Call Girl

When Ariana woke up, she wasn’t sure where she was or what happened. She didn’t even know what day it was. All she knew was she was lying in a hospital bed with wires and tubes connecting her to machines that were making constant beeping or whirring sounds. Her mouth was dry and there was a horrid taste left on her tongue. When she tried to sit up, she couldn’t move very well. Her body seemed to be numb or paralyzed or something.

As she was fighting her own body to sit up, the hospital room door opened as a nurse bustled in.

“You’re awake! How are you feeling?” She asked, moving to the side of the bed, pressing a button to make the back of the bed raise so she could sit up without physically sitting up.

“I’m, uh… I’m…” Her voice cracked as she pointed to her throat.

“Thirsty? Mmm. Probably from the tube. I’ll get you some water,” she said with a nod.

“Do you have any other pain, dear? You were pretty banged up. If you have pain, I can up your meds,” she told her. Ariana shook her head. She really didn’t enjoy the numbness.

“I’ll just go get you some water and I’ll be right back,” she said and Ariana nodded again, trying to clear her throat. The nurse quickly bustled out, leaving Ariana alone with her thoughts.

She barely remembered what happened, how she ended up there. But what she did remember brought tears to her eyes. Did she really do that? Did she really take all those pills?

“Here you go, sweetheart. Drink up,” the nurse said, coming back into the room with a white styrofoam cup with a lid and straw stuck in it. Ariana drank the ice cold water and it stung her raw throat going down, but she was grateful for it.

“How long—” Ariana began, but needed to clear her throat before speaking again.

“How long have I been here?” She croaked out.

“This is your second day, honey. We were getting a little worried about you,” she said, giving her a look of concern. She was out for two days?

“Can I ask you something? And I only ask this for your safety,” she said, lowering her voice.

“What?” Ariana asked, furrowing her brow.

“Is the boy who has been here for the past two days – uh, Harry? I think that’s his name. Is he the one that did this to you?” She said, lowering her voice even more.

“Harry—” Ariana choked out.

“I can get security up here, honey. If you’re scared—” She continued.

“No, no. Not Harry. No. He’s… he’s my friend. No, Harry would never hurt me,” Ariana said quickly, shaking her head.

“Oh, good,” she sighed, holding her hand over her heart.

“He seems so devoted to you, dear. Such a good boy,” the nurse told her.

“He’s… he’s been here?” Ariana choked out.

“He barely leaves,” she told her.

“What?” Ariana asked as her heart pounded wildly in her chest.

“He’s roaming around here somewhere. I think maybe he headed down to the cafeteria. He’s going to be so disappointed that he wasn’t here when you woke up,” the nurse said with a smile.

“Harry’s been here?” Ari choked out.

“He must really love you,” she said, smiling at her. With that, her eyes flew up toward the door as it opened.

“Ariana—” Harry choked out, standing in the doorway.

“Harry,” she said, looking up at him, wide-eyed. She barely registered the nurse slipping out of the room, leaving them alone with each other.

“You’re awake,” he said, closing the gap between himself and the bed. She nodded, feeling entirely speechless in his presence. She didn’t want him to see her like this.

But then again apparently he was there the whole time. He barely leaves.

“We were so worried. We were all so worried,” he said, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed as he squeezed her hand in his.

“Robin,” Ari breathed and Harry face fell.

“Where is she, Harry?” Her voice was stern and worried.

“She, uh… she got placed in a foster home this morning. Just… just temporarily though,” Harry informed her.

“Oh my god,” Ariana said as tears welled in her eyes.

“Your grandparents are going to take her, Ariana. But they have to pass a background check and all of that. She’ll probably only be with the foster family for one night,” Harry told her.

“Oh my god. Oh my god,” she said as the tears streaked down her face.

“It’s going to be okay, Ari. It’ll be okay,” Harry told her.

“It’s not okay. How could I let this happen?” She cried, holding her free hand over her eyes.

“You did the best you could, Ariana. And Robin knows that. She knows how strong you’ve been, how she’s safe because of you,” Harry explained.

