Ben Markham watched as Bron Craig walked away, she had told him that she would be fine, but as he saw he slowly lifting her shoulders trying to swallow the anger and tears she was trying to hide from him moments earlier, he knew that she was lying.
He lent back against the side of the ambulance where he had been sitting, closed his eyes and tried to digest the revelations his friend had just told him.
She hadn't told him exactly what happened but the implications were there.
He went over her words again in his head " we had this friend, another doctor, who used to come round to our house all the time, and I was only 7 and I didn't know what to do"
Yes the implications where definitely there, this man, this doctor had abused her in some way, maybe psychically or maybe sexually he wasn't really sure, at the moment it didn't matter, all that mattered was this man had hurt Bron in some way, some terrible way and the one person she thought she could rely on, the one person in her life that was meant to support her, protect her and unconditionally love her, didn't believe a word she said.
Her father thought she was lying, a 7 year old.
The way he acted so smugly when Ben had confronted him in his car.
Telling him that she should get some help and that he had been putting up with this 'rubbish' for years.
He even told Ben she should be charged, he wanted to press charges against his own daughter.
Ben understood completely why Bron hated him so much and he felt the same way.
"You bastard" he said out loud.
"Are you talking to me?" Scott Zinenko's voice interupted Ben's thoughts and he quickly opened his eyes.
"No" he replied.
"Good, we've got a call out"

Bron watched Ben climb out of the ambulance and follow his Partner Scott towards the ambulance station.
As soon as they were out of sight she turned and continued walking to her car.
She had wanted so desperately to run back and into to his arms, to tell him the whole story as he reassured her it would be ok and that he was there for her, but she fought the urge.
She didn't want him to see her like that, god knows he had already seen her fighting for her life submerged under freezing cold water and he had seen her standing on his doorstep begging for money with tears in her eyes he didn't need to see her crying about some stupid little thing that happened years ago and that she should have forgotten about by now, but she hadn't.
How could she forget it, the events still played clearly in her mind as thought she was watching it in a movie theatre, except she was the victim and this wasn't make believe. God damn it she hadn't made it up.
After years of telling herself she had and that it was all a dream or an over exaggeration, she had finally admitted the truth, too bad her dad never would.
I'm not to cry, she told herself and raised a hand to her eyes as they started to blink quickly.
Her father and this monster were both heartless, perverted and selfish bastards and not worthy of her tears.
She reached her car, and hoped inside.
She quickly pulled the door shut and locked it again, she needed to feel safe.
"I'm not going to cry," she told herself again, this time out loud.
She turned on the ignition and put the gear stick into reverse, she was about to pull out, when she stopped.
She just remembered Kylie had been in an accident this morning for falling asleep at the wheel, maybe she should calm down a bit more before she drove home.
She cut the engine and looked out the window, she could see a lot of people in the hospital car park and gardens and if she could see them then they could see her and that was the last thing she wanted at the moment.
I'll be fine she told herself and pulled out of the car park.

"Bring, Bring" , "Bring Bring" "Bring Bring"
Ben was woken by the ringing of the phone.
He looked over at the clock as he answered the phone 12:56am.
"Hello"
"Ben" a sniffling voice said on the other line.
" Bron" Ben replied, "Are you ok?"
"Um, I don't know" she replied.
Ben could hear static in the background and her voice was not clear, she must be using a mobile he thought.
"Bron, where are you?"
"um, at your front door"
"What" Ben rolled over to the other side of his bed and pulled back the curtain, sure enough there was a drenched shortish woman standing on his front door step. "Stay there" he said and hung up the phone.
He crawled out of bed and to the front door.
He opened it but Bron stayed standing hesitantly where she was.
"Well come in" he said, "I don't bite you know"
She walked slowly through the door and although she was soaked it was obvious to Ben that she had been crying.
"Hey" Ben said and placed a hand on her shoulder.
She flinched and pulled back.
"Sorry" He said. "I'm sorry" There was a slight pause before Ben continued "Bron, what happened?"
No one spoke for what seemed like minutes, finally, when Ben realized she wasn't going to answer his question, he broke the silence.
"Look at you, your soaked, come on we'll get you out of those clothes and into some thing warm and dry"
He walked towards his bedroom and Bron followed.
"Take a seat" Ben said gesturing towards the bed.
Bron sat down as Ben rifled through a drawer looking for some old clothes of Steph's, it took him a few minutes but finally he pulled out some old track suit pants and a top.
"See I knew there was a reason I kept these" He smiled at Bron.
He went to the other side of the room and pulled out one of his jumpers.
"Here put this on too, it'll keep you warm"
Bron nodded.
Ben headed towards the door, "You put those on and I'll make us some hot chocolate. You come out when your ready and then we can talk ok?"
Bron nodded again.

