Jennifer was lying restlessly on the living room sofa occasionally looking at the clock hoping that Molly would come in soon. At 4 AM she still hadn’t shown up or called and Jennifer started to worry that she might be in some kind of trouble. It wasn’t like Molly not to call to at least say she was going to be late getting in or that she might stay over at a friend’s, that was one of the reasons Jennifer didn’t object to letting her go out in the first place. She started thinking that maybe Justin was right after all, that it hadn’t been such a good idea to let her go alone. Had Molly gone with friends to begin with, Jennifer would be sleeping peacefully in her bed instead of lying awake with the unshakeable feeling that something was terribly wrong.

“Where are you Molly?” Jennifer whispered into the darkness.

Back at the Jacobson residence

Molly sat on the bathroom floor crying, curled up slightly behind the toilet. Her body was shaking violently and her panties were still around her ankles. Her face and body were bloody, covered in ugly bruises and the pain she was experiencing was so excruciating, that she thought she would never live through it. As she began to replay the events of the last few hours, she only had one question on her mind….why? Why had they done this to her?

About an hour after arriving at the party, Molly started to notice that Zamani and Richard were paying her a little more attention than normal. Usually while they were in school the popular jocks barely said boo to her, tonight however they were especially loquacious. They spent a great deal of time waxing poetic about her looks, the smell of her perfume, and how they wish they had gotten to know her better over the years. Then there was Jackie (whom she secretly had a crush on) and Terrence, acting so fucking cavalier all night long. She had even thanked the bastards at one point for telling some guy to fuck off for getting particularly friendly with her. It was all a crock of shit, she didn’t realize at the time they had only done it because they wanted her for themselves.

Molly could still feel their cold, angry hands on her body. The smell of their liquor tainted breath lingered heavily in the air, and the smell made her want to retch. The echoes of menacing voices played in her mind over and over again.

“Shut the fuck up, and be a good little girl and do as you’re told.”

Molly pulled her legs tight against her chest in an effort feel a sense of comfort, sadly that comfort would never come. She sat there on that cold bathroom floor for what seemed like hours before Sarah finally found her.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!!!!” Molly screamed when Sarah tried to reach out a hand to help her.

“Oh my God Molly! What happened to you?” Sarah was in all out panic mode by this point, and in her irrational state, she was at a loss as to what to do first. After a few moments she was able to calm herself enough to call the paramedics. Again Sarah tried to offer to help Molly off of the floor only to be rejected once again.

“GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!!!!” Molly cried uncontrollably.

“It’s going to be okay Molly, help is on the way.” Sarah felt helpless and her heart ached for her friend. Molly was always so strong and full of life, a fighter in every sense of the word. Now here she sat beaten and broken, the life and fight that was ever present was now virtually non-existent.

Ten minutes later Sarah heard the sirens of the emergency vehicles as they pulled up in front of her house. She didn’t want to leave Molly alone but she knew she had to go meet the emergency staff.

“I’m just going to go let the paramedics in and I’ll be right back.”

Sarah rushed down the stairs, tore open the front door almost taking it off of its hinges, and immediately pointed the way to her injured friend. When the EMT’s reached Molly and tried to start administering treatment, she fought them off with such fervor, that she had to be given a sedative so that they could safely put her IV in place. After taking her vitals and applying an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth, the EMT’s gently lifted Molly onto a gurney and rolled her out of the house and into the back of the ambulance.

Just as the door were about to shut Sarah shouted “Wait….I’m going with her.”

“Are you family ma’am?” asked a very muscular technician who looked as if he could be a linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys.

“No, but I’m the closest thing she’s got right now,” she replied and without being given any further permission proceeded to get into the ambulance.

Sarah called and notified Jennifer of Molly’s condition as soon as they arrived at the hospital and had arrived a short time later. Jennifer quickly made her way through the emergency room and spotted Sarah sitting in the waiting area.

“How is she?”

“They’re still examining her, but I’m sure she’ll be just fine”

Jennifer breathed out a heavy sigh as she sat down on one of the chairs next to Sarah. She still had to tell Justin about what had happened, how would he react to it? Would he blame her for letting Molly go out alone, even after he’d told her he thought it wasn’t safe? Logically she knew that Justin would never hold her responsible for Molly’s attack, but she wasn’t thinking logically at the moment. All she could feel was guilt and shame for failing to keep her little girl out of harm’s way. Jennifer buried her face in her hands and cried softly, upset at the thought of her daughter being in so much pain, but relieved that things weren’t more serious.

Justin’s alarm had gone off at exactly the same time his cell phone started to ring.

“Damn it! Can’t a man wake up good before people start fucking with him,” he said to himself annoyed by the double wake up call. He went to shut off the alarm and searched for his phone to find out who could possibly be calling him at 6AM. After locating his phone he glanced at the caller ID and recognized his mother’s number instantly. Justin quickly answered knowing that something must be wrong in order for her to call at such an early hour.

“Hey Mom, is everything ok?”

“Justin its Molly… she’s been attacked,” Jennifer started to explain her voice and heat breaking with every word.

“What happened? Is she alright? Where are you?”

“I’m not exactly sure what happened. I’m at Alleghany General with her friend Sarah. The Dr’s are with her now and said as soon as they were finished examining her we would get the status of her condition.”

The fact that Molly had been attacked made Justin furious. He also had a feeling that Jennifer hadn’t told him everything. He wanted to know what happened, but didn’t want to push causing his mother to be more upset.

“Mom… there’s something you’re not telling me. How was Molly attacked?”  There was a long silence between them.

“Mom, tell me,” Justin demanded. Jennifer sighed and tried to steel herself for what she knew was coming as she spoke her next words.

“Justin….she was raped.” The word left a bitter taste in her mouth as she thought about what Molly had to go through. Justin swallowed the lump in his throat as he tried to process what Jennifer told him. The anger he felt only intensified at the thought that someone had taken something so precious from Molly, something she most likely wasn’t ready to give. He wanted to scream at his mother and ask her how this had been allowed to happen. He knew that that particular reaction wouldn’t be conducive to getting through this tragedy, so he chose to comfort Jennifer instead.

“Shit! Mom I’m on my way, I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“Thanks honey, I’m sure Molly would appreciate that.”  Justin ended the call dressed quickly, grabbed his keys and wallet and left to meet Jennifer at the hospital.