Eric's POV:
"This girl is as healthy as a horse, I don't see any permanent damage, nor any markings on her body," the dwarf doctor comments to Pam and I after examining Sookie in Pam's bedroom in her suite at the hotel.
Last night, I had called Pam right away and let her know what happened. She responded by telling me to bring Sookie to the hotel and that a physician would be there to examine her as soon as we got there. Dr. Ludwig was an exceptionally gifted doctor and was always called for medical emergencies after-hours. Her specialty was discretion. Her clients were usually the rich and famous.
"I did an analysis of her blood sample. She was given a concoction of hallucinogens and other chemicals. One of them is known as 'roofies'," she says. "She's still under the effects of it, but it should leave her system within the next 24 hours. There will be no permanent damage."
"How did it get into her system in the first place?" I ask in a worried tone. I knew Sookie was no recreational drug user. I could feel my phone buzzing for the millionth time and it was Alcide. I had answered him after the first ring an hour earlier, and of course I could tell that he was drunk. I told him that Sookie had been hurt and drugged. He started yelling obscenities at me, blaming me for her condition. I told him to "fuck off", that Sookie was being taken of by medical professionals and to call me when he was sober, then I hung up the phone. He had been blowing up my phone and Pam's since then.
"Mostly likely her drink was spiked. That is what happens to a lot of victims, especially when they're at a bar. It's easy for someone to slip something into another's persons drink," Dr. Ludwig responds. "She has to consent if she wants a rape kit done on her, but I don't see any evidence of sexual assault."
I sigh and run my hands through my hair. I was pretty sure nothing happened either. It was maybe less than five minutes when I had last seen her from the time in the club and from the bathroom with Quinn and Charles. They had not been able to get that far with her. I shudder to think what would have happened to Sookie if I wasn't there. I clench my fists in anger at the thought of those two pieces of shits taking advantage of Sookie while she was unconscious. I was going to make sure they paid the price. I would do everything in my power to make sure their careers were done.
"Will she remember anything?" I ask the doctor. I think back to the kiss she gave me and the words she said to me. She had been awake off and on since the moment we arrived to Pam's room. When she was awake in the car, she would gaze into my eyes affectionately and brush her hand against my chest. She let me know how she felt about me. But after hearing from the doctor that Sookie was currently under the influence of drugs, I wasn't sure if it was the drugs or her telling me that she loved me and was the one showering me with affection.
"She may have some recollection, but with the Rohypnol in her system, she most likely won't remember a thing," Dr. Ludwig says. "I'll send you the bill and I'll come and check on her in the morning," she says before walking out of the suite.
"Holy shit Eric, what a fucking mess!" Pam exclaims. "We have Alcide's fiancé, drugged and unconscious, in my hotel bedroom! How are we going to fix this!"
It was the first time I had seen Pam stressed out, but I wasn't worried about me or her. My only concern was Sookie.
"I don't give a shit about the situation. I am only interested in making sure that Sookie will be fine," I state. "I also want to make those dipshits pay for what they did to her."
"The cops haven't called," Pam says. "I doubt the party organizers called the police. Do you think they would risk their organization to face the wrath of Quinn's or even Twinning's teams? They don't want to piss off powerful people. I have no doubt they would've swept this under the rug right away. And I doubt Quinn or Twinning will try to pursue charges against you for assault. They don't want to risk their reputations."
"Are you actually considering what I think you're wanting to do about this?" I ask Pam with a serious expression on my face.
"Yes. If you try to pursue charges against them, they will charge you for assault as well. And they have the physical proof to make that happen. Then there goes your film deals as well as your sponsorship deals… everything!"
I scoff. "I don't give a shit about any of that! They tried to rape her! While she was unconscious! How would you feel if it was Amelia that they did that to?!" I yell.
"Eric, I'm not saying that nothing will happen to them. All I'm saying is that there are other ways to make them pay," Pam says calmly. "I will make sure that their careers are toast. They will never be able to work again in this town. Hell, they won't be able to book jobs on B-list movies or porn films when I'm through with them!"
I let out a deep breath. "When Sookie wakes up, I will tell her what happened and I will let her decide what to do."