Bron watched as Ben closed the door behind him turning to smile at her as he did.
What was she doing here, was the one thought that kept running through her head.
She had told herself she didn't want him to see her like this and now she had turned up at his house looking like a drowned rat, hardly uttering a word.
She stood up and looked at the bed she had just been sitting on, she wanted so badly to just crawl into it, the sheet's were all ruffled and untucked, 'because he had to get out of bed to let me in', she thought to herself.
She picked up the top and pants and sighed before changing into them.
She picked up the jumper and put that on as well.
She didn't feel at all comfortable wearing Steph's clothes, but when she put Ben's jumper on she felt a sense of relaxation and comfort come over her, but most of all she felt safe.
She took one more look at the room before opening the door and going to the kitchen to find Ben.
Ben turned around when he heard her coming,
"Hey, that's better, now go sit down on the couch, I won't be a second"
She nodded again and went into the lounge.
Ben came in a few minutes later carrying two mugs of hot chocolate.
"Here you go," he said
"Thanks" Bron replied.
"Ah, so you haven't lost your speech capabilities after all, I was getting a bit worried for a minute there"
Ben was trying very hard to make her feel better and she knew it.
"Sorry" she replied.
"Well since I've got you speaking, do you want to tell me what happened?" Ben asked, trying not to pressure her too hard.
"I can't Ben, I can't" She replied.
Bron couldn't believe how much she didn't want to tell Ben, she knew Ben, she trusted Ben, and although she was too scared to admit it, she loved Ben, but she just couldn't bring herself to tell him. She had only ever told one person before in her life and he had thought she was lying; she couldn't bear it if Ben told her the same, if he didn't believe her.
"Ok, I understand that you don't want to talk about what happened with your father and this doctor, but can you at least explain to me what your doing on my doorstep at 1 o'clock in the morning, in the pouring rain?" Ben asked.
"I don't know" Bron replied honestly.
"What do you mean you don't know" Ben asked with confusion in his voice.
"I don't know Ben, I just ended up here. I had to get out of the house so I went to the park. I sat there for hours just thinking about everything, I didn't even notice it had started to rain. I didn't want to go home, so I just started walking and somehow I ended up here."
There was another moment of silence in which Bron could see that Ben wasn't happy that she had woken him up.
"I'm sorry I disturbed you" she said quickly and got up to leave.
"Hey", Ben said grabbing her hand, "You're not going anywhere"
"But…"
"No but's, look Bron, I'm sorry but this is really hard for me to understand, I want to comfort you and I want to support you, but how can I when I don't even know what's wrong" There was a slight aggravation in his voice.
Ben pulled her back onto the couch and next to him he let go of her hand, put his arm around her and pulled her closer to him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it to come out like that, it's just…." His voice trailed off.
"Ben will you believe me?"
"Of course I'll believe you Bron, I know that you don't lie" Ben quickly replied.
Sometimes I do Bron thought to herself, thinking about her feelings towards Ben.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before beginning to retell her nightmare.

"My dad came in and I told him that Phil had been in here and that he had tried to make me look at something I shouldn't, but my dad just told me to stop being silly and not to carry on like that in his house."
Bron stopped her story again to look at Ben, he had his head down, but he lifted it when he felt her eyes on him, she could see in his eyes that he believed every word she said and he felt her pain. She felt comforted by this and she shuffled a tiny bit closer to him and continued her story.
" I tried avoiding him after that, staying in my room or not being home when I knew he was coming. My dad wouldn't leave it alone though, he used to make me come out, he'd say "Bronwyn, get out here and stop being so rude" Bron imitated her fathers voice as she repeated his words and shuddered as she pictured him.
"He started coming to my bedroom window almost everyday, but I never let him in."
" I tried to tell my dad, but he just thought I was trying to get attention, so I just kept quiet."
Again Bron stopped to collect herself before continuing.

