal, my arm or my many, many bruises, I was thinking of him. I wondered whether my mother had the heart to tell him what I had done. If she had and he got angry, he'd feel even worse when he saw me again. And for some reason I felt compelled to lie again, maybe telling him I was beaten by some faceless stranger would be better than telling him I was assaulted by the very man he told me to stay away from.

I opened the front door and walked inside, letting the warmth and comfort wash over me. I started toward the kitchen door, letting my boots fall hard on the floor to let them know I was coming, to prepare themselves.

I opened the door, revealing myself to them slowly. There they were as always, waiting for my return at the kitchen table, staring at their knuckles in silence. My mother was the first to look up at me, cocking her eyebrows in anticipation of my perfuse apologies, but her haughtiness was short lived.

"Help me." I whined. As soon as their eyes took in my damaged form they leapt from their seats, knocking them over as they went.

"Who did this to you?" My mother cried, breathless as she examined my extensive wounds. I didn't want to answer. Maybe if I kept it quiet this would all go away. My father took my broken arm gently in his and held it aside gingerly as he scooped me into his arms.

"Rose, a man named Mr. Calvert lives next door, he's a doctor. I need you to go and fetch him for me, tell him it's serious." In an instant she was gone.

As he carried me upstairs to my room, I saw a pair of bright sea green eyes peer out of the adjacent room. Jack was awake, and he'd come to investigate. I mouthed a greeting at him, flashing a famous smile. It seemed to do the trick and pair of green eyes returned to the shadows of their room.

"Lizzy, I need you to tell me what happened." He said beseechingly as he sat me down on my bed. The real answer would devastate him. His kind heart didn't deserve the truth.

"I fell," I said sincerely, looking him directly in the eye. "I was sitting on the stairs in front of town hall, crying, and I went to get up and I tripped and fell down the stairs."

"Well you should be more careful." He said with a laugh ruffling my hair and tucking the loose ends behind my ear. I flinched at the memory of Cal doing the same thing just hours ago, when he was asking me about the nightmare. "Don't worry. We'll have Mr. Calvert take a look at yah and bind that arm up and you'll be fine."

I watched him leave the foot of my bed and head for the door. he stood in the doorway and ran his fingers through his hair taking one last look at my battered body.

"Jeez, if I didn't know any better I'd swear you'd been beaten up." He said as he left the room. If only he knew. If only he could know. But I couldn't tell him. Not only would the truth break his heart but he'd want justice. I feared for his life if he went after Caledon Hockley on his own.

I fell fast asleep. It felt like forever since I'd truly slept. But my mind was too preoccupied to rest for long and I woke maybe just an hour later to find my parents by my side talking to Mr. Calvert.

I kept my eyes closed, pretending to be unconscious. I knew as well as any child that our presence usually changed the honesty of adult conversations.

"Well," Said my mother, her voice low and hoarse with concern. "Is she alright?" Her breathing was hard and heavy in anticipation of the worst.

"She as alright as she can be with her injuries." Said the deep, warm accented voice of Mr. Calvert. "Her wrist is snapped right off the joint and she has some bad bruising all over her body but those should heal pretty quickly. I bandaged her wrist so that shouldn't hurt her too much anymore. She should be able to sleep for a couple more hours. When she wakes up she'll need the pain medication, I left it on the table for you."

"Thanks John." Said my father. "I know it's pretty late. I just don't understand how she fell down the stairs." He said quizzically. I could just picture his furrowed brow in my head.

"Jack's right." Said my mother. "I can't remember the last time Eliza was physically hurt. She gets sick a lot. She had a lung problem when she was younger but never has she been injured this badly. I just can't understand it."

"You know Rose," said Mr. Calvert his voice becoming low and hushed. "I really don't think Eliza fell down the stairs."

"What do you mean? Jack said Eliza told him she fell down the steps of town hall. Why would she lie about that?" My mother said, becoming defensive.

"I don't know, but the break in her arm," I heard him sigh and pause for a moment before he finished his answer. " If the wrist hit the corner of a concrete step it wouldn't have broken clean in two, it might have come close...I think somebody physically grabbed her wrist and twisted it till it broke."

