"Ouch! You're hurting me! Brad stop... please don't! I won't tell anyone please!" Lucy's screams and sobs awoke both Olivia and Elliot up with a start, the pair of them quickly dodging her legs and arms. Elliot shushed the poor kid, very gently stroking her hair.
"Honey, it's Uncle Elliot. Auntie Olivia and I are right here! Shhh... you're safe! It's alright..." Elliot tried to calm her down but it was no use. She kicked out more and let out another scream.
"Please stop! I'll do anything please!" Lucy wept and this time Olivia tried. She just gathered the thrashing child to her chest and rocked back and forth, pressing kisses to her forehead. It took a long time but eventually Lucy stopped thrashing and she opened her eyes, her body heaving with sobs and she nuzzled her face into Olivia's chest.
"Auntie Liv! Auntie Liv!" Lucy wailed, gripping onto Olivia as tightly as she could. Olivia laid back against the headboard and pulled Lucy down with her, gently running her fingers through her blonde hair.
"I'm here sweet girl, Auntie Liv is here. You're safe and no one can hurt you whilst your Uncle and I are here!" Olivia cooed whilst rubbing soothing circles on Lucy's back whilst she wailed.
"I'm in so much pain..." Lucy admitted, letting out a small hiccup when Olivia pressed kisses to her bruised face. Elliot very gently untangled himself from the bed sheets and made his way to the kitchen, grabbing some painkillers and making the terrified child a hot chocolate. He bought it through and handed it to her, smiling encouragingly when she started to take small sips of the sweet drink and take her medication.
"That's it... good girl. This should start to help you feel a little better... you're safe!" Elliot said soothingly, gently lifting Lucy onto his lap and cradling her in his arms as though she was a child and one of his own daughters.
"Don't feel safe..." Lucy whispered through hiccups and Elliot began to nod softly, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. He just kept her in his arms and wiped her tears away gently with his thumb.
"I know honey, I know. I'm so sorry that they've taken that away from you! Your Aunt and I are going to be here every day to remind you that you're ok and safe! It doesn't matter how long it takes, we're both right here!" Elliot cooed and tightened his arms around the frightened little girl when she snuggled in more. Olivia looked at her phone and saw the time, 8:00am... there was no way that they would be sleeping anymore after this.
"Lulu, what would you like to do today?" Olivia said softly, her heart clenching when Lucy looked up at her. The pain in her eyes was breaking her heart, all she wanted to do was keep her safe.
"I just want to be with you and Uncle Elliot... please don't make me see mom! Please..." Lucy hiccuped and slowly held her arms out to Olivia who gently took her, rocking her back and forth in a huge motherly hug.
"We are right here, sweetie. What's been going on? Can you tell us? We won't get angry with you, Lucy. I promise... you can tell us anything!" Olivia rocked her back and forth, whispering soothing words when the young girl nuzzled her face into the crook of her neck and took a deep breath.
"That's it, sweet girl. Take a big deep breath, you're alright! You're safe now..." Olivia kissed her cheek and held one hand to Lucy's head, stroking her curls and smiling encouragingly.
"Things have been so hard for such a long time, Mom has gotten so unwell over the last couple of years. I sometimes feel like I don't have one anymore... when she's well it's ok but she's been hurting me, calling me names and then of course after what happened yesterday she called me a whore and..." Lucy trailed off, hiding herself in Olivia's arms desperately trying not to cry again. Olivia seemed to notice what she was doing and tightened the huge hug that she had on the child.
"Oh honey, it's ok to cry and feel sad... you've been through hell! You're allowed to feel all of this and more. You know that what happened yesterday wasn't your fault don't you?" Olivia picked her up and walked around the room when she began to cry, lovingly whispering sweet nothings to her.
"I was raped Auntie Liv and she didn't care! She didn't care..." Lucy hiccuped, anxiously gripping fistfuls of her Aunt's pyjamas. Olivia swayed to and fro, acknowledging Lucy's feelings and all her pain.
"I know you were, honey. I'm so sorry that this happened to you, Uncle El and I care about what's happened to you and we will be right there every step of the way! No matter what you decide to do... there we go! That's it take a deep breath, love!" Olivia said softly, shifting the little girl slightly when her arms began to ache. Lucy twirled Olivia's hair around her fingers and began to calm down, she always felt safe when her Aunt and Uncle were there.
