I Got Caught in Girls Underclothes Ch. 10

"Mistaken? Mistaken? No. She said it. Said he raped her."

Reflecting on the conversation, Toni corrected, "Well, she actually said, 'was raped,' not that he had raped her."

Anger rising again, Cami fired back, "But she said he FUCKED HER! No doubt about that! And she couldn't let him do it again. Her own god damned brother fucked her! Sounds like rape to me!"

"You're right, but... well... while you were getting help, she didn't sound like he'd raped her and they said some other stuff. Actually... well, it sounded different. We need to have a talk to our girl when this is over," and then the seriousness of the situation overcame her, "If she'll still talk to us and he's ok. God I hope he's ok."

Cami mumbled, "If you ask me, he got what he deserved."

The two girls had been talking as if Kathy were not in the car. She had been out of it, but was coming around, "Is who ok? Where are we going?"

Toni extended a hand and squeezed Kathy's shoulder in the seat beside her, "It's... it's your brother. He's in the emergency room. We're taking you there now. We don't really know how he is."

"Was he coming to see me," and there was a brief smile that disappeared as she focused on where they were going, "Hospital? Is he ok?"

Toni began to answer but wanted to know what Kathy knew, "You really don't remember anything do you?"

With an aching head and beginning to lose patience, "No! I don't remember anything. Now tell me what happened to Tyler."

Toni began, "He was at the dorm to see you... and we had words." She decided to abbreviate the description, "and after he left, we got word that he'd been hit by a car and taken to Banner emergency room. We don't know his condition, but... it's pretty bad I think."

In the back seat, Cami had to know if she had made a mistake, "Kathy, you said you were raped?"

Hungover in the front seat, Kathy responded, "Did I really talk about that?"

Toni hadn't wanted to get into this now, but it was on the table, "Yes you did. Who did it Kathy? Was it Tyler? Did he hurt you?"

Angry that they would ask such a question, "You think Tyler could do that to me? He couldn't rape anyone. I don't talk about it, but I was raped... 6 years ago when I was a freshmen in high school. Now shut up, both of you, and get me to the emergency room."

In the back seat, Cami was beginning to wonder how big a mistake she had made. Still, she had heard something that just wasn't right. It occurred to her that if Tyler died, she'd be responsible. She held the crucifix around her neck and prayed for Tyler.

Toni was wondering much the same thing, but she also knew she had heard things Cami had not. They definitely needed to have a long talk with Kathy when this was all over, assuming Kathy would still talk to them. So much hinged on her brother being ok, or at least not dead.

None of them had long to speculate as they arrived at the emergency room in minutes. Kathy was out of the car before it came to a complete stop. The other two girls raced to catch up to her.

At the emergency room desk, Kathy was impatiently trying to learn Tyler's condition. After a series of questions, "He's been taken to an operating room. They're doing everything they can for him. I'll have someone take you to a waiting room. It may be a while."

An orderly named Brad, who had been nearby stepped in, "Where do they need to go? I can take them." A few minutes later he was showing them to uncomfortable seats in a waiting room. Perhaps being three attractive young women helped, or perhaps it was the reason he was in the profession; to help. But he got them settled, told them where everything they might need was located and volunteered to get additional information about Tyler's condition.

While he was gone, Cami and Toni sat worrying about Tyler's condition and their friend. Kathy paced.

Five minutes later Brad was back. He hesitated but decided to just deliver the news, "It's not good, but could be worse. He has a concussion and head trauma, a broken collar bone, arm, and maybe some broken ribs. And he's lost a bit of blood. Looks like he's been maced, but that shouldn't be a problem." He left out one thing, but it wasn't a medical issue. They'd see soon enough.

There was a collective shudder from the three girls.

Kathy began to cry and looked up at Brad and asked the only question that mattered to her, "Is he... going to be alright?"

He couldn't lie to her, "We don't know. Depends on how serious his head wounds are. He's got a great doctor. I'll let you know as soon as there's something to know."

Kathy's head slumped and she sat silently crying. She couldn't even tell her friends about the devastation she was feeling at that moment which made it even worse. The other two girls comforted her. Toni pulled her over against her while Cami laid over against Kathy's other side.

Ten minutes later, just after midnight, Cami's phone rang. Ginger was at the other end, "Where are you guys? This place is a mess. And what the hell happened out front."

