“Stop it! I swear I’ll scream!” I shout.
“No one is here Ella. No one will hear you.” What is he saying? Is this even happening? I’m in total shock right now.
“Now I am going to fuck you up against the board, just like he did.”
With that he moves in and starts running his hands down over my body. I bring my knee up as quick and hard as I can, jamming it into his balls. Then my foot comes down and I stomp on his toes with my high heels and run as fast as I can.
I run down the hall, realizing in all the craziness that I still have my phone in my hand and Ryder is on my speed dial. As I am flying over the stairs, I am able to call him. Turning around, I see Matt hot on my trail, while I scream into the quiet halls in the school. I reach the door and Matt throws my body up against it grinding himself into my back.
“Get away from me, please,” I beg, wanting him to let me go and forget this ever happened.
“Look what you did. Now I have to drag that pretty little ass of yours back to the class, so I can do you. I promise you will enjoy it. Although I should be rough for that little stunt you just pulled back there.”
I am shaking now and petrified.
“Okay” I say quietly, hoping he lets his guard down.
“Come on then, sexy. Let’s do this,” he says, wearing a demented smile. I notice him relax a little and I swing around with my elbow and nail him in the nose with it. He stumbles back in shock, enough for me to get through the doors of the school and run out into the parking lot.
Axel should be out here waiting for me tonight, but the parking lot is empty with the exception of my vehicle. I run as fast as I can, hoping to reach the safety of my car, but I’m running with heels and they dig into a crack in the parking lot causing me to stumble and fall. I quickly try to get up and start running again, but before I get the chance Matt is yanking me up by my hair. I scream out in pain because I actually feel him rip hair out of the back of my head with his tight grip. He drags me over to my car and throws me up against it.
“I was going to be gentle with you….” He lets that hang for me, to know it is not going to be good. Matt notices the phone in my hand and snatches it from my grasp. He throws it to the ground, smashing it. I hope Ryder got my call. I squirm and wiggle, hoping to get away from him again, but he is ready.
“Matt, please don’t do this,” I beg.
“Shut the fuck up, Ella!” He snaps, rubbing his body and his erection on me. He flips me around so my back is against his chest and pushes me down on the hood of the car. He leans over and then I feel the full weight of his body on my back.
I let out a heart-wrenching sob, hoping it will get him to stop and see what he is doing to me. This is a Matt that I never knew existed. The Matt that I know is sweet, kind and loving. He would never hurt anyone. What happened to him?
I am struggling to get out from underneath him, when he grabs the hem of my skirt and rips it, pulling it up my thighs and pushes it up around my waist. When he has it where he wants, Matt starts running his hands between my legs.
“Oh God, Matt. Please don’t,” I cry, still trying to make him see sense.
“I’ve had a hard-on for you for three fucking years and you gave me nada. You were nothing but a cock tease. You owe me,” he hisses. “I am going to fuck you so hard you will never forget me. I own you, Ella,” he hisses into my ear.
“You don’t own me, Ryder does. I belong to him!” I scream.
His free hand falls to my hip and grabs the side of my panties, ripping them so that they are sliding down one leg. I take the time to start struggling as much as I can, trying desperately to get out from underneath him. I can’t believe this is happening. The Matt that I was in a relationship with for three years is going to rape me. There’s no way I can let this happen. I try twisting my body around, so I can kick him in the balls again, but he grips my hair again and pulls, making me I cry out in pain. I manage to turn my head and I look him in the eyes. All I can see is rage radiating off of his entire body.
“This is going to be so much fun,” his voice breathy against my neck. I can feel his erection press between my thighs. I cry out, “No!”
My hands instinctively move to between my legs trying to keep him from entering me. As I do this, Matt’s grip pulls tighter and with a rough pull and push he bashes my head off the car and everything goes black.
Chapter 24
The Aftermath
My eyes flutter open and the brightness of the lights send a stabbing pain through my head, causing my stomach to roll. “I’m going to puke,” I slur, rolling to my side.