" Then one day I was sick so I didn't go to school. It was a hot day so I left my window open thinking that Phil would be at work with my dad, but he wasn't."
" I had been watching TV in the lounge and I went into my room and there he was sitting on my bed. I screamed but no-one was around to hear me, I tried to run away, but he grabbed me, he told me to take off my clothes, I said no so he started to take his off his own, he still had me in one hand so I couldn't run away."
Bron could feel the tears running down her face now and her voice go quieter and quieter, she was reliving every image, every feeling, in her mind, it was all so clear, as if it had happened just yesterday.
"He was standing there naked, he told me to take my clothes off again, but I wouldn't so he put his hand up my skirt. I screamed again and kept on screaming praying someone would help me."
Bron was having a lot of trouble saying all this, she was reliving an event she vowed she never would again, but it felt so good to let it all out, to finally move on.
" He put his hand down my underpants, then I heard the front door open, it was my dad, he had just finished work. Phil quickly took his hand away, grabbed his clothes and jumped out the window."
Another pause, another swarm of emotions went running through Bron's mind.
"My dad came in cause he heard me screaming, I told him that Phil had been there again and what he had done to me, but he didn't believe a word I said, he thought I was making it up for attention."
"I was so scared after that, I didn't want to leave the house, I kept telling my dad why and he kept saying that I was lying." "He said he wished that I had never been born and that if he knew I was going to cause this much trouble he would have given me away."
She was practically screaming her words by now, all her anger at her dad had returned and she wanted him to pay, she wished her was here right now so she go could finish where she had left off in the car park.
Bron snapped back into reality when she felt Ben's eyes on her.
"Bron I'm so sorry, I don't' know what else I can say" Ben said quietly.
"Oh I haven't finished yet," Bron stated, she was intensely angry now and wanted Ben to hear the full story and just how much of an asshole these two men were.
"You mean, he did something else?" Ben said. Bron could detect slight anger in his voice.
"He raped me", she screamed, "the bastard raped me"

She got up from the couch and went to run out the front door, but she tripped over her feet and fell to the ground. She rolled up into a ball and let out a bloodcurdling scream before collapsing into a fit of tears.
She felt Ben's arms go around her and she leant her head against him.
"It's alright Bron, it's over now" His soothing voice clamed her a bit.
"I thought it was over. I thought he had gone, it had been almost a year, but he turned up again in my room…" Ben cut her off.
"Bron are you sure your ready to talk about this?"
"I have to Ben, I have to tell somebody, somebody that will listen to me and believe me, I can't keep it inside any longer"
Ben leant his head against Bron's and she continued.
"By some 'coincidence' both my parents were out and so no-one was around to help me. He threw me down on the bed and pulled out a knife, threatening to use it if I screamed or tried to run. I was so petrified I just lay there in shock. He took his clothes off again and then started to take mine off. I wanted to run, but I was so scared.
Bron's voice was almost at a whisper and she was finding it hard to breathe through all her tears.
"He lay down on top of me and then he…he…he raped me"
Bron felt bens hold on her increase and it was the only thing keeping her from screaming.
"After he left I just laid there, I didn't know what had happened and what I was going to do now. I thought that maybe if I told my dad again, this time he would believe me, but he didn't. He said I was 'a spoilt little bitch' to make up such stories and to think about how my actions would affect Phil and his family. He didn't care how Phil's actions affected me. I even showed him the blood on my sheets, but he came up with some stupid excuse for that too.I hate him Ben, I hate them both, I wish they were dead."
Bron's crying had petered out for a while but now she buried her head into Ben's chest and started to cry loudly.
After what seemed like an eternity she stopped and pulled away.
She lifted her head and looked into Ben's eyes, she could see the tears there and they mirrored her own.
"I believe you," he whispered.