Pam takes a deep breath as well. "Fine."
Sookie's POV:
I wake up feeling dizzy and with a massive headache. I take a look around the room that I didn't recognize. I look at the sun shining through the window.
Where the hell was I?! The last thing that I remember was sitting at a booth with Alcide and some of his London friends. They were loud and obnoxious as the night went on and as they continued to drink more and more. I had stopped drinking after the first party. I had lost the mood to enjoy myself after realizing how rude and snobbish these famous and powerful film executives were. I wasn't sure who was worse, the actors or the people who paid for it all.
I remember being given a shot. It was red in colour and had been told by one of Alcide's friends that it had a fruity and sour taste to it. I had initially declined, but they pressured me afterwards. I had hoped Alcide would intervene, but he was getting as drunk as them, and didn't say anything. After declining for the twentieth time, I finally tok the shot. After all, what harm could one small shot of booze do to me?
Obviously a lot…. I lament to myself as my head continues to spin.
"Good morning Miss Stackhouse," a woman says to me.
I open my eyes again to see someone who looked like a dwarf, standing next to me, wearing doctors' scrubs and eyeglasses. She had a stethoscope around her neck. I rub my eyes again to make sure I was seeing what I think I was seeing.
"I'm Dr. Ludwig," she says. "Your friends called me last night to come and examine you. Apparently, you were drugged last night."
I stare at her in disbelief. "What?"
"You were drugged at one of your celebrity parties. I'm not sure which one it was, but I was quite busy last night with calls to attend other party-goers," she says as she checks my pulse. "How do you feel?"
"Like shit," I say coarsely. "I'm thirsty and I have a headache."
"It's the side-effects of the drugs. Do you remember anything?"
I tell her the last things that I remember from last night.
"Well you're lucky. After more analysis of your blood sample, the drugs you were given have no long-term effects," she says. "Now your friend said that you may have been sexually assaulted, did you want a rape-kit?"
I stare at her blankly, feeling the tears welling up in my eyes. I was raped?! Where was Alcide!?
I could feel myself panicking and my chest getting heavy.
"Calm down miss," the doctors says sternly. "Your friend says that he doesn't think your assaulters had gotten that far, but if it will ease your mind, you can have one done.
I nod my head in agreement and ask for one. The doctor takes a few samples from me before putting away in her case.
"I will send you the results later on today," she says. "I think you will be fine. Take some of the aspirin I left for you, have some water for the dehydration, and eat something."
She grabs her things and leaves the room.
"Where the hell am I?" I whisper to myself, still feeling anxious and panicky.
A minute later, Pam walks in.
"Well good morning Sookie," she says calmly and cheerfully.
"Pam! Where am I and what am I doing here?!" I ask erratically.
"Eric brought you here," she says. "He found you in a bad way."
Tears well up in my eyes.
"He can tell you what happened," she says softly.
I nod my head. I was still in the evening dress from the night before. This dress had been given to me for free by the designer just for wearing it and for posing in front of the cameras. I had fallen in love with it, the moment I saw it and tried it on. Now, I hated it, knowing that this dress was tied to something heinous that happened to me.
Eric walks in and he comes to sit beside me on the bed.
"Eric," I weep as I reach out my arms to him. I needed to feel warmth and comfort. I still didn't know where Alcide was, but I was glad that it was Eric who was here with me at this moment.
He holds me close as I continue to cry.
"Shhhhhh," he hushes. "You're okay…. You'll be okay….."
After a few minutes of crying in his arms, he hands me tissues and tells me what happened last night. I don't remember seeing that asshole Quinn last night, but I remember Charles Twinning. He had introduced himself to me last night while Alcide was busy talking to his friends. I could tell that he was trying to flirt with me, but I let him know right away that I had no interest in him. He seemed to take the hint and left right away, obviously that wasn't the case.
"We can go to the cops," Eric says. "I'll stand by you and tell them everything."
I look down and saw that both our hands were joined. I begin rubbing my thumb over his. "You could get into trouble, if you broke Charles' nose and whatever injuries Quinn has."
"I don't care about that," Eric says quickly.
