Story #4
by: Courtney
“So, are you coming to the party tonight?” Doug asks Mark as he gathers his things from his locker.
Mark nods. “Yeah, I’m bringing Nina.”
Doug smiles. “So, things are getting pretty serious with you two, then?” he asks.
Mark shrugs his shoulders and replies, “I don’t know how you’d define serious. I mean, we are nowhere near you and Carol. We’re just dating. I like her, she likes me. That’s all I want right now.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear it.” Doug smiles at his friend then digs in his locker for something. He is glad to see Mark in a better mood. After Susan left, it seemed like he’d never be happy again. But, things have begun to improve for Mark lately. “What are you coming as?” he asks as he retrieves the keys he has been searching for from his locker. Tonight is Halloween and Carol is having a costume party at her house. Doug is just leaving work to go and help her set everything up.
Mark grimaces, “Nina got us Romeo and Juliet. I draw the line at the tights, though.”
Doug smirks, “It could be worse, buddy.”
“What about you? Carol has to have picked something for you to wear.”
“Yeah, well, we finally agreed on Rhett and Scarlet from “Gone With The Wind”. Not too bad I guess.”
“Lucky you,” Mark laments. “Are you headed there now?”
“Yep. I just have to stop by the store and pick up a few things on my way over. When are you and Nina gonna be there?”
“I’m off at 5pm. By the time I get into that stupid costume. . ., “ he makes another face. “We probably won’t be there until six.”
“That’s good. The party won’t really start till then anyway. We have to wait for everyone to get off of work. Well, I better get going. See you later.” Mark nods at Doug and Doug grabs his coat and closes his locker. He heads for the parking garage, making a mental list of everything Carol has told him to get from the store.
“Carol!” Doug calls as he enters the house.
“In here,” comes the reply from the kitchen. It is 4:30pm and Doug has an armload of party supplies which he has just gotten from the store.
“I hope I didn’t forget anything,” he says, walking into the kitchen and setting the bags on the table. Carol is standing by the counter, stirring something in a crock pot. She turns around as Doug enters.
“Hi,” she says as he walks over to her and wraps his arms around her waist from behind. She sets the spoon in her hand onto the counter and turns in his arms so that they are face to face. He grins and greets her with a long kiss. “How was your day?” she asks as their lips finally part.
“It was okay. How about you?”
Carol’s eyes widen and she grins. “Hectic! But, it will be worth it. Tonight is going to be fun.”
Doug is glad to see that she is enjoying herself. Only a month ago, it seemed like she’d never be the same again. After she had told him about her past, the rape, the abortion, he had not known what to do. He loves her so much. Seeing her hurting was more painful than being stabbed in the heart. And, the worst part was, he had no way of making her pain go away. Being helpless was the hardest part. Now, as he watches her continue to make preparations for the night’s festivities, he smiles.
“What?” she asks as she notices him staring at her.
“Nothing. I was just thinking that you look so great lately.” He bends down in front of her to kiss her yet again.
“Wow, you know, flattery will get you everywhere, Dr. Ross.” She grins and returns the kiss.
“I’m counting on that.” Their kisses grow more urgent. After a moment, Carol pulls herself reluctantly from their embrace.
“I’ll never be ready in time if we keep this up,” she grins.
“So, we’ll just let them wait,” Doug kids her as he nuzzles her neck.
“Stop!” she laughs and pushes him away. “I’m serious,” she looks up and tries to remain straight faced, but one look at his lopsided grin and puppy dog eyes and she crumbles. She can’t help but smile at him. She shakes her head, chuckling to herself at her inability to withstand Doug’s charms. “You’re dangerous, you know that?”
He sighs, “It’s a gift.” His expression remains very serious as Carol turns to give him a look that says ‘Give me a break!’
“More like a curse!” She makes a face at him and he breaks into a smile.
“Need any help?” he asks, seeing that if he doesn’t find something to occupy his time, he will drive Carol crazy.
“Yeah, actually. Could you start hanging the streamers in the living room while I finish fixing the food? I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”
“Sure,” he says. She points to the bag on the opposite counter top that contains the black and orange streamers. Doug takes the bag and goes to work.
