"We find the defendant..."
Guilty<<<<<<<<<
"Sentencing will be determined tonight. ADJOURNED"
Cell Phone rings
Melinda "Melinda Bennett!" "Mrs. Bennett you and you husband need to get to the hospital quick its Joe, he's waking up!!!"
"Oh MY GOD!! He's waking up OUR BOY IS WAKING UP!"
At the hospital
"Joe, hey Joe it's me Matt, I've been here all day, can you hear me?"
"mmmhmm"
"Do you need anything?"
"mmwhamappened?"
"Eric, he hurt you badly, try not to move."
"MWAHMAPPENED?!?"
"You were raped Joe, you were raped."
His eyes close and a single tear falls.
^^^^^_^____________________________________________
Echoes
NOOOo! HELP HIM!
"It's ok He's back with us, all by himself
Joe, Joe, Joe, Can you hear me?
Joe
hmm, hihuh
What the hell is going on?? Can somebody please tell me that??
Raped Joe You were Raped Wait what who, why, where the hell am I
"Joe do you know where you are?"
** Um hello I just asked you that same question**
"Hosmmmal"
Why do I sound like this, what's wrong with me?
Raped Joe you were raped
"Can you tell us your name?"
Um Duh you've only been saying it like 20 times in like 5 seconds, Joe Bennett
"doe bemmen"
Ok that is so not me saying that what the fuck, ok somebody tell me what happened
Raped Joe you were raped STOP SAYING THAT IT'S NOT TRUE STOP STOP STOP!!!
"NOP PLEAN NOP NO MORE!!"
"I think that's enough for today Dr. Sage please can you do this another time"
"Sure I can come back."
"Honey Mom is here, what can I do for you?"
Just tell me its not true, tell me I got beat up, or stabbed, anything but raped PLEASE
"No Rape, anmthin bah dat" "I'm so sorry that this has happened to you son, if I could have stopped it I would have, I would give my body and soul to save you from the pain"
Oh my god it's true, wel WHO WHO THE FUCK DID THIS?!?
"Who?"
"Who.. Oh honey now isn't the time, but they have already been tried and convicted."
THAT'S NOT AN ANSWER I SAID WHO DID IT!
"WHO?!"
"Eric honey, Eric did this to you"
No not Eric he wouldn't, he couldn't
I'LL SHOW YOU A MISTAKE NOOOOO, GOD NOOOO*
3 weeks later
"Dr. Sage, when am I going to be able to walk?"
"Joe, you had very serious damage done, you are restricted to a donut on a seat, I'm sorry, Dr. Janz will be in soon to begin you're therapy"
"Ok thanks mam"
"Son, we are going to be spending an awful lot of time together so you can call me either Doc, or Heather, because Dr. Sage makes me feel old, an the more I see you the more gray I get for what has happened"
"Thanks I know that you mean every word"
"Knock, knock I'm Dr. Janz, and you must be Joe"
WHOA! Who chiseled this guy in Greece??, play it cool
"Gee how'd you guess"
"Sorry for the entrance I get I should have done something a little less insensitive"
"It's fine I'll laugh later when I don't have the risk of tearing"
"So today we are going to be establishing the essentials to your recovery, but you should know our pace is solely up to I can't push you I can just guide you." "Ok, thanks for letting me know."
"You should also know that I firmly believe that we will get past this together, and that you will only be able to recover, if you follow the treatment, and if you face the event up close and personal"
"Ok deep breath I think I can do this."
"Do you remember anything about that night?"
"I've only had echoes in my head."
"What do the echoes say?"
"They are voices of two people, one of them is Eric and one of them is me, and there is another one but it was the one of the person who told me what happened to me, I think it's Matt's voice"
"When you hear Eric's voice, what do you hear both in words and feelings?"
"Bitterness, anger, sadness, resentment, and the he says things like "I'll show you a mistake" I can't remember the other things"
"Do you know why he talks about showing you a mistake, and is that all he says?"
Joe grabs his head
What are you doing Eric?!? STOP NOW!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING!!
If I'm such a MISTAKE then maybe I should make it so NOBODY even WANTS YOU ANYMORE, I'M GONNA RUIN YOU FOR ANYBODY
Please don't Eric, you weren't a mistake, you were perfect, too perfect
"Joe are you ok? JOE!"
tears "I remember more now, I told him he was a mistake, so he sa-sa-said he would r-r-ruin me for m-make sure n-nobody wants me! I T-TRIED TO STOP HIM!B-BUT I C-COULDN'T"
Looking ready to cry "It's ok Joe it's over now, do you want to continue."
"Y-yes, I won't let this change anything"
"Look Joe, do you know what part of the whole thing gets to you the most?"
"You mean like, what is the worst part of the nightmare?"
"Yes."
"The fact that I had trusted this person so much once that I gave myself to him in the most intimate way that two people can share, and then was violated in the same type of way, I feel like, I can't trust people, like I'm not safe with the ones I love"
"Believe it or not it is perfectly normal for you to have trust issues, I mean it's a miracle that just three weeks after such a brutal act you are able to confide in someone the way you are now"
"Look, I am a firm believer in heal Dr. Janz, I think that if I hide from the truth it will just cause me more problems than it will solve, I think the fact that the person that hurt me is going away for 50 years helps too, I think what sets me aside is the fact that my attacker is going to pay"
"I think it also has to do with the type of person you are Joe, you are very tough and headstrong, but in a good way, you won't allow anything to stop you from achieving your goal, and right now your goal is to get better and heal physically and emotionally."
