8: Where to Go?

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Chelsea grabbed her bag and started throwing her clothes into it.
"Chelsea?" Maya came into the room. "What's going on?" She asked her friend.
"I need to leave" Chelsea continued packing.
"And go where?" Maya asked.
"I don't know" Chelsea's voice shook. "I need to get away from him"
"From your dad?" Maya watched as her friend paced around the room. Chelsea nodded. "Did something happen? You've been acting strange all evening. I'm worried about you."
Chelsea stopped walking around and looked at her friend. She tapped her foot nervously, not sure if she should say what had happened. "He, uh, he took it too far" Chelsea said.
"How far?" Maya asked.
"Maya, I don't want to talk about this" Chelsea started moving around again. She put her hairbrush in the duffel and zipped the bag. "I need to go."
"Chelsea, you can't just leave. Where will you go?" Maya sounded frustrated.
"I don't know yet" Chelsea told her. "Please don't tell my dad or uncle I left. Please, Maya, I'm begging you."
Maya looked at her friend. In the 9 years they've known each other, Maya had never seen Chelsea seem so afraid and desperate. She slowly nodded. "Ok, Chels. But promise me, you'll text me, ok?" Chelsea agreed and hugged her friend before leaving the hotel room.

"What'd you say to her?" Tyler questioned Sonny.
"I think the better question is what'd you do to her?" Sonny stared down Tyler.
"Really? This again?" Tyler sighed. "I wouldn't hurt Chelsea."
Sonny finally let out the anger that had been building inside him since he first saw Tyler that evening. "I don't believe you!" Sonny snapped. "You beat my sister and now you touch my niece?! Are you kidding me?"
"I didn't hurt her!" Tyler retorted. Both men stared each other in the eye, waiting for the other one to break the gaze. "I'm going to go check on my daughter." Tyler grumbled as he shoved past Sonny.
"Not alone" Sonny angrily followed the man to the elevator.
———
Chelsea left the hotel and made it two blocks before she found a bookstore to hide in. She sat down at a table and held her phone in her hand. She carefully slid off the phone case and Detective Benson's card fell out. She snapped the phone case back on and stared at the card in her hand. She put the card in her pocket and rested her head in her hands. She didn't want to call Olivia. If she had told the truth last time, maybe she wouldn't be in this situation. Who would believe her now? Chelsea went into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She was in pain and concerned for her physical health. She was a virgin prior to tonight and she didn't know what to do. Not wanting to go to the police, Chelsea went to the next place she could think of: the hospital.
———
When Sonny and Tyler made it to Chelsea's hotel room, Tyler knocked on the door. "Chel, open up, sweetheart" he said. "It's dad." There was no answer.
"Seabug" Sonny knocked this time. "Talk to me." There was still no response.
"Maybe she went back down" Tyler suggested. Sonny scoffed but turned to head back downstairs. After searching the reception hall and lobby and checking with her teammates, they concluded Chelsea had run off.
"She isn't answering her phone" Tyler said frustrated. "Should we call the police?"
Sonny shook his head. "She was upset. She needs time to cool down. Let's give her a little." The two sat on a couch in the lobby of the hotel. They kept their eyes on the front door in case Chelsea walked through.
———
Amanda and Fin arrived at Mercy Hospital. They had received a call that a teenager had been raped.
"Thank you for coming detectives" the nurse said. She led them down the hall. "The patient is a 15 year old girl, her name is Chelsea Carisi, she's-"
"I'm sorry, did you say Chelsea Carisi?" Amanda asked.
"Yes, do you know her?" The nurse asked. Amanda nodded. "I'm sorry" the nurse said. "She's right in there." The nurse motioned to the patient's room.
Fin knocked on the door and waited for the ok before opening it. "Hi, Chelsea" Amanda said sweetly.
Chelsea immediately looked frightened. "Why are you here? I didn't want to talk to the police."
Amanda and Fin shared worried glances. "Chelsea, you were raped, we have to investigate. It's our job." They walked further into the room.
Chelsea shifted on the bed, sliding away from the detectives. "There's nothing to investigate. I don't want to talk about it."
Although his phone didn't make a sound, Fin pulled it out of his pocket, pretending he got a call. He excused himself from the room to give Chelsea and Amanda some privacy. He thought Chelsea might be more open without a man in the room.
"Chelsea, I know this is hard. But we want to make sure that whoever did this to you doesn't get away with it" Amanda told her.
Chelsea began to panic. She couldn't have Tyler finding out she went to the police. "No." Chelsea said. "The only reason I came to the hospital was to make sure I was physically ok. I don't want to talk about it. Please don't make me."
"Sweetie, you're 15," Amanda sighed. "We're going to look into this whether you talk to us or not."
Chelsea began crying and shook her head. "But it was my fault."
"In no way was this your fault" Amanda reassured her. "You didn't ask to be raped."
"I knew better than to fight with him. I never learn" Chelsea avoided eye contact.
"Who did this to you, sweetheart?" Amanda asked. Chelsea kept looking down. "Was it your stepdad?" Based on what went down a month ago, Amanda had good reason to suspect Tyler was the attacker.
Chelsea finally looked up at Amanda. "He finally treated me like mom."

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