An hour later, the house is decked out in black and orange and Carol is just finishing up the food. Both Doug and Carol have gotten into their costumes. Doug has on a black suit with a fake mustache like Clark Gable’s. Carol is wearing a white dress with green flowers and a huge hoop skirt that resembles the dress wore by Vivian Leigh in the movie.
“You look very beautiful,” Doug says as she puts the final dish on the table.
Carol smiles at him. “Thank you. And, “she tries to put on her best southern accent, “I do declare, you look positively charming, Rhett.” He grins and pulls her close for a kiss. They are still embracing when the doorbell rings to signal that the first guest has arrived.
With much hesitation, Doug pulls away and takes Carol’s hand, leading her to the door. On the porch stands Carter in a trench coat with a wide brimmed hat on his head. “Bogie?” Carol asks him with a smile.
“Hello, sweethaat,” Carter replies.
“Come on in,” Carol says, stepping back to let him enter.
“You two look great,” Carter says.
“Thanks, so do you.” Carol replies.
“Well, I guess I’m the first to arrive, huh?” Carter inquires.
“Yep,” Doug replies as Carol heads for the kitchen to take care of a few last minute details. “Have a seat,” Doug says and he and Carter sit down in the living room. They make small talk for a few moments, then the doorbell rings again. This time, it is Haleh and her husband. She is dressed as a witch and he is a vampire, complete with bloody fangs.
After that, the guests begin arriving steadily. By seven, at least thirty people have arrived. Mark and Nina show up and she has coaxed him into wearing the Romeo costume, even the tights. “How did I get myself into this?” Mark jokes with Doug as Nina rolls her eyes and playfully punches his arm.
The party is a big success as everyone eats the wonderful food Carol has prepared and chats about anything and everything. Doug is talking to Kerry about something when the phone rings. Carol walks over. “Doug, it’s for you. It’s your landlady,” she says looking a little perplexed.
Doug has much the same expression as he excuses himself from his conversation with Kerry and goes to the phone. “Hello?” Carol stands by and listens to his end of the conversation. “What?. . . Yes, go ahead . . . I’ll be there soon.” Doug looks very concerned as he lays down the receiver. He turns to Carol, “ I’m sorry. I have to go.”
“Is everything okay?” she asks, as she notes the worried expression on his face.
“Yeah. Well, at least I hope it is. It will be.” He kisses her cheek and says, “Don’t worry. I’ll explain everything later.” She nods and he says good-bye to the party guests then grabs his coat and heads for his car.
It is shortly after eight o’clock when Doug pulls up outside his apartment building. He has removed his fake mustache, but he is still clad in the black, Rhett Butler suit he rented for the party along with his overcoat. He looks up at the familiar building. He hasn’t been spending much time here lately. Mostly, he stops by for clean clothes once in a while and that’s it. In the past few months he and Carol have been getting pretty serious and he’s spent most of his time at her place. She has also been pretty on edge lately. Ever since she confided in him about the rape . . . He finds himself worrying about her quite a lot. But, right now he is worried about someone else. He climbs the stairs and knocks on the landlady’s door.
“Where is she?” he asks as she answers the door in her housecoat.
“After we spoke, I let her into your apartment.” Doug nods, thanks her, and then bounds the stairs for his floor.
When he reaches his apartment, he finds that the door is locked. He pulls out his key and opens the door. The apartment is dark and, at first, he doesn’t see his guest. Then, a slight movement in the corner of the room triggers his attention. He turns and sees her lying on the floor by the couch.
“Charlie?” he asks. She makes a noise but it is not understandable. He rushes over and sits down beside her. She has been badly beaten and is bleeding profusely. “We have to get you to the hospital,” Doug says as he looks at the cuts and gashes all over her.
“No,” she says, weakly. “He’ll find me.” She struggles to get the words out.
“Who? Who will find you? The creep that did this?” She nods solemnly and looks down. “Don’t worry, he’s never going to hurt you again. I won’t let him.” She looks up momentarily and Doug sees the strange mixture of fear, gratitude, and pain in her eyes. Eyes that are too young to know what she has seen. Doug’s heart sinks as he thinks of all that this child has been through in her short life.
Suddenly, her head slumps forward and she passes out. Doug quickly lifts her into his arms and carries her back downstairs to his awaiting car. She stays unconscious during the entire ride to Cook County General.
