Alibi

Malice

TW: violence, SA, bodily damage, graphic depictions

Her words came out low and raspy, but they were unmistakable. He scooped her back up and laid on the bed with her pulled on his lap and tightly to his chest. She cried for most of the day after that, and he tried to soothe her, but he was all too painfully aware that it would take more than one day of gentle touches and calming voices to rid her mind of that night.

Every time she closed her eyes she was right back in the moment. When her eyes were open, she saw Reece's pain which mirrored her own and was devastating. She worried that if he couldn't bear it, he would leave her, but as far as she could tell he had been here the whole time. Her own pain was only compounded by the sight of his, but she couldn't bear to send him away to spare him.

As long as he was here, she was safe. When she slept, she could still hear herself calling out to him. That was what had spurred Roger to beat her head against the wall of the toilet stall. She never stopped fighting. She beat and clawed at him until her hands and fingers were bloody and swelling. She called out for Reece in the hopes that even if he didn't hear her someone would.

In the last moments of the assault, she and Roger both heard the squeak of the door. She hadn't imagined that. She saw it in his face. He shoved himself from her body so quickly that she fell to the floor. She couldn't remember much after that, but she was sure it had happened.

Someone came into the bathroom and did nothing to help her after Roger fled.

She could not understand what kind of person would do that. Had they gone after Roger? Is that why they hadn't stayed to help? Or had it just been one more person that she encountered that night that held little value in human life. Maybe they hadn't seen her. Maybe Roger took them from the bathroom before they could see.

Her thoughts continued to race with questions, but they bore no answers. She wanted to talk to Reece to tell him about the other person, but her throat was so tender every sound she made felt like knives being thrust into her neck. She couldn't handle that pain on top of everything else that hurt.

"Paper"

He understood right away what she wanted and rang the call bell at once.