How NYC Changed Us

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Justin was walking about the crowd as there was perhaps over eighty people in the frat house. He found Lindsey in the crowd and went up to her.

"Hey Justin, come to dance with me?" Lindsey said shaking her hips back and forth.

"I was wondering where Zoe is. Do you know?" Justin asked.

"A little while ago she went on a tour with David." Lindsey said to him. "I'm sure she is around here somewhere." She added.

"I'm going to go look for her." Justin said before turning and walking away from her.

He began around the room sweeping the main floor area by area until he had covered it completely before going up stairs. He made it to the first door and knocked on it. He turned the knob and it opened to a bedroom with two beds with no one it. He closed the door and tried the room on the left. He knocked on it and got a reply.

"Occupied!!" He heard a female voice and knew for sure it wasn't Zoe.

"Thanks!" He replied and then walked down to the next room which was on the left. He knocked and got no reply. He tried the knob to find it locked.

"Dude find another room, I'm busy here!" He recognized the voice as it was David's.

"Zoe are you in there?" He asked through the door. He received no reply so he asked again. "Zoe answer me if you're in there!" He said very loudly.

"Dude, Fuck off! She said you're not good enough for her so get fucking lost." David replied very loudly through the door.

"Open this door or I'm breaking it down!" Justin said feeling the anger beginning to build in himself.

"Fuck off dude! I'm fucking this sweet pussy!" David replied.

Justin began pushing the door with no movement; then he kicked once, hearing a crack he redouble his efforts and kicked again breaking the lock and the door swung open. Before him he saw David atop his sister with both of them naked. Zoe's head was turned towards him and she looked as if she was passed out.

"Dude, get the fuck out!" He heard as he looked at Zoe's face.

Then David jumped up and came towards Justin with his fist balled up. Justin turned his attention towards David and saw the swing of David's fist and ducked missing the punch. He became enraged as he knew what was happening. The one person who had been his best friend and perhaps biggest love of his life to date, was being attacked and raped. He balled his right hand into a fist in an instant and swung up into David's stomach sending a shock wave through David's body. He then did the same with his left and landed another blow upon him. David staggered backwards for a moment before he came at Justin again. Justin dodged a right punch before being punched in the face with David's left. Justin punched David in the face before grabbing his head and ramming him into a dresser that was next to the door. David countered by elbowing Justin in the gut which fazed him for a mere moment. Justin still had his hand on David's head and pulled him into a mirror which shattered upon the impact. David's face was now bloody from the cuts the mirror had inflicted on him.

People heard the commotion downstairs and in other rooms and went up to see what was happening. Lindsey was among them and had worked her way to the door before the others and saw Justin slamming David into the mirror but also saw that Zoe was passed out on the bed fully naked. She put her hand on her mouth and went into the room after yelling for someone to call 911 to get help. She covered Zoe up with a blanket and yelled her name. "Zoe! ZOE!" She said as Justin continued to pound away with David.

Finally, Mike came in and pulled Justin off of David and another guy went to David and held him back.

"Mike, Zoe's burning up! I think he drugged her." Lindsey said to Mike.

Another guy Matt came into the room who was a member of the frat house. "Y'all need to leave." He said to Justin and Mike.

"We're not leaving and if you wanna fight then you're going to lose." Mike said as Justin came to Zoe's side next to Lindsey.

David was puking up blood on the floor next to the mirror and was being helped by one of the other guys who had come in to the room. Mike stood watching them as Justin held Zoe's hand. Finally people started clearing out of the hallway just as police showed up. They asked what happened and Lindsey was the first to speak.

"She's been drugged and raped by that fuck face." She said and pointed to David who was on the ground. The police looked at him and then went towards him and put him in handcuffs.

"312 to 26 HQ, we need two ambulances here for injured parties and one unconscious female who has been sexually assaulted." The first officer said after keying up his radio. "312 to Unit 6, I'm requesting supervisor and detectives to my location for an assault and sexual assault." He added. "Ok, I need all of you into the downstairs area."

Mike along with Matt and the other guy and Lindsey walked out but Justin stayed next to Zoe as an officer walked David out of the room bleeding as he went. "Sir, that includes you." The senior officer said to Justin.

"I'm not leaving my sister here alone. I'm not leaving her side ever." Justin said as tears rolled down his face.