"I have to go home now," Bron said after a few minutes silence.
"No" Ben said, "Your staying here tonight, you can sleep on the couch"
Bron didn't refuse, she didn't know if Connor or Jared would be home and she really didn't want to be alone.
Ben went into the hall and returned with a pillow and some blankets.
"Here you go, will you be ok?" he said and went to go to his own room.
She nodded.
Ben turned and walked down the hall.
"Ben" Bron called after him tears still running down her face, "thank-you, thank-you so much"
"It's ok" he said and turned into his bedroom, shutting the door.
Bron lay down on the couch and threw the blankets over herself, Ben seemed really upset, she thought to herself, maybe she shouldn't have told him, but it had made her feel a whole lot better.
Ben always seemed to have that effect on her, why did he have to be so caring and so nice, why did she have to love him so much and why couldn't she admit it. And why had all this stuff happened to her, what did she do to be raped and to have a bastard father like that.
She cried herself to sleep with all these thought whirling through her head.

Ben crawled back into bed and closed his eyes tight to try and stop the flow of tears from his eyes.
He couldn't think straight, he felt like swearing at the top of his lungs, but that wouldn't help anyone especially Bron, who was asleep on his couch.
When Bron had told him about this in the ambulance this afternoon, he was upset and angry and now he had the full story he was in shock.
How could anyone do that to a little girl and why, what pleasure could anyone get out of raping a 7 year old, why not a teenager at least they'd be fully developed.
He was glad Bron would have been the type of child that would have known that that was wrong and not just willingly let him do that to her, but still she had no choice, using a knife to threaten a 7 year old, what a….. a…. there was no words strong enough to describe Ben's feelings towards this man.
Why is the world so screwed up, why do we let people, people just like ourselves do these things to other people just like ourselves.
Sometimes, he thought to himself, I think Steph got it easy.
His thoughts returned to Bron, and not to have anyone to help her and support her. Professor Richard Craig should pray to god he never crossed paths with Ben Markham again in his lifetime, because if he did he might end up permanently in hospital, and not as a heart surgeon.
Ben couldn't understand why he could think that she was lying, a 7 year old could not know about that stuff unless it was happening to them and what possible reason in the world would she have to lie.
He remembered what Bron had said he called her 'a spoilt little bitch' ,his own daughter. Now he wished he hadn't interrupted Bron in that car park, he could imagine how she must have felt.
Ben could understand why Bron didn't want to talk about this, god knows he wouldn't if it had been him, maybe he shouldn't have pushed her so hard, but he knew it would help her to talk about it and he could tell that it had. Maybe he should have said something else to comfort her, but he had been too shocked to think straight.
He pulled the sheets up tighter around him and cried himself to sleep thinking about everything he had leant today.

Ben sat at a table at Cougars surrounded by his friends.
It was his birthday and he was glad that all his friends were here, all expect one, Bron.
It had been almost a week since he had seen her last, at his house when she had confessed to him the secrets that had been plaguing her for years.
When he woke up the next morning she was gone.
He rang her that night to make sure she was all right; she said she was fine, thanked him for being so supportive and told him that she never wanted to talk about it again.
Ben understood that and left the subject alone.
But apart from that he hadn't seen or spoken to her in a week.
Just as he was starting to worry that maybe something had happened, she walked in the door and sat down at the table.
"Bron" Ben said happily "You're here, I thought you weren't coming"
"Of course I'm coming Ben, I just had to sort a few things out first that's all"
"Everything alright?" Ben asked cautiously
"Yeah" Bron replied, "Actually I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute, in private"
She got up from the table, grabbed Ben's hand and pulled him outside.
"What's up?" Ben asked as they stood in the back garden of Cougars.
"I just wanted to say thanks, for everything, you know, for listening, for caring, for believing me"
"That's what friends are for" Ben replied and smiled at Bron, glad she was all right.
"Well you see that's the problem" Bron replied
"What problem?" Ben asked uncertained
"I don't want you to be my friend"
"Well…."
Bron placed a finger on Ben's lips to Ssh him.
"I don't want you to be my friend Ben, I want you to be my boyfriend" she said and reached up to kiss him. Ben returned the kiss.
"I guess I can live with that" he replied.
"Good, cause you don't have a choice" Bron replied and kissed him again.
They returned to the table a few minutes later, with smiles on their faces.
As soon as they sat down the previous conversations that had been going on stopped and silence remained.
Ben and Bron looked at each other and then at the people sitting around them.
"Ah, Ben And I have to go" Bron said quickly.
"Yeah" Ben replied, "we'll see you later"
Bron grabbed Ben's hand and they hurried out the door towards Ben's car.
"What's up with them?" Connor asked.
"Bout bloody time is all I can say" Jared replied.