When they arrive, Doug picks Charlie up yet again and carries her into the hospital. Peter Benton is on duty as well as Jeanne Boulet, who has just arrived from Carol’s party. They meet him as he is coming in and ask what has happened. He explains the situation, the little that he knows. “She showed up on my doorstep about an hour ago. My landlady called me and when I got there she was barely conscious. She passed out shortly afterwards and I brought her here. My guess is that drug dealer punk did this.” Doug cannot conceal his anger as he says this.
Jeanne and Peter nod and they, along with Dr. Ross, begin working on Charlie. Nearly an hour later, Charlie is in recovery. She has a broken arm, three broken ribs, a concussion, and multiple contusions which require many stitches, but she will be okay. Doug sits by her bed and waits for her to wake up.
Around 10pm, Charlie begins to stir. “What’s going on?” she asks as she opens her eyes and sees Doug sitting beside her bed.
“I was hoping you’d be able to tell me,” he begins. “You showed up at my house tonight looking pretty bad. Anything you’d like to talk about?”
Charlie looks away. “I’m sorry, I never should have come there, I know. I can’t believe I did.”
Doug gently turns her head to face him. “Hey, it’s okay. You did the right thing.” He nods slightly, continuing, “I’m glad you came to me for help. I *want* to help you. But, you have to tell me what happened.”
Charlie is silent for a long moment. Then she quietly says, “It was Tommy.”
“I kind of figured as much,” he says. “I wish you would stay away from that creep. He’s nothing but trouble, Charlie.”
“Like I don’t know that,” she says with a sarcastic laugh. But, the laugh hurts and she grimaces in pain. “Where else am I supposed to go? At least Tommy gave me a place to stay for a while before . . .,” she looks away, not sure what else to say.
“Well, tonight you can stay here,” Doug says.
“No way!” Charlie is very adamant all of the sudden. “Tommy’s gonna know I’d come here. He’ll be here looking for me.”
Doug shakes his head. “You’ll be safe here. There are security guards here all the time.”
Charlie looks at him with the most honest and frightened look he has ever seen. Her eyes are so intense that it scares him. She quietly replies, “He’ll kill me next time,” and then looks away.
Doug sits still for a moment, contemplating what she has said. He takes her hand and she looks back at him. “Would you feel safer at my place?” The words are a surprise to Charlie, and even to Doug. She looks at him with curiosity and uncertainty in her eyes, not knowing whether this offer is for real. “It’s okay, you can stay with me,” he assures her. She looks away and he thinks he almost sees a smile. “Get some sleep and I’ll go make the arrangements for you to be released into my care,” he says as he gets up. Charlie nods and closes her eyes as Doug goes to work out the details.
Just after midnight, Doug pulls onto his street, approaching his apartment with Charlie in the passenger’s seat. He has decided not to go to Carol’s because of the party and everything. He decides he will get Charlie settled in, then call Carol and explain everything. Calling her from the hospital would have been better, he knows, but everything seemed to happen so fast and he just lost track of time. ‘She’s probably worried sick by now,’ he thinks as he cuts the engine in front of his building. He sighs and opens his door.
He walks to the passenger’s side and opens the door to the back seat. He removes a wheelchair, which he borrowed from the hospital. Charlie was none to thrilled with this, but she was in no condition to be walking around and he told her that it was either deal with the chair or stay at County. In the end, Charlie swallowed her dissidence and agreed to Doug’s terms. Now, as Doug opens her door with the chair ready, she silently gets into it without argument.
Doug closes the car door and proceeds to push Charlie towards the now dark building. They go through the back entrance to avoid the front steps and take the elevator up to Doug’s floor. He wheels her off the elevator and stops at his apartment door. After his key finds the lock, he pushes her inside and latches the dead bolt. ‘Just in case,’ he thinks as he remembers Charlie’s earlier words to him.
Charlie notices this action, but says nothing. He turns to her. “You can have the bed in the guest room. No one has slept in it for a while, so I’d better get some fresh sheets. Why don’t you watch some television or something while I get things ready?” She nods and he turns towards the hall closet, retrieving the fresh linens. He goes down the hall towards rarely used guest room. As he enters, he remembers that he needs to call Carol. He sits on the bed and picks up the phone, dialing the familiar number.
