Off Sides

chapter 14




Danny



It's Saturday and I've pulled a double shift at Sally's. I'm so tired and my feet are killing me. I was supposed to go to a party tonight with Ryan but I begged off, telling him to spend some quality guy time with his friends. A night of relaxation with a good book is what I need.

It's almost 11:00 p.m. when I finish my shift. I'm just getting ready to walk out the door when I get a text. It's from Ryan.

Didn't go to party. Sick. Just woke up. Think food poisoning. Can u come over?

I don't hesitate when I fire off a quick text.

Of course. Be there in 30 min with soup.

I head back into the kitchen and get some chicken noodle soup and crackers to take with me. Putting cash in the register to cover it, I walk out the door and head over to Ryan's frat house.

When I'm about a block from his house, I remember that Ryan was supposed to meet Mike over at the party. Realizing that Ryan was probably too sick to let Mike know what was going on, I fire off a quick text to Mike to let him know why Ryan didn't show

Ryan texted me he is sick. Won't make party. I'm on my way over there now. I'll take good care of him. :)

I hit send and walk up the steps. The front door is open, as it usually always is. Walking in, I can't see anyone around. They are all probably at the party. I jog up the steps to Ryan's room and open the door.

The room is empty and I look around in confusion. His bed is perfectly made, which doesn't make sense. I walk over to it and see his iPhone on the nightstand. Setting the soup down, I pick his phone up and turn it on. There are his texts to me and my responses. Maybe he's in the bathroom.

My phone chimes and I look down to see a text from Mike.

Ryan's here with me. R U okay?

A sick feeling begins in my stomach and before I can reply, something hard slams into the back my head. I crumple to Ryan's bed and my vision winks in and out. Someone grabs my hair from behind and pushes me face down onto the mattress, then a pillowcase is thrown over my head and I am now in full blown panic. I try to scream but only a warbled sound comes out. I take a deep breath and try again, getting out a somewhat loud shriek.

I'm rewarded with another hit to my head, this time to the side of my face and it catches the corner of my eye and my cheekbone. Pain explodes and fear for my life is now coursing through me. I'm dizzy from the blows to my head. I'm suffocating from the pillowcase pulled tight over my face and the weight of someone on my back.

And then my worst nightmares come true. Whoever is at my back reaches to my front and undoes my jeans quicker than I can react. I start struggling with all my might but my captor now has put a large hand around the back of my neck, pinning my face into the mattress. I can't breathe and I know I'm going to pass out.

I can feel my jeans and underwear being roughly jerked down my legs and cold air hits my bottom. I start thrashing again, trying to get free and my attacker pushes my face harder in the mattress and says, "Quit moving, bitch, and I'll make this fast."

Terrified, I start crying and I'm tiring out from the struggle. I'm weakly flailing my legs but he just laughs at my efforts. I feel one of hands his reach roughly between my legs and I start sobbing uncontrollably.

And then he's gone...as if he's been ripped away from my body. I hear Ryan bellow in rage and scream, "Get the f*ck away from her." Something slams into the opposite wall.

I scramble to pull up my jeans and jerk the pillowcase off my head. Ryan is on top of a guy...I can't tell who it is. Ryan is pounding away at his face, over and over again. Blood and spit starts flying and I can see numerous cuts opening up on my attacker’s face. I’m frozen in place, watching Ryan punch the man over and over.

Feet come running up the stairs and Mike is in the doorway. He flicks a glance at me, appraising the situation and mutters, "F*ck." He looks over at Ryan and just watches as he pounds away at my would-be-rapist. I hear the crunch of bone on bone and when Ryan pulls his fist back, I can the guys nose squashed to the side of his face.

Finally, Mike moves in and tries to pull Ryan off. Ryan whips around on Mike, rage turning his beautiful face into a mask of hatred and vengeance. He snarls, "Get the f*ck off me," and goes back to pounding on the guy, who is now unconscious.

"Ryan, you're going to kill the guy if you don't stop."

He doesn't listen and his rage isn't diminishing. I start crying, strangely sick at the gruesome scene before me and oddly satisfied that Ryan is hurting this guy who came so very close to killing a part of me.

Mike is yelling now and trying to grab Ryan again. "Ryan...do you want to go to prison? Get off of him. He's done."

Mike's words do nothing to affect Ryan but when he says the word "prison" it jolts me into action. I can't have Ryan go to prison because of me.

I jump off the bed and cross the room in two strides coming to stand in his line of vision.

"Ryan," I say softly. "Please stop."

And just like that Ryan stops and stands up from the guy. He is breathing harshly and his hands are covered in blood. More blood is spattered on his shirt. He turns my way and runs his gaze over me. He stares at my face and with a shaky hand, he gently brings it up to touch where I can feel my cheek starting to swell. But then he must see the blood all over his hand and drops it back down to his side.

He looks lost and my heart breaks. I walk up to him and put my head on his chest. I wrap my arms around his waist and squeeze him hard. He doesn't respond at first and I start to panic. But then his arms come around me and he buries his head in my neck. I can feel him starting to shudder but then he pulls back abruptly.

