Well it took me damn long enough, didn't it? I know I promised this thing in September and here it is in November, but what the hell...better late than never, right?
This chapter is certainly different in tone. The cliffhangers of Chapter 9 need to be resolved and that means a lot of your regular characters will not be jumping headfirst into hot lesbian sex. There are some good scenes in here so hopefully you will bear with my plot indulgences here. I promise Chapter 11 will be jam packed with hot celebrity pussy.
If you've forgotten or never bothered to read it, Chapter 9 was filled with a few interesting plot twists. First the basic background is that Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewit, Rose McGowan, Jennifer Aniston and Jewel have taken up residence in a Malibu mansion that used to be an infamous bordello. They used the place to live out their every perverted lesbian fantasy with as many of their friends as possible.
In Chapter 9, Brad Pitt found out about Jennifer's illicit mansion activities and presented her with a simple choice...him or the girls. Meanwhile, fresh off helping to seduce a heartbroken Tara Reid, Love got herself into a bad situation. Things got worse when Rose showed up and blinded Love's attacker. Things got even worse than that when they found out the guy she blinded was the son of the district attorney. Of course Rose was already fucked up in the head from being confronted by her "Master." The psycho bitch tormenting her was revealed to be Jaime Pressley and Jaime continued her torture of Rose by threatening to go after her housemates. But this was just warm up for what happened to Sarah and Alyson. Sarah's unwanted admirer Rick reacted to his sexual harassment suit being dismissed by smashing in Alyson's head with a baseball bat and holding a knife to Sarah's throat with the intent to use it. All that and Waldo and Franklin seemed ready to sell the girls out to the tabloids. That was about it but I'd recommend you read all of Chapter 9 first before tackling Chapter 10.
Credit as always goes to editor extraordinare, Ghoulardi. He started this series. I am just continuing it and he always lends his critical eye to make it better. Credit also goes to Peter for helping me with all the medical stuff. I'm no doctor and I hope I got it close enough to being accurate.
Now for the legal mumbo jumbo. If you're under 18, stop reading and stop wasting my time. You can't read this stuff, but hey, if you've gotten this far, I doubt a little warning is going to stop you from reading any further. But at least I tried, didn't I?
And of course, we must realize that this is entirely fictional. Things like this don't happen except in our imaginations. So fantasize away, but don't ever think this is an accurate representation.
Please please please send me feedback. You guys (and gals) have really been coming through with it the last few times and I would love to see it be kept up. Please send and any all feedback to KMB2476@aol.com This stuff isn't easy to write and feedback is what makes it all worthwhile. Your words really buck up my spirits when it's necessary.
Ok, you've waited this long...I won't keep yakking on. Let's boogie.
The Harem Episode 10 "Slight Of Hand And Twist Of Fate" By KMB
Rick held the knife close to Sarah's throat as he continued to hold her tightly, his other arm wrapped around her thin waist. She didn't dare flail or even squirm to try and get away. The knife was too close to her neck for her to even think about that.
"What do you think Sarah?" Rick asked. "You think a knife like this is sharp enough to slice through your jugular? Why don't we find out?"
Rick then pulled the knife away and lightly traced it down Sarah's left arm. The slight touch of the knife was enough to neatly cut the skin open and draw a thin river of blood that trickled down her arm and onto the floor. Sarah cried out in pain as the knife sliced her. She could feel Rick become aroused as her pain became obvious.
"I'd say it's sharp enough," Rick grinned. "Now, what do you say Sarah? How about that date? You're not too high and mighty now, are you Sarah? You're not too stuck up to date me now, princess. I've wanted this for so long Sarah and we are going to have ourselves one hell of a time. Don't worry Sarah, you are going to die soon, but first I want to take every inch of this body of yours. I hope you're ready bitch, because this is going to fucking hurt!"
"Please Rick no!" Sarah begged, the sharp end of the knife pushing back into her neck. She'd never been more terrified, but she thought she might be able to get out of this yet. "You don't want to do this! They'll put you in jail! They'll stick a needle in your arm!"
"Who's ever going to know I was here?" Rick mocked. "Who's going to tell them? You? That lying bitch out there? Dead girls tell no tales!"
Sarah was once again filled with waves of horror and nausea as she pictured what Rick was telling her. Even as the knife pressed against her jugular vein, she couldn't help but think about poor Aly. She didn't know for sure what Rick had done to her, but seeing the baseball bat covered in blood and red hair told her all she needed to know. Tears began to drip down Sarah's face as she thought about Aly dying out there. She had probably been cold, alone and scared.
Then a more disturbing thought popped into Sarah's head. She was going to die that way too! She was going to die right here...all alone...with no one to comfort her. The tears increased and, to Sarah's revulsion, so did Rick's noticeable arousal.
"That's it bitch...cry," Rick laughed. "Cry your last tears. You're lucky I'm even giving you the chance to cry. Your friend didn't get that chance before I bashed her skull in. But I didn't want her, Sarah. I only wanted you. I've wanted you for so long. And now you're mine!"
"Don't do this Rick," Sarah begged softly. The tears continued to flow, but she wasn't sobbing. She was terrified, but not panicky. With that sharp knife to her throat, one nick against her jugular could kill her. She couldn't flail or fight back. Rick had her and he wasn't going to let her go.
"You had your chance already Sarah," Rick informed her. "You could have made it easy. All you had to do was go out with me Sarah. I loved you, but did you return even one bit of my affection? No, you slapped me and lied about me!"
"You're the liar!" Sarah shot back, sucking up her tears and telling herself that if she was going to die tonight, at least she wasn't going to go out like some sniveling baby. "I never did any of those things you said I did!"
"I did what I had to do to make you love me!" Rick insisted strongly, pressing the knife that much closer to her throat. If it was any closer it would cut her right open and Sarah froze in place. "You thought you were too good for me bitch! Now I'm taking you whether you like it or not! You brought this all on yourself you snotty cunt! You're the reason I'm doing this. You're the reason your friend is dead!"
Rick's free hand then crawled up to Sarah's chest and began fondling her chest. He began to tug at the buttons of her shirt and then gave up. Rick ripped the shirt open, sending the buttons scattering around the dark room. The moonlight was the only illumination and the only sound Sarah could hear was Rick's heavy breathing in her ear and those buttons clicking all over the hard floor.
"I always knew you had great tits," Rick laughed as his hand squeezed her breasts hard through her bra. Sarah groaned in pain as he roughly touched her. "I'm going to have so much fucking fun with you Sarah."
"Please Rick please," Sarah continued to beg. She was grasping at anything to stay alive and if she could keep him talking, maybe she could figure something out. "Don't do this! You don't want to kill me! You said you loved me!"
"I do love you Sarah," Rick explained. "But you don't love me. You made that quite obvious. Do you know what it's like to have your love unreturned? It's a terrible feeling Sarah. A cold, hard feeling. You don't want me. That's fine. I don't want anyone else having you either!"
Rick then proved his point by lightly grazing the knife over Sarah's other arm. Just like before it cut right through her flesh and blood began to drip down her arm. She now had identical cuts on her arms and Sarah could feel her heart beating in her chest. She kept telling herself not to be scared but she couldn't help it. She was going to die.
"Owwww!" Sarah cried as she felt the sting and blood on her arm. Rick then moved the knife to her midriff and held it so close to her skin it was almost touching.
"So many places to cut you," Rick murmured, almost in a dream state. "So many holes I can make in you. So many new places I can create to fuck you in. Maybe I don't even have to kill you Sarah. Maybe I should just let you live in pain. What can I do to you Sarah? How can I make you suffer like you've made me suffer? Maybe I should just cut up your tight little stomach here. Would you like that Sarah? No little babies for you Sarah...ever..."
"Noooooooooooo!" Sarah cried, unable to help herself from sobbing at the thought. There was so much she hadn't done. She'd never see her mom again. She'd never see Love or Rose or Jen or Jewel. She'd never get to touch them again. Sarah even thought of Freddie. She'd never be with him again. She'd never be able to have the babies she'd dreamed about. There was so much more she wanted to do!
