Chapter 16

"How about we dance a little more before they kick us out?" A.J. suggested.

"Sure, but I've got to use the rest room," I said.

"Yeah, me too," said Lauren.

"And me," Stacey said.

"I do too," Nick said.

"Okay, how about we take a potty break?" Brian asked.

"Thanks, we'll meet you guys back here at the table," I said as us three girls rushed to the rest room.

"Oh my god! You guys don't know how good tonight has been! Being with Kevin just feels so right!" I exclaimed while fixing my hair.

"I can see it in your eyes and the way you smile," Lauren said happily while putting on a little more make-up.

"I've never seen you more happy in my life," said Stacey as she was fixing her dress.

"Thank you guys so much for tonight!" I said as I hugged them.

Then we walked out the door to an awaiting Jeff. My heart skipped a beat as I smelled the alcohol. I gathered myself and continued to walk down the hallway with the girls.

"Hi," I said, being friendly, as we tried to walk by.

He stood directly in front of us with his arms crossed. That's when we began to get nervous.

"Can you please let us pass?" I asked, nicely.

"No," he stated. "Do you think you can just reject me like that? I saw you talking about me," Jeff said.

"I wasn't talking about you," I said calmly, while I was screaming inside.

"Come on baby. Just one dance and all will be forgiven," said Jeff as he grabbed my arm.

"Get your hands off of her!" Stacey yelled.

"Oh, and what are three gong to do?" he said, laughing at us.

Lauren and Stacey began to hit him, while I tried to pull my arm out of his grip. He shoved Lauren against the wall, hitting her head against it. Then he swung his arm and smacked Stacey in the face knocking her to the floor. While I continued to wrestle with him. Then he dragged me to the exit. I was screaming as loud as I could, but the music in the club was blaring. As the door closed behind me, I saw Lauren slowly getting up.

Lauren got up and went over to Stacey.

"Just stay here. I'll go get the guys," she said.

"No, you get the guys. I'll get security," Stacey said.

Then they both ran out of the hallway.

We were in the alleyway and he shoved me against the wall. He began kissing me roughly, putting the taste of alcohol in my mouth. I began to cry thinking of what was about to happen next. I continued to struggle with him, but he was just too big for me.

He kept his mouth on mine while his hands went for my shirt. He began to unbutton it, when I bit his lip. He stopped and grabbed his lip, then he smacked me square across the face. After that he continued with my shirt, but this time he ripped it open along with my bra.

He began to kiss my breasts while beginnging to unzip my skirt. I just stood there crying. What I had run away from so long ago was all coming back. I was completely frozen as the tears flowed.

Then all of a sudden he went flying back and I collapsed to the ground. Lauren ran over to me and covered me with A.J.'s jacket. Kevin punched Jeff straight in the face, breaking his nose. Jeff flew to the ground and Kevin ran over to him. He got on top of him and then continued to beat the crap out of him, while yelling. The guys were yelling at Kevin to stop. They even tried to pull him off, but he turned on them and shoved them away. So they decided to wait until security arrived.

Then I saw a bright flash of light go off. Some guy was taking pictures of the whole scene. Nick rushed over and took the guys camera away from him. He took out the film and then threw the camera on the ground and began stepping on it.

Security finally came out and they immediately pulled Kevin off of Jeff. I sat there crying while Lauren held me. The guys took Kevin away from Jeff while security helped him up. Kevin ran over to me and hugged me.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm here now," he said.

Then the police showed up. There were three cop cars and an ambulance. Everyone went to the cops stating what happened. The girls, the guys, the cameraman, and Jeff, everyone except Kevin. After listening to everyone the cops decided that everyone needed to go to the police station.

Kevin picked me up and took me towards the ambulance. They began to check me over, while Jeff was also headed towards the ambulance along with the police.

"That's the guy that beat me up!" Jeff yelled while holding his nose.

I squeezed Kevin's hand harder as I heard his voice.

"Sir, I need you to step out of the ambulance," the policeman said.

"I'm not leaving her," Kevin said firmly. "If you want to arrest me, you'll have to do it later. Right now we're going to the hospital."

"Fine," said the policeman, "But not by yourself," he said as he hopped in.

"You take Mr. Berry to the hospital in your car," the policeman said to the other officer.

Then he closed the doors and we sped off. Kevin pulled me onto his lap, while I cried into his chest.

"We're not going to arrest you," the policeman said apologizing to Kevin. "We just have to have her tell us what happened."

"Thanks," Kevin said.

"He deserved worse," the policeman said as he stared at me crying.

"So much worse," Kevin said, angrily.

At the club

"How is your cheek?" A.J. asked Stacey.

