He just keeps pacing the waiting room for a doctor to come out and let him know how Amanda is. Every few minutes he looks from the door to the emergency room to his cell phone in his hand. He still hadn’t called Lenny to let him know he found her. He still wanted to wait to hear from the doctor.
Finally after waiting for what seemed like hours the doctor finally comes out.
The doctor says, “Mr. Tyler. I’m doctor Hashen. I examined Amanda completely.”
Steve asks, “Is she going to be okay?”
Doctor Hashen says, “Well, she was raped. She has a concussion, and some scrapes and bruises. Other than that she will be fine. Her mental and emotional recovery will be the hardest part of all this. You are a close friend I assume.”
Steve says, “She works for me and my group when we are on tour. But she means more to me than just an employee. I care for her a lot. That’s why I went looking for her when she didn’t return to her room. I found her outside the arena we had performed at earlier tonight. When can I take her back to the hotel?”
The doctor says, “She can leave as soon as she’s ready to. She’s awake but you have to be careful with her concussion. She has to be woken up every couple of hours tonight, but after that she can sleep fully. Here are some pamphlets that you can look through in how to help her through this. Just give me a couple of minutes to look her over again and you can go see her.”
Steve says, “Okay, thank you doctor. I appreciate all your help.”
The doctor just nods and walks into Amanda’s room to see how she is doing. Steve just waits not sure how to talk to her after what she had gone through. He guessed it would come to him when he sees her. He sees the doctor leave the room and he starts towards the room. He hesitates before opening the door, his eyes immediately landing on her. His heart went out to her and just wanted to make everything go away, but he knew that was not going to happen right away. He slowly walks towards her bed feeling the sorrow fill him.
He reaches the side of her bed and says softly, “Amanda.”
I look at him and his heart breaks even more at the look in my eyes. I just look at him and just break down when I see him. He wraps his arms around me just holding me as I cried hard.
After a little while I finally stop crying so hard and ask, “Why did this happen to me? Did I do something to someone or deserve to have this happen for some reason?”
Steve replies, “Oh Amanda. You didn’t deserve to have this happen. No woman deserves to have this happen.”
I asked, “How did you know where I was?”
Steve sighs and says, “I didn’t know where you were. I was in my hotel room when I noticed what time it was and I didn’t hear you come back yet. I started to worry and thought that maybe you had made up with Lenny so I went to his room but he said he hadn’t seen you. I just had this sinking feeling in my stomach that something had happened to you. So I drove back to the arena and started walking towards the entrance when I heard a noise in a dark corner of the building. When I got there I saw you on the ground unconscious.”
I say, “I didn’t even think about Lenny. Does he know?”
Steve says, “No, I wanted to wait until I spoke with your doctor before calling him to let him know what happened.”
I look him in the eyes and say, “Please don’t tell him. I don’t want him to know.”
Steve says, “Amanda honey, he’s going to see the bruises on you and know something happened.”
I reply, “What I mean is please don’t tell him I was raped. There is no reason for him to know. The only one who knows is you and I want to keep it that way. Please don’t tell anyone else. I feel so embarrassed about it.”
Steve says, “Honey, there is nothing to be embarrassed about. If you don’t want anyone else to know that’s your choice and I will abide by it. At least you have me to come to if you ever want to talk, cry, scream or whatever. I promise you Amanda, I will be here for whatever you need. I want to help you through this.”
I look at him and see the sincerity in his eyes and I just want to cry that he wants to be there for me. All I can see in his eyes is the fact that he cares for me, not sympathy or pity, but real caring. I hug him and let his arms protect me.
After a little more time I say, “I think I’m ready to leave. I just want to go back to the hotel and take a shower.”
He says, “Okay hun. The doctor said you could leave whenever you were ready. They brought you some scrubs to put on so you could leave. I’ll leave so you can change, I’ll be right outside the door just let me know when you are ready and we’ll get out of here.”
I give him a small smile as he walks out the door so I could change.
The drive back to the hotel was quiet. He parks the car and helps me out of the car and heads into the hotel. We get to the elevator and I’m just standing there looking down at the floor. We get into the elevator and finally reach the floor that our rooms are on. Steve leads me to my room and he opens the door. I just stand in the doorway not moving, just staring into the room afraid to go in.
Steve asks, “Amanda, are you okay sweety?”
I say softly, “I can’t go in there. I’m so scared of what might be in there.”
Steve puts his arms around me and says, “That’s okay sweety. Listen, do you want me to get you a different room.”
I reply, “No. I just….I don’t want to be alone.”
He says, “Okay hun. Would it make you feel better to stay in my room. I have two beds, you can sleep in the spare one.”
I just nod at the suggestion. He leads me to the next door which is his room. He leads me in and I head to the bed and curl up on my side.
He says, “I’m just going to get your bags from your room. I’ll be right back. Will you be okay for a few minutes.”
I reply, “Yes, but please hurry back.”
He says, “Why don’t you take a shower while I get your stuff. I’ll be back in a few.”
He sees me stand up and head towards the bathroom as he heads out the door to my room to get my stuff.
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