The ride in the ambulance was like nothing Saige had ever experienced before. There were four people there, and talking hurriedly over her, doing their best to make her comfortable while listening to her story. Saige felt like a Princess with so many people pampering her. Of course, it could have been the morphine.
The paramedics were checking for broken bones and internal bleeding and fixing up her cuts while at the same time seeing to her every need.
"Where is Aidan?" She asked calmly, almost childishly.
"He's in the other ambulance, sweetheart." The head paramedic answered.
Saige smiled: he called her 'sweetheart'. "Okay," She yawned. Her mind wandered to when they had been captured, how much different this was! It already seemed like ages ago that she'd been trapped in that horrible place.
The doctor injected something into her IV, and then she lay back and fell asleep.
Trailing behind Saige's ambulance, was a second one, where Aidan was. Unlike Saige, Aidan was in a panic. He hated ambulances. It was what they'd carried away his parents in.
"Saige!" He screamed. "Where is she? Where is she?!" He cried, trying desperately to sit up. "I want to see Saige."
"She's in the other ambulance, son." One of the paramedics said to him.
"Don't call me that!" Aidan screamed, sitting up again and grabbing for the paramedic. "I'm nobody's son!"
The paramedic recoiled from him and the others pushed Aidan back down.
Aidan took deep breaths, he felt like he was hyperventilating. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and tried to calm himself.
Where was Saige? Was she okay? He wanted nothing more than to see her and make sure she was alright. She was so much more badly abused than he was.
"I think we should give him a sedative." One of the paramedics suggested, "Its too hard to get anything done."
The head paramedic nodded, but Aidan went into a panic again. "No! No sedatives, please! I'll be good, really!" He begged. One of them came forward with a needle and he tried to get away, but there were too many of them. "NO!" He shouted, over and over again. "No…" But they jabbed it into his arm and he suddenly slumped against them. He was asleep.
Saige woke up feeling horribly groggy and disoriented. For a brief instant she didn't know where she was, and when she saw all the white she thought she was back in that room.
She bolted upright and started to scream. It couldn't have been a dream; she thought she was free. She looked beside her, but Aidan was not there. She screamed again as tears sprung to her eyes. "Aidan!" The door to the side of her slammed open, and a nurse, and two other people dressed like civilians ran in.
"Mom?" Saige gasped as she realized who the civilian woman was. She looked around and noticed with a start where she was. All the white and beeping machines and starchy sheets, she was in the hospital! She really had escaped. She started crying again uncontrollably.
"Oh Saige! We were so worried about you!" Her mother sobbed. She latched onto Saige and cried into her shoulder. The entire situation was so surreal, that when Saige had stopped crying, she could only sit there and blink.
Eric was behind them, standing awkwardly by the door.
"W-where…" She started,
"Yes? What is it honey?" Jessica gasped, shaking her daughter roughly.
"Miss…" The nurse interrupted. "Please try and be gentle with her, she has several fractured ribs…"
"Oh, my poor baby!" Jessica wailed.
"Mom, where is Aidan?" Saige interrupted.
"Who?"
"I was… I was with him… and …"
"Oh, that boy? Don't you worry sweetie, the police are dealing with him right now."
"What!"
"He won't hurt you again."
"No! He didn't hurt me! He saved me!"
"But Saige, tests showed that his…" She stumbled over the word, "Semen was on you and…"
"It's a mistake!" Saige screamed at the top of her lungs. "It's a mistake! He didn't rape me, mom!"
"But…"
"I want to see him!" She shrieked.
"You can't now, he's on the other side of the hospital, and he's talking to the police."
"NO! I WANT TO SEE HIM!" Saige bellowed, pushing her mother away. "I want Aidan!"
"I'm going to give her another sedative." The nurse announced. Saige didn't hear her though, because she was too busy screaming. After injecting the drugs into the IV, the nurse ushered Jessica and Eric out of the room and closed the door as Saige fell back asleep.
Aidan had been awake for hours now, but he never opened his eyes. He didn't want to wake up, only to find that he was still locked up in Edgar's bedroom, with that ominous mirror looming ahead of him. He shuddered at the mere thought.
He heard voices outside the room, and after a minute he decided that it was the nurse talking to an officer.
"Yes, he's right in here, officer, but he's still resting. You'll have to wait until he wakes up to talk to him.
"Ma'am, we've found that boy's semen on Miss Mathers' body, this is a very serious crime. I need to talk to him about it. If they were together that entire three weeks, then it's likely…"
"I realize that, officer, but my first concern if for his safety…"
"Can you just please check? If he's still asleep I promise I'll leave and come back later."
The nurse sighed, "Alright," She pushed open the door.
Aidan opened his eyes and sat straight up. They thought he raped Saige on purpose?! He didn't have a choice! He had to clear this up.
"Well, would you look at that?" The officer grinned at the nurse.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Miss." He had a strange, faint Southern accent, just like Edgar. He felt his skin crawl as the officer walked up to him.
