For You, I'd Do Anything- Rini One Shots

My Escape (2)

Tw: Mentions of the 4 letter R-word (it's just implied)

****
After what I saw in the bathroom last week, it wasn't hard for me to believe she needed help. I mean, I saw the bruising on her wrist and how she tried to cover it up. I saw how a shattering glass triggered her into a full blown panic attack, but I didn't want to believe it.

"What do you need? Is everything okay?" I asked. It was a stupid question.

She wouldn't ask for help if things weren't okay, you idiot.

She sighed and gave a small shrug of her shoulders. "You know what, never mind. It was stupid of me to even be here and I shouldn't have asked." She began quickly and started speed walking away, leaving me bewildered. Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed her wrist, and she flinched.

I quickly let go and scratched the back of my neck. She slowly turned around and my heart broke at the sight of her face. Silent tears were running down her face. "What do you need?" I asked again, softly. She just shook her head, looking anywhere but at me.

I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I cupped her face and gently lifted her her head so I could look her in the eyes. "Olivia," I whispered, "if you're in trouble then you need to tell me. I'll do whatever I can to protect you. Whatever you say to me will be confidential. We can meet in my office if it'll make you feel better." I offered. I knew it wasn't a good idea to take on two cases, but what choice did I have? I barely know this girl, and yet it feels like I've known her for forever. 

She cleared her throat. "I-I can't."  She mumbled. "I'm sorry to have bothered you. Have a good one, Josh." And then she was gone.

***

That was three weeks ago.

I haven't seen Olivia since the day she asked for help and then ran off. For some reason every part of me wanted to go look for her, but I didn't know her like that, and I wouldn't even know where to begin.

I figured if I couldn't find and help Olivia, then I would do the next best thing: throwing myself into Sierra's case. We'd had a couple court hearings already, but we didn't have strong enough evidence to prove the abuse. Her bruisings had basically disappeared in the last couple weeks and so far everything has just been hearsay.

"Josh, your 11 o'clock is here" my assistant said through the intercom.

"Send her in." I responded back.

Sierra walked in a minute later and she took a seat in front of my desk. She was quiet and looked extremely nervous, which was usually a telltale sign that something was wrong, and it looked like she was having an internal debate with herself.

I opened my mouth to try and coax her into a small conversation to ease her nerves, but she beat me to it. "I think I should go back..." she mumbled, fiddling with the ring on her finger. I knit my eyebrows together, confused. "What do you mean go back? Like to him?" She nodded, not wanting to meet my eyes. She finally looked at me when I released a deep breath I didn't realize I was holding. "Why are you feeling this way?" I asked, calmly. This type of behavior wasn't unheard of in these situations.

It was actually quite common. That's the thing about abusive, toxic relationships. It's like a black hole. It sucks you in until you can't escape. "Sierra, please talk to me..." I begged. "I'm an idiot for thinking this way!" She exclaimed, suddenly angry. "Why would I go back?! I know I don't want to go back, but I feel like I owe it to him! Maybe it'll be fine. We'll talk it out and it'll be good!" She said, trying to convince herself. "It's normal to feel like that, Sierra. But you can't go back. I know it's hard to believe after so long, but you're gonna be free from this. We just need the evidence to prove it." I could see the tears start to well in her eyes. "Hey, S... have you gone to the hospital since you've moved back?" I asked.