Right There with You

by R. J. Sable

  I'd only just got my breath back when Duff slapped me hard across my face. It stung badly but I pushed past the pain, putting all my strength into moving my arms in a quick motion so that Duff's weight was shifted into an awkward position and I could roll him off of me, kneeing him in the crotch as I did so. He groaned in pain and I scrambled to my feet as quickly as possible.

  I was about to bolt for the stairs when a flash of colour shot out from them and tackled Duff back down to the floor and into the lounge as he tried to stumble up. It was Jason, he landed a few quick blows to Duff's face before I saw Craig tackle Jason off of him and pin him down.

  “Craig, no!” I screamed, throwing myself onto his back and trying in vain to pull him off.

  “Jelly,” Craig spat through clenched teeth. “Get off, now!” His voice was laboured with the effort of pinning Jason down and it took me a few seconds to realise that Craig was just holding him, not actually hurting him. I pulled myself away from Craig and watched Jason struggle against Craig's weight. They were roughly the same size but Craig already had the advantage and was prepared for every move Jason made. I realised the music had stopped and a crowd had gathered around us.

  After a few seconds, Jason stopped trying to fight back, although he still looked furious. Craig eyed him suspiciously but eventually pulled himself off of Jason and went to help him up.

  “What the f-” Craig started, but he was cut off as Jake appeared out of nowhere and laid into Jason.

  Jason was momentarily caught off guard but quickly recovered and dodged Jake's blows. He caught Jake in a chokehold and held him there, glancing nervously at Craig. Craig took a step closer to the two of them and pulled Jake away from Jason who released him immediately.

  “What the fuck, Craig?” Jake demanded. “Have you seen what he did to Duff?” Jake sounded furious, his face was bright red.

  “He was protecting me!” I cried, annoyed that Jake had once again sided with Duff.

  “You don't need protecting from Duff,” Jake spat, taking a step closer to me.

  “What's going on?” Ian said, stepping into the lounge with Karl and Matt.

  “That fucking moron attacked Duff,” Jake yelled, pointing to where Duff was lying on the floor.

  Ian looked around, from Duff, to me, to Jake before his gaze finally fell on Jason. He took a few steps closer to Jason who was still breathing heavily and looked a little furious.

  “You're out of line,” Ian growled, his voice low.

  “He tried to-” Jason started but Ian cut him off with a blow to his ribs.

  Jason fell to the floor and I went to rush to his side but Craig pulled me away and held me firmly, despite my squirming. Matt and Karl moved to Jason, each pulling him up with one arm and holding him there whilst Ian continued hitting him with a scary amount of force.

  “Ian, stop!” I screamed, tears rolling down my face. “Please, stop!”

  He ignored me and carried on. Jason's weight was no longer held up by his legs, Matt and Karl were supporting him completely. My sobbed protests fell on deaf ears and I felt twice as bad when I saw Ben push his way past the crowd and rush to his brother's side.

  “Get off of him!” He protested, bravely putting himself in front of Ian.

  Ian hesitated momentarily, but he pushed Ben aside easily and went to hit Jason again. Ben quickly pulled himself back up to his feet and grabbed Ian's arm before he could land a blow. Ian looked furious for a second as Jason tried to mumble a protest and Ian stepped towards Ben.

  “This doesn't concern you,” Ian growled at Ben.

  “Of course it does, he's my brother,” Ben said, a noticeable edge of fear in his voice.

  “He almost killed my best friend!” Jake chimed in from my side.

  “Because he tried to rape your sister!” Ben screamed, taking a step closer to Ian.

  Ian's facial expression changed immediately as all eyes in the room fell to me. Ben looked at me apologetically but I was too concerned to notice. I felt Craig release me and immediately rushed to Jason's side. They'd let him go and he was on the floor on his hands and knees, breathing hard.

  “Jason,” I whispered, my voice uncertain.

  “I'm fine,” he managed, pushing himself up shakily so that he was knelt back on his knees. His eyes travelled over to Ben and I saw relief flash across his face when he saw his brother was unharmed.