I close my eyes and begin to think. "I'll wait till the results of the rape kit."
Eric rubs my hands with his. "Either way, they are done. Pam will make sure they are finished."
"Does she have connections in the mafia?" I amuse lightly through my teary eyes.
"Probably, I wouldn't be surprised," he answers with his eyes twinkling.
I stop to think for several seconds, before my mind goes to Alcide. "Wait, where was Alcide when all of this was happening?"
Eric sighs out loud. "I don't know. I mean he did call me afterwards, but he was wasted. I let him know what happened but for some reason, he was angry at me. I didn't think it would be wise for him to be here when he was that drunk."
I think back and I do remember that Alcide had been drinking more than he usually did. I know he was just celebrating his win last night. He was definitely getting louder and drunker along with the crowd.
"I talked to him this morning, he seemed sober now. Still mad at me, but sober. He's worried about you," Eric says. "He should be here shortly."
I look down to the dress that made me feel disgusting.
As though Eric knew what I was thinking he says, "Pam has a pair of clothes for you here. A t-shirt and jeans and undergarments. You can use her shower too."
I thank Eric again and go to the bathroom to shower and freshen up.
I was out of the bathroom and in the living room area of Pam's hotel suite in less than 15 minutes.
Eric was sitting on one of the sofas flipping through his cell phone, while Pam was at the table on her computer and talking on the phone.
"Sookie," Eric says as his face lights up as he comes up to me.
"Thank you, Eric," I say to him as I give him a hug. "And thank you too Pam," I say quietly.
She gives me a little wave as she continues on with her call.
I stay in my embrace with Eric. It felt good to be this close to him. He made feel safe. I was grateful that he had protected me last night. I don't think I could ever repay him. A few seconds later, I break away from him.
"I don't know where my phone is," I say. "I'm guessin' it's still at that party."
A few seconds, we all hear a loud knock on the door.
Pam ends her call as she stands up and walks towards the door and opens it.
"Sookie!" Alcide says as he rushes past her and to me. He takes me into his arms and gives me a firm hug. "Are you okay!"
"I'm okay," I manage to breathe out.
"Eric…. What the fuck happened!?" Alcide says angrily.
"Where the fuck were you last night?!" Eric retorts back, looking angry as well. "Sookie was hurt!"
They start shouting and getting louder at each other.
"Enough!" Pam voice booms out.
"Alcide, you were lucky that Eric was there to save Sookie from assault. Though it was bad, it could have been worse," she says. "You should be thanking Eric."
"He fucking hung up on me last night and wouldn't tell me where he took Sookie!" Alcide yells out.
"You were drunk!" Pam says. "What the fuck could you do to help Sookie in the condition that you were in?"
That shut Alcide up.
He stares daggers at Eric for a minute. "Let's go Sookie," he says as he puts his arm around my waist and leads me out of the room.
"I…." I say as he firmly leads me out of the room.
"Just hold up Alcide," I say as we stand out in the hallway. "Where were you last night?"
He looks at me with guilt in his eyes and is silent for a minute. " I was…. I was talking to my friends still. I was playing a game with them that caused me to lose track of time. I had just realized after some time that you weren't sitting down near me anymore. I walked around the whole floor, looking for you, when I started asking people if they had seen you. I finally found someone who said they had seen you, but you were being carried out of the party by Eric. They said you were awake and were holding onto him. That's when I rushed out and got my phone from security. They gave me yours as well. The first person that I called was Eric. I tried to ask him where you were, but all he said was that you were hurt. I initially thought it was him that did that and I got angry over the phone. A few of my friends had left with me. They were willing to scour all the best hotels to look for you with me, but ultimately decided against it."
"You didn't look for me," I reply glumly.
"Sookie, I was fucking wasted last night," Alcide pleads. "I could barely remember dialing Eric's number, much less walk straight. My friends took me back to my parents' place and I passed out right away."
I sigh. I was going through a wave of emotions. Right now, I was mad. I wanted to say things that I know I would regret later on. Maybe Alcide deserved to have it from me. But then again, I was too tired and hungover to get mad. I'll get mad later.