"You don't like the sound of that, do you Sarah?" Rick mocked as the knife pointed straight at her womb. "I always wondered what someone like you looked like on the inside. You wanna play doctor with me baby? You're so beautiful like this Sarah. So nice and scared. You can see your life now can't you. You can see how you fucking wasted it. You can see everyone you've hurt. I want you to think about all that Sarah. I want you to think about your friend out there bleeding herself dead in your garden all because of you Sarah. You dragged her into this and she paid the price."
Sarah began crying harder now and Rick suddenly dragged his tongue up her cheek, tasting her tears. Sarah had never felt anything sicken her the way his tongue on her face did. She wanted to vomit, but she held back for fear that lunging forward would result in that knife sinking right into her chest. She couldn't help but think about what Rick had said though. She had done this to Aly. She had dragged her into this because of her fears and her anxiety over the trial. Aly had tried to help her and now she was dead because of her.
"Don't do this Rick..." Sarah begged once more.
"What will you do if I let you live Sarah?" Rick demanded.
"Anything..." Sarah immediately replied.
"Say you'll suck my cock...SAY IT BITCH!!!" Rick then teased Sarah's stomach with the knife, scratching her and cutting her skin with a thin line. It wasn't a deep cut, just another example of what he could do to her if he chose.
"I'll suck your cock, Rick," Sarah answered, her voice trembling. Even as she said that she silently begged him to try it. She'd bite it off if she had the chance.
"Say you'll let me fuck you Sarah..." Rick moaned, living out his nightly masturbatory fantasy. "Say you'll let me fuck your hot little twat!"
"Yes...I'll let you fuck me!" Sarah groaned. She was starting to get a little woozy from the cuts on her body. Her mind was racing, but she couldn't think of a way out of this. She continued to feel Rick's hardness against her backside and suddenly she seized on that as a possible escape. Maybe she could use Rick's sick lust against him!
"I knew you would," Rick laughed. "You fucking bitches are all the same!"
Rick then took the knife away from Sarah's bleeding stomach and moved it toward her crotch. Sarah gasped in horror when she considered what he might be planning for her with that razor sharp knife. But fortunately he wasn't looking to make contact with her skin yet. Instead he cut open the top of Sarah's pants and easily pushed them down, leaving her in her ripped blouse, bra and panties.
"You're mine now Sarah...all mine," Rick moaned happily, pressing his hard self into her. Sarah felt a sick chill run through her body as her panties proved to be the last obstacle to her body for him. He moved his hand down to try and rip them off there and Sarah saw her chance. She was no lightweight. She held a brown belt in tae kwon do and it was time to use it.
As Rick fumbled with her tight panties, Sarah delivered a blow right to his head with her hand. The suddenness of the blow took Rick by surprise and he staggered a bit backwards. Sarah hit his hand again and it caused him to drop the knife. She then followed this up by whirling around and kicking him right in the balls.
Rick doubled over in pain, but he was still alert enough to reach the knife from the floor before Sarah grabbed it. Sarah began to run, but Rick, growling like a mad dog, tackled her and forced her to the ground. He turned her over so he could look right at her face and she saw the fury in his eyes.
"YOU FUCKING BITCH!!!" Rick roared as he held the flailing Sarah down. She punched at his back and took a few shots at his face, but he was relentless in holding her down. "YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!!!"
Rick then pulled the knife back up and raised it high. He looked like he was about to slam it right into her heart and for Sarah everything slowed to a crawl. She had always heard about what it was like to die, but had nervously never thought about it happening to her. She hadn't wanted to consider it, but now she stared at Rick as he prepared to kill her.
It was like the whole world had slowed down except for her thoughts. Her brain was still racing and she was paralyzed with fear. Her brain roared at her to do something to Rick to stop him, but her body refused to cooperate. It seemed all she could do was see the knife shining in the moonlight as Rick got set to move it downward.
Suddenly though, the world caught up to Sarah's brain. She was snapped out of her trance by a primal scream and the crashing of glass and Sarah looked over to see what she felt might very well be the last thing she ever saw in her life. It certainly was not what she was expecting.
Jennifer had figured that at some point she would have to make a choice. She just didn't think it was going to be as dramatic as this. She had Love's panicked sobs in her ear and she had Brad's accusatory stare beating right into her brain. She was torn and frozen to her spot.
"JEN!!! PLEASE WE NEED YOU!!!" Love cried into the phone.
"Them or me Jennifer," Brad said strongly. Jennifer could see he was holding his anger back. She understood what he was feeling. She had betrayed him. She had been unfaithful. But she didn't want to stop seeing her housemates. She needed them and she wanted Brad to understand how much she still loved him and how badly she needed him to understand and embrace this new part of her.
"They're in trouble!" Jennifer protested, unable to make her choice. She would talk with him later, but she knew Love and Rose needed her now.
"I don't care!" Brad snapped angrily. "I'm your husband! I thought you loved me! I need you to chose right now Jennifer!"
"JEN!!! PLEASE!!!" Love begged, totally unaware of what Jennifer was going through at that moment.
"I'll call you back Love," Jennifer said softly as she closed her cell phone and looked her husband in the eye. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to lose Brad. But her friends needed her. It wasn't like they were calling for a late night booty call. This was as serious as it got. They needed her help and she couldn't turn her back on them. If she had been with the girls and Brad had needed her she would have done the same thing. She only hoped Brad would cool down and see that. She couldn't abandon them now.
"I'm sorry Brad," Jennifer said deep from her heart as tears ran down her face. "I'm so sorry for everything, baby!"
She then ran right out of the room and out of the house. She jumped into her car and drove off leaving Brad in heartbroken and stunned silence.
"What are we going to do Alyssa?" Love cried in panic as she grabbed her new housemate. "What are we going to do?"
"Calm down Love, it's going to be ok," Alyssa told her, even though she didn't necessarily believe that. Love was hysterical and people were starting to take notice of her screaming and sobbing. Alyssa hugged her friend and tried to comfort her. Alyssa could only imagine what she had just been through. She had almost been raped and then had to see Rose get arrested for saving her. Alyssa held Love tight and allowed her to sob onto her shoulder.
"Poor Rose," Love cried. "We have to help her!"
"We will," Alyssa assured her. "We're going to get her out of jail before she there for even a minute!"
The girls were then confronted by a police officer, who politely interrupted their clinch.
"Ummm excuse me, Ms. Hewitt, we need for you to come with us," the officer said. "We need a statement from you about what happened here."
"Why? So you can arrest me too?" Love snapped, furious at the police for what they had done. "I'm only the girl who almost got raped. Leave me alone you asshole!"
"We just need to sort through what happened," the officer replied calmly, even though he was taken aback by Love's white-hot anger. "We have to get to the bottom of this."
"I told you what happened!" Love shouted angrily. "You didn't listen! You just arrested my friend! You can all go fuck yourselves!"
"Love, you have to go with them," Alyssa said, trying to calm her down before she really did get arrested too. "Just tell them what happened. You can get Rose out of jail. Just tell them the truth."
"Ok," Love agreed through her tears. She knew Alyssa was right. But she was so angry right now. It was like the L.A.P.D. didn't even care that she had been attacked. They probably thought they were going to get themselves some big headlines by arresting another big, bad celebrity. She didn't want to play any part in them locking Rose up or whatever they wanted to do, but she also knew that if she didn't go, Rose might have to spend the night in that awful place. She couldn't do that to her friend.
"Alyssa...find Jewel," Love instructed. "Make her come with you!"
"I will Love. Don't worry. Everything is going to be ok," Alyssa said, hoping to God she was right.
Love went with the officer and once again tried to call Sarah on her cell phone. There was still no answer over there and this time Love heard a recording that there was a problem with the line and that they should put a call in for service. Love began to get worried. What the hell was going on? Where was Sarah?