  “Jelly.” I heard Ian's voice, laced with uncertainty, and turned to see him behind me, still staring just like everybody else. I lowered my eyes, feeling my face turn scarlet. Now that I knew Jason was okay, I realised I'd have to face the other disaster unfolding in front of me.

  “Is it true?” He asked, his eyes on mine.

  I was grateful to see the twins ushering everybody out of the room except Ben, Jason and my brothers. I couldn't bring myself to answer him. I kept my eyes on the floor and held Jason's hand tightly. I was sure I must have been hurting him but I couldn’t make my hand relax around his.

  “Jelly, is it true?” Ian said again, taking a step closer to me.

  I nodded slowly, still unable to look up from the floor.

  “She's lying!” Jake yelled.

  I felt Jason's hand tense as he pushed himself up from the floor to standing.

  “She's not lying you ignorant asshole!” He snarled.

  “Duff wouldn't do that!” Jake protested.

  “Where is he?” Karl growled, stepping forwards to Jake.

  “He was in the hall a few minutes ago,” Danny said, opening the door to the hallway.

  He stepped back in a few seconds later, shaking his head. Jake pulled out his phone and began dialling, Duff assumedly.

  “Jelly, if I find out you're lying about this-” Ian threatened but Jason cut him off.

  “How the fuck can you accuse her of lying about something like this?” Jason screamed, his voice overcome with anger.

  I could feel him trembling with fury against my back and squeezed his hand gently, terrified he was angling for round two. Ian didn't react as I expected though, he looked almost confused.

  “She almost got raped and was too scared to tell any of the seven men who claim to want to protect her because she was scared she'd be in for more abuse!” Jason's breathing was laboured and he wobbled slightly on his feet as he clasped as his side with his spare hand. “And all you can do when you find out what she's been through is accuse her of lying!”

  Ian's eyes studied me, he almost looked guilty. He sat down onto the sofa behind him and motioned for me to sit down next to him. I stayed stock still, unwilling to leave Jason's side. I was surprised when he didn't protest.

  “When?” He asked, the pain in his voice evident.

  “Does it matter?” My voice was laden with a little more venom than intended and I regretted it immediately as I saw hurt flash across Ian's face.

  “Please, Jelly,” Ian grimaced.

  “A month ago.” I didn't really want to revisit this.

  Ian rubbed his temples with his hand before he looked back up at us. “Why didn't you tell us?”

  “None of you ever cared what Duff did to me,” I shrugged. “And I was scared you'd be mad at me and I didn't want to get in trouble.” I chanced a glance around at my brothers and saw them all looking incredibly awkward and sheepish.

  “Of course we care, Jellybean,” Karl said. “Trying to... What he did was... It's not the same as when you were kids... and we didn't always let it slide.” He stumbled over his words awkwardly, glancing at the others in a plea for help.

  I looked at Jake, I knew he'd be having the most trouble accepting this.

  “He's not answering,” Jake shook his head in frustration.

  He still doesn't believe me. I scowled at him and returned my attention to Karl.

  “It doesn't matter, it's over now,” I shook my head.

  “Of course it matters, Jelly,” Craig came forward, wrapping his arms around me. He whispered against my hair so that only I could hear him. “I'm so sorry
, sis.” The hurt in his voice panged at my heart and I felt guilty before I realised how stupid it was of me to feel bad for what Duff had tried to do to me.

  “Guys, I really don't want to talk about this,” my voice shook as I pleaded with them all.

  “We wouldn't have hurt you, Jelly,” Ian said sadly, shaking his head.

  “How is she supposed to believe that?” Jason asked incredulously.

  I squeezed his hand gently, pleading him to stop but he continued. “It's not like you haven't done it before.”

  “You think we'd hurt her?” Ian stood up to confront Jason.

  Jason didn't reply, I turned away from Ian to look at Jason more closely. He was obviously in a lot of pain.

  “Are you okay?” I asked Jason uncertainly.

  He didn't answer me and his eyes were unfocussed.

  “Jason?” I asked again, panic setting in.

  He passed out and landed hard on the floor.

