Page 149 of Shattered

“I’m going to get us into that room. Just calm him down.”

Micah nodded as he dragged a practically hyperventilating Callum from the waiting room. He managed to get Callum outside to a bench before he took a breath.

“Fuck,” Callum dragged out the word. “FUCK!” he screamed to the parking lot full of cars. Never had he felt so helpless and angry and sad all at the same time.

“She’s going to be okay.” Micah placed his hand on Callum’s shoulder to comfort him, yet all Callum felt was a mixture of physical pain and unending anger.

“I did this,” Callum’s voice broke.

Micah wasn’t sure what he could mean.

“I did this. I told her about Millie.”

“What about Millie?”

Callum took a steadying breath. He hadn’t spoken of this in years, and now he was mentioning it twice in less than a day. He hoped Millie could forgive him.

“Millie was raped a few years back. The guy who did it was underage, so he only served a few months in juvie. It’s a sealed case, so I’m not supposed to talk about it. More so, I promised Millie I would never speak of it again. She wanted it to disappear and be as if it never happened. I kept my promise and I haven't said a word. Not until this morning. I told Sam.”

Micah sat there for a moment in utter shock. He opened his mouth more than once, willing the words to come forth.

“I never knew. I’m so sorry.” Micah squeezed his shoulder, clearly unsure of how he was supposed to react.

Callum shook his head. “It is what it is.”

He buried his face in his hands and replayed their entire conversation in his head. Then he replayed the sounds of her barely audible whimpers as the tears fell. He wondered if she was crying right now.

Was she alone and scared?

Were the doctors and nurses being kind to her?

Was she still stuck inside the haze of whatever drug had been used on her?

He was rocking back and forth, begging the multitude of what-if’s to end, when he heard his name being called and felt his shoulders rattle.

“Hey,” Micah timidly caught his attention. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that happened to Millie, but what does that have to do with what happened tonight with Sam?”

Callum looked back at the ground between his legs. “Christian was the guy that raped Millie.”

Micah’s eyes went wide in shock. “Holy shit, dude.”

“I know.” He covered his face with the collar of his shirt as he wiped away the tears and snot that had started to form. “I shouldn’t have told her. But she wanted to go have lunch with him and I was so mad and I didn’t want her to ever see him again. I told her this morning. She was so upset.”

Micah pulled his face upward then. From the look reflecting in Micah’s eyes, Callum was damn sure he had never once looked this pained before.

“Dude, this isn’t your fault.”

Callum pushed away.

“Yes, it is. If I hadn’t…” Callum stopped.

He couldn’t breathe.

He tried desperately to suck in air as he felt his chest compressing with the weight of all that was happening, but the air wouldn’t come. And then his palms were sweaty and his head felt heavy and his view was spinning.

He had to get to her.

He would break down the damn door if that’s what it took.

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