"Come on, let's go and get something to eat. What would you like?" Olivia gently placed Lucy on the floor but kept her arms around her, making sure that she felt safe.
"I'm not really hungry..." Lucy whispered and Elliot frowned, she had lost weight since they had last seen her which before all of this had been around 4 months ago. He bent down to her level so that he didn't overwhelm her, talking to her how he'd speak to his own daughters. He remembered having a similar conversation with Maureen when she was a similar age.
"Darling, your body needs food. You didn't eat much last night... which is understandable!" He added hastily after seeing Olivia's glare, he gently took Lucy's hand in his own and rubbed the backs of them.
"You've lost weight, honey and I worry about you. Did you know that I had to have this conversation with Maureen when she was your age? She wouldn't eat much either... Hey, it's ok... you're ok!" Elliot soothed, gently picking her up onto his hip when Lucy's eyes welled with tears.
"It's not that I haven't wanted to eat... Mom wouldn't let me eat much because I was putting on weight, I was starving hungry..." Lucy admitted, burying her face into Elliot's shoulder whilst he rubbed her back and shushed her tears. The two adults were livid! Elliot was so angry with his sister; how dare she do this to her!
"Honey, why didn't you tell me or Auntie Liv? We would've got you out of there from the moment it started! We're so sorry that it's taken so long for us to find all this out... you're never ever going back there!" He cooed, pressing a kiss to her cheek and beginning to walk out of the bedroom with Olivia close behind. She couldn't stop smiling; this was who she fell in love with! The gentle giant who loved his family, who would do anything to protect them and who was making that kid feel safe after everything she had been through.
"Can we have pancakes then?" Lucy said softly, a very small smile forming on her lips when Elliot nodded and put her down on the ground, gently stroking her cheek with his knuckles.
"Of course we can! Go with Auntie Liv and I'll make us some breakfast!" He said with a small smile, watching as Lucy went with Olivia and curled up on the couch. Elliot went back into the kitchen and made pancakes with chocolate chips, he knew that both he and Olivia couldn't make the trauma that she had experienced go away but they could make it a little easier.
An hour or two had gone by since Elliot had made breakfast and they were now all curled up on the couch, Lucy had her head on Olivia's chest and she closed her eyes. She felt safe when her Aunt was stroking her hair and cuddling her; she didn't know whether she should tell them both what had happened yet. She was so embarrassed... how could she let herself get in this situation! She snuggled even closer to Olivia who seemed to know that something was up.
"It's ok, sweetheart! We're here to listen... you can tell us anything!" She cooed and brushed a kiss to Lucy's head, hugging her tight whilst the young girl debated as to whether or not she should explain what happened. She didn't know whether it was because she was wrapped up in such a loving embrace or the fact that her Aunt was pressing kisses to her forehead but she began to talk and once she started, she couldn't stop.
"There was a party at this guy's house, he's super popular. I didn't know him but my friend did... I asked Mom if I could go and she told me not to. I should've listened and then none of this would've happened!" Lucy hiccuped and Olivia gently placed her on her lap and shook her head, hugging the little girl tight when she buried her face into her chest.
"Hey... hey... no, you're not going to take any blame here. The fault lies with the animals who hurt you ok? You were not responsible for this, my sweet girl..." Olivia said softly, rubbing the top of Lucy's back as she resumed talking about the pain she'd experienced.
"My friends and I got to the party and that's when we realised that they were all a few years older than us, my friend didn't tell us that the guy was her older brother's friend. It started off fine... we got some drinks, alcoholic ones... I'm so sorry Auntie Liv and Uncle El... if I'd not drunk so much then maybe they wouldn't have hurt me!" Lucy began to cry and Elliot reached forward, brushing his knuckles up and down her bruised cheek.
"No matter whether you drank a whole bottle of tequila it still wouldn't give anyone the right to be intimate with you without your consent! You're being so brave, honey. Thank you for telling us... you aren't in any trouble!" Elliot cooed softly and Lucy closed her eyes, she felt safe here. She felt safe with her Aunt and Uncle by her side.
"I must've only been there for a couple of hours and suddenly I was all on my own. I went looking for my friends but I couldn't find them... suddenly 4 or 5 guys were talking to me, I remember one of them was called Brad and he said that he would look after me!" Lucy let out a sob and burrowed her face into Olivia's neck, tightening her grip on her when she whispered sweet nothings to her.
"Shh...shh it's ok, it's ok!" She whispered and rubbed her back, pressing a motherly kiss to her face. She glanced at Elliot and she could tell how angry he was; those animals had taken advantage of her and had hurt her!