  “Shit,” Ian murmured, dropping to the floor to check Jason. “Craig!”

  Chapter 40

  Saturday, 15th December 2012

  I sat in the waiting room unable to move. Craig kept telling me Jason would be fine but I couldn't let myself believe it until I saw him again. The ambulance ride had been torturous. I'd listened to the paramedics as they checked Jason over, he'd regained consciousness but was in too much discomfort to talk. I'd felt useless, holding his hand but unable to help him.

  Every time a doctor came into the waiting room, I looked up, praying for news about Jason. Craig had suspected he was bleeding internally and had called an ambulance. I knew I should have been furious that Ian had hurt Jason so badly but I just felt empty.

  Another doctor came through the double doors and Craig stood up and went over to talk to him. They talked for a while before they came to talk to me together.

  “Jelly, this is Dr Adamson,” Craig motioned to the doctor and I nodded nervously.

  I don't care who he is! Is Jason okay?

  “Jason's fine, Jelly,” Craig said gently.

  I released the breath I'd been holding as relief washed over me. He's okay? Craig wrapped his arm round my shoulder as a few tears escaped down my cheeks.

  “We've repaired the damage to his spleen and they'll be bringing him up any minute now. We're going to keep him in overnight for observation but he should be able to go home tomorrow,” he smiled.

  “Thank you,” I nodded, my voice choking.

  Craig guided me to Jason's bed and my heart jumped as I saw him. He was awake but fairly groggy. I wanted to jump into bed with him and cry my eyes out but I doubted that was the best thing to do to somebody who'd just undergone surgery.

  “Jason,” I whispered, the tears flowing freely as I stood by his bedside. “I'm so sorry.”

  “It's not your fault, baby,” he said sluggishly. “I'm fine.” He smiled weakly and took my hand in his. “Where's Ian?”

  “He had to sort things out,” Craig shrugged apologetically

  Ian had remained at home, clearing everyone out of the house and putting in a few calls to God knows who.

  “How bad is it?” He asked Craig, a slight smirk on his face.

  “You'll be fine. I did try and convince them to give you a penectomy but they wouldn't go for it,” Craig shook his head with a wicked grin.

  “Cheers for that,” Jason chuckled.

  “What's a penectomy?” I asked, confused.

  Jason and Craig looked at each other and grinned.

  “Your brother wanted to make me a ken doll,” Jason said, shaking his head with obvious humour.

  I gaped at them and smacked Craig on the arm playfully. He grinned at me and rubbed his arm where a nice red handprint was appearing.

  “I'm not sure I can get used to you getting all violent all of a sudden,” he teased.

  I frowned at him, not sure if he was serious. “Sorry,” I said, lowering my gaze.

  “I'm only kidding, Jellybean,” he said warmly, squeezing my shoulder. “It's nice to see you sticking up for yourself for a change. I guess we have Jason to thank for that.” Craig nodded to Jason who smiled briefly.

  “Although it doesn't seem to be working out so well for you,” he said to Jason.

  “I'd do it again,” Jason said seriously.

  “I know,” Craig frowned and turned to me. “I've never seen Ian like that.”

  “Me neither,” I admitted. “He said we'd talk tonight.”

  I wasn't looking forwards to it. I didn't really fancy going through the whole scenario again.

  “I want to stay here with you tonight,” I said to Jason.

  “You won't be able to, sis,” Craig shook his head apologetically. “You shouldn't even really be here now. I've pulled some strings and you can stay another hour but then I'll have to take you home.”

  I nodded despondently, I appreciated Craig sticking his neck out for us. He left me alone with Jason and went to sit in the waiting room.

  “You want me to go get Ben?” I asked Jason.

  “In a minute,” he said, sounding tired. “Are you okay?”

  “You're asking me if I'm okay?” I laughed. “You're the one whose been hospitalised.”

  “You know what I mean,” he smiled weakly, closing his eyes and resting his head against the pillow.

  “I'm fine, I promise,” I reassured him.

  He nodded but didn't open his eyes and I took my cue to fetch Ben. He was sat a little bit away from my brothers, looking a complete mess.

