Sarah and Kevin 31

"Sir. Wake up." Kevin heard a man's voice and felt a rough hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see a cop standing over him. "I'll need you to put some pants on and come with me." He rolled over to see another cop at Tom's bedside rousing him.

Kevin got up, put on his glasses and pulled on his jeans. Sarah must have changed her mind, he thought. He walked into the kitchen in silence with the policeman in tow.
Four of the kitchen chairs were lined up along the counter.

"Have a seat."

Kevin chose one of the chairs. That's when he saw Mark standing in the doorway. Hate was written in big, black letters across his face. Kevin looked away as Peter, Scott and Tom all filed silently into the kitchen, police escorts behind them. They each took a seat. One of the officers took Mark's place by the door as he stepped into the middle of the room.

"Alright. Where is she?" Mark roared.

"What do you mean?" Kevin asked. "Isn't she upstairs?"

"You tell me. The door is locked. And I've been trying to call her since yesterday afternoon." he said. "Which two of you were buying the pineapple juice yesterday?" Kevin and Tom raised their hands.

"Why?"

"Sarah asked us to." Kevin said. "What does that have to do with her not answering your calls?" Kevin asked.

"She reads all that natural healing crap. She thinks pineapple juice is good for bruises. All six cans can't be for you, you freak." Mark pointed angrily at Peter.

The back door opened. The policemen all whirled toward the door and put their hands on their guns. The cop by the door stepped aside to allow Sarah to come into the kitchen. Her hair was up like normal, and the swelling was down, but the bruises were brutally purple.

"What's going on here?" Sarah asked. She just sounded tired.

Mark's eyes widened. He stepped over to her and grabbed her shoulders. "Jesus Christ, Sarah." She grimaced and he let her go.

"Stand up, turn around and put your hands on your heads. Now!" Mark bellowed. The other policemen began reaching for their handcuffs.

"Hold on! Mark, send the rest of them outside. This isn't what it looks like. Please."

"Like hell it's not. Are you going to try to tell me you fell down the stairs?"

"Yes."

"Bullshit. And what about him?" Mark asked, pointing to Peter.

She shrugged. "They're a bunch of hotheads. It's not my job to stop them from fighting with each other."

"Fine. Let's go to the hospital and have a rape kit done, then." Mark said and took her arm.

"Ow. Will you please stop grabbing me?" she asked as she pulled away. "A rape kit won't show you anything and I don't want to go to the hospital. And if you take them to jail, I'll just come and bail them out anyway. I won't press charges and if you do, I'll pay for their lawyer. You will accomplish nothing except to cause me more trouble. Is that what you want?"

Mark stared at her in silence for a few moments. He jerked his head toward the door and the other four policemen left. He turned to Sarah, angry.

"I've been trying to call you since yesterday afternoon." he snapped.

"I know." Sarah said, her voice rising. "Did it ever occur to you that I didn't want to talk to you?"

"No shit. And where do you get off, lying to me? That's not from falling down the stairs and you know it. And this," He took her arm again, but more gently this time. "hurts because you're bruised here, too. A rape kit might not show any semen, but I'll bet you have finger marks on your thighs."

Sarah covered her eyes with her hand. "Look. Just leave me alone. I've got this under control and I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" She uncovered her eyes and poked him in the chest as she yelled the last four words.

"If that's how you want it, fine." He growled and looked at Peter who turned his face away. "Next time maybe you'll get real lucky and they'll all take turns with you. Don't bother calling me, just open your legs so they won't beat you to death." He turned on his heel and stalked out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Sarah stood, both hands balled into angry fists, staring at the back door until they heard all three police cars drive away. She took a deep breath and turned around.

"I'm sorry. Are you guys OK?"

They answered in the affirmative and got up and returned their chairs to the table. Peter, Tom and Scott left the kitchen. Sarah began pulling ingredients and bowls from the cabinets. She quickly washed out the coffee pot and started some coffee. Kevin, still shirtless, seated himself at the table and watched her work.

"Aren't you going to go back to bed?" Sarah asked.

"No." Kevin said. He watched in silence as she mixed up the muffins and popped them into the oven. She ran water into the sink to wash the dishes from the previous day. Kevin stood up and grabbed a dish towel from the drawer.

When the timer went off for the muffins, Sarah pulled them out and dumped them into a cloth-lined basket. She returned to washing the dishes.

When they were finished, she looked up at him for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, hiding her face in his chest. He held her tight, willing her pain away.

She pulled away from him. "Thanks for all your help."

"Sure." he said.

She grabbed a muffin from the basket and returned to her rooms.