Sarah had thought she was staring her death right in the face as Rick held the knife right over her chest. Suddenly the scream had rung out through the house and the sound of the glass shattering had stopped Rick right in his tracks. Sarah immediately took advantage and pushed Rick off of her. He fell over with a thud but he got up quickly and immediately tackled Sarah again before she could get away. This time she was pushed down onto her stomach and now she had an excellent view of two black sneakers with little shards of glass on them. She looked up and saw Delbert standing before the two of them.
"Get off of her!" Delbert demanded strongly. Sarah saw that he had ignored the broken door and thrown himself through the unshattered one to gain entry into the house.
"Who the fuck are you?" Rick asked with a laugh as he looked over the black dressed youth.
Delbert didn't give Rick an answer. Instead he screamed out again and gave Rick a hard chop to the neck with his hand. Rick quickly began coughing as he choked back the pain. This allowed Sarah to scurry away and she ran right toward the wall. Things were happening so fast, but one thought Sarah could focus on was that if they didn't get some help she and Delbert were both dead.
She ran toward where Rick had thrown her cell phone. She hoped it was worth the money she had spent on it and that it had withstood the impact of hitting the wall. She quickly located it and picked it up. The antenna was bent and the casing chipped, but otherwise it looked ok. Sarah activated it and quickly dialed 911.
As the phone connected and made the call Sarah watched in amazement as Delbert battled Rick. Never in her brief experiences with him and his friends had she ever thought of him as being capable of the things he was doing now. Rick was swinging at Delbert with the knife and he managed to elude it every time as if he were dodging bullets "Matrix" style. Rick was getting more and more frustrated with every missed swing and finally he just plunged the knife right down toward Delbert's head. Sarah screamed in panic for her rescuer but Delbert calmly reached up and caught the knife between his two hands, freezing it.
Rick stared in complete disbelief as Delbert held the knife between his hands as he grinned at him. Rick though quickly regained the upper hand by kicking Delbert in the stomach. Delbert doubled over in pain at the hard kick and let go of the knife. Rick then pushed him over and ran back to his real target.
"911...what's your emergency?" the operator on the other end finally said.
"Someone's trying to kill me!" Sarah yelled into the phone. "You've gotta get someone over here right now!"
"Maam, is your attacker in the house right now?" the female operator asked.
"Yes! Aren't you fucking listening to me?" Sarah shot back as Rick charged at her. "He's trying to kill me! He's got a knife! Get some help here now!!!"
"Maam stay calm we have help enroute," the operator said as the address trace was completed and police and EMS workers automatically dispatched. "Where is your attacker now? What can you tell us?"
"HE'S RIGHT HERE!!!" Sarah screamed as she ran away from Rick. He was surprisingly fast and he quickly caught up to her. He grabbed Sarah by the waist and snatched the phone before furiously plunging the knife into her back.
Sarah's face turned sheet white as she felt the metal blade puncture her skin. It surprisingly didn't hurt at first. It just felt really cold. Then the pain started. She might have screamed but she didn't know. Sarah could feel the blood coming out of her back as she fell to the ground.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Delbert screamed as he ran right at Rick with vengeance on his mind.
"Well...what now?" Franklin asked as he and Waldo stared at the computer screen. There was nothing on it now after Waldo had hit the "Delete" button, erasing the story they had written about the girl's activities at the mansion before they could send it onto The Star. Their attempt at betrayal for cash now self-aborted, they knew they faced an uncertain future.
"We could always release the soldier monkeys on the bank until they give us an extension on the loan," Waldo suggested quite seriously.
"Perhaps it's time we looked at alternate forms of housing," Franklin responded. "If Brandon wants this place so badly, he can have it. We burn it to the ground and rebuild somewhere else."
"You might have something there," Waldo agreed. "Are there any Central American countries we can lie low in for awhile or are we banned from all of them?"
"I think we're out of luck there," Franklin answered as he pulled out a map. "I was thinking Southeast Asia for a few months and then take it from there."
But before Franklin and Waldo could get any further in selecting a destination, the walkie-talkie squawked back to life with frantic urgency.
"CODE RED!!! CODE RED!!!" Delbert screamed from over at the mansion. "SARAH IS DOWN!!! ASSISTANCE REQUIRED!!! OVER!!!"
"What the hell?" Franklin asked, surprised by the sudden declaration.
"We'd better see what's going on," Waldo stated as the two of them ran for the door. "This doesn't sound good."
I'm not dead.
That was the preeminent thought in Sarah's mind as she opened her eyes. Things were very fuzzy for her now, but she knew she was still alive. Her back ached and she could feel the blood flowing from her body, but she knew she was still alive. She had the strength to pull herself up from the floor and onto her knees. She didn't know where Rick was, but she knew she was still in danger.
Sarah could feel sweat pouring from her forehead and her head ached. She just knew she had to get out of here. She only hoped that they had been able to get someone out here from her 911 call. She had to get her bearings back and find the door. She grabbed onto the edge of the wall and pulled herself up. When she did, she saw Rick standing by the doorway with his knife drawn. It still shone in the moonlight, but it was also dark around the tip. Oh Christ, Sarah gasped to herself. That's my blood!
Sarah suddenly saw someone charging right at Rick as he screamed into what looked like a walkie-talkie. It was Delbert! What was he doing? He was going to get himself killed!
"DELBERT!!! NO!!!" Sarah shouted out in concern for her neighbor, but he either didn't hear her or ignored her.
Delbert kept on charging as Rick lay waiting with his weapon. The presence of the knife didn't deter Delbert and his charge was steady. He ran right into Rick with such force that he didn't even have a chance to use the knife. Delbert smashed into him and sent the two of them flying through what remained of the doors. They crashed through the broken glass and Rick hit the concrete walkway to the pool with a crunching thud of skull.
"YOU...DO...NOT...MESS...WITH...MY...FRIENDS!!!" Delbert cried out, punctuating each word with a hard punch to Rick's face. Sarah was shocked at the pummeling Delbert was inflicting on Rick and she took her first step toward the doors.
Sarah was still able to walk fine and her thoughts were clearing. She thanked God for that. She wanted to pull Delbert off of Rick and get both of them to safety. The police would take care of Rick, that was, if they were indeed coming.
"GET OFF ME!!!" Rick roared, using his adrenaline fueled strength to push Delbert off of him. He pulled himself up from the ground and Sarah was sickened to see the back of his head had left a bloodstain on the concrete. He seemed woozy as he got up and staggered. But he still had the knife drawn and he seemed fully capable of using it.
The presence of the knife still didn't seem to faze Delbert and he snapped into a ready position that looked like the product of years of kung fu training. He seemed fully ready to propel an attack and Rick was looking to attack. Sarah didn't want Delbert to get hurt and she staggered about the room, her back aching and her arms and stomach bleeding, as she tried to find some way to help him. Suddenly she saw it.
"YOU RUINED EVERYTHING YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!" Rick screamed as he charged at Delbert. Before he got any further though something flew right at him and smacked him right in the legs. Rick cried out in pain as he fell to the concrete, the metal bat Sarah had just flung at him tripping him up and interrupting his charge.
"YOU KILLED MY BEST FRIEND YOU FUCK!!!" Sarah cried in rage. "I WANT YOU TO FUCKING DIE!!!"
Rick angrily tossed away the bat he had used on Alyson and turned his attention back to Sarah.
"YOU'RE THE ONE THAT'S GONNA DIE!!!" Rick roared. "YOU AND THIS FREAK!!!! YOU'RE GONNA DIE JUST LIKE YOUR BITCH FRIEND!!!"
As Delbert stood ready for an attack, Rick once again focused on Sarah. She wasn't going to get very far in her wounded condition. He began lurching toward her when Waldo and Franklin arrived on the scene running over from next door.
"What the hell?" Waldo gasped as he saw the clearly wounded Sarah and Rick.
"Jesus Christ Waldo! Look!" Franklin exclaimed as he pointed near the doors where the bloody metal bat lay.