It barely rings once before Carol’s voice can be heard. “Hello?” she says anxiously.
“Hi,” he says.
“Doug! Thank God! I was getting really worried. Are you okay? Where are you? What’s going on?” Carol’s voice is very tense and Doug instantly feels guilty for causing her concern.
“Everything is fine, now. I’m over at my place. I’m sorry I didn’t call before, but . . . well, there was kind of an emergency.” Carol listens expectantly for the rest of his story. Doug glances towards the closed door and lowers his voice. “Charlie showed up here. She’d been beaten pretty bad by that son of a bitch, Tommy.”
Carol gasps and says, “Is she alright?”
“Yeah, he roughed her up pretty bad, but she’ll be just fine. But, if I ever run into him, I don’t think I could say the same.” Carol can sense the rage in his voice and she hopes he isn’t thinking of doing anything stupid.
“Are you coming back over here tonight?”
“Um, no, I think I’ll stay here. Charlie is here. She was afraid to stay at the hospital so I got them to let her stay with me.”
Carol is not sure what to make of this. “Are you sure you’ll be okay? I could come over and help out with her.”
“No, that’s alright. You have enough to deal with. I’m sure the house is a mess. I’m sorry I couldn’t come back by and help you clean up. Did the party go well?”
“Yeah, it was fine. The last of the guests just left, actually.”
“Well, I’ll come by tomorrow and help you straighten up.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. I have most of the food put away and the rest can wait. Are you sure you don’t want me to come by?” She knows Doug is good with kids, but there may be more to this situation than he realizes. Besides, Charlie has never been an ordinary teenager, if there is such a thing.
“Naw, were about to turn in. She needs rest more than anything. Why don’t you get some sleep and come by in the morning. Would that be okay?”
“Sure, I’ll bring breakfast.”
“Great. I’ll see you then. And, Carol?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too. Call me if you need anything. Good night.”
“Good night.” He puts down the phone and begins to change the bed and put on the fresh sheets.
A little while later, Charlie is sound asleep in the guest room. He has leant her an old T-shirt and some pajama pants to sleep in. They are both way too big for her, but, for now anyway, they will do. Doug, however, is sitting up in his bed, wide awake. He still can’t get that look in Charlie’s eyes out of his head. The more he thinks about it, the angrier he gets. ‘How could anyone do something that would hurt someone so badly?’ he wonders to himself. He is so preoccupied by his thought that he gets very little sleep.
When morning comes, he is the first one to rise. He peeks into the guest room and sees that Charlie is still asleep. He goes into the kitchen and puts on a pot of coffee. Looking at the wall clock, he sees that it is 8:30 in the morning. He is supposed to be at work at ten so he decides he’d better call Mark to let him know that he won’t be in today.
Mark understands and Doug is just hanging up the phone when there is a knock on the front door. He squints out of the peep hole and, seeing Carol, unlatches the deadbolt to let her enter. She smiles and kisses him quickly as she walks in.
“Here you go,” she says, handing him a bag of warm bagels. “Is she up yet?” She looks around the living room, but sees no sign of Charlie.
“No, she’s still sleeping. She had a pretty rough night. Benton prescribed some pain medicine for her and I think it kind of knocked her out.” He goes into the kitchen and Carol follows. He fixes her some coffee and she takes the mug from his hands.
“How is she?”
Doug shrugs, “I really couldn’t say. I mean, physically, she needs some rest and time to heal, but she’ll be fine, eventually. Mentally, emotionally, only time will tell.” He looks sadly into his coffee cup.
Carol sets her coffee on the counter and puts her arms gently around Doug. “How about you? You doing okay?”
He nods, looking down at her with a sad smile. “I’ll be alright. I’m just worried about Charlie right now.”
“Well, I’m sure it will all turn out fine. She’s tough, she’ll pull herself through this. And,” she looks into his big brown eyes that seem to be so far away this morning, “she has you.”
Doug nods his head slowly and puts his arms around Carol. She snuggles close to him and they just stand there, together, for a long time. She knows he is hurting and it feels good to be the one to give him some comfort, for a change. It seems like, lately, he is always the one who is there for everyone else. He holds her close and closes his eyes, breathing in her scent and trying to find some balance. “Thank you,” Doug says softly. He doesn’t need to say what for. Carol already knows.
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