Cami filled her in and Kathy remembered that her parents had no idea what was going on, "Jesus! I forgot to call Mom and Dad." She felt her pockets for her phone but it was nowhere to be found.

Toni, "I'm sorry. I guess with everything that was going on, we forgot to get it. Here, use mine."

As soon as Kathy heard her mother voices she began sobbing, unable to get words to come.

Toni gently took the phone and whispered, "Let me," then to Mrs. Perry, "This is Toni, Kathy's roommate. There's been... an accident. Your son's in the hospital. He's in surgery. We're there right now." Then her voice broke, but she pulled herself together, "We're at the UA Emergency Room." Her voice broke again, "You should... come soon."

Those words instantly brought Mrs. Perry to full alert, Toni could hear her, "Dave. Get up. Get up now!"

She also heard a more distant voice, a sleepy voice, "What's... what's wrong honey?" This was followed by Mrs. Perry's frantic explanation.

The last thing that was said to Toni was from Mr. Perry, "We'll be there as soon as we can. Can I speak to Katherine?"

The one sided conversation that she heard was from Kathy between sobs, "It's all my fault Daddy. If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't have had to come and none of this would have happened."

Dave and Annie dressed quickly but were on speaker to their daughter all the while trying to say the right words about a unknown situation, "He'll be ok. We'll be there as soon as we can. Just stay on the phone. We'll be with you soon." The conversation lasted until Toni's phone died.

It was nearing 1:30AM when Brad came in, "He's out of surgery. It went... OK. I'll take you as close as I can get you. He's just been taken to recovery." Brad couldn't answer their questions but found a nurse for them.

Kathy's first question, "Can I see him?" Her panic had subsided slightly as it no longer appeared that he might die, at least not during surgery.

"I'm sorry. We need a parent or guardian to go over his condition." This brought Kathy back to tears.

Cami was the one who fixed things, "This is his wife. She really needs to see him. They just got married." There were looks of surprise that were quickly controlled as the girls understood Cami's ploy.

Kathy hugged Cami and whispered in her ear, "Thank you," as she found herself ushered behind the curtain where Tyler lay. The site of him laying helpless and frail was frightening.

Only the quick reflexes of the nurse kept Kathy from fainting and falling to the floor, "Are you ok honey? It's not as bad as it looks. Are you going to be ok to talk to the Doctor?"

Marshalling what strength she had left, Kathy willed herself to stand for her brother. The first word that came out was barely audible, "Yes." She took a deep breath, and with more force, "Yes. I'm ready."

This drew a nod of approval from the nurse and supportive words, "Good for you. It's hard to see a loved one this way. You'll both be fine."

As the doctor described Tyler's injuries, Kathy fought to listen to the care he would need and to avoid losing herself in guilt.

It was her fault. She knew that. All she had to do was answer a stupid text message. Just one and none of this would have happened, but now he needed her. At the end of the Doctor's briefing, "Do you have instructions with details and a phone number I can call if I forget?"

As they left, the nurse squeezed her shoulder, "He'll be fine. We'll give you a few minutes alone."

As the Doctor entered the waiting area, Annie and Dave practically ambushed him, "Are you Dr. Bartholomew? Did you just operate on our son? He was in an accident."

Three girls were standing now, "We're Kathy's roommates. We brought her as soon as we found out. He's going to be ok."

Annie faced them and forced a smile, "We appreciate you taking care of her." She then turned to the Doctor, "Can we see our son?"

The Doctor faced them, "Yes, but just for a few minutes. His wife is with him now," and then turned to the nurse, "but I think you can go in." With that, he left.

Annie looked from Dave to the roommates, and in a low voice, "Wife?"

Toni spoke up, "That was Cami's idea. They were only going to let parents or guardians in and Kathy really needed to see him. She's taken this so hard. So she told them Kathy was his... wife."

Annie stepped close and embraced Cami, "Thank you."

Then Annie and Dave quietly parted the curtains concealing their son's bed. They witnessed their daughter leaned over their son speaking to him softly. Not wanting to interrupt, they remained silent at the entrance to the small cubicle that contained their son and his bed. For the moment, their view was blocked by their daughter.

With a hand clasping Tyler's she spoke, "Oh God. I almost killed you. If I hadn't been such a bitch, you wouldn't have had to come here and none of this would have happened."