"You're right, that is me, I never have let anything get in my way and I'm not about to start now."
"Do you know where the act took place, or anything about how"
"I remember having something over my eyes, I think maybe a t-shirt, I remember extreme pain, and knowing in my mind that the person doing this was not wearing anything for protection, and at this point I didn't know who it was.
"You didn't know Eric was the one?
"I didn't know if Eric had been violent and then left or if it was him, I felt them pushing in and out and then I remember the shirt or whatever fell off my face, after my eyes adjusted I saw that it was Eric and at that point it started to hurt even more because it was somebody so close to me and someone I loved and trusted, and then I started to will myself away to my happy place or any place but the living room."
"It seems like you remember bits and pieces pretty well."
"It is fuzzy but clear at times, most of the time I can be laying and about to fall asleep, and then I have flashes of what happened but wouldn't remember them a couple hours later"
"Here take this notebook, and whenever you remember something write it in here and we can discuss it during our sessions, it doesn't matter if it the event itself or stuff surrounding it, anything you remember about that night is what you should write."
"Ok I think I can do that."
"Good, then I think we can stop for today, we've made some excellent progress, and I think we can continue next week, take it easy Joe" After Dr. Janz left All my friends walked through the door with Matt in tow.
"Hey guys I haven't seen you for oh about three weeks" I managed to get out with a smile
Ally "Oh my god honey I have been so worried, but they said because of your condition only doctors and family could see you until the doctor said otherwise"
Bree "Joe I am so sorry that I saw so bitchy, I wish that I had, had something better to say to you before you left that night."
Stacy didn't say anything she just looked at me and smiled
Ryan shocked me he came over to my bedside and gave my forehead a kiss and broke down crying "I should have been there to protect you, I told you since we were fucking 10 years old that if anyone ever gave you shit I would stop them, and I couldn't stop him, please forgive me"
"Ry-RYAN there is nothing to forgive, this didn't happen because of you, it happened because Eric obviously had bigger issues than insecurities"
Matt "Look guys why don't you all go out and sneak up some BK for Joe he has to be sick and tired of gourmet"
"How could we subject him to that, we'll be back"
"Oh god baby, I'm so sorry I could hear everything but I just thought you guys were arguing, I never thought he would do anything like that to you, I could have stopped it the second I heard glass break but I didn't I AM SORRY FUCKING SORRY!"
"Look Matt, I realize your upset but please do not break down, I can handle this, but only if you're here for me I can't have my boyfriend a nervous wreck, while I am recovering I need you to be the strong man you have always been"
"Ok, I will be, you should know that this all got to the news and the papers, and it's everywhere."
"Great the public fag"
"Don't you ever call yourself that EVER, as long as I am with you that word is not acceptable."
"The kids from school all know don't they"
"Yes they do but now they don't see you as a "fag" they see you as a victim, so even though that's not good, you probably won't be teased anymore, and if you are we can kick their asses together because as soon as you are able to go to school, I am coming out."
"You don't have to do that for me!"
"It's not for you, well not only for you, I have needed to do this for a long time, this just gave me the strength I needed, I came out to my mom and dad, they kinda knew, they said they could tell by the way I reacted to almost losing you, that it wasn't losing a friend it was losing a love, and when I heard that flat line I swear my heart stopped too, and didn't start going until yours did, and the second time it happened I just held your hand and then you came back on your own."
With that Matt started absent mindedly to stroke Joe's hand
"I love you Matt, but please stop."
"Stop what?"
"Touching me, stop touching me."
"Ok I'm sorry I didn't know I was doing it."
"It's ok, I can barely let my dad kiss me on the head let alone have you stroking my hand."
"I understand and it won't happen again until your ready"
"Thanks its just that I am afraid to close my eyes right now because I don't know who I can trust"
"You don't need to explain yourself to me.. Ever"
THE FOLLOWING FALL
Greg Lawson? "Here"
Frank Michaels? "Here"
Elena Nunez? "Here"
Nick Orson? "Here"
Gary Peters? "Here"
Samantha Rogers? "Here"
Matthew Stone?
"Queer!"
"Excuse me?!"
"Oh I'm sorry I didn't realize you were doing attendance, I thought we were naming a characteristic about ourselves"
"So the other people in the classroom saying "here" didn't give you the attendance clue"
"Oh were they saying "here" I wasn't paying close attention to what they were saying, I never do at the beginning of the school year, because it's always some lame summer vacation story."
"Well now that attendance has concluded we can play the game that Mr. Stone started, when your name is called name a characteristic about yourself."
The Bell Rang After Every Finished
"Dude that was amazing, is it true?" Greg had really softened after hearing about the whole thing with Joe and had come out himself (funny thing about homophobes.. They're usually gay too)
"Of course it's true why would I make something like that up?"
"Oh it's not that it's just I wish that I'd thought about it first, you seeing anyone?"
"Yeah I've been with Joe actually since the night before the "Incident""
"Whoa dude wow, I haven't thought about that for a while, how is he?"
"He's better and glad to be walking again. And we finally are able to be close, in ways. you know the ways I mean"
Right then Joe came bounding up to them
"Is it true?"
"What?"
"Did you just come out during the attendance of first period, everyone is talking about it?"
At that moment it seemed like the entire junior class was surrounding them to ask if it was true
Matt just looked at Joe and they both shrugged
And in front of their entire class they kissed...