As I’m emptying the contents of my stomach, someone is by my side with a garbage pail. When there’s nothing left in my stomach, I lie back down and close my eyes.
“You’re okay, baby. I wanna see those beautiful brown eyes. Can you open them for me again?” Ryder softly says into my ear. I can feel his hand caress the side of my face. I hear him get up and then water running. He returns and presses a cool, wet cloth against my face.
I wait a few minutes, my head aching, not feeling quite ready to open my eyes, even with Ryder’s gentle coaxing. Eventually, I put my hand over my forehead to shield my eyes from the light when I do reopen them. I slowly open them and focus on Ryder’s concerned-filled face.
“Hey beautiful, how are you feelin’?” he asks.
“Like I just got hit by a freight train,” I answer. “What happened?”
As soon as the question is out of my mouth, memories assault my brain and forgetting about my nausea, I bolt up in the bed. Ryder’s arms instantly wrap around my body and he strokes my back, as I break down crying. I start shaking and squirming, trying to get out of his arms.
I don’t want him to touch me. I feel so dirty. Ryder releases my body and turns to look at me. I look away, not wanting to see the disgust in his face. He takes my face in his hands and I flinch remembering how Matt did the same just much rougher.
“Please don’t touch me,” I whisper, still shaking violently. I want to curl up to him and think everything will be okay, but I know things will never be the same again.
“Shh. It’s okay baby. I won’t hurt you. EVER,” he vows.
“Oh God, Ryder. D-did, please no,” I continue crying. “Did he r-rape me?” I stutter, and feel his body stiffen against me.
“Who is he baby?” he questions.
“It was Matt, my ex,” I whisper.
“Fuck! Shoulda killed that asshole!” Ryder yells, making me flinch.
“Did he? Please Ryder, I-I need t-to know,” I plead.
“I don’t know, baby. The doctor won’t tell me anything because I’m not family,” he says, smoothing my hair with one of his hands. I try not to flinch away from his touch, but I just know this is it.
“Axel wasn’t there,” I say.
“Come again?” I can feel the tension build up in his body again.
“Axel wasn’t waiting for me after work. I ran out in the parking lot for help, but he wasn’t there.”
“Fuck! With everything that was goin’ on, I missed that. He’s gonna answer to me.”
My eyes fall down my torso and I notice his hands caressing my belly and hip. They are bandaged in gauze and blood is seeping through the material. I grab the hand that is resting on my belly.
“What happened to your hands?”
“Don’t worry about it, baby?”
“I need to know, Ryder. I need to know what happened.” I say.
“Baby. Please.”
“Ryder, I. Need. To. Know,” I grit out
“When I got your call and heard what was happenin’, I got there as fast as I could. Fuck, I wasn’t fast enough, so sorry baby,” his voice in my ear is raw with emotion.
“He raped me, didn’t he?” I ask in a whispered sob.
“I honestly don’t fuckin’ know. When I pulled up, he was pressed against you on the hood of the car. All I could see was your skirt up around your waist and your panties were on t
he ground. His pants where down around his ankles. All I saw was red, so I jumped off of my bike and started pounding on that fuckin’ asshole.”
“He raped me,” I cry out.
“We don’t know that, baby. Wait until the doctor comes in, okay?”
“But what if he did? You won’t want me then,” I weep, afraid I’ll lose him. He is all I have left.
“Baby, I’ll always want you. Nothin’ will ever change that. No matter what we find out, we’ll get through this together,” he says, trying to reassure me. His words sound so sincere, but I don’t know if I can believe them.
The doctor walks into my room, grabbing the chart at the end of my bed.
“Good evening Ms. Scott, I’m Dr. Stone Ashford. We’ve completed a full physical examination since you’ve been admitted and the physical injuries you’ve suffered are a concussion, some minor bruising on your arms and hips and some scabbing on the back of your head due to your hair being pulled out. You were unconscious for almost eighteen hours due to the concussion, so I do recommend keeping you overnight for observation, just in case there are any underlying problems. The Del Mar Police Department contacted us and because of the circumstances of your attack, we performed a rape kit to determine if a sexual assault…,”
I cut him off, “Did he rape me?”