"We all hung out for a while and they got me some drinks... it was almost like a switch had been flipped, I got so dizzy really fast and they took me to this bedroom and laid me down on the bed... I thought they were just putting me to bed. I must've passed out because when I came to, I was naked and Brad was on top of me... he was inside of me and it hurt so bad!" Lucy sobbed, her face blushing from the fact that she was talking about this in front of her Uncle!
"I said no and to stop! I told him how much he was hurting me but he just said that I was playing hard to get and to stop leading him on... once he was done with me, he got the rest of them to hurt me too! I never thought it would end... it went on for so long! After it was over, I threw up and I rang mom but she just shouted at me... and she... she dragged me out by my hair and said if I'd not been such a drunken slut then none of this would've happened! She said that boys can't control themselves so..." Lucy shivered so much from fear that she almost fell out of Olivia's lap. Elliot was disgusted when he heard what his sister had said to that little girl, he reached out of his own accord and picked her up as though she was a toddler.
"I am so sorry, I am so sorry that your mom said those awful things to you! She was so wrong for that, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Your Aunt Liv and I believe you, sweetheart and we aren't going to let this go ok? We'll get them for this... you're safe and so loved honey! Uncle El's got you... shhh!" He whispered, hugging her tight whilst she sobbed for everything that had been taken from her in that room.
"I never thought that I would lose my virginity like this..." Lucy said through hiccups and Olivia got up, making her way over to the pair and stroked her hair back from her face.
"You did not lose your virginity darling, you were raped and assaulted. There's a difference! Sex isn't like that, sex can be something amazing when it is shared between two consenting adults... you were violated honey!" Olivia spoke softly as she explained the difference to the young teenager, letting her forehead rest against her niece's.
"I can't get clean... I feel so dirty! I feel sick as well... I hate myself!" Lucy spoke angrily and wiped her tears away, allowing Olivia to take her from Elliot's grasp and hug her tight to her chest.
"I know, sweet girl. Let's get you a nice hot bath and into some fresh pyjamas... I'll also make you a sugary tea, that always helps me when I'm in shock!" Olivia spoke softly and led the little girl away, turning on her heel and glancing at Elliot.
"Ring Fin and tell him that we will bring her in tomorrow... they're going to pay for everything that they've done!"
An hour had gone by and Olivia was sat in the bathroom with Lucy, gently talking to her and being there for her whilst she relived the trauma of the last couple of days.
"I'm hurting... not physically so much but my heart aches! Like... really badly!" Lucy hiccuped and Olivia nodded sadly, brushing a kiss against her niece's damp hair. If she could take the pain away from this kid then she would in a heartbeat!
"Oh my darling... I know..." Olivia whispered and grabbed a towel when Lucy stood up, wrapping her in it and carrying her out and into the bedroom. She locked the door behind them to give the little girl some privacy whilst she changed into the clean pair of pyjamas.
"Uncle Elliot is speaking to Fin about us going to the Precinct tomorrow to report your assault... would that be ok?" Olivia spoke softly, taking the young girl in her lap so that she could braid her hair. She felt Lucy tense up slightly and she whispered reassuringly.
"But... but I've already told you! I don't wanna talk about it again... it makes my tummy hurt!" Lucy whimpered and Olivia pressed a gentle kiss to her nose and hugged her tight.
"It's alright, sweetheart you're safe. I know you've told us and you are so brave! It's just we can't do anything legally because you're our niece! So, you would need to talk about it to Fin or Nick... maybe Amanda if you would feel more comfortable?" Olivia spoke softly and Lucy hugged her tight.
"Could you be in there with me? I love Uncle Elliot but... it's just well..." Lucy trailed off and Olivia nodded in understanding, gently stroking her niece's long curls.
"Of course... I'll be there anytime you need me! Let them try and stop me from coming in!" Olivia said protectively and Lucy smiled slightly, a warmth spreading through her stomach and chest. She spoke quietly and Olivia had to strain to hear it, when she did hear what the little girl was saying tears welled in her eyes.
"I wish you were my Mama..." She whispered and Olivia hugged her even tighter whilst also being mindful of her injuries.
"I know, sweet girl! Me too..." She whispered over and over again until Lucy fell asleep, curled on her lap where she was safe from harm. She just hoped that tomorrow would be the start of getting the justice that she deserved.