Annie and Dave decided their need to see their son could wait a few moments to allow their daughter to speak from her heart. They held back to allow her to get it all off her chest undisturbed.

"Toni told me what I said last night. I was drunk then, but I'm not now and I meant it. I love you. Maybe you hate me. I would if I were in your place, but you've got to believe me, I was just trying to protect you, to take care of you."

Annie and Dave's heart went out to Katherine.

"I'd give anything to sleep in your arms one more time. To feel your hands on my face, to wake up next to you, and to feel you in..."

They'd already heard too much but really didn't want to hear what was coming. Dave spoke up as if he'd just arrived, "Katherine! How is he?"

She could tell by the look on their faces that they hadn't just arrived, "How... uhhh... how long have you been there?"

Annie cut Dave off, "Long enough to know that we need to talk, but we can do that later. Now I need to see my son. We'll talk later."

Resignedly, "Ok. I'll tell you everything if it can just wait till we know he's ok. It was ALL my fault. I forced him. It's all on me."

She walked to the other side of the bed and Annie got her first good look of her son with IVs, tubes in his nose, bandages on his head, and a cast on his left arm. Annie's reaction was the same as her daughters. Dave caught her and kept her from falling. "You ok, dear?"

Annie took a couple of deep breaths, "I'll be ok," then laid her hand on her son's chest.

On the far side of the bed, Katherine had uncovered Tyler's free hand and exclaimed, "What the hell are these?"

It was sharp enough that Dave and Annie both diverted their attention to Katherine who was staring disbelievingly at a pair of handcuffs that had her unconscious brother anchored the hospital bed.

Dave was first to act and stepped out, "NURSE! NURSE! We need a nurse NOW."

A nurse rushed in, "Is he having trouble?"

Dave got louder, "I DEMAND to know why my son is in FUCKING handcuffs."

Not accustomed to being cursed at, the agitated nurse responded, "Calm down sir, or I'll have to call security

"Go ahead and call them. Maybe they can tell me why our son is in God Damned handcuffs. He almost died for God's Sake. What? Are you afraid he's going to run out and not pay his bill?"

Shortly, two armed security guards rushed in, "What's going on? Is this the guy?" The nurse looked at Dave and nodded.

Realizing that things were getting out of hand, Dave forced himself to calm down, "Look, you've got our son in handcuffs. I need to know what you think he did because I'm here to tell you that whatever you think he did, he didn't do it. Not our son."

They'd heard this hundreds of times, "Sir, he's a rape suspect. That's the rules. He'll get a chance to tell his side of it."

Dave reply was short, "That's crazy."

Behind them Cami went white, "It was a... mistake. We... I made a mistake." A number of heads turned to stare.

One of the security guards looked at Cami, "That may be, but according to Tucson PD, it was two male students from ASU who identified him as a rapist, so I understand you wanting to help a friend, but it doesn't matter. The cuffs stay on until he's well enough to be released to Tucson PD and charged. It's procedure."

Realizing the futility of arguing, Dave took out his phone and dialed a number he had never expected to use professionally, Tom Anderson. After a number of rings, the phone was answered, "Tom, this is Dave Petty."

After the few seconds it took for Tom to wake up enough for recognition, "Oh yes! Tyler's father. Jesus, Dave. What time is it?"

"Sorry about the hour, but I'm calling for our son. He needs a lawyer."

"Ok. I'll need to speak to him."

"You can't. He's just come out of surgery and they have him handcuffed to his bed. They think he raped someone! If," and stammered, hoping no one noticed his poorly chosen word, "When. When he wakes up, we don't want him to find himself in handcuffs." After a few more minutes of conversation, "Ok, we'll see you soon. We really appreciate this!"

That one careless word told Tom Anderson everything he needed to know for now. He needed to get to Tucson as quickly as he could.

By 6AM Tom was talking to Cami and Dave while Betty and his daughters consoled Annie and Katherine.

The girls sanitized the story they told Tom, but he had heard the gist of it. He had known that Katherine had been raped. Tom had to force Dave to let the girls finish the story.

Once the story was out, Tom wasted no time as he and Cami set out to find the two boys who had given the report to the Police. It didn't take long at the girl's dorm to find someone who knew the two boys and where they lived.

Tom thought, it should be simple. They had the rape accusation from Cami. That was all the boys knew. Cami then needed to tell her story. That should be enough to get the cuffs removed.

