He took a heavy sigh and looked around the room. Kevin was hunched in a chair closest to the door. Lita was right next to him, sitting ever so close to Kevin that their feet were touching and nothing else. Howie was next to him. He could see Howie's shoulders getting lower as the hours dragged on.
"I'm praying for her." AJ remembered Howie saying.
AJ knew how much Howie loved her, if he had ever doubted it before, he didn't at that moment. AJ knew he had to be strong for Howie, but he wasn't sure how much more he'd be able to contain himself.
AJ tipped his head back and sighed again.
They all knew what had happened to Kate just by the expression on Lita's face. None of them had the courage to say it out loud yet. They were still clinging to the hope that Bryan would tell them something different.
Please God, please let her be all right! AJ prayed as well.
It was nearly an hour and half when Bryan appeared at the doorway. He consulted with a nurse, then turned the knob and walked in. AJ found himself the first one on his feet, his heart exploding from the inside out.
"What happened? How is she? Is she gonna be okay? When can I see her?" he said in rapid fire.
"AJ, please." Kevin pleaded getting to his feet as well.
AJ caught himself. He shouldn't be asking these questions! Howie is in love with Kate and he should see her first….but I love her, too.
"Please, everyone, please sit down." Bryan said. He took a seat himself between Lita and Kevin. Lita took his hand and he acknowledged that with a brief smile. "Kate has some very serious injuries, but none of them are life threatening."
"Did he rape her?" AJ demanded suddenly, shooting to his feet again.
He had to ask! He had to know!
"Yes, I'm afraid so." Bryan said sadly.
"Oh, god no!" Howie gasped, his body twitching as if it had a short circuit and didn't know what to do next.
"Goddamn it!" AJ screamed, launching one of the plastic and metal chairs across the room past Bryan. It clanged and the noise vibrated through the room. When it stopped, AJ stood there awkwardly.
"That's not going to help Kate." Bryan said, standing to face AJ.
AJ looked up at him and then ran a hand over his spiky hair. Howie came to AJ's side, resting a hand on his shoulder.
"AJ, please." Howie said.
AJ flung him off and paced back into the far corner of the room. Kevin hadn't moved at all.
"What's happened to her? Is she going to be okay?" Howie asked, his voice cracking into a million pieces.
"Guys, look this isn't easy to say and it's going to be harder to hear, too. He tried to kill her by strangling her. She also took quite a beating, her nose and jaw are both broken. The blood vessels in her face and eyes are broken, but they will heal and fade in time."
"I can't believe this…." Howie stammered. "Oh god, how did she ever survive all that? Is she going to be okay? God! Can I see her? She must be so scared…"
"I don't know how she survived, but let's just thank God she did, okay?" Bryan said.
AJ's back hit the wall and he slumped to the floor. His head dropped between his knees in a need to do something with his body other than throw another chair.
"AJ?" he heard Bryan ask. AJ just waved him off.
"Is she going to be…you know, okay?" Kevin asked. Hearing Kevin's voice startled AJ and he looked up. He hadn't heard Kevin speak much since this began.
"She'll heal in time." Bryan nodded. "She's going to need a lot of love and support. She's going to need all of her friends."
"Please, let me see her." Howie begged.
"Kate doesn't want to see anyone right now." Bryan said.
"What?!" AJ suddenly demanded getting to his feet. He marched over to where Howie was and Howie stopped him from colliding with Bryan. "What do you mean? We can't see her? How are we supposed to know she's okay?!"
"Those are her wishes." Bryan sighed. "She doesn't want to see any one."
"She's not in any condition to make those kind of decisions." AJ snapped. "Howie can see her, can't he? What about me? I'm like kin, you know! I'm her…I'm uh…"
Bryan acknowledged AJ's stammer with a nod.
"No, those are her wishes." Bryan said firmly. "AJ, Matt didn't listen to her when she said no. I have to. We all have to. Her healing begins now with all of us. When she says no, she needs to trust that it will be respected. She has to trust me, AJ. She needs all of us to respect her wishes. Kate said, no."
"She can't be alone like this. She must be scared. Let me see her, please?" Howie begged.
"I’m sorry. I'll ask her again." Bryan said sadly.
"Tell her how much I love her." Howie choked.
"I will." Bryan nodded.
"Tell her we all love her and we're here for her." Kevin said.
"I have all ready. I'll tell her again." Bryan nodded.
"She needs anything, you let me know, okay? I'll do anything for that little girl." Kevin choked.
"I know and I will, I promise." Bryan said. Kevin stuck out his hand for Bryan to shake. Bryan took Kevin's grasp and pulled him into an embrace. "I'm sorry, man."
Lita was standing next to Kevin and she reached for Bryan's hand. His locked with hers and gave it a firm squeeze.
"Take care of her, baby." Lita whispered.