  “Ben, Jason wants to see you,” I said quietly.

  He didn't meet my gaze but got up and went to see his brother. When I joined them, Ben had pulled up an extra chair and was talking with Jason, they both became quiet as I walked in. I sat next to Ben, pretending it wasn't awkward that they'd stopped talking when I entered.

  “Jamie, I'm so sorry,” Ben mumbled, still not meeting my eyes.

  “Why are you sorry?” I asked with confusion. He's not done anything wrong, why is he sorry?

  “It wasn't my place to tell them, I just lost it,” he apologised.

  “It's okay, Ben,” I reassured him. “It would have come out one way or another.” I reached over and squeezed his shoulder gently. “I didn't realise you knew though,” I blushed.

  “Sorry,” Jason mumbled sleepily. “I tell Benji everything.”

  “It's okay,” I shrugged. “I'm glad you two are so close.”

  Jason smiled and motioned for me to come over. He'd pulled the hospital blanket away from him and I winced at the sight of the bandages and tape covering the site of his operation. His ribs were already showing yellowing bruises and the reminder of what Ian and the others had done to him was highly unwelcome.

  “Kiss,” he demanded sleepily, motioning towards his lips

  “Anyone ever told you that you're very bossy?” I grinned, glad that he was being his playful self.

  “Only my equally bossy girlfriend,” he smiled as I carefully lowered myself over him to kiss his beautifully sculpted lips.

  Jason was struggling to keep his eyes open when the nurse came to shoo us out. I kissed him gently once more and Ben squeezed his arm as we said goodbye.

  “I'll pay for you to stay in a hotel tonight,” Craig said to Ben as we met him and the others in the waiting room. “I'd understand if you don't want to stay at ours.” Craig rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he waited for Ben to respond. “None of us will lay a finger on you though, you have my word,” he added.

  “I'll stay with you guys if that's still okay.” Ben looked at me.

  I nodded at him appreciatively. I would have understood if he wanted to be as far away from my brothers as possible.

  The drive back to the house was punctuated by an uncomfortable silence. I was shocked to see a police car on the drive and my stomach filled with an uncomfortable sense of dread as I realised they were probably there because of me. Rick pulled the car into the drive beside it and Danny held the door open and helped me out. He sq
ueezed my shoulder gently as he guided me into the house.

  Ian was waiting in the lounge with two uniformed police officers. They stood up from the sofa as I entered the room and I froze on the threshold, uncertain of what was happening.

  “Jelly,” Ian motioned for me to sit down next to him.

  “What's going on?” I asked uncertainly.

  “Miss Carter, I'm PC Ashleigh Falkner and this is PC Cunnings,” the short, raven-haired officer introduced herself to me and motioned to her grumpy looking male partner.

  I nodded, unsure of what to say and glanced nervously from them to Ian and back.

  “We need to ask you a few questions and take your statement.”

  “Take my statement?” I asked uncertainly.

  They nodded in response. Elise entered wordlessly and handed me a cup of tea. She shot me a sympathetic glance and I accepted the tea gratefully before she gracefully slipped out of the room.

  The officers sat on the other side of the sofa and Ian sat next to me, his hand on my shoulder as he leant back against the sofa.

  “Are you sure you want your brother here, Miss Carter?” Falkner asked.

  I glanced up at Ian, unsure of whether or not he'd want to hear what I had to say. “If he wants to be here,” I shrugged.

  Ian nodded but kept quiet.

  “We understand you want to make a complaint against Mr George Duffner,” she started.

  I looked up at Ian and he stared back with a firm look telling me I was doing this or else. I nodded at the officers, keeping my eyes on my hands.

  “On accusations of sexual assault?” She continued.

  “He tried to rape her!” Ian growled.

  “Mr Carter, if you can't keep quiet I'm going to have to ask you to leave,” Cunnings said matter-of-factly. He wasn't threatening, his tone was neutral.

  Ian scowled but kept quiet.

  “Is that correct, Miss Carter?” Falkner asked again.

  I nodded once more, feeling the blood rush to my cheeks.