"Listen, paramedics are on the way." The officer said touching Justin's shoulder.

A few minutes later, the paramedics arrived to treat Zoe. One of them tried to bandage the cut above Justin's right eye but Justin refused and told him to focus on Zoe. He watched as they examined Zoe briefly before loading her onto a stretcher. Justin followed them down to the ambulance and got in.

The officer followed them down and watched as they loaded her in. "The detectives will want to question you. I'll let them know that you've gone to the hospital with your sister. Look, I'm sorry that this has happened to the both of you. We've had reports of women being drugged but nothing concrete enough to shut them down."

"Thank you!" Justin said as the doors to the ambulance closed and they were on their way to New York Presbyterian Hospital.

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Zoe slowly opened her eyes feeling like she had been hit by a freight train. Her head was hurting and she felt weird. She looked at her right and saw snow lightly falling outside of the window and could see several tall buildings in the distance. She heard the slow beeping of the machines in another room. She looked to her right to see Justin's head being held by his arms on the bed. She saw bruises on his hands and knuckles. She reached over to him pulling an IV line with her arm.

"Hey!" Zoe said weakly as she touched his right shoulder. He popped his head up and looked at Zoe. He paused for a moment before he began to cry seeing she was awake. Zoe looked at him and asked, "What happened?"

Justin shook his head several times. Zoe then realized that she was in a hospital room with a gown on. "Justin, tell me what happened."

Justin sniffled a few times before he began to speak. "Last night, what's the last thing you remember?" Justin asked her.

"I remember being at the party and talking to people." Zoe said to him.

"I went looking for you and when I broke down the door that was locked, I found you being... being raped by that fucking asshole David Mclendon. You were passed out and looked as if you were drugged." Justin said with tears coming down his cheeks as he had to tell his sister that she was raped less than twelve hours ago.

Zoe instantly started crying hearing what had happened to her. Justin got up and leaned onto the bed and hugged her. "I'm sorry Zoe."

"How bad?" Zoe asked.

"I'm not sure; I had to leave the room while they performed the examination. I should let them know you're awake." He said pulling away from her. He looked at Zoe as she had tears in her eyes. He went out into the hall and let the nurse know that Zoe was awake and returned a minute later to her followed by the nurse.

"Hi I'm Nurse Jennings, how are you feeling Ms. Zoe?" She asked checking her vitals via the screens.

"I feel funny and I have a headache." Zoe said to her.

"Ok, I'll have the doctor to come by in a few minutes. I'll go ahead and bring you some aspirin." The nurse said and walked out of the room as Zoe looked at Justin.

"So, what happened to you? You look like shit!" Zoe said to Justin seeing the bruises on his knuckles and a cut on his right cheek and a little swelling.

"I found you and got into a fight with that sick son of a bitch. I almost killed him Zoe. If Mike hadn't come in when he did, I would have killed him." Justin said as he sat in the chair. He looked at Zoe, "I'm sorry Zoe, I should have kept my eye on you and seen where you were going."

"It's not your fault Justin. You couldn't have known." Zoe replied to him just as she saw a doctor coming towards the door.

The door opened with the doctor coming followed by two people. "I'm Doctor Edison and these are two detectives with the New York Police Department." He said as Zoe grabbed Justin's hand and held it.

"Ms. Redmond, I'm sorry to tell you but last night you were heavy drugged and then raped. We found Chloroform, Rohypnol and MDMA in your system when you were brought in. You came in with tearing of your vaginal walls and signs of forced sexual activity." The doctor said which caused Zoe to cry.

"I'm here Zoe!" Justin said squeezing her hand.

"Ok, that's enough for now doctor. We'll take it from here!" The female detective told the doctor. The doctor nodded his head and walked out of the room closing the door behind him.

"Zoe, I'm detective Fitzpatrick and this is Detective Murray. We have some questions for you and your brother. I think it would be better for us if we were to interview you separately from your brother, if you are ok with that?" Detective Fitzpatrick said to her.

Zoe looked at Justin who was looking at her, "I'll be right outside the door." Justin said.

"Okay." Zoe said letting go of Justin's hand.

Justin went out with Detective Murray and closed the door. Zoe looked at the door until they disappeared out of her view. She then turned her eyes back to Detective Fitzpatrick.