"Are you okay?"

I nod, on the verge of a full meltdown.

"Did he...?"

"No! He didn't get a chance. He just...touched me."

Oh God, he touched me. I can feel bile rising in my throat and run to the wastebasket. I make it in time and heave and heave until nothing more is left. I'm dimly aware of Ryan cradling me in his lap, stroking my hair, telling me it's going to be alright.

***

The police and rescue squad are here. They've taken my attacker away. It turns out it was Ryan's teammate, Reece Malone. He was unconscious and badly beaten. I'm terrified he might die and Ryan could be in serious trouble.

Ryan and I are both sitting in the back of an ambulance. An EMT is bandaging Ryan's hands and another is taking my vitals. I glance out the back doors and there is a huge crowd gathering. Ryan reaches across the space and links his fingers with mine. I squeeze back.

The EMT is asking me questions and I try to focus. She's asking me if I need a rape kit and I can feel my bottom lip trembling as I shake my head no. She questions me about my injuries and I tell her about being dizzy and vomiting. She's afraid I may have a head injury and wants me to go to the hospital to get checked out. She said they'll also need to physically document my injuries for any criminal charges.

I look over at Ryan in panic and he strokes his thumb lovingly over my hand. "It'll be okay, Danny. We need to take you to the hospital to get checked out."

I nod, trusting in Ryan.

At the hospital, they triage me fairly quickly and whisk me away for a CT scan of my head. Then they put me in a room where Ryan is waiting and I crawl onto his lap so he can hold me. The room we are in is depressing as hell. The walls are a dingy gray and are covered with old posters depicting different types of injuries. The smell of antiseptic is making me nauseous.

As we are waiting for a doctor, a police officer comes to take my statement and he takes photos of my bruises. Apparently there is a long scratch across my lower back that I don't recall how I got, but he snaps a few pictures of it. I'm beyond humiliated.

Before leaving, he tells us that he has to keep Ryan’s cell phone for evidence, as it appears that Reece used it to lure me to the frat house by posing as Ryan, texting me that he was sick.

“I forgot to bring my phone with me to the party,” Ryan murmurs. “Thank God you texted Mike. Otherwise...I wouldn’t have known you were in trouble.” I shudder as I consider the probability of what would have happened had I not sent that text and Ryan hugs me tight.

As soon as the one cop leaves, another comes in.

"She's already given a statement,” Ryan growls. “Can't you guys leave her alone?"

The officer looks at me with sympathy but then turns hard eyes to Ryan. "I'm not here to take her statement. I'm here to place you under arrest for assault and battery."

"What?!" I shriek a little too loudly and fly off of Ryan’s lap. "He was defending me. You need to arrest that animal who attacked me."

"Ma'am. You need to calm down. We will press charges against Mr. Malone but he is asking that we press charges against Mr. Burnham."

"It's not fair," I whisper, and the tears start flowing again. Ryan gathers me in his arms and kisses my forehead. He asks the cop, "Can you wait until at least she sees the doctor so I can stay with her?"

The cop looks back and forth between us and then sighs. "Sure. I'll be outside waiting for you."

Before he steps outside he turns to look at us. "For what it's worth, if that had been my wife or my daughter, I would have done exactly what you did, Mr. Burnham."

Ryan nods at the cop who leaves and softly shuts the door behind him. Then he picks me up and sits back down, cradling me in his lap. "It's going to okay, Danny. Please don't worry."

I'm clutching his shirt while I lay my head in the crook of his neck. "How can I not worry? You're getting arrested."

"Sssshhh," he says. "Just close your eyes until the doctor gets here."

I do as he asks and then I melt when Ryan starts humming a song to me. I don't recognize it at first but then I realize its John Lennon's Imagine, one of my all-time favorite songs. I utterly sink into Ryan and let him sing to me to wash away my fears.

Eventually, Sarge arrives. I had called Paula at work and she was trying to find someone to cover her shift so she could come to me. Sarge was my next call after Paula. He hugs me and then puts Ryan in a big, bear hug, thanking him for saving me.

Finally the doctor comes and clears me. He says my CT scan is negative and that I should be just fine.

After he leaves, I turn to Ryan. Any words I want to say are stuck in the dryness of my throat. He asks for my phone and I hand it to him. He enters something in my contacts and hands it back to me.

“Please call my uncle tonight,” he says. “I programmed it under Jim Thorne. He knows who you are. Tell him what happened and ask if he can arrange for an attorney for me. Ask him not to call my parents. I don't feel like dealing with them."

I nod then hug him hard. "I love you. More than anything."

"I love you too.” He pulls back and kisses me on the temple. “Don’t worry. I promise it’ll be okay."

I start to walk out the door with him but he shakes his head no. "I don't want you to see me get arrested."

I nod as tears stream down my face, and the door closes behind him. Sarge takes me in his arms and hugs me again.