"NO MORE FUN!!! YOU'RE GONNA FUCKING DIE!!!" Rick screamed. His eyes were locked solely on Sarah and he had no way to see the attack that was coming from behind. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, the metal bat flew right at him smashing the back of his skull.
"AGHHHHH!!!" Rick screamed as he crumpled to the ground. A second and then a third followed the first hit until Rick was out cold and bleeding profusely on the concrete.
Sarah could only stare in open-mouthed shock as she saw Alyson drop the bat. The side of her head was bleeding and she had a wild-eyed look on her face that showed she didn't have much of an idea what was going on. She was going on pure instinct.
"I...I...couldn't...I couldn't let him hurt you Sarah," Alyson mumbled before collapsing onto the concrete as well.
"ALY!!!" Sarah screamed in fear as her friend ceased moving. "NO ALY NO!!!"
Sarah then could no longer stand under her own power and she too fell to the ground. She wasn't out cold though and she began crawling toward her fallen friend as Waldo, Franklin and Delbert rushed to her aid.
"Nooo please Aly...God no...don't do this!!!" Sarah wept as she hugged her friend. Alyson wasn't moving at all and, in her weakened condition, Sarah couldn't tell if she was dead or alive. "Breathe Aly! You have to breathe!"
Loud sirens and the flashing blue and red lights of the police then punctured the night sky.
"Perfect timing as always," Waldo muttered as two officers burst through the front door and began searching for answers as for what was going on here.
"FREEZE! STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!" the first officer commanded. Three pairs of hands then reflexively shot into the air as Waldo, Franklin and Delbert backed away from Sarah and Alyson and showed they weren't armed.
"Where the hell is that ambulance?" the second officer barked into his radio. "We've got injuries here!"
"Aly...please...don't die on me!" Sarah softly begged using all her strength to cradle her friend as everything started spinning and her head felt like it was a hundred pounds. She felt so weak and she knew she wouldn't even be able to stand up if she had to. The cuts on her body throbbed with a dull pain and Sarah could feel the blood still dripping from them. But her concern was still locked solely on Alyson. She held her friend, hoping for any sign of life she could detect.
She held onto her even as the EMTs rushed into the mansion and headed straight for them.
"Miss. please back away! We need to get you two out of here," one EMT said as another pulled Sarah off of Alyson and lifted her up.
"Radio ahead that we have a stab wound to the back and cuts to the stomach and arms," the EMT holding Sarah declared as they placed her on a stretcher.
"No! Don't leave her!" Sarah weakly cried out.
"We won't," the EMT assured her. "She's coming with you!"
Sarah could barely focus on anything. Her eyelids felt so heavy she could hardly keep them open. She found it to be such a strange sensation to be wheeled out of her home like this. As she did she saw other EMTs placing Alyson on a stretcher and another one tending to Rick's fallen body. She also saw Waldo and Franklin frantically gesticulating to the officers as Delbert was being pushed toward the door.
"No...no...don't arrest..." Sarah muttered. "He save...saved me..."
"They'll get it all straightened out, Miss," the EMT assured her. "Right now we have to get you some medical attention."
Sarah was close to unconscious as she was loaded into the ambulance. She did notice the hard slam of the door and the sudden jolt of the vehicle zipping away. The EMT back with her fussed over her but Sarah barely noticed anything he was doing to her. She could only hear the screaming siren in the night and wonder if Aly was going to make it.
Rose sat silently in the big interrogation room. It looked pretty much like it did on television. It was big, dark and cold. It was kept almost meticulously clean, but there was still a layer of grime over it. It was like a room filled with human misery. Rose could only imagine what type of criminals had sat in the very chair she was in now. All kinds of murderers and rapists and drug dealers and now she was there too.
There was a big clock in the room, but Rose wasn't paying any attention to it. It felt like hours, but Rose really had no idea how long she was in here. She just stared straight ahead as if she could bore holes in the head of the detective sitting before her. His name was Anderson or Anson or something like that. Rose hadn't heard him all that well when he introduced himself and she didn't care to find out now who he was. She just wanted to get out of here and she made sure the detective was abundantly clear on that through utter silence.
"Don't you have anything to say at all?" the bewildered Anderson or Anson or something asked Rose. "You're not helping yourself here."
Rose, just as she had done ever since she had arrived at the police station, continued to say nothing. She just folded her arms over her chest and stared right at the detective. She could see her total silence was flustering him and she enjoyed that. She knew they wanted to intimidate her and try to get her to admit everything, but she wasn't going to give them that satisfaction. She guessed that there were probably a bunch of other police behind the mirror looking in on them and trying to get a look at the psycho celebrity.
Rose didn't regret one thing she had done, but she wasn't going to let them fuck her over. She shuddered to think about what that muscle bound freak and his friends would have done to Love if she hadn't stopped them. And while she felt satisfaction over taking out his eye, Rose also felt a deep internal agony. Part of her was terrified that Jaime would be coming after Love and part of her was worried about her own encounters with Jaime being exposed. She couldn't ever let her friends know what had happened between them. Rose was upset enough that Love had seen her do what she had done.
She had worked hard to keep them from seeing the things she knew she was capabable of doing and she couldn't help but worry how Love would react to her now. Would she be like she always was or would she now regard her with fear and suspicion?
Rose couldn't bear to not see Love regard her with the wide-eyed love and lust she always did. Sometimes Rose felt like she just wanted to tear herself right out of her skin so this whole sitting and staring thing would be over. She didn't want to be here but she also just couldn't handle seeing any of her housemates right now. Jaime's taunting words ran in her head and fed off her insecurities. What if they did abandon her? Rose knew she wouldn't be able to take that happening to her. She didn't even want to think about the possibility, but she couldn't help it and it made her fear seeing her housemates again.
"Just tell us what happened," the detective urged once again. "No one is looking to lock you up right now. We just want to get to the bottom of what happened tonight. You have to tell us or we're not going to have any choice here. We're going to have to charge you!"
Even with that threat now hanging in the air, Rose still said nothing. She wasn't scared of them. It was everything else that frightened her now.
In another interrogation room the detective speaking to Love was having much more luck getting her to talk. Unfortunately for the detective, she was also getting a full dose of Love's anger.
"I've told you what happened!" Love yelled. "How many times do we have to go over this?"
"We just want to make sure we get to the bottom of what happened," the female detective said. "Don't you want to help your friend?"
"Yeah right, the only thing you want me to do is help you so can throw her in jail," Love sneered. "Do I look that dumb to you?"
"Your attitude isn't helping things," the detective pointed out. "If you keep acting like this you can face obstruction of justice charges. We need to find out what happened!"
"I told you everything already!" Love shouted in frustration. "This guy grabbed me and dragged me into the corridor with his buddies. He ripped my clothes off! Can't you see that I'm not making this up? Look at me! You think I go out dressed like this? He was going to rape me! Rose saved me and all you did was arrest her for it! Arrest him! He's the cause of this!"
"We'll be dealing with him," the detective promised. "Let's just focus on you and Ms. McGowan. Had either of you had any contact with him before this night?"
"Not until he tried to rape me!" Love snapped. "This is ridiculous. I'm the victim here and you're treating me like Rose and I planned some attack against him! You have my statement and that's all I'm going to say!"
Normally Love would have been far more cooperative, but this was far from a normal circumstance. She had been attacked and now the police were grilling her. Love couldn't believe this was happening. She just wanted to see Rose and make sure everything was alright with her, but they wouldn't even let her do that.
Love felt like there was a knot of guilt in her stomach. If only she hadn't flirted with that girl none of this would have happened. She and Rose wouldn't be in this situation and Love was just sick with worry that she was going to end up being the cause of Rose going to jail.
She felt like crying, but Love didn't want anyone there to see her like that. She just wanted them to let Rose go so they could take her home and not have to think about all of this. How could this all happen? Love had been happily indulging in her life of fantasy and cold, cruel reality had to push her back down. It wasn't fair! Brent should be the one answering questions! He should be the one going to jail! But Rose was the one in trouble and Love felt like it was all her fault. Rose had looked so weird when they had led her away, like she didn't even realize what she had done, but Love knew that wouldn't last. What if Rose blamed her too? What if she never wanted to see her again? Love shivered at the thought.