"Can you tell me what happened Zoe?" She asked.

On the other side of the wall, Justin was being asked the exact same question. He looked at his bruised hands. "I went looking for my sister, I knocked on that door and then that guy started saying I wasn't good enough for Zoe. Zoe wouldn't answer so I broke down the door. We fought and if mike hadn't pulled me off, I would have killed him."

"So, Zoe wouldn't respond or couldn't respond?" Detective Murray asked.

"She was out cold!" Justin replied.

"Ok, you should know that the other guys are stating that you were jealous of the fact he was taking Zoe from you. They're stating that you and Zoe are in an incestuous relationship. I have to ask Justin, is that true?"

"No! We are twins and very close but never ever have we crossed a line like that."

"Alright, David Mclendon wants charges pressed against you for the assault. He has three broken ribs, a fractured jaw, broken nose, and a whole lot of other bruised stuff."

"Am I being arrested?" Justin asked.

"Not at this time, we have some statements to go through." Murray sighed, "Truth be told, I'm not going to take charges out against you regardless of my findings. You seem like an honorable person and I know that you would have acted the same way if it was someone else and not your sister."

"Thanks." Justin replied and went back to the door to look at Zoe as she talked with the other detective. He saw as Zoe had a tear running down her left eye. She saw Justin and then she wiped the tear away. She was trying to be strong for Justin more than herself. He watched as Detective Fitzpatrick continued to interview Zoe. Finally, a few minutes later Detective Fitzpatrick opened the door and walked out.

"She is asking for you. We will be charging David Mclendon with forcible rape and sexual assault along with a dozen other charges."

"Thank you detective." Justin said holding his hand out and she gladly shook his hand.

They left and Justin went into the room to see Zoe looking out the window. He went to her side, took her hand in his and just held it. She looked at him with her light green eyes.

Justin spoke first, "I need to call mom."

"No, you can't! She can't know what happened!" Zoe replied tearfully.

"But she needs to know Zoe. She's our mother!" Justin replied to her.

"And she'll want us to come home. She will never trust our judgment or let us live our lives without interfering." Zoe replied to Justin and he looked as if he wanted to rebuttal her argument. "It's my decision Justin. Please respect that."

"Okay Zoe, Okay." Justin said reluctantly and kissed her hand softly. She smiled at Justin for a mere moment before she turned her head and looked out the window again seeing a break in the clouds and the snow had stopped falling.

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"How you doing Zoe?" Lindsey asked a few days later when she showed up at the apartment. Justin had suggested that Lindsey come by to talk to Zoe as she had become very depressed over the last few days since leaving the hospital.

"I feel ashamed." Zoe said as she and Lindsey were in her room with the door closed.

"Why? You did nothing wrong Zoe." Lindsey said.

"I feel like I did." Zoe said while lying on her side away from Linds.

"He was denied bond and is being held pending a grand jury. He can't hurt you anymore Zoe." Lindsey said as she brushed her hand along Zoe's exposed right arm.

"But everyone knows what happened." Zoe replied.

"Zoe, this is New York City! Stories come and go and not everyone knows. There are over Eight million people here. Get up!" Lindsey said which made Zoe turn over and face her. "Get up, get some clothes on and let's go for a walk." She commanded as she stood up and left the room closing the door behind her. She walked the short hall to the living room where Justin was patiently waiting.

"I'm taking her for a walk. She will probably want you to walk with us so get dressed." She said to Justin.

A few minutes later, Zoe appeared from her dressed in a light sweater with blue jeans on. Justin was still in his room as Zoe approached Lindsey. "I'll go with you but only if Justin comes too." Zoe said.

"I'm right here!" Justin said from behind her in the hall.

Twenty minutes later, Justin was walking a good ten steps in front of them as Lindsey walked with Zoe in the park. Zoe kept her head facing downwards but slowly started to look up at where they were going. They walked for another thirty minutes. Suddenly, Justin stopped ahead of them. Zoe then realized that right before them was the building where everything changed. Just ten floors up is where she was violated. She began to shed tears as Lindsey wrapped her arms around her.

"It's just a building Zoe. He can't hurt you anymore." She said as she hugged Zoe. Justin came back to them and kissed Zoe on the top of her head. "We're going to get someone to help you through this. You'll get through this Zoe. I'm here for you and Justin is here for you."