“She… oh, god—” Ariana choked out with a realization.

“It’s okay,” Harry said, squeezing her hand.

“She’s the… she’s the one who found me, isn’t she?” Arian cried, looking up into Harry’s green eyes.

She knew his eyes wouldn’t lie to her even if his lips did. She watched as his face fell and immediately knew the truth.

“Gahhh…” Ari cried.

“She called me. She called me when she couldn’t wake you and… and I told her to call the police and that I’d be there as soon as possible. I wasn’t far away,” Harry said, reliving it in his head as Ari did the same.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Ari said, shaking her head, holding her hand over her face as she cried.

“Ariana, tell me what happened. I’ve been sitting here for two days and nobody will tell me a thing because I’m not family. Your parents don’t know me, so they wouldn’t talk to me about it. Robin told me what she could, but her parents wouldn’t tell her much about it either. Who did this to you?” Harry asked, looking at her with so much concern, so much heartache that Ariana had to look away.

She couldn’t look him in the eye anymore. She chose this for herself. He gave her an out and she still chose this. How could she admit to him what happened?

“I, uh—” Ariana said, clearing her throat. Harry’s grasp tightened on her hand as she spoke.

“After I left your apartment, I got a call to meet at the Hilton,” she said, feeling her cheeks burn as she thought about that night, thinking about the horribly stubborn decisions she made.

“Go on,” Harry said after she paused.

“And when I… when I got there, there were two guys instead of one. And-and right off the bat I felt uncomfortable with it. I should have just left then. I should have just gotten out,” she said, reaching up to wipe her eyes.

“But then I figured, if they were willing to pay more,” she continued, letting out a dark chuckle, feeling incredibly stupid about the whole thing.

“And that’s when I saw the drugs… the heroin. And I… I said no. I said I didn’t want to get involved with any kind of drugs and I told them I was just going to go. And that’s when one of them stopped me and threw me onto the bed,” she said as her tears began to fall harder.

“It’s okay,” Harry said, rubbing the back of her hand.

“And… and they… they raped me. Both of them. And they hit me and when I fought back… oh, god…” she choked out.

“Ari. Oh, baby,” Harry cooed, rubbing her arm.

“They… they shot me up with that fucking shit,” she growled, feeling so angered.

“The… the heroin?” Harry choked out.

“Uh-huh. I don’t really remember much after that. I just remember waking up in the hotel room alone the next morning,” she told him as she wiped her eyes again.

“They just left you there?” Harry asked quietly.

“It’s better than the alternative, I guess,” she said with a passive shrug.

“I… oh my god,” he said, shaking his head.

“And I just… I went home and everything hurt. And I knew I was in bad shape. All I could feel was the pain. And I didn’t want to feel anymore. I just wanted it to be over with. I just wanted to be done,” she cried, covering her face with both of her hands.

“Shh. You’re okay now. You’re okay, Ari. You’re okay,” Harry cooed as he slipped up onto the bed with her, wrapping his arms around her.

It took Ari a little bit to calm down. Harry got her some tissues to dry her eyes and blow her nose with as the two of them sat silently in the bed together.

“You shouldn’t… you shouldn’t be so nice to me. I was horrible to you,” she said, finally meeting his eye.

“Ariana,” he said, shaking his head lightly.

“I’m… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry,” she said as her lip quivered with emotion.

“I know, Ari. I know. It’s okay,” he said, wrapping his arms around her again.

“I don’t deserve you in my life,” she told him.

“You must deserve me because I’m here, aren’t I? And I’m not going anywhere,” he breathed against her temple.

His words made her cry even more. There was such a mixture of emotions, it was insane. Her happy, sad, self-loathing, angry tears.

It wasn’t long before the same nurse and a doctor came into her room to explain to her everything that happened to her while she was in the hospital. She was told her stomach was pumped and the toxicology screening showed high levels of Vicodin and a lowered level of heroin. She also received twelve stitches down below from the rape. The doctor informed her they did a rape kit, but weren’t sure if they would get any DNA from it since she showered afterward. They also told her the police would be in to question her about what happened. Immediately, she refused to speak with the police, even with Harry’s heavy persistence to do so.

