Chapter 35

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Eli

I watch as they load Liza into the ambulance, feeling a little bit better about the situation, knowing she's safe at least. I have no idea what's going to happen to me, but all that matters right now is that she's okay.

The officers go inside, then come back out to the car and open the door up to talk to me.

"How's Liza? Is she okay? Where's the closest hospital? How can I get there?" I ask before they can say anything to me.

"Just hold on." He raises his hands out to me like he's trying to calm me down. "She's going to be just fine. The nearest hospital is about twenty minutes away. She'll get checked out there."

"Okay. Let me out of here so I can follow them to be there with her. I don't want her to be alone."

"Well, unfortunately, we can't do that. We understand the situation a little more now, but the bartender still wants to press charges, so we have to take you in."

"You have got to be shitting me!" I yell, fighting against my cuffs again. "My girlfriend is obviously not okay! I was trying to protect her."

He sighs and nods. "If that is the truth, then the judge will drop the charges."

"The judge!" I yell. "You can't take me to jail. You don't understand. This can't happen." I start to panic, and suddenly, breathing is getting harder and harder to manage.

He raises his eyebrows and tilts his head to the side. "I'm pretty sure we do see what's happening here, and since you're over eighteen, that part has nothing to do with us. But I have to take you in. What happens from there is beyond my control."

I kick the seat in front of me. "Fuck!"

They shut the door, and I close my eyes, letting a tear slip out.

Both of our lives are officially over.

They bring me to the local jail, where they take my fingerprints and photo.

"Who do you want to call to tell them you're here?" the guy who's finishing up my processing asks.

"I'll call my mom," I respond.

He hands me the phone, and I dial, praying she answers since it's well past midnight and I know she's asleep.

"Hello?" she asks sleepily, obviously confused as to why someone is calling her so late.

"Mom, I need your help."

"Baby, what's wrong?"

"Is Dad there?"

"Yeah. David, wake up. Eli is on the phone."

"Eli?" I hear my dad say, along with the ruffling of the bed, like he jumped up. "What's wrong?"

"I've been arrested," I blurt out, ripping off the Band-Aid.

"You've been what?" Dad asks, his voice rising an octave.

"I need for you guys to come down here. Liza is not okay."

Mom gasps while Dad just asks, "Liza?"

"I'll have the police officer give you the address. Just get here as soon as you can, please. I don't want her to be alone, but I don't think she'll call her aunt. She doesn't know we were here together."

"Where is she?" Mom asks.

"They took her to the hospital. I think she's okay. I just don't want her to be alone."

"Okay, we're on our way," Mom says, and I hand the phone back to the officer so he can tell them exactly where I am and where she is.

Once he hangs up, he takes me back to a cell, opening it for me and waiting for me to walk through. I pause, knowing taking those last few steps will pretty much wipe all my baseball dreams away at the same time.

Liza

I'm sitting in the emergency room in an area only big enough for a bed and some medical equipment. There are only curtains that separate me from the other people sitting here as we wait for someone to come help us, and all I can think about is how everyone will hear what happened to me.

I still don't understand it. I have zero memory from the time I got up to go to the restroom to when I was throwing up outside. Once I arrived at the hospital, they rolled me back here and have left me sitting here this entire time. At first, I felt pretty weak, but the longer I sit here, the more I start to panic, feeling like I need to go help Eli.

I'm completely helpless, having no one I can call and no way to get to Eli. Even if they do let me out of here, I don't have a car, and I know there's no way I can get an Uber here at this late of an hour.

How did I get myself in this mess?

That's pretty much the lowest of the low, when you're in the ER with no one to call because you shouldn't be here in the first place and you're seriously wondering if you can find an Uber to take you home at this hour.

I'm absolutely pathetic.

The curtain is finally pulled open a little, and a nurse walks in. "Hi, I'm Katherine. I'll be your nurse tonight. I hear you've had a pretty rough night. What can you tell me?"

I tear up as I try to remember. "I was having dinner with my boyfriend. I stopped to get a drink at the bar, then took the drink back to the table we were eating at. A little while later, I got up to go to the restroom, and I don't remember anything after that."

"You only had one drink?"

"Two actually." I pause, trying to remember. "The waitress brought me another one as she was closing up. I don't remember if I finished that one fully though."

"Was anyone around you when you got the first drink?"

I nod my head slowly. "There were two guys there when I was ordering."

"Did they distract you in any way?"

I close my eyes, feeling so stupid as I say, "One bumped into me, so I set my drink down to wipe my arm off."

"Okay. Have you examined yourself in any way while you sat here?"

I narrow my eyes, confused as to what she's asking. "Examined?"

She places her hand on my knee in a caring way, which only makes my heart beat a little faster. "Do you think there's a chance that they could have hurt you?"

I open my eyes wide, realizing now that if I don't remember anything, I don't know how to answer that.

Remembering I was in a public place, I shake my head. "It's not possible. There were a lot of people at the bar."

The nurse's shoulders sag. "Unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. You're not the first person to come in with these symptoms or situation. I think we have a serious problem going on."

Nausea races through my stomach. If I hadn't already thrown everything up, I might have to right now.

She stands to come by my side. "I don't want you to panic. I'm not saying anything happened. When was the last time you had consensual sex?"

My time with Eli early today flashes through my mind. "Today, before we went to dinner …"

She purses her lips and nods slowly. "Okay, then we won't do a rape kit."

"A rape kit?" My words are unsteady and shallow, as if I can't believe that's coming out of my mouth.

"We would have done it only to be overly cautious, just to rule anything out, but I don't think it's necessary. The officers told us about your boyfriend getting arrested, so I really don't think these guys would be so bold with him physically there at the place the entire time."

I nod, then remember what she said. "Other girls have come in with these same symptoms?"

She sighs. "Technically, I can't discuss other patients, but I will tell you, I'm going to go make a call to have a conversation with the police department, as you're the third this month. I feel like we get one every weekend."

I'm dying to ask what happened to them, but know she won't tell me. And if I'm being honest, I probably don't really want to know.

I can't imagine what could have happened to me if Eli wasn't there.

I still don't even know exactly what happened at all. I only know whatever Eli did to protect me must have been pretty extreme if I'm here and he's in jail.

Another female nurse peeks around the curtain, asking, "Liza Hernandez?"

I meet her eyes. "Yes?"

"You have someone named Heather Jones on the phone, saying she is driving here and wanted to make sure you're still here. I can't give out any information, even if you are indeed here, without your permission. What do you want me to tell them?"

Tears prick my eyes as the name she said sinks in. Heather Jones. Eli's mom. He called his parents. Did they know he was here with me? Oh my God, they know he's in jail then.

She tilts her head to the side, raising her eyebrows slightly, encouraging me to give her an answer.

I close my eyes, ridding every thought out of my mind. Obviously, our secret is out of the bag, and right now, we both need their help.

"Yes, please tell her I'm here."

She nods and leaves me alone again with the first nurse who stands from where she was entering things in the computer. "I'm going to go get you some food and a drink. Unfortunately, there's not much we can do now, so let's work on getting your strength up, so when your family gets here, you can go home with them."

My family …

I'm sure they'll never look at me like that after I put their son in jail.