Close Your Eyes

It was just past two am when sixteen-year-old Charlie Haner crept quietly through the front door of her home. She was over four hours past curfew and couldn’t believe that her father wasn’t pacing in front of the door, waiting for her with an angry scowl. Instead, the house was as silent as could be, and she breathed out, thanking God that her mom and dad were asleep.

Charlie knew she needed to get her ass upstairs and into the shower before one of her parents woke up, after all, she looked like a mess. Taking a deep breath, she tiptoed through the foyer and into the dark living room. She couldn’t see a thing, and was glad that she knew exactly where every piece of furniture was, that way she wouldn’t trip or run into anything and make a whole bunch of unwanted noise.

Gripping onto the staircase railing, she could feel herself finally unraveling as the pain between her thighs became unbearably worse each time she took a step. She was almost there though. She was almost to her room, and once she reached it she could allow herself to collapse to the floor in a fit of tears, but she couldn’t do it here and now.

Charlie took one step at a time, taking it slow, before reaching the top of the stairs. Drawing in a deep breath, she headed for her bedroom just feet away. She twisted the doorknob quietly and stepped inside, tears starting to slip down her cheeks already.

Just as the doorknob clicked shut, the lamp across the room on her bedside table lit up, revealing her father who sat on the edge of her bed with an angry expression etched across his face.

Charlie gasped, surprised to see him there as she stumbled back against the door, shame and embarrassment spreading across her face.

“Where have you—” Brian Haner Jr. looked his daughter up and down, his angry expression soon fading at the sight of her. Her makeup was smeared, her hair was all over the place, her dress was partially ripped, and the worst, there was dried blood all over her inner thighs. He stood from the bed and shook his head in disbelief, “Oh God, Charlie. Please don’t tell me…”

Clenching her jaw together, more tears spilled from her chocolate colored eyes. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know…I thought he was nice,” She cried, “Dad…he—he raped me,”

Approaching her as quickly as he possibly could, Brian took his daughter into his arms, holding her against his chest as he shouted for his wife to come here over and over again until a very tired and alarmed Rose Haner opened the door and stepped into the teenaged girls room.

“What is it, Brian? What’s going on?” The slightly younger woman asked, concern lingering in her eyes.

He swallowed hard, “Go get dressed. We gotta get her to the hospital.”

Flicking her eyes from her husband to her sobbing daughter, Rose narrowed her eyes in confusion. “What happened?”

“Rose,” His voice trembled, “She’s been raped.”

Two agonizingly hours later, Brian stood in a waiting room down the hall from a hospital room where Charlie and his wife were. He had been informed that his daughter was in the middle of having a rape kit done. The thought made his stomach churn. Something like this wasn’t supposed to happen to Charlie, not his daughter. Her whole live he and Rose had gone through such extreme measures to keep her safe from ever being assaulted in any way, but he’d learned tonight that he wasn’t always going to be able to protect Charlie, no matter how much he wanted to.

Brian leaned back against the wall and ran a hand over his face. His father, Papa Gates, came walking down the hall calling out his name, a sound of panic lingering behind his voice. Clearing his throat, Brian turned to face his father. “How’d you know?”

Papa Gates sighed, “Rose called me, said to come down here as soon as possible. She figured you’d need some company through all this.”

“Doesn’t surprise me,” He said quietly.

“Is she okay? Have you heard anything?”

“No,” Brian answered, shaking his head, “They’ve been in there for two fuckin’ hours and I haven’t heard a damn thing.”

Papa Gates frowned, “She’s gonna be okay, Brian. She’s a strong girl. She’ll get through this.”

“She shouldn’t have to!” He turned away from his father, his fists clenching tight with anger, “She shouldn’t have to go through this. She’s only fifteen for Christ sakes.”

“Brian, you need to calm down. If Charlie sees how upset and angry you are over this, it’s only going to upset her even more, and we don’t want that after what she’s been through.”

Taking in a deep breath, Brian nodded, knowing his father was right, “I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect this to happen to her.”

Papa Gates, “I understand, son.”

Brian turned back to look at his father, “Lucas doesn’t know about all this does he?”

Shaking his head, the older man said, “Of course not. He was fast asleep when Rose called.”

“Thank God.”

Brian couldn’t imagine his younger son knowing about this. Of course they’d have to tell him eventually, because Brian knew it wasn’t a secret they could keep, but Brian was glad that he didn't know at that moment. In fact, he was glad that the ten-year-old boy had stayed the night with his grandparents. God forbid if he had found Charlie the way she was instead of him.

Another half hour passed by before Rose stepped out of the room and approached Brian and Papa Gates, a look of exhaustion spread across her face.

Setting aside the cup of coffee his father had supplied him with ten minutes ago; Brian met his wife halfway down the hall. “Is she okay? Are they finished? Can I see her?”

Sighing softly, Rose folded her arms across her chest, “She was hysterical earlier but the doctor gave her a small sedative to calm her down enough to do the rape kit. They’re finished now but two detectives are on their way to speak with her, so I have a feeling we’re going to be here for a while longer. Overall, she’s just about as good as she can be after what all she’s gone through tonight,” She explained to her husband, “And yes, you can see her. She’s been asking for you for the past hour.”

With a breath of relief, Brian kissed his wife on the forehead. “Thank you.”

“I’ll be in there in a few minutes,” Rose murmured, “I’m gonna use the restroom, pull myself together, and grab some coffee.”

“I’ll do my best at keeping her calm until you get back,” Brian told her before the two parted ways.

Papa Gates went with Rose, needing another cup of coffee himself, while Brian head down the hallway to see Charlie. He stopped in front of the door, gripping the doorknob tightly, feeling rather nervous suddenly. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say to her, but knew that he would find a way to comfort her if she needed it.

He opened the door and stepped inside. Charlie was lying on a hospital bed, facing the wall, curled into a ball. Brian could faintly hear her sniffling and knew she was crying. Who could blame her? Brian would be crying too if he’d gone through what she had.

“Angel?” He spoke softly, approaching the hospital bed.

At the sound of his voice, Charlie rolled over to look at him, her eyes red and puffy and full of tears. “Daddy,” She whispered.

Sitting down the edge of the bed, he reached over and brushed a lock of her hair out of her face, “I’m right here, baby.”

“I’m sorry.” Several tears slipped down her cheeks.

“Sorry for what?” Brian narrowed his eyes together, “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“For disappointing you and mom.”

He took her hand in his with a small sigh, “Oh Charlie,” He shook his head, “We’re not disappointed with you. We’re upset, sure, but that isn’t your fault. None of this is.”

Choking back a sob, Charlie inhaled a deep breath. Frowning, Brian murmured, “Come here,” and scooped her up into his arms. Charlie hid her face in the crook of her father’s neck as her arms wrapped tightly around his torso, never wanting to let go, because at that moment, he was the only thing that made her feel safe.

Brian rubbed small circles on her back, slowly but surely calming her down. “You weren’t going to tell us, were you?” He asked softly, “You were going to sneak in, take a shower, and go to sleep like none of it had ever happened, am I right?”

Slowly she nodded her head against his chest, confessing that what he was saying was true. Charlie was going to pretend that it had never happened, because honestly, she didn’t want to face it. That wasn’t possible now though, and in a way, she was sort of glad that her parents knew, because keeping a secret as painful as this and as big as this would have been just too damn hard on her, and she knew that.

“Don’t worry, Angel,” He murmured, “Everything’s gonna be okay.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”