"Are you cold?" the detective asked, noticing the shiver. "Do you want us to turn up the heat?"
"Yeah, like you really care," Love, grumbled. Since Brent had torn her shirt she was still wearing the LAPD jacket they had given her to cover her nudity. She bunched the jacket up around herself and just stared right down at her shoes.
"Ms. Hewitt, we are not the bad guys here," the detective explained. "We're just trying to get to the bottom of what happened. You might not like the questions, but we have to ask them. No one wants to hurt you and no one wants to hurt your friend. We understand-"
"No you don't!" Love yelled, interrupting the detective. "You don't understand what happened to me tonight and you don't understand what's going on at all! I don't want to answer any more questions! I want to go home! Let me take Rose home!"
While Rose and Love were being questioned, Alyssa nervously paced up and down the hallways. Jewel was on her way down there and Jennifer had promised that she would be there too. Alyssa didn't know what good it would be to have all of them down there, but she knew Love could definitely use having all her friends there. Love had been hysterical the whole way there and nothing could really calm her down. Alyssa, on Love's instruction, had continued to try and reach Sarah, but there was still no answer at the mansion.
By then, Alyssa had already given her statement about what she'd seen and it had gone much more smoothly than Love's was. Still she was very nervous. Alyssa had never seen Rose like she was last night. She was like some wild woman and it had left her very concerned. She had been like a tigress protecting one of her cubs and Alyssa had to wonder what would have happened if the police hadn't gotten there. She didn't think Rose would have stopped with just taking Brent's eye out.
Many of the people milling around the station recognized Alyssa, but the look on her face of anger and panic scared away any autograph seekers and admirers. Alyssa was very worried about Rose. She was a celebrity and a very sexy one to boot. The press was going to have a field day with this and the LAPD seemed to take special pleasure in punishing celebrities just to show that the era of special treatment was over. Alyssa knew Rose needed help and needed it fast. There was only one person she knew of to call. She'd gotten into a few bad spots herself over the years that the press had never gotten wind about and ever since her first audition for "Melrose Place" he was one person who she knew she could count on in times of need.
Alyssa reached for her cell phone and got into her electronic phonebook. She ran through the "S" directory until she found the listing she was looking for. She punched the button and her call was quickly connected to the Spelling mansion in Bel Air.
"Aaron? It's Alyssa," the actress began, her voice fearful and needy. "Rose is in trouble. We need your help!"
The ringing phone interrupted the sleep of Jason Thorne. He quickly reached for the phone before the ringing woke up his fiancée too.
"Who could possibly be calling at an hour like this?" Bianca asked as she was awoken from her beauty rest.
"I'm sorry, but it could be important," Jason informed her as he sought to calm her before they got into a protracted argument. "I'll get rid of them as soon as possible honey."
Jason's arm escaped from under the sheets and grabbed for the phone. He picked it up and muttered a sleepy "hello" into it.
"Jason, I'm sorry to wake you at this hour but something important has come up," a familiar voice said on the other end.
"Yes Mr. Middlebrook...no it's no problem sir," Jason said immediately snapping to full consciousness and bolting up from bed. Charles Middlebrook was one of the partners of Middlebrook, Cosgrove and Winters, the law firm Jason was a senior associate at. He wouldn't be calling unless something was very wrong.
"Jason we have a situation and as fate would have it you are the closest lawyer with the most experience," Charles began to explain. "The partners and I are still in Colorado at the resort and we won't be able to get in until tomorrow morning. We need you to get to work tonight. One of Mr. Spelling's actresses has gotten herself in a bit of trouble it seems."
Jason had met Aaron Spelling at a few functions for the firm. He was one of their biggest clients and handling his legal needs at a financial level was one of the more plum assignments the firm could hand out. But this was no financial matter.
"Sir, my criminal experience is very limited," Jason said with a mild protest, he didn't want to debate this too much and upset one of the senior partners.
"We understand that Jason, but this is a simple matter," Charles pressed. "She was arrested tonight on assault charges and she's being arraigned tomorrow. Just get in there, plead not guilty and get out. We'll handle it from there. The partners and I would look very favorably upon your efforts here. Doing this for us would secure your future in the firm."
Jason gulped down hard. He was 28 years old and this was his future staring at him in the face. It was just a simple arraignment. He could handle that with no problem.
"Consider it done Mr. Middlebrook," Jason assured his boss before ending the call.
"Honey, I have to get to court now," Jason said to Bianca as he began hurriedly getting dressed.
"Fine...fine...fine..." Bianca muttered, half asleep. "Just don't forget we're going shopping with my mummy and daddy tomorrow for floral patterns for the reception."
But Jason couldn't be bothered to think about floral patterns. He had to think about the potential of this assignment and not messing it up.
By the time the police were finished with her, Love felt as if she had been a pig on a spit. She was totally mentally and physically exhausted. The police had asked her over and over again to rehash the events of the night and Love had done so. Naturally she had left a few details out, like her hitting on Brent's girlfriend, but she made sure the detective heard every detail of how Brent had attacked her and how Rose had saved her from getting raped or worse.
Love was convinced that they were ignoring her though. She didn't think her words were having any effect and her heart ached with worry for Rose and with guilt for having caused this.
Finally she could take no more and broke down in tears right there in the interrogation room. The detective had shifted nervously as Love sobbed and excused himself shortly after. Love was told she could go a few minutes later and she quickly composed herself before walking out of the interrogation room. Love had never felt anything like the cold feeling of turmoil that she felt right now deep in her stomach. Fortunately, one of the first faces she saw when she made her way back to the entrance of the detective division was one she was very happy to see.
"Jen!" Love cried as she hugged her housemate. She felt the warm embrace of her friend holding her and Love didn't care what anyone thought about it. She just needed to feel that safe again. Love began crying again and buried her face into Jennifer's shoulder.
"It's ok Love," Jennifer said as she held her friend close. They sank into two of the seats right by the entrance and Jennifer just let Love cry it all out. Jennifer had run into Jewel and Alyssa almost as soon as she had gotten to the police station and they had gone off to find out what was going on with Rose while letting Jennifer search for Love. None of them knew what had happened between her and Brad that night and Jennifer wasn't planning on telling them. They had enough to worry about without burdening them with her marital problems.
"No Jen...it's not...it's not going to be ok!" Love sobbed. "It's all my fault! I got Rose into this! They're going to put her in jail!"
"No they won't," Jennifer assured Love. Alyssa had filled her in with the details, so she had a pretty good idea what had gone on that night with Love and Rose. "Once they find out what happened, they won't put her in jail. She's going to be right back home with us."
"I just want to see her," Love sniffed, her tears slowly ceasing. "I want to make sure she's ok. But they won't let me see her. I don't even know if she's even here or if they took her some place else."
"Jewel and Alyssa are looking for her now," Jennifer informed Love. "Don't worry. It's going to be ok. We've got to get you home though. You need to get some sleep."
"No! Not until we get Rose too!" Love insisted. "I don't want to leave without her!"
"We won't then," Jennifer promised. "Everything is going to be ok Love. You've been through a lot tonight but it's over now. Rose is going to be ok too. Don't worry."
Love smiled for the first time in hours as Jennifer grasped her hand and squeezed it. Jennifer always knew just what to say to her. Love squeezed back and that was as intimate as they dared to get. Love began to breathe a little easier now. She knew she needed some sleep. She must have looked like as big a mess as she felt. She was half dressed and her tears must have ruined her makeup. But those were petty concerns. What mattered right now was getting Rose out of here.
When she saw Jewel and Alyssa approaching Love looked at them with expectation, hoping they would have good news for her. But the closer they got, Love knew that they didn't. She could see it in the looks of their eyes.