"It hurts like hell, but not as bad as Janel's hurting," Stacey said, sadly.

A.J. went up to her and hugged her.

"Are you okay?" Howie asked Lauren.

"Yeah, I just have a headache," Lauren said.

"Excuse me, but we're going to need all of you to go down to the police station," the policeman said.

"Okay, but first I need to make a phone call," Brian said.

"Fine, but make it quick," the officer said.

"Okay," Brian said as he pulled out his cell phone.

"Hello, Tim?"

"Yeah, Brian. What's up?"

"We have a situation and we need to go to the police station. Kevin is at the hospital. I need you and someone else to pick up our vehicles at the club."

"Sure, but what happened?"

"I can't explain right now, but we're all okay. Oh, and please don't let Lou find out. Thanks," Brian said as he hung up.

"Okay, let's go," Brian said as they climbed into the police cars.

They all got in the cars, including the cameraman. He was a photographer for some tabloid and was trying to get incriminating pictures of the Boys. He sat up front next to the policeman, for his own protection. All of the guys glared at him.

At the hospital

"Okay, we're here," said the policeman.

Kevin rubbed my back. Then he brushed away the hair out of my face. I looked up at him.

"You have to move for just a second. I'll hold you as soon as we get out of the ambulance," Kevin said, reassuringly.

I slid off of his lap and waited for him to get out. He hopped out and then he scooped me out of the ambulance. I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head against him. Then the policeman led us to a hospital room. We got in and he closed the door behind us. Kevin put me down on the bed. Then he sat next to me, while holding my hand.

"Okay. What's your name miss?" the officer asked.

"Her name is Janel Evans," Kevin answered for me.

"Thank you, sir. But I need her to answer my questions," the officer said.

"What is your name?" he asked again.

"Janel Evans," I said quietly.

"Okay, now I need you to tell me what happened," the officer said.

"What the fuck do you think happened?! She was raped!" Kevin exclaimed.

"Sir, I need you to calm down or I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Okay?" the officer said.

Kevin nodded his head in agreement.

"What happened?" he asked again.

I sat there for a few minutes staring at Kevin's hand holding mine. Then I began to tell him what happened. As I relived the experience I broke down into tears. Everything that I had buried away was resurfacing. All the emotions that I had tried to hide or to forget were now coming back. After I had finished telling the officer what happened, the doctor walked in.

"Okay, you guys are going to have to leave now," said the doctor.

"No, Kevin please don't leave me," I begged while I continued to cry.

"I'm sorry, but no one else is allowed to be in here," the doctor said.

Kevin slowly began to let go of my hand.

"What are you doing? You can't leave me!" I cried.

"He'll be right outside the door waiting for you," the officer said.

"No! Kevin I need you! Don't leave me!" I cried.

The policeman pulled Kevin towards the door. I reached out for him and tried to get up. The doctor came over and held me down on the bed. They walked out and shut the door behind them, while I continued to cry for Kevin.

"How can I leave her like that?" Kevin questioned as his eyes began to fill with tears.

"You have to right now. But she's going to need someone to help her get through this. That's when she'll need you by her side the most," the policeman said.

"I will be by her side. I swear it," Kevin said as he sat down. Then he buried his head into his hands as his tears began to fall.

At the police station

Lou burst through the doors like a raging bull.

"Where are they? There should be four guys! One of them has tattoos all over his arms! So are they in jail? What did they do?" Lou screamed to no one in particular.

"Excuse us officer. That man out there is screaming for us. Can I get him and come back?" Howie asked.

The officer nodded his head and Howie rushed out of the room.

"Lou! Calm down, we're here," Howie said.

"What the hell are you guys doing here? And why is Kevin at the damn hospital?!" he yelled, angrily.

"Lou, let me explain," Howie said.

"Yeah, you better have a damn good explanation," Lou said.

"We were at the club with Janel and two of her friends. They went to the rest room and some guy wouldn't leave Janel alone so the girls fought back. He hurt them and then he raped Janel. Kevin beat the shit out of the guy, while another guy was taking pictures. Nick got the camera and film and destroyed them. Kevin and Janel are at the hospital and the rest of us are in the officer's room with the cameraman," Howie explained.

"I knew that girl was trouble from the moment I set my eyes on her! She's just trying to destroy Kevin's career!" exclaimed Lou.

Howie looked at him angrily. He wanted so badly to tell him off, but he decided it was best not to. He didn't want to start another fight, so he led Lou to where they were.

"Okay, so you guys have to pay for his camera and a roll of film. No charges on either side. Also, there are no charges against Kevin Richardson. Assault charges are being filed against Jeff Berry," the officer said.