Zoe looked up towards the building all the way to the top knowing that was the building, the loft apartment where a guy named David drugged her and raped her during a party where she went to have a fun time. She looked back down at Justin and Lindsey who gave her time to respond.

"Thank you, both of you for everything." Zoe said to them. They began to walk past the building with Zoe taking the lead with her holding both Justin's hand and Lindsey's. They walked with Zoe holding her head high knowing she could get through this with the help of others, especially her brother and her best friend here in New York City.

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A week later Justin sat in the waiting of the doctor's office. Zoe got an appointment a few days earlier to see Doctor Amir who specializes in Traumatic counseling. Doctor Jennifer Amir, graduate of Harvard Med with a PHD in counseling and psychology, Thirty-Eight years old and highly recommended in the New York City area. He turned his head away from his phone scrolling her info page and looked at the door. "They have been in there for almost two hours." Justin thought to himself.

Ten minutes later, the door to the office opened with Zoe coming out followed by Doctor Amir. Slowly, Justin got up from his seat and walked over to the receptionist window where Zoe was standing. He touched her arm and held her hand as she finished up setting up another appointment. She looked at him for a brief moment before turning her attention back to the receptionist.

Zoe nodded at the receptionist as she gave her the card for an appointment in three weeks time. Justin began walking with Zoe out of the office lobby and towards the elevator in silence. He looked at Zoe and could see what was left of her tears. All of her makeup was gone, a sign that she had cried enough to rinse it all off in the bathroom during the session. He squeezed her hand letting her know he was there for her. They walked hand in hand out of the building and the one block over to the subway station. They waited sitting at a bench for the next train that was heading towards Columbia's Campus.

"Justin, thank you for all that you have done for me. I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for you." As she looked at him and into his light brown colored eyes.

"If it weren't for you, my life wouldn't be worth living Zoe. I love you sis." Justin said as he leaned over and kissed her forehead for a moment. He pulled back from her and saw her smiling. "Why don't we stop in at that Super Burger restaurant before we head back to the apartment?" He asked.

Zoe looked at him for a moment and then heard the sound of the subway train approaching then saw as it came out of the tunnel. "Sure, I could use a nice juicy burger." She said as they got up from the bench. They got on the train and headed to 125th St. during the train ride Zoe held Justin's hand making sure to not let go of him, but slowly she began to be less tense during the ride.

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Zoe returned to her classes at Columbia. At first she felt an unease being around people and knew some if not all were talking about her behind her back. Lindsey and Justin kept her company as best as they could but she did have to learn to be on her own again. The fear of something happening was still in the back of her mind. She focused on her studies as best she could, getting back into the rhythm of going to classes and studying. She continued to go see Doctor Amir and had scheduled weekly sessions on her days when she didn't have a class. Justin accompanied her on her trips.

Three weeks after the incident was Thanksgiving Day. Justin and Zoe were invited to Mike's home in the city of Graniteville on Staten Island. Lindsey was also invited to the dinner. Justin, Zoe and Lindsey were picked up by Mike and he drove to his home. It took an hour to get to his home. They were greeted by Mike's mother Pam and his older brother Mark.

"It's so nice to meet all of you." Pam said to them as they walked inside after Mike introduced them.

"Nice to meet you too Ms. Robinson." Zoe said with a smile on her face and shook her hand only to be wrapped up in a hug by her.

"Oh please, just call me Pam." She replied as she released Zoe and went towards Justin and hugged him before doing the same with Lindsey.

Zoe then looked at Mark who was Mike's older brother by seven years. He had a full beard and was a good three inches taller than Mike. She looked at him and nodded.

"I hope all of you are hungry as we have a lot of food ready to eat." Pam added.

Zoe walked over to the Fireplace trying to warm up just a little. She stood next it and looked at the family pictures of Mike, his brother and mother along with their father. Mike explained to them a few months back about how his father Jonathan was killed in the 9/11 attacks. He was in the South tower when it fell killing him along with countless others that day. Zoe was so little then, unaware of the event until she got older. She could see the love that their mother gives to Mike and Mark in the pictures. Justin talked with Mike and Mark as Zoe nosed about the living room before heading into the kitchen to see if Pam needed any help.