"What's going on?" Jennifer asked.
"They took her to be arraigned," Jewel replied with a frown. "We didn't get a chance to see her or anything."
"I made sure she has a lawyer though," Alyssa interjected. "I called up Aaron. He's got like an army of lawyers on 24/7 retainer. I'm sure he got a good one for her. He's supposed to meet her down at the courthouse."
"We need to go too!" Love suddenly insisted. "We need to be there for her."
"Honey, you've been through so much tonight already," Jennifer pointed out. "I don't think there's anything you could do for her. Let me take you home. Alyssa and Jewel will go down to the court."
"No please Jen! I want to go" Love begged. "I need to see her! I need to tell her that I'm sorry!"
"Oh Love, it wasn't your fault,' Alyssa said, stroking Love's arm. "Rose knows that."
Suddenly Jewel saw someone out of the corner of her eye that she thought she recognized. She looked again and she saw she did know them. It was one of their neighbors. The ones who had caught them all in a serious naked embrace. She couldn't remember their names, but it looked like the one who did most of the talking and the one with the glasses. Where was the other one? And what were they doing here?
"Hey...look over there," Jewel said as she pointed to where Waldo and Franklin were talking to the desk sergeant.
"What are they doing here?" Jennifer asked.
"Who are they?" Alyssa asked.
"You know, those guys who live next door..." Jewel explained, not filling in the obvious end of the sentence.
"Ohhhhhhhh those guys," Alyssa replied, immediately catching on and remembering that they were the only ones out there who knew exactly what was going on at the mansion.
"I hope they didn't get busted or anything...you know for the...you know," Love said.
"I'm sure they didn't," Jennifer shot back, nervously wondering if they did get busted for selling pot and whether or not they were going to name the names of the people they'd sold it to.
"Only one way to find out," Jewel said as the girls momentarily distracted themselves from all that had happened that night to try and find out what Waldo and Franklin were doing there.
"What's going on guys?" Jewel asked as the four of them approached the boys.
"We're bailing Delbert out," Waldo explained as Franklin dumped a whole bag of pennies on the flustered sergeant's desk. "They think he actually had something to do with this. He saved her life. These guys don't know what the heck they're doing."
Waldo immediately felt the heat emanating from the sergeant's angry stare.
"Except you of course Sergeant," Waldo backtracked with a toothy grin. "You're doing a bang up job here."
"What are you talking about?" Jennifer asked. "What happened?"
"You know the whole Sarah thing..." Franklin answered as he counted out pennies for bail money. "Is she ok? She looked like she was in bad shape. We were going to go down to the hospital after we got Delbert."
"Sarah? Hospital? What the hell are you talking about?" Love demanded, the icy feel of pure fear shooting through her as she remembered all the unsuccessful attempts they had made to try and get hold of Sarah that night.
"This guy broke in your house and they took her and that Alyson girl to the hospital," Waldo explained, quite surprised that the rest of them hadn't heard what had gone on.
"What happened?" Jewel said, also experiencing the fear that something terrible had happened to their housemate. "Is she ok?"
"No...she got stabbed..." Waldo said slowly. "Her friend looked like she got it even worse."
"NO!!!" Love screamed, causing everyone at the station to suddenly look up at him or her. "DON'T SAY THAT!!!"
Love's head was spinning. This couldn't be happening. Sarah! She had to be ok! She just had to be ok! Love suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see it was Jennifer and Love fell right back into her arms, hugging her as she sobbed again, wondering what they had done to bring a night like this upon themselves.
"Where is she?" Jewel asked, her stomach churning. "Where did they take her?"
"I don't know," Waldo answered. "Maybe you should ask the cops. They just zipped them away in the ambulance
"This can't be happening," Alyssa said in disbelief.
"We have to see her," Jewel declared.
"What about Rose?" Alyssa asked.
"Ok, this is what we'll do," Jennifer stated, taking control of the situation as she placed a mask of calm over her turmoil and worry. Someone had to be levelheaded right now. "Love and I will go the hospital. Jewel, you and Alyssa go down to the courthouse and get Rose. I'll call you when we find out what's going on and tell you where we are. Then you come and meet us at the hospital, ok?"
"Yeah, sure," Jewel said distantly. She was drowning in disbelief. Everything had been perfect that morning. Now Rose was in court and God knew if Sarah was even alive. What the hell had happened?
"Name?" the detective demanded.
"What?" Delbert asked.
"State your name..." the detective sighed.
"Delbert," the young man answered.
"Last name too please."
"That is my name," Delbert explained. "Just Delbert. It's like Madonna."
"Everyone has a last name," the detective sighed impatiently. "Just give me yours."
"Not me. I am just Delbert."
"Fine Delbert," the detective pressed on. "Let's just go over what happened one more time. You were out patrolling the property?"
"That is correct," Delbert answered formally. "I was on alert for possible threats. I guess I found one. I am one of three who has been chosen to watch over the girls and protect them from all harm."
"Did he just say he was a protector?" a man asked from the room next door. He was Chief of Detectives Harold Raines, a 26-year veteran of the force who had thought he had heard everything. This was a new one on him however.
"Sounds like what he said to me," replied Lieutenant Gavin O'Rourke, who oversaw the night shift of Detectives. Already there were a lot of high profile names in the department in on this one. With two celebrities who might not survive the night being whisked to the hospital, they had to hit the ground running on this one. There was going to be one hell of a spotlight on the department come morning.
"He's short a few chromosomes, isn't he?" Harold speculated, examining Delbert as he ran through the story about his fight with Rick.
"He's short a few something's," Gavin shot back. "We drew some blood on him before. Going to get a tux screen done by morning. Just a quick job, but it should tell us if he's on something."
"Just look at him...he's probably on a few things," Harold stated. "But the question is whether he was involved."
"Doesn't look like it," Gavin answered. "We've got a little to go before we hit the bottom of this thing, but the reports from the scene said he was fighting the guy who did the attack. Guy looks like a stalker or something. This one here lived next door according to the report I've got here."
"Well you'd better get on your men and get to the bottom of this fast," Harold declared. "I'm going to have the press all over my ass as soon as this gets out and I want at least some kind of statement to give them. Frankly this is all shit we don't need and I don't want any false arrests clouding things up and giving anyone any bright ideas about lawsuits. So if he's not involved then turn him loose."
"Yes sir," Gavin agreed. "We'll get to the bottom of it...and fast."
"That's what I want to hear," Harold said, taking things in stride as Delbert leapt up on the table in the interrogation room and began mimicking exactly what had happened between him and Rick. Harold had to admit that whoever this kid was, he wasn't half bad at pantomime.
"Sarah? Can you hear me Sarah?"
Sarah's eyes began to flutter open a little and she started to pull herself clear from the fog she was in. The bright light from the ceiling immediately hit her. It was quite jarring to hear the buzzing of the fluorescent lights and what the long tubes shone down into her eyes. She also heard the voice calling out to her and she slowly and surely began to regain consciousness.
"Aly?" she murmured, echoing the last thoughts that had gone through her head before she had gone under.
"Sarah, my name is Dr. Bannister," a man said as Sarah began to focus in on the man before her. He was in his mid-50's or so, with the hair on his head largely gone. What was left of his hair was mostly gray. He looked like a friendly sort, but Sarah had no idea what was going on.
"What?" Sarah asked, her voice filled with confusion. She was beginning to get a sense of the room she was in. It was cold and sterile. She was in the hospital.
"Sarah listen to me," Dr. Bannister calmly instructed. "You've been the victim of an attack. You're here in St. Catherine's Hospital. Do you understand me?"
Suddenly another voiced pushed into the conversation.
"Is she ok? What's going on?"
Sarah recognized the voice and immediately welcomed it.
"Freddie!" Sarah said with an even bigger smile than she expected. She felt such an enormous relief to see him. She hadn't expected to see her fiancée ever again and now he was standing right before her.
"Mr. Prinze, please," Dr. Bannister pressed on. "Sarah, do you understand me?"