Dr. Ashford looks down at my chart, then looks back up, locking his eyes on mine. “According to the kit results, we’ve found no evidence of a sexual assault.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, in disbelief.
“There were no signs of any tearing or bruising to your vaginal walls which would indicate a sexual assault had occurred. I am one hundred percent positive that you were not raped, Ms. Scott.”
With that, I literally lose it. I cry uncontrollably into Ryder’s chest, while his hands rub my back trying to soothe me.
“I will send the nurse in with medication for your pain and nausea. And we will be checking on you every hour until you are released. Do you have any questions before I leave?” Dr. Ashford offers.
Shaking my sore head, I say, “No. Thank you Dr. Ashford. I’m good.”
“Okay, I’ll see you in an hour,” he says, smiling at me. He turns around and walks out the door towards the nurse’s station, just down the corridor.
“Baby, he didn’t touch you. I made it in time. Thank the fuck,” Ryder mutters against my mouth, giving me a gentle kiss on the lips.
“I was so sure Matt had raped me. The last thing I remember before getting knocked out was him screaming into my ear that he had put in three years for a piece of me. He was finally going to get what he was owed and he was going to enjoy it!”
Remembering the way his body was pressed up against me before I was knocked out. I feel a wave of nausea hit my body.
“Definitely wished I killed that fucker,” Ryder hisses, balling his hands into fists.
I continue to tell Ryder about the whole ordeal with Matt. Once I was finished, he tells me about driving up and seeing Matt on top of me on the car. He was expecting to see Brent when he pulled up. In his rage, he attacked Matt with his fists and said that he would have slit his throat, if Diesel hadn’t showed up when he did. After taking the blade from Ryder and calming him down, Diesel told him to see to me and then called the police and 911.
They allowed him in the ambulance with me and while one EMT tended to me, the other tended to Ryder’s hands. Once his injuries were treated, the police took him to the station for questioning. He was there for hours before being released; the whole time it was killing him not knowing what happened to me.
As Ryder is finishing up telling me about the aftermath with Matt, his cell phone starts ringing. He looks down at the display and frowns. Answering it he says, “This better be good.” I listen in on his conversation to get some idea of who is on the phone, but Ryder doesn’t say much other than yes and no. He disconnects without even saying goodbye.
“Who was that calling?” I ask him.
“It was one of the pigs that took me in for questioning,” he answers.
Ryder than proceeds to tell me Matt was treated in a hospital in the neighbouring town of Solana Beach. When he regained consciousness, he quickly admitted to the threats and the assault on me to the police. He will be transported to the prison in San Diego, where he will be held until he has to appear in court for his arraignment. According to Ryder, the police told him that he will be arraigned in court in two days and since Matt is entering a plea of guilty, he will be sentenced by the judge. I will not have to endure a trial. Thank God.
As he finishes telling me everything, a nurse comes in with my medication. Ryder gets me a glass of water to swallow the pills when Dr. Ashford enters the room again. I’m pretty sure an hour hasn’t passed yet.
“Well, I just got some more test results back. Everything looks good, but there is something. I’m going to have to insist you not take the medication for your pain,” he says, which makes me nervous and my body tenses.
Ryder feels me tense and urges the doctor, “Spit it out, Doc.”
“Looks like you’re pregnant, Ms. Scott. Congratulations.”
That’s when I feel Ryder’s body go stiff and not in a good way.
“That can’t be. I’m on the pill,” I say, not quite believing what I’m hearing.
“The doctor who prescribed your birth control pill would have explained to you that like any other contraceptive method, nothing is one hundred percent effective. The lab administered both a blood and urine test. Both tests came back positive. You are definitely pregnant, Ms. Scott,” he confirms.
“Oh,” I say, in shock.
