Chapter 43

Maeve's POV

"Mrs. Jackson, we're here to document your injuries for the police report."

My head weakly looked up at two female doctors walking into my hospital room. One was holding a folder whereas the other held a camera.

Unfortunately this isn't the first time I have to go through this and I heavily breathed at the sight of the camera.

They're documenting every injury, every bruise, every cut and even the slightest red spots on my whole body. They're documenting it since the physical wounds are going to heal and then there's no proof of what he did to me.

At the same time they're going to take different samples to provide evidence of foreign DNA on my body. And lastly the police is going to question me.

My gaze shifted back into my lap. "Michael?" I asked, my throat as dry as the dessert.

"Don't worry, he won't hurt you, he's-"

"It wasn't him..." I started shivering lightly while staring off into the air like I've been for the past hours.

"Listen Maeve, this" one of the doctors sat down on the chair next to my bed and proceeded to take her hand on top of mine but I pulled away. "This is a safe space here, you can tell us everything, you don't have to go through this on your own, you are not alone in this!"

"I want Michael" I spoke with a shaking voice and although he hurt me, he always respected me and my boundaries, he is my safe place, still to this day and right now I desperately needed a safe space.

And as I sat there on the bed in just a gown that the hospital provided, I remembered the time when I was 15, at the hospital and a nurse said the exact same words 'you don't have to go through this on your own!'.

In the end, I had to go through it on my own. I was scared then. I'm not scared now. I know what's going to happen but I'm ashamed. I feel shame.

Jared's my friend, well he was my friend. Never would I have thought he'd be capable of doing something like this, not to me, not to anybody else.

But he did.

And I feel like a fool that I didn't see this coming. Apparently he had feelings for me and he saw Michael and I kissing. To Jared it felt like I was betraying him.

'I nearly had you.'

His words echoed through my head.

'But you ruined it.'

His voice was angry, I can still hear it so clearly.

'And now you're going to pay for it.'

His touch still lingered on me.

Quickly I shook my head, trying to get rid of my thoughts. Luckily I heard the doctor speak again.

"Mr. Jackson is waiting outside for you. We can send him in later, okay?"

******

My eyes closed for the first time in more than 24 hours. My body was exhausted but every time I tried closing them, I saw him.By now I was so tired and knowing Michael was just outside waiting to see me was enough for me to feel a spark of safety.

But as soon as my eyes were shut, my mind put me back to my house.

I tried controlling my breathing as I listened carefully, trying to hear if he was in this room or not but my heart was pounding way too loud for me to make out any noise coming from outside the closet where I was hiding.

Since I had no clock I couldn't tell how much time went by when my breathing and heart started to get calmer. I wondered if Jared left but just as I was about to peek outside the door ripped open and his two large hands gripped me tight.

"NO!" I started kicking wildly and even managed to hit him a few times but apparently not strong enough.

He pulled me out of the closet and while he did so, I tried holding on to something, the only thing in reach being clothes, that came out the closet with me along with two compartments.

My hands reached for the wood, hoping I could use it as a weapon if I would just come up with enough strength. I was about to reach it when I felt a pressure around my ankles. I gasped.Before I could grab the wooden compartment, I was pulled across the floor to the other side of the room while I let out a scream.

"Please Jared" I was crying by now. "Please stop, what do you want?"

Through blurry eyes I noticed him above me, staring down at me. "I wanted you to love me, just like you love him... I wanted what you two had before he threw it all away. Before he threw you away. I nearly had you but one word of him and you were gone again..."

His hands held the collar of my shirt. With little effort his strong hands ripped my blouse open."I've been waiting for this moment for a long time..."

"No, stop" my hands tried pushing him off me when I realized he was straddling me and my body was trapped underneath him.

"I only ever wanted to be loved by you, but you had to run back into his arms. Today would have been the first day of our life together... unfortunately you ruined it and now you have to pay for it!"

Michael's POV

Bill came walking up to me with a small bag in his hand. I had sent him to the next mall to get fresh clothes for Maeve. Her house was currently occupied by the police.

I also wanted Bill to find out where Maeve's security was during all of this because after all I pay them to keep her safe. She always has at least one security guard with her, today there was none and I want to know why's that.

