They Can't Protect Me From Loving You

Brian had been pacing back and for in front of his sofa for an hour. He was aware of an unmarked police car parked on the street outside his house waiting to take him to the hospital at top speed as soon as they found Eloise.

Everyone else was gathered in his living room, all silent, all nervous. There was still the possibility that they wouldn’t find Eloise at one of Steven’s properties or that even if they did they may be too late to save her.

A loud banging at the front door made all of the occupants of the living room jump out of their skin.

“Mr Haner, they’ve found her.” the officer called from the other side of the door. Brian was across the room and flinging the door open in an instant. The officer was already making his way back to his car as Brian and the others ran out of the house.

“We’ll meet you down there.” Matt yelled as Brian got into the police car. Before he could reach to put his seat belt on, the car was pulling away from the curb, the officer placing the cherry on top of the roof. Brian’s heart was racing every kilometre of the way to the hospital. There were no words to describe how he was feeling as the police car sped through the streets of Huntington. He was ecstatic that she’d been found, and alive but he was afraid of how bad a state she’d been found in. he had no idea what she’d gone through over the past couple of days and he didn’t know how well he’d cope if he had to see her if she looked beaten and knew that she’d been raped. He tried not to think about that too much though as they pulled up outside the doors of the ER. He ran from the car and through the doors towards the desk, the officer finding it hard to keep up with him.

“I’m looking for Eloise Benson!” Brian demanded at the nurse who stood behind the desk.

“Mr Haner?” Brian turned at the sound of his name to face Detective Meadows.

“Where is she?” Brian asked walking towards him. The detective ushered him across to a quiet corner before he began to explain.

“She’s been checked over by a doctor. Brian, she’s not in a good way. She’s been beaten and sexually assaulted.” He said quietly as he confirmed Brian’s worst nightmares.

“Can I see her?” Brian asked quietly as tears began to fill his eyes.

“Let the doctor finish with her first, then I’ll take you to her. We’ve got him though, and it’s my guess that he’s going to tell us all about Miss Dibenedetto’s involvement it all this. They’re both going down for a long time.” He said with a smile which Brian returned.

The detective ushered him over to the waiting area and ordered the officer to get him a coffee. Moments later the rest of the guys ran frantically into the waiting room.

“Where is she? Why aren’t you with her?” Jimmy demanded as he spotted Brian stand up.

“The doctor’s checking her over, she’s…” Brian paused unable to continue with what he was going to say.

“She’s what Bri? How bad is she?” again it was Jimmy who asked.

“She’s um, she’s been r…” but he couldn’t say the word.

“Oh god no!” Val cried out clasping her hand over her mouth as she pushed her head into Matt’s chest.

“Mr Haner?” an unfamiliar female voice caused him to turn away from the group.

“I’m Doctor Williams, if you’d like to follow me, I’ll take you to see Eloise.” She said quietly. Brian simply nodded before turning back to his friends.

“Guys, I’m thankful that you’re all here, but I don’t think it’s a good idea if…” he started but Zack held up his hand to stop him.

“Say no more dude, we understand. Call us tomorrow to let us know how she’s doing.” He said.

“Thanks dude,” he said stepping forward to give him a man hug. As Brian pulled back he glanced around the waiting room at the rest of his friends.

“Dude, just go, she needs you.” Matt said with a reassuring smile. Brian nodded and turned back to the doctor who was waiting patiently behind him.

She turned and Brian followed her through a set of double doors. They walked silently down the corridor until she stopped outside a door. As Doctor Williams put her hand on the handle to open it, Brian stopped her.

“How bad is she?” he whispered nervously.

“She’s been pretty quiet since she came in, but that’s to be expected. She’s got some bruising on her face and her upper body and we know she was repeatedly sexually abused.” She said as Brian visibly cringed at the thought of someone hurting her, of her being raped. Brian stepped forward so that he could look through the small window in the door. Eloise was sat on the bed, her knees hugged up close to her chest, her head resting on her arms.