"So none of this will ever be heard about again?" Lou asked, concerned about the media.

"That's correct, sir. Except for the court date, but that only involves the young ladies," the officer said.

"That's good. Thank you officer," Lou said as everyone exited the room.

"Let's go to the hospital!" Lauren said, urgently.

"Oh, no! These guys are going back to their hotel rooms and staying there. I'm going to go get Kevin and drag his ass back to the hotel!" Lou yelled.

"I don't think so! I'm going to see how Pumpkin and Train are doing and if you don't like it, too damn bad!" Brian yelled.

"Yeah, we're all going!" Nick exclaimed.

"So how do you plan on getting there?" Lou asked, expectantly.

They all looked at each other and knew that they had to go with Lou.

"I'll take you to the hospital, but you're not staying longer than five minutes," Lou said angrily.

"Fine," they all said in unison.

Then they walked out to the van and got in.

At the hospital

The door finally opened and the doctor came out. Kevin perked his head up to see the doctor standing in front of him. He immediately rose to face the doctor.

"How is she?" Kevin asked worriedly.

"Well right now, she's okay. She's kind of in a daze though. This has been an extremely traumatic night for her. Not only was she raped, but she's remembering things from her past. She has told me that she was raped before, but that's all she would say. Also, there are some very serious scars on her back. I recommend that you take her to a therapist. Here's a list of good therapists that she can see," the doctor said as he handed Kevin a paper filled with names. "And for right now, don't leave her alone at any time. She's not completely stable, and I don't want her hurting herself."

Kevin just stood there listening to the doctor taking it all in.

"Thank you so much doctor," Kevin said once the doctor was through explaining. "Can she go home now?"

"Sure, let me just get some papers," the doctor said.

The doctor walked off and Kevin fell back into his chair. 'How could I have let her get hurt? All of this is my fault. If only I would have protected her all those years ago,' Kevin thought.

"Hey Kevin!" Brian yelled.

Kevin quickly got up and ran over to his cousin. Brian gave him a big hug.

"Okay, come on let's go back to the hotel," Lou said, annoyed.

"What are you doing here?" Kevin asked angrily.

"He found out that we were at the police station. Then we had no ride here, so he brought us," Nick explained.

"So how is she?" Lauren asked, worriedly.

"The doctor said she'll be okay, but not to leave her alone right now. He doesn't want her to harm herself. He also recommended that she see a therapist," Kevin explained.

"Okay, now that you've told them how she is, we can leave," Lou said, impatiently.

"I'm not leaving her!? I'm going to take care of her. I'm staying the night at her house," Kevin stated.

"But you don't have a ride!" Lou yelled frustrated with Kevin talking back to him.

"I'll take you guys home," the policeman said.

"Oh, thank you," Stacey said.

"Okay, well we're leaving now. Call me tomorrow to let me know how she's doing," Brian said.

"I will," Kevin said.

A.J. hugged Stacey and told her good night, while Howie did the same with Lauren. The guys left making sure they took Lou with them.

"Here are the papers, Kevin," the doctor said as he came back.

Kevin quickly signed them and headed towards Janel's room.

I watched the door slowly open. I pulled the covers close to me waiting for someone to walk in. I was afraid of who it might be. Then I saw Kevin's sparkling green eyes and I relaxed.

"Hey Pumpkin. Are you ready to go home?" Kevin asked, softly.

"Yes," I said. Then I looked at him and asked,"Are you going to stay with me?"

"Of course I am," he said taking hold of my hand.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

Then he picked me up out of the bed. He walked out the door carrying me in his arms. Then we met Stacey and Lauren.

"Janel! Are you okay?" Lauren asked as she rushed over to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said trying my best to sound convincing. "What about you two?"

"Oh, nothing that won't heal in a couple of days," Stacey said.

"Are you ready?" the police officer asked.

"Yes, let's go home," Lauren said.

We walked out into the parking lot. Then we got into the police officer's car. Kevin pulled me onto his lap and held me. I rested my head on his chest. Then I fell asleep in his arms on the way home.

"Here we are," said the police officer.

"Thank you so much, sir. . .," Kevin said not knowing his name.

"Call me Mark," the officer said.

"Thank you, Mark," Kevin said.

"You're welcome. Just take care of her," he said.

"I will," Kevin said.

Kevin took Janel out of the car and carried her in his arms. They walked up to the door. Lauren pulled out the keys and unlocked the door. Stacey walked in and flipped a couple of lights on. Then she showed Kevin the way to Janel's room. Lauren flipped the hall light on and Kevin walked into Janel's room. He set her down on the bed as Stacey walked in and turned the light on.