"I never want to go to one of those types of parties again. I mean it, Alcide," I say seriously.
"Sookie, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you got hurt. When I get my hands on those two assholes…. They are going to regret being born!" Alcide fumes.
"I just want to rest and have something to eat," I tell Alcide.
Later that night I receive a call from Dr. Ludwig letting me know the results, there was no sign of assault. I could not begin to tell you how relieved I was.
Now that I had that information, I called Eric right away. He answered after one ring.
S: Hi Eric, it's me.
E: Sookie! I'm glad you called.
S: I just wanted to let you know that I am okay. The results were negative, they didn't do anything to me.
E: That's such a relief! My mind has been on you all day.
I pause for a moment, trying to think of what I wanted to say to him next, I wanted to say a lot to him, but I wasn't sure where to begin and what was proper for me to say to him. I could never express my gratitude to him enough. I would never be able to repay him for being there and protecting me when I was at my most vulnerable state.
S: Thank you Eric, I can even possibly every thank you enough. I should have never been there. I didn't belong there.
E: I didn't belong there either, I only stayed for you…..
I pause again as I ponder his words. I knew that he still cared about me, I could feel and see it in his eyes this morning.
E: Tha
This time it is Eric who is silent.
E: You were drugged last night, so you weren't thinking straight.
I smile and feel embarrassed. I must've done something stupid.
S: Well I guess that's a good thing that I don't remember any of it.
I laugh and Eric lightly laughs with me.
E: I'm going home, back to Shreveport tomorrow.
S: Really? I'm heading home too. Well, Alcide was supposed to do some interviews and promotions in New York, but he cancelled them to come home with me. I told him that it was unnecessary, but he's coming to Bon Temps with me too.
E: That's great. I'm glad he's going to be there for you.
S: Yeah….. I say absentmindedly. I was still angry at Alcide, who was still expressing remorse for what had happened and for not being the one to protect me. But for some reason, I felt happier that it was Eric who was there and not him. I felt safer with Eric than I did with Alcide. Was that wrong? I still couldn't help but feel like more happened last night while I was with Eric after he saved me. I remind myself to ask Eric again in the future.
E: I should get packing, my flight is first thing. Maybe I'll see you and Alcide around in Shreveport?
S: Yes, I would like that. I should get going too. I have to call Gran. And you can tell Pam to throw everything at Quinn and Charles Twinning that she possibly can. I know what you did to them was for me and they totally deserved it, but I don't think the police will see it that way. I don't want anything to happen to you Eric. I don't want to see you get hurt.
E: Sookie….
S: I mean it Eric, I couldn't bear it if something happened to you.
E: Uhhhh… well goodnight Sookie
S: Goodnight Eric.
We hang up the phone. I sit quietly for a few minutes before dialing to call Gran.
A few days later Alcide and I were sitting on the outdoor porch swing outside my Gran's house after having supper and cleaning up. Gran was listening to her music and doing her sewing, preparing for her next Descendants of the Glorious Dead meeting tomorrow night. I lean against him, feeling the warm breeze and listening to the sounds of crickets and the howling of wild animals in the bush.
"What are you thinking about?" Alcide says as he rubs his hand up and down my arm in a soothing motion.
"I'm just thinking that there's no place I'd rather be than here," I say softly. After what had happened in London, I had been feeling afraid, afraid of being out in the world, in cities and places that were still strange to me. The moment I entered that party, I had never felt so out of place and a sense of dread. It practically screamed 'stranger danger'. I was resolute in my decision to never attend parties like those anymore. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to attend premiere parties or even award shows anymore. The majority of other celebrities and powerful people were rude and condescending. I didn't want to be around people like that.
"Me too," Alcide says.
"Really?" I ask him.
"I have to be where you are," Alcide says. "Without you, I am lost."
I lay my head against his shoulder.
"I'm tired," I say to him. "I have to go to work in the morning."
"I really wish you would let me take care of you and Gran," he says.
"You do take care of me," I say to him before giving him a soft kiss on the lips. "Come on."
I stand up and he follows me as we head back to my room.
I still wasn't sure what was going to happen, but I knew that life was always filled with uncertainties.