"Yes...yes..." Sarah said, still trying to lift herself fully out of the fog. There was an IV in her arm. She could feel the sting of where it was sticking into her and her body was beginning to throb with pain. The more conscious she got, the more her back and stomach hurt from where Rick had cut her.
"Now Sarah, you've been stabbed," Dr. Bannister said. "You were very lucky. No arteries were hit and we've got you patched up. We want to make sure there's no infection so we're going to be keeping you here for a few days and administering some antibiotics."
"It hurts," Sarah groaned. "It really hurts."
"I know it does Sarah," Dr. Bannister replied. "We're going to be administering some pain medication in a few minutes but this is going to hurt for a little while. But we are confident that you will suffer no permanent damage. We are going to do everything to prevent scarring and tomorrow I am going to bring in our top plastic surgeon for a consult. You should be just fine though. We were able to stop the bleeding. You're just going to need a few days to build your strength up. You lost a fair amount of blood back there but we got to you in time."
"Thank God," Freddie exhaled in obvious relief. "Sarah we got cut off and when I couldn't reach you I started to worry. I tried and I tried and finally I called the police. They told me what happened. Baby, I was so scared you weren't going to make it."
Freddie then took Sarah's hand and lightly caressed it. She appreciated his touch and gave him a smile, but her thoughts were elsewhere.
"Aly? Is Alyson ok?" Sarah asked, her fear welling up as she remembered what had happened. She didn't even know if Alyson had been breathing when the ambulance had come.
"I'm afraid your friend is in surgery right now," Dr. Bannister said. "Sarah I want you to rest now. I don't want you aggravating yourself. You have to rest up."
"Doctor, please," Sarah begged, her eyes welling up with fearful tears. "You have to tell me if she's ok. I won't be able to rest until you tell me."
"Sarah, Alyson had significant swelling in her head from the attack," Dr. Bannister explained. "Whoever did this, hit her pretty hard. The police told me she got up and walked afterward, which is a very good sign. It's touch and go right now though. We have to reduce the swelling. I can't tell you any more than that because frankly we don't know about the extent of the damage right now."
"Please God no," Sarah softly cried, her lack of strength only allowing a few tears to drop down her cheeks. "You have to make her ok."
"Sarah we are doing everything we can to help her," Dr. Bannister promised. "We have our best surgeon team on her and if anyone can get her through this, they can. Your friend is very strong, just like you."
"No one's stronger than Sarah," Freddie declared, still holding onto her hand and brushing her hair from her face. She looked so small lying there in the bed in her hospital gown and Freddie wasn't used to seeing her like that. He felt so guilty for snapping at her on the phone before. He didn't know what he'd do if he ever lost her.
Sarah smiled again at Freddie. She never thought she'd be as happy to see Freddie as she was then. She had honestly expected to die back there by the pool. She had thought her dreams of a family were gone. Now she had a second chance at those dreams and Freddie was still there for her. She looked upon the man she was going to marry and once again it was all possible for her. After all that had happened, she really did feel like she loved him, even if he was a complete dork sometimes. She felt safe with him near her.
"Sarah I want you to rest now," Dr. Bannister instructed. "Getting well has to be your top priority and we have to fight off infection. That won't happen unless you rest."
"Ok doctor," Sarah replied. She was feeling sleepy again. A nurse came in and Sarah barely reacted as she filled up a syringe and injected her with something. A wave of relief filled her body as what Sarah could only assume was some pain medicine was put into her. The cuts started to hurt less and Sarah's head was getting fuzzy again. She should probably do as the doctor said and get some more sleep. She felt like she needed it for sure.
But even as she began to drift off again, Sarah's thoughts filled with a concern she didn't dare voice in front of Freddie. What about her housemates? Did they know she was here? She just hoped they found out. Even though Freddie was here, she wanted to see them when she woke up.
Love was a zombie the whole trip over to the hospital. Getting Sarah's information had been easy for Jennifer, but now she had the additional worry about the mental state of her housemate. The sobbing of before was gone and had been replaced with Love staring out the window of the car and saying nothing.
Jennifer had never seen Love like this. Of course she had never been in a situation like this before. Jennifer had her own concerns, but she didn't want to burden anyone with her troubles with Brad. They had enough to worry about right now. She would try and work things out with her husband tomorrow. Jennifer hoped with every fiber of her being that he would be able to forgive her for all she'd done, but right now the immediate focus had to be getting Rose freed and making sure Sarah was ok.
"It'll be ok, Love," Jennifer said reassuringly as they drove into the parking lot of St. Catherine's. Love just continued to stare out the window in sadness and disbelief. Rose was in trouble because of her and now Sarah was hurt. Love could feel her heart breaking. In her life, she had always counted on those closest to her. First it was her mom and now it was her housemates. If something happened to Rose or Sarah and they couldn't be with her, Love didn't know what she would be able to do.
"What if it's not?" Love asked, almost in a whisper.
"It will be honey," Jennifer said. "It will be."
"I'm so glad you're here Jen," Love declared as she began to cry again. She wanted to get ahold of herself so badly. She lived by her emotions, but she didn't want to be a simpering baby. But every time she tried to calm herself, she couldn't help but think of Rose in jail because of her actions and Sarah...well Love didn't even want to think about any alternative other than Sarah being ok. The thought of any alternative was what brought the frightened tears to Love's eyes.
"I'll always be here for you Love," Jen told her housemate, hugging her before they left the car. "I'll always be here for all of you."
The duo walked into the hospital and quickly found out where Sarah was. They got there as quickly as they could and when they saw her in her bed sleeping Love and Jennifer both exhaled sighs of relief.
"She's going to be ok," Freddie explained as he sat by her bedside. "The doctor just says she needs to rest."
"Thank God," Love smiled. "What about Alyson?"
"They don't know," Freddie answered. "They said they were taking her into surgery, but that was a little while ago and I don't know what happened."
"What do the police think happened?" Jennifer asked, she could sense that Freddie wasn't too happy with their arrival, but he would just have to live with it. There was no way they were leaving Sarah right now.
"They didn't tell me much," Freddie admitted. "They arrested two guys I think. One of them lived next door or something."
"No!" Love gasped. "That can't be right."
Jennifer couldn't believe it either. There was no way one of the guys could have done this to Sarah. Jennifer had always thought that you never knew what someone was capable of until you actually saw them do it, but that just didn't fit what little she knew about them. They were weird, yes, but that was a far step from being attempted murderers.
"Well whoever it was, they had better just be glad they're not alone in a room with me right now," Freddie declared. "They'd be wearing my rage all over their faces."
Love was barely able to stifle an eyeroll at the sound of that. Freddie as a macho man? Please. Love knew Sarah could probably kick his ass easily and if this was how she'd ended up after tangling with whoever did this, then Freddie would have probably ended up in a plastic bag.
Looking at Sarah sleeping in her hospital bed filled Love up with so many emotions all at once. She was filled with rage that someone could do this to her friend, but just as powerful was the relief that she had escaped with her life. Love just had to get a little closer to her and began walking toward the bed.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Freddie objected, but Love completely ignored him. She didn't want to wake Sarah, she just wanted her to get the sense that she and Jennifer were there.
Jennifer followed Love to the bedside and they gazed down upon Sarah as she slept. Her breaths came peacefully, the white sheet covering her rising and falling gently each time. Both Jennifer and Love had seen Sarah sleep countless times, but the difference between then and now could not be missed. The bandages on her arms and the IV that brought her medicine were reminders of what had happened.
This time it was Jennifer who lost it and she tried hard to stifle her tears. She let out a soft sob and Love leaned her head on her shoulder, completing the role reversal. Love wrapped her arms around Jennifer in a comforting hug. With all the stress of this day, Jennifer certainly appreciated the embrace. Seeing Sarah like this and knowing what had happened to Rose made Jennifer realize that there were more important problems than her troubles with Brad, but it didn't make her miss him any less.