"You can't be sure of that." My mother snapped. "She could have fallen the wrong way, you weren't there."

"Well, it's not only that but the bruises...if she'd fallen down the stairs they would have been mainly in the exposed areas such as the calves and forearms. Her bruises are everywhere, Rose, everywhere. And I found blood on her ankles but I couldn't find a cut anywhere." He breathed deep before giving his diagnosis. "I think...I think Eliza was sexually assaulted. And I think she lied because she's ashamed." Both of my parents were silent. "Just don't question her about right away. Once she gets over it she might open up."

"Jack, he did it. I know he did it!" My mother sobbed. "What are we gonna do, Jack. What if he comes for us next?"

"We can't worry about that now." My father said quietly. "We really don't know what actually happened until we get the truth from Lizzy. We have to worry about her first."

"Like I said, I comfort her before I'd question her again. She's probably traumatized." I felt my mother's slender hand slide into mine and squeeze it hard.

"My poor baby. What did he do to you?" She cried softly. He didn't do anything, I thought to myself as they cried for me, I brought this on myself.

"So you wanna tell us the truth."

It was late afternoon before they troubled me again. After their conversation with Mr. Calvert they left me to sleep for the remainder of the morning, my mother only intruding once to try and coax me to eat some lunch to no avail.

It made my skin crawl just to make eye contact with her. I knew it wouldn't be long before my father returned from work and they both sat me down and laid out the evidence.

"We already know you didn't fall down the stairs so don't try anything." My mother said darkly and my father cast a meaningful look.

"Rose." He warned and she fell silent. "Lizzy you know you can tell us anything," He said taking my hands in his, "You can trust us. We're not here to judge, we just wanna know what happened so we can do something about it."

I bit my lip. The truth would kill him, but mother already suspected Cal attacked me but she had no idea what else he did. I was ashamed it happened to me. It shouldn't have, I was supposed to be strong and brave not cower in the corner while some man beat me up. Yet if mother told him everything else, this would seem small.

"Mother," I turned to her my eyes blazing with intensity and meaning, "Just give him the diamond. Give him the diamond and this might all go away." My mother tensed up and my father looked at her incredulous.

"You had it all this time?" He asked quietly. She nodded tears streaming down her flushed cheeks and my father got up and hugged her tight for a reason I can't say. "I guess we have to meet with him." He breathed as she buried her face in his shoulder. "We have to give it to him." My mother pulled away nodding and wiping her eyes.

"Eliza, I thought I told you to stay away from him." He knelt down to my level, running his fingers through his hair. "If you had listened to us this never woulda happened. Why'd you do it?"

"Well...I was angry and I was scared." I said slowly, digging deep into the emotion of the previous night.

"Why were you scared?" He put a tender hand on my shoulder.

"Well because..." I looked into his eyes, deep sea green and full of worry. Then it hit me, he didn't know. She hadn't told him. I jumped out of bed and threw my arms around my mother, sobbing in gratitude.

"Thank you, thank you so much, Mommy!" I cried. "I sorry mummy, I would take it all back if I could. It won't happen again." She squeezed me back whispering into my ear.

"It's okay. It's okay. I know." then she pushed me away, so hard and fast she almost knocked me into my father, who caught me in his arms before I fell. We both looked at her confused at her sudden change in demeanor.

"But you're punished." She said firmly. You are not to leave this house for the rest of the week...and I forbid you to see that Nathan boy ever again."

I couldn't speak. It felt like the floor had slipped from under me and I was plunging hundreds of feet or at least that's what my heart felt like.

"No. You can't do that! You can't I love him!" I screamed. My father tried to put a hand on my shoulder but I took it and threw it aside advancing toward my mother with building animosity. "You're a hypocrite! And I hope you go to hell!" She just stood there her face hard and her eyes stone cold yet fiery with anger. I snatched my pillow from my bed.

"I think I'll stay in Jack's room tonight." I said simmering down. "Oh and by the way, when I told you I was sleeping at Ginny's," I looked at my dad still stunned, "I lied. I slept at the beach with Nathan Hockley. Oh, and when I say we slept together I do mean we slept together." And I left the room slamming the door in there frozen faces.