After her refusal, the doctor informed her that her mandatory seventy-two hour hold would be up by tomorrow night, so pending all goes as planned, she would be released then. When she was asked if she had any family members to come get her, Harry informed the doctor he would take care of her. When the doctor looked to her to get the okay, she nodded her head and looked back over at Harry with a small smile.

“What’s going on with my parents?” Ariana asked Harry once the doctor and nurse left her room.

“Uh, from what I hear from Robin, your mum has voluntarily checked into a rehab facility and well, your dad… you know, his trial and everything,” Harry explained to her.

“Yeah,” she sighed.

“They, uh… they know, Ari,” Harry said, looking incredibly guilty.

“About what?” She asked, feeling the terror in the pit of her stomach.

“I just… I couldn’t… I-I… when I saw what happened to you, Ari. I saw your face and… and… you were bleeding, Ari. I knew what happened. I’m not stupid, okay. I knew what happened to you just by looking at you. And you were so helpless just lying there in your bed. You… gahhhh,” he said as tears formed in his eyes.

“You told them,” she choked out.

“I had to. I-I… they were so fucking clueless. They thought you got mugged or something. They just… I couldn’t just sit here with this secret. Not when it could help catch whoever did this to you… or… or… save you. God. Don’t be angry with me. Please. Just… I had to,” Harry said, looking and sounding like he was having a mental breakdown.

“They know?” She asked as tears welled in her eyes again.

“They know,” Harry said with a nod of his head, avoiding looking her in the eye.

“God!” Ariana growled loudly.

“I’m sorry. I had to,” Harry said, looking up at her, wide-eyed.

“Robin? Does Robin know?” She asked quickly, watching as he bowed his head again.

“No. No, not unless they told her. But she hasn’t said anything to me. She would have said something,” Harry told her, looking back up into her eyes.

“Oh my god,” Ari breathed, running her hands over her face.

“I’m sorry,” Harry said quietly.

There was a long silence between them as Ariana tried to process what it all meant. Of course she was upset that her secret was out – especially to her parents, but could she really blame him for telling them? She was on the brink of death. He was just trying to help.

“It’s… it’s okay,” she told him finally.

“Ari…” He said, looking up into her eyes.

“It’s okay, Harry. You did what you had to,” she told him, giving him a small smile. He let out a deep breath, looking relieved.

Ariana bit her lip as she stared at him. He was truly something. And she wondered why on earth he was still there? Why on earth did she mean so much to him?

She reached out and grabbed his hand in hers and his eyes looked up at her again.

“You’ve been here,” she said quietly.

“I have,” he said with a small nod.

“You watched over me,” she said.

“I couldn’t leave you. I couldn’t leave you here alone. So much was happening. Everything with your parents and Robin… and…” He started to explain.

“Thank you,” she told him.

“I didn’t want you to wake up alone. I don’t want you to be sad, Ariana,” he told her.

And she felt the familiar burst in her heart she usually felt when she was in Harry’s presence.

“I’m not sad. Not right now,” she said, smiling at him.

“I’m so glad,” he said, smiling back at her.

Leaning over, Ariana placed her hand on his cheek as they stared into each other’s eyes. And she knew she was wrong to push him away – every single time, she was wrong. Not when he was fighting so hard for this. Not when she wanted it just as much.

“My knight in shining armor,” she cooed as she smiled at him.

Harry smiled bashfully at her. His smile gave her life. And she knew she wanted to keep making him smile. She knew it was something she would love to get used, something that could cheer her up on her darkest day.

“I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” he told her.

“Thank you,” she breathed, feeling the heaviness of his words. He was so amazing.

“Anytime,” he said with a smile.

Ari leaned over, pressing her lips to his and he kissed back immediately, tangling his fingers in her hair. This was something she wouldn’t mind getting used to as well. And for the first time in her life, she truly knew what she wanted. And she felt like it was in her grasp.

Notes