"She's going to be ok," Love said softly, partly for Jennifer's benefit and partly for her own. "Everything is going to be just like it was."
Freddie frowned slightly as he saw this. They sure seemed close. He didn't even know Sarah knew Jennifer Aniston. He knew Love was one of her roommates and as much as he didn't like his fiancé living with one of his ex-girlfriends, he held his tongue. But this seemed like more than some girly friendship. What if these two girls were like sickos obsessed with Sarah or something? He'd better put a stop to this.
"You know you can always come back in the morning," Freddie suggested. "She needs to rest."
"Shut up Freddie!" Love hissed at him with a ferocity that surprised Freddie. He took a step back and then moved forward again, like a lion protecting his territory. "We're not leaving!"
"Stop it you two!" Jennifer ordered, keeping her voice low so as not to wake Sarah. "I don't want any more fighting tonight!"
Even though they were all keeping their voices low, the excitement of the room caused Sarah to stir. She thought she heard familiar voices as she struggled to keep herself awake long enough to figure out what was going on.
"Jen?" Sarah asked groggily. She was having trouble focusing because of the medicine and she could feel it wasn't going to be long before she fell back asleep.
"Yes!" Jennifer replied with glee. "Sarah we're here!"
Sarah gave a weak, but happy smile.
"Who else is there?" Sarah asked. "I can't really see."
"I am," Love answered. "It's Love, Sarah."
"Where's Rose?" Sarah asked. "And Jewel? I'm sorry I couldn't make the concert. I...I..."
"Shhhh just rest now," Jennifer assured her housemate, ignoring her question about Rose. "We'll be here in the morning. You need to sleep."
"Aly...find out...if she's ok." Sarah requested. Love and Jennifer looked down at her like they were expecting her to say more, but she had fallen back asleep.
"Maybe you two should leave now," Freddie suggested, anxious to get Love and Jennifer out the door.
"Maybe you should leave Freddie!" Love shot back. Jennifer was about to tell them to cool down, when they were interrupted by three more arrivals.
"Is she ok?" Waldo asked as he, Franklin and the recently freed Delbert poked their heads in one after the other.
"Who are you?" Freddie demanded.
"We're the neighbors," Franklin answered.
"You did this!" Freddie accused.
"We didn't do anything!" Franklin replied defensively.
"I'm gonna kick your asses!" Freddie declared as he advanced toward the smaller trio.
"Don't even think about it Freddie!" Jennifer said, getting in between Freddie and the boys. "They didn't do this."
"Oh yeah? How do you know?" Freddie challenged. "You weren't there. These guys look like total perverts to me!"
"Oh please," Jennifer sighed.
"We could never do this," Delbert stated. "We could never hurt Sarah! Maybe you did this?"
"Me?" Freddie reacted as he tried to keep his temper down. "Why would I do this to her? She's gonna marry me!"
"Or so you'd like us to believe..." Delbert said as he studied Freddie suspiciously.
"We didn't have anything to do with this," Waldo explained as he looked at Jennifer and Love standing bedside by Sarah, once again feeling relief that he and Franklin had done the right thing. "Delbert saved her."
"You did?" Love gasped in amazement as she regarded the scrawny young man before her. Delbert had somehow grown a full head of hair since earlier that day, but Love didn't bother to question what had happened with that.
"I did?" Delbert tried to recall.
"You did," Franklin assured him. "You definitely did."
"Cool," Delbert declared with a smile.
"Is she going to be ok?" Waldo asked again.
"We think so," Jennifer replied. "We just got here though. We haven't seen any of the doctors or anything. I don't think the wounds are too bad."
"Well we have just what she needs," Waldo announced as he picked up the portable stereo they had carried in with them. He placed a cassette inside and pressed play. Soon the room was filled with the sounds of crashing waves, cool island breezes and the unmistakable indicators of dolphins at play.
"What are you guys doing?" Love asked.
"Studies have clearly shown the positive health effects of listening to dolphin sounds," Franklin answered. "In recent tests, patients with critical injuries listening to the sounds of dolphins and the ocean showed marked improvements and better long term health. Why a man in Nebraska has lived to be 125 years old by listening to the sounds of dolphins every night."
"Where were these studies published?" Jennifer inquired, highly skeptical of the science behind them.
"We haven't published them...yet," Franklin explained. "The experiments aren't quite finished."
"What the hell is going on in here?" a nurse demanded as she walked into the room. "It's damn near three in the morning and you're making more noise than a terrorism drill. You'll be waking up the whole damn floor. I want your butts out of here. It's way past visiting hours."
"I have to stay, I'm her fiancé," Freddie protested.
"Fine, you can stay but the rest of you have to leave," the nurse declared.
"No! You can't throw us out!" Love contended. "I want to be here when she wakes up."
"Unless you are a direct family member or a significant other then you have to come back when it's visiting hours," the nurse said firmly.
Jen and I are significant others, Love thought glumly to herself. She didn't dare say it though. This was so unfair. She wanted to be the one there when Sarah woke up in the morning. She wanted to keep an eye on her in the night and make sure everything was ok. Freddie couldn't possibly care about her the way she and Jennifer did, even if he was her fiancé.
"Can't you make a teeny tiny exception?" Jennifer asked hopefully, playing the celebrity card for all it's worth. "I mean for us..."
"Honey, you could write me in as the first black Friend and I still wouldn't break procedure," the nurse said with a face that betrayed a hint of sass. "It's not too long till visiting hours and anyway I wouldn't want this many people in the room even if it was high noon. She needs to rest. Now all of you who aren't her boyfriend gotta vamoose."
With that Love, Jennifer, Waldo, Franklin and Delbert were summarily escorted out of Sarah's room. As soon as they were past the door, Waldo pulled his compatriots aside.
"I see an opportunity here to end our financial worries in a moral, if slightly illegal way," Waldo began.
"How so?" Franklin inquired.
"Well this place does have a cancer ward doesn't it?" Waldo speculated.
"Indeed it does," Franklin replied, catching on immediately to Waldo's intent. "I'll bet they have an AIDS ward too and maybe a few patients who have glaucoma."
"We still have that crop we set aside in case they ever approved the medicinal marijuana law?" Waldo asked.
"Right where we left it," Franklin said, a smile crossing his face. "We'd better go get it."
"Yeah, you guys grab a cab and go get it," Waldo planned. "I'll stay here and lay the groundwork."
"No, a cab would take too long," Delbert declared. "Let's take the jetpacks!"
"A capital suggestion," Waldo agreed as the three of them scurried off.
Meanwhile, Love and Jennifer were taking their ejection from Sarah's room with a great deal more bitterness.
"What if something happens to her or Alyson and we're not there?" Love wondered sadly.
"It's not fair," Jennifer sighed. "But you need some sleep, Love. You're a mess. You need a good rest and a hot bath and then things will seem better."
"I can't go back there tonight," Love said. "Not after what happened with Sarah."
"I know, Love. I couldn't stay there either," Jennifer replied. "We'll just get hotel rooms for the rest of the night and we can rest there."
"Don't you have to get home to Brad?" Love inquired. "He must be worried sick about you."
"Don't worry about Brad," Jennifer said softly. "I'm staying with you tonight, Love."
"I'm glad," Love smiled. "I didn't want to be alone."
"Let me call up Jewel and tell her what's going on," Jennifer said as she reached for her cell phone.
"I just hope Rose is ok," Love sighed. With what had happened to Sarah, Rose had threatened to become an afterthought, but she had never been far from Love's mind.
"I'm not getting a signal," Jennifer muttered as she tried to get her phone working.
"You really won't get much of a good one in here," a nurse said, overhearing the conversation as she passed by. "You have to step outside for it to get clear again."
"Thanks," Jennifer said, before the nurse who had just thrown them out of Sarah's room distracted the other nurse's attention.
"Jean...Jean...you won't believe this," the pushy nurse declared. "Two fools just launched themselves off the roof or something like that. You should have heard it! It was like the south wing shook!"
CONTINUED IN PART 2