Aidan said nothing to him, even as he took a seat next his bed. "Alright boy, I'm going to be very frank with you, we…"
"You think I raped Saige." Aidan finished for him, spitting daggers at him with his eyes.
"Yes, there is evidence to suggest that you had intercourse with Miss Mathers…"
"She asked me to," Aidan said. It explained everything to him, but the officer was slightly confused.
"She asked you to rape her?"
"NO! I didn't…" He stopped, was what he about to say even true? Did he rape her? "I didn't have a choice."
"You didn't have a choice whether or not to rape her?"
Aidan shook his head, "No…I didn't. Edgar…"
"Who?"
"Edgar, the guy who kidnapped us, he was going to rape her again, and Saige couldn't stand it. And I couldn't stand it. He said he would do it if I didn't, so I didn't have a choice. She said that she didn't want him to do it again."
"How many times did this guy rape her?"
"Once that I saw, but I think he did it before he took me too." Aidan said, keeping his eyes focused on the floor.
"I see…" The officer wrote some notes down on a pad of paper and continued with the questioning. A lot of the time he just repeated the same questions in different ways, and it was frustrating, but Aidan stuck it out.
"So you never willingly took advantage of Miss Mathers in any way…" The officer asked.
"N…"
"Stop right there! He doesn't have to answer any questions without a lawyer present."
The officer and Aidan both looked up. Waltzing into the room like he owned the place was the orphanage administrator.
"Aidan! We've missed you so much!" He cried when he saw Aidan.
Aidan wondered what was wrong with the administrator, but then he saw the reporters on the other side of the door, trying to get past the fiery nurse and he got it. It was all just a show.
"And you are?" The officer asked as he stood up.
"I'm this boy's guardian, the administrator at North Bay Orphanage." The officer looked down at Aidan, "You're an orphan?"
Aidan nodded, "So, are those scars from an accident, rather than the kidnapping?"
Aidan nodded again,
"He's had those scars since he was eleven!" The administrator cut in. "From when his parents died in a fire."
Aidan was surprised that the administrator even knew that. He'd probably researched it when he heard that he had been found
"I…I'm tired," Aidan said suddenly. "Can I go back to sleep now?"
The officer nodded at him, "We can talk elsewhere, sir." He led the administrator out the door. The reporters followed them, and as soon as they had disappeared, he saw two familiar faces standing in the doorway. Immediately, his mood brightened.
"Zeke! Lacy!" He cried.
They both ran to him, and Lacy threw himself on him and locked him in a suffocating hug. "Oh god Aidan, we were so worried about you!" She wailed. Zeke stood behind her and smiled. "Good to have you back, man."
Aidan smirked back, "I'd say the same to you, but it would be a lie."
"Ha ha…" Zeke said dryly. He stepped forward and gave his friend a hug as well. "The entire home has been going crazy this last month. The news has been all over it. I mean... it's not every day someone kidnaps an orphan." Zeke filled him in. "The reporters won't leave us alone."
"Sucks to be you," Aidan muttered.
"Hey, don't think you'll get a break," Zeke warned, "As soon as that nurse lets you out of this room, they'll be on you like flies to shit."
"Nice analogy, there, Zeke." Lacy sneered.
"And that girl too," He continued, ignoring Lacy's remarks. "I've already spotted a bunch of them outside of her room, attacking her mother or something."
"Saige!" Aidan gasped at the mention of his fellow victim. "Is she okay?" He shot upright in his bed.
"How the hell should I know?" Zeke said indignantly. "I don't even know what's going on yet! All I heard was that a couple of ambulances brought you and some girl here."
"Why's it so important to you, Aidan?" Lacy asked, looking at him with a hint of compassion in her eyes.
Aidan lowered his eyes to stare at his feet. "We were kidnapped together…" It was the only explanation he offered them. Saige… Aidan thought sadly, If only they could understand what we've been through… How could he ever try to explain to his friends the unique bond he and Saige had formed after enduring Edgar's torture for an entire month? It was funny though, to him it seemed like longer.
"You kids! Leave him alone!" The fiery nurse interrupted the three friends. "It's time for his medication, get out of here!"
Zeke and Lacy frowned but left as they were told.
"We'll be back later," Lacy promised him as she stepped through the doorway.
Aidan was still in a state of reflection when they were leaving, but suddenly snapped out of it when he heard Lacy's voice.
"WAIT!" He shouted, stopping all three in their tracks. "Promise me you'll check up on Saige!" He begged.
Zeke blinked at him, unsure of what to say. He glanced nervously at the nurse, but she had no objections.
"I…I just want to make sure she's okay…" Aidan continued.
"Sure, man…" Zeke smiled weakly. Now the nurse decided to cut in. "I can assure you the young lady is doing just fine, now if you don't mind." She glared at the two teens still halted in the doorway and quickly ushered them out, leaving Aidan alone in the horribly white hospital room.