“I’ll leave you two to it.” Doctor Williams said quietly taking a step back from the door. Taking a deep breath, Brian placed his hand on the handle and slowly opened the door. Eloise looked up at the sound of the door opening, showing her bruised, tear stained face. Brian allowed the door to close and walked quickly across to the bed, sitting down on the edge.
Eloise flung herself forward, wrapping her arms around his waist as he engulfed her in a secure hug. His eyes closed with emotional pain as her body began to shake as she sobbed uncontrollably into his chest.
“I’m sorry.” She mumbled after a long while of sobbing.

“Shh, baby, it’s not your fault, you have no reason to be sorry.” Brian replied as his hands ran gently and soothingly up and down her back.

“It’s me that should be sorry. I promised to keep you safe. I’ve failed.” Brian said quietly as she continued to soak his shirt with her tears. She shook her head gently against his chest.

“You haven’t failed.” She mumbled quietly, lifting her head so that she could look into Brian’s eyes. She tensed briefly as his hand came up to her cheek, his thumb gently rubbing away the tears and tracing the bruise that marked her cheek.

Brian was about to speak when there was a brief knock at the door, before it opened and Doctor Williams walked in.

“Hey how are you feeling now?” she asked as she crossed the room.

“Better now Brian’s here.” Eloise replied with a weak smile as Brian took her hand in his, moving to her side.

“Good, now, we’ve had your x-rays back and nothing is broken, just badly bruised; you’ll have to rest up for a few days.” She began with a glance towards Brian.

“Don’t worry, she won’t be doing anything.” Brian replied with a gentle squeeze of her hand.

“Good and I’ve also brought you the morning after pill for you to take.” She began solemnly. “It’s just a precaution, but I’ll warn you, it’s got to be taken within seventy-two hours of intercourse to work, but if…if he assaulted you outside of that time frame, there is still a possibility that…”

“Oh God no!” Eloise blurted out through a fresh sob knowing what the doctor was going to say.

“I’m sorry, but it’s a possibility.” The doctor replied.

“Are you pregnant?” Brian asked quietly but Eloise shook her head.

“It’s possible, he didn’t exactly allow me to take my pill for the past five days and he didn’t use protection.” Eloise said her voice breaking as she saw the pain appear across Brian’s face.

“And these pills might not fix it?” he asked and Eloise shook her head. Brian nodded silently with understanding as Doctor Williams handed Eloise the pack of pills.

“When can I take her home?” Brian asked eagerly.

“As soon as her signature is on this line.” She replied with a warm smile, handing Eloise the clipboard with the admin papers on it.

“There’s sleeping tablets there as well, just in case.” She added passing Brian the pills as Eloise signed.

Eloise clung onto Brian tightly, pulling herself as close to him as she could, as they walked out to the waiting taxi. They were silent the entire ride with Eloise hugging Brian close, her head firmly placed on his chest, listening to the calming sound of his steady heartbeat.

“Do you want anything to eat?” Brian asked once they were back in their house. Eloise quietly shook her head.

“Would you mind if I just had a bath and went straight to bed?” she asked hesitantly.

“Of course not baby, come on, I’ll go run it for you.” Brian replied, gently taking her hand and leading her up the stairs.

Brian left Eloise to undress in the bedroom while he began to run her a scented bath. As he waited for the bath to fill he sat cross-legged on the floor beside the tub with his face in his hands. A few tears rolled down his cheek as he breathed a loud sigh of relief. Eloise was back, safe, where she belonged. But he was scared. She’d been through so much in the past couple of days, with the bruises to prove it. It would take her a while to recover from that.

He took another deep breath before raising his head to see the bath almost full. He leant up and shut off the faucet.

“It’s ready for you baby” he said walking back into the bedroom. He stopped abruptly in the doorway as he spotted Eloise's sleeping body, curled up in the bed, fully clothed apart from her shoes and socks that had been discarded to the floor. He smiled weakly at her and kicked off his own shoes before stripping down to just his underwear and climbing onto the bed next to her. He gently placed an arm around her waist and softly kissed her temple. She moaned softly in her sleep, lifting her hand up on top of his. It wasn’t long before Brian felt himself drift off to sleep as well.