"I couldn't reach Jared, his phone is dead."

"Do you think he has anything to do with-"

"Are you insane, Michael?" Bill interrupted me. "You know Jared, he'd never touch Maeve! I chose him myself, I do trust him one hundred percent and I thought you did, too!"

"There aren't many people I trust a hundred percent..." I admitted. "It's just strange that he disappeared..."

"There's an explanation for his disappearance, I'm sure..."

I nodded my head slowly before continuing pacing back and forth in the hospital floors outside Maeve's room that was guarded by police.

"Mr. Jackson?"

I turned around at the call of my name. Dr. Robinson came walking into my direction and asked me to follow her.

She led me into an examination room nearby.

"What's going on?" I was confused as to why she wanted me in here.

"Mr. Jackson, I'd like to take a sample from you."

"A sample? Why?"

"We'd like to see if it matches with one of the DNAs we found on Maeve's body." She explained while putting on some blue gloves.

"You found more than one?"

"Two. We found DNA of two different men..." she opened a plastic package that contained a cotton swap.

"I hope you don't think this question is inappropriate but I have to ask it. Did you and your wife have been intimate in the last 48 hours?"

I shook my head no.

"When was the last time you kissed your wife?"

"Yesterday evening." I answered truthfully. All this time I couldn't stop thinking about yesterday and how I could've prevented this from happening.

"My wife and I we're... we're going through a hard time at the moment. Yesterday was the first time in months we were a family again... I wanted her to stay but she declined and I can't stop thinking... If I could have convinced her all this wouldn't have happened-"

"Michael, this is not your fault!" The doctor reassured me. With sympathy in her eyes she smiled softly at me. "And it wasn't Maeve's either. Now open your mouth."

I did as told and with the cotton swab she swept the inside of my mouth.

"All done." She announced as she let the swab fall into a plastic bag.

"Can I see her now?" I questioned while getting off my seat.

"Not until the results are here... I'm sorry but that's part of the protocol."

Although it seemed impossible for me to wait any longer, I nodded understandably. All I wanted was to hold her, be by her side and tell her how incredibly sorry I am.

"How long is this going to take?"

"Hopefully only a few hours..."

*****

"You're DNA matches with one of the two we found on Maeve's body like we assumed. However, your DNA was on none of her injuries or bruises, not even under her fingernails. Mr. Jackson, we already informed the police that we could prove your innocence.

Unfortunately there's no doubt that your wife has been the victim of sexual violence."

Until now I was praying to God that it wouldn't turn out to be true. That there would've been another explanation why Maeve was in the state she was in. Never would I have imagined that she has to go through this again, that she would get raped again.

I turned around, facing a large window while my hands roamed through my hair. MY wife was used by some other man and what's worse is that this happened without her consent.

One of my hands held on to the window for support as I felt my world collapse and a huge lump in my throat started to built, I felt like I couldn't talk. My eyes stared into the distance while my mind was preoccupied with finding a way to erase this, reverse this. For her.

But I couldn't. And I feared that there is nothing I could do to ease her pain.

"Can I see her now?" I asked with an uneasy rasp in my voice.

"Yes, you can."

She guided us over to Maeve's door and held up her hospital ID up for the police to take notes. They also wrote down that I was visiting and I kept telling myself that this was for Maeve's safety.

"It won't be easy" the doctor warned me. "Are you ready?"

I nodded slightly before she knocked on the door to let Maeve know we were coming inside.

As we entered the room it was completely still compared to the busy halls. My eyes first landed on the bed in the middle of the room, it was empty. I kept searching for Maeve and found her huddled in the corner, her knees pulled up to her chest while her face resting against it, facing the wall, whimpering lowly.

"Mrs. Jackson?" The doctor said  while slowly approaching.

"Please let me, you're a stranger to her" I whispered while pushing past her.

"Maeve?" I asked quietly as I bent down on my knees. My hand carefully reaching for her shoulder.

"No, no, no" she whined and when I grabbed her shoulder she started panicking.

"NO!" She yelled while fighting me.

"MAEVE, IT'S ME, MICHAEL" I tried yelling between her kicks and hits.