“I’ve scheduled you an appointment next week with one of the Obstetricians on staff. She’ll determine a regiment for prenatal care and how far along you are in your pregnancy.” He hands me a card with the doctor’s name and my appointment time written on it. Dr. Ashford takes the meds from the side table and leaves me and Ryder alone again.
This can’t be happening. Looking down at the card again, I realize that it is. I know I thought about being married to Ryder and having two point five children, but I didn’t expect to get started on the children part so soon.
My gaze falls on Ryder, he look as if he’s in shock as well.
“Ryder, I don’t know what to say,” I say quietly. I can feel the tears start to well up in my eyes again.
“There’s nothin’ to say, babe. I knocked you up. It’s pretty self-explanatory,” he returns.
Ummm. Okay, not the nicest way to describe it, but whatever.
“Are you okay with this?” I ask, nervously.
“Yup,” he says, giving me a weak smile.
Yup. That’s not quite the reaction I was expecting. Even though this is the last thing I had planned, I’m kind of excited and happy to know that I’m carrying Ryder’s baby.
“I gotta go in a minute. I called Payton, after being released at the police station. Obviously, she freaked out and wanted to be here. Her and Karen are booked on the earliest possible flight and will be here in about an hour. I’m gonna go pick them up at the airport,” Ryder tells me.
He sits on the side of the bed, giving me a quick kiss on the temple, saying he’ll see me later and then stands up and leaves.
Just after Ryder leaves, Dr. Ashford enters my room with two police detectives wanting my statement. I comply, giving what information I can remember.
Chapter 25
Going Home
About an hour and one doctor visit later, Payton and Karen walk through the door.
“That stupid little shit! If Ryder hadn’t already kicked his ass, I would so be going down to the jail and going all Karate Kid on his ass,” she shrieks, while sitting down on the side of my bed and wrapping her arms around me, squeezing hard.
“Shh, Payton. This is a hospital. Be quiet!” I say, hugging her back.
“I don’t give a shit, Ella. That preppy punk needs another ass kickin’ and I’m pretty sure I’m the one that needs to give
it to him. I’m half tempted to go down to the jail to see if they’d let me get a crack in,” she counters, squeezing me harder.
I watch as Karen goes around to the other side of the bed and joins Payton and me in our hug. I’m in a Clare sandwich and I am loving every minute of it. “Ryder filled us in on everything on the ride from the airport. I’m so sorry this happened to you, honey. But I’m so thankful Ryder was there to stop him,” she says softly into my ear.
I immediately start crying again and both women embraced me, until I cried myself out.
“Where is Ryder?” I ask.
“He needed to go home to clean up. Plus, he wanted to give us some time alone with you,” Karen answers.
“Did he tell you what the doctor said today?”
“All he told us was that you weren’t raped. And that you had a concussion and some bruising. That’s it. Is there something wrong?” Karen asks with her voice full of concern.
“I’m pregnant,” I blurt out.
“Oh. My. God,” both women say at the same time, releasing their grip on me.
I think they’re just as shocked as I was when I found out the news. The only difference is that I’ve had time to adjust and I’m not afraid anymore. This is a good thing and I can’t wait to experience it. I just hope Ryder wants to experience it with me. He says he’s okay with it, but I’m not so sure.
“I’m actually getting used to the idea of becoming a mom,” I say, gently placing my hand to my flat belly.
“You’re not freaked out?” Payton asks.
“I kind of was at first, but I’m not now. I’ve got a great job and a man who loves me and I have you guys.”
“I think you will undoubtedly be a wonderful mother,” Karen states, pulling me into a hug again.
“Ditto,” Payton adds, making a Clare sandwich again.
“Awww. Thanks auntie and grandma,” I say. And suddenly we’re a bunch of hugging, happy crying women.
The girls spend the next hour keeping me awake by talking about my job, babies and of course the sexy Mr. Wilde. A nurse enters the room to check my vitals and then informs Payton and Karen that visiting hours are now over. They both pull me into a hug again and are saying their see-you-laters to me, when Ryder walks through the door.
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