"I will." He whispered back.
"You take care of her." Bryan said to Kevin with a nod to Lita.
Kevin couldn't speak. He only nodded. Bryan turned to leave and left them all standing in their stunned silence. AJ thought he was going to faint, throw up, something! It wasn't until Howie wobbled on his legs that AJ's attention diverted to him.
"Aw, man! You okay?" AJ said, gripping Howie's arms and guiding him to a chair. Lita had taken Howie's wrist and Kevin had kneeled at Howie's feet. "Howie?"
"How could this happen? God, AJ? What are we going to do?" Howie gasped.
"We're gonna be strong." Kevin said suddenly. "You heard Bryan. Kate needs us, all of us. Howie, Kate needs you. Don't fail her now."
"I don't think I …."
"Fuck you can." Kevin growled quietly in Howie's face. "Both of you. I don't care what it takes, but we're going to get her through this!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Kate?" Bryan asked as he walked into the exam room. They reached for each other. "I went and talked to everyone. Do you remember who's here?"
No response.
"Kevin, AJ and Howie. Lita's here, too. Do you want to see any of them?"
No, no, no, no, no.
"Shhhh, I just wanted to make sure. They wanted me to tell you that they were here. Kate? Howie wanted me to tell you how much he still loves you." Bryan said softly. "They all love you very much."
She withdrew her hand from him.
"Okay, I see this is going to be a one sided conversation." He sighed. "I'm going to tell you about your test results. You and I have some decisions to make."
Bryan looked up as his consulting plastic surgeon and friend, Marc Washington walked in quietly. He put a dark finger to his lips to keep Marc from speaking. Marc waited by the door silently.
"We had a CAT scan done. The report I got is good, really good. You have some bleeding in your right lobe that may or may not affect your speech later. You have some damaged vertebrates in your neck, too. A couple is chipped. Your nose is broken, so is your jaw on the left side." Bryan said gently. "I want to send you for surgery this morning to do the facial repairs. I asked a friend of mine to come and do a consult…."
Her hand flew out of the blanket and reached for him.
No, no, no, no, no.
"I won't leave you for a second, Kate, okay? Marc's a plastic surgeon I know from school." Bryan said, taking her hand. "Kate? You have other injuries. I did some of the stitches myself, but some of the repairs are more delicate than what I can do down here…"
No.
"I can go into surgery with you. Do you want that?"
Yes.
"All right, no problem. Kate, Marc is here now. He's been reading your x-rays." Bryan said, looking over at Marc. He gave Bryan thumbs up. "Good news, Kate. He says it's not too bad."
No.
"What's 'no'?" Bryan sighed. "No to Marc?"
No.
"Marc is okay?"
No.
"Kate, you're going to have to be more reasonable." Bryan said. "I won't leave you. I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise. Okay? Marc is going to come over and take a look at your face now."
"Kate? I'm Marc Washington." Marc said as he came to Kate's side. Kate began to tremble from fear so bad her teeth were chattering. "Kate, I know you're scared. I won't hurt you either. Bryan is still here."
"I'm here." Bryan said.
"Kate, I won't touch you. I'm just going to take a look, okay? I've already seen your x-rays. Your nose is a minor break, but your jaw is a little more complicated. It has several breaks and we'll have to wire your mouth shut for a few weeks." Marc said softly. "Kate? I want to help you."
Tears streaked down her face and she was shaking so badly that Bryan finally ordered a sedative as Kate lost control. He stayed with her until it took effect and she fell asleep.
"I'm sorry, man." Marc said to Bryan afterwards.
"It's not your fault. Kate is very….quiet and gentle. This is really hard." Bryan sighed. "Are her injuries that minor?"
"Well, the nose isn't too bad. I can fix it. The jaw is messed up bad. I couldn't even find all the pieces. It may be a steel job." Marc said. "I ordered an operating room for an hour from now."
"Good. I've got an OB/GYN to take care of the rest of her injuries as well." Bryan said, rubbing her eyes.
"How long you been up?" Marc asked.
"What? Three days? Who knows?"
"Look, why don't you go get some sleep?"
"I said I'd be there…."
"I'll keep an eye on her okay? I won't let a thing happen to her either. You go get some sleep. I'll make sure the surgical nurses get you before she wakes up." Marc smiled reassuringly.
"Man, I appreciate you coming in like this for me. I owe you…" Bryan smiled.
"Hey, Bro, this is what we signed up for, remember? Helping people. I can tell she's special to you…"
"She's Lita's roommate. She's a good kid, Marc, man, she didn't deserve this." Bryan choked.
"Look, no one deserves this, but we'll help her and work hard and she'll be okay." Marc said.
"I owe you. I mean it. You take good care of her okay?"
"You bet. It's the good guys to the rescue." Marc nodded, patting Bryan's arm reassuringly.
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