Fifteen minutes later, they were banging on the door to the two boys dorm room.

The guys were sleepy and hung over having drunk more than a few beers after witnessing the accident. It didn't take long for them to agree with Tom. They hadn't actually seen Tyler do anything. They were acting 'in good faith' on Cami's word, who by her own admission, had made an honest mistake which she could explain.

When the boys tried to postpone the trip to PD, Tom demonstrated why he was so effective in and out of the courtroom, "Look, we can settle this now and no one is in trouble, or..." and he let it hang a few suspenseful seconds, "We can do it your way. Now, if my client should die before this gets straightened out, his parents will be looking for someone's blood. That makes you two look like great candidates for manslaughter, best case. All I have to do is find one bystander that saw you, maybe roughing him up, or maybe it looked like you pushed him under the car that killed him. Then its murder!"

Tom had terrified the two boys and Cami. The two boys were feeling more than a little guilt anyway and were afraid of going to jail. Cami was terrified that she might be responsible for the death of one of her best friend's brother.

By 730 AM, Mr. Anderson had his three witnesses in front of a detective at Tucson PD. The three of them repeated the story from the point just before Cami pepper sprayed Tyler to the point where the two boys had told him to leave and not come back.

"Honest to God, we didn't push him. We might have hit him a time or two, but he was ok. He just turned around and stepped off the curb. It was like he couldn't see. You know, like when you miss a step and almost fall. He just fell on his own. And then that car. Oh God. It just hit him." Even Tom Anderson felt their regret.

Almost home, Tom asked, "So, when can we expect someone to come by and get him out of those cuffs?"

With less urgency than Tom liked, "We'll have someone around by noon."

"Not good enough. How about someone follows me over and we take care of it now?" He glanced at the desk behind the detective. He had seen a picture of a boy in a baseball uniform with the detectives arm around him, hand resting on his shoulder, the picture of a proud parent. "We all agree this has been an unfortunate mistake. Your department was just doing its job. Suppose it was your son. That one over there," and he nodded to the picture, "How long would it take you to straighten this out? Also, I would appreciate if you didn't file a report with this kids name in it, at least not now. I know you have your paperwork, but this kid doesn't deserve to have his name associated with a rape. If you could just sit on it a little while so we can resolve this..."

Thirty minutes later, an officer was in Tyler's room unlocking the cuff that bound Tyler's arm to the bed. "Thank you officer. His parents will appreciate your help." This got a curt nod from the officer who had abandoned his breakfast to do a favor for a detective.

Tom's wife and daughters were talking to Toni and Ginger, "Where are Dave and Annie? I need to give him the good news and then go get some sleep."

Carol explained, "They're in the cafeteria. I'll take you and you can buy me breakfast before you go home."

In the cafeteria, Carol spotted the Perry's. They had taken a table in a corner away from other patrons, and were having what looked like a very serious two on one discussion with their daughter. "Mom, Dad. The Perry's are over there. Can you take a few minutes and find me some scrambled eggs, bacon, maybe a little gravy and a couple of biscuits, and a lot of coffee... and maybe a little OJ? I'll be with the Perry's."

Tom shook his head at the magnitude of his daughters order, "We'll be over in a few minutes. Wait till you're my age. You'll regret eating like that!"

"Oh Daddy," and Carol walked off toward the Perry's.

Not wanting to intrude, or at least be seen to intrude, she took a path that left her shielded by a large support post with two hanging plant adorning it.

Within earshot of the Perry's, she positioned herself with open ears. She'd missed quite a lot of Katherine's story, but knowing Tyler's story, it was easy to pick up.

"Mom, I'm so sorry I let you down, but I can't help it. I love him. I don't know what I'm going to do. I was trying to do what was best for him, but he almost died because of me and I never got a chance to explain it to him. I don't even know what he came to tell me. Maybe he hates me. I guess he should. I'll do what's best for him, but I couldn't stand it if he hates me."

To Carol, this seemed like the perfect time to announce herself. She opted for the dramatic, "Hi. I know what he was going to tell you. He was scared too. Afraid he might lose his sister."

Kathy was in the mood for brevity, "What he was going to tell me?"

"Well, you know he was miserable for the past two months, what with you not talking to him or anything. Of course, I didn't know at first that it was you he was 'not talking to.' Thought it was the girl with the red panties. Boy. Talk about a shock when I found out that was you."