"Dad, you have to help me! Please." He cried out. Paul looked at him wondering what to say. Horror, shock, and disbelief were visible in his eyes. What could he say?
"They have denied your bail. You can't go home, Ethan. Not today."
"Please don't let them take me away." Ethan whimpered. He whined like a little white girl, all the muscles on him seeming inferior to the big enemy. Law and order. Paul lashed out at him immediately.
"Did you do it?"
"What? Raping her?"
"Yes, did you do it?"
Ethan kept quiet. His heartbeat started rising again and fear clouded his mind. He opened his mouth to speak but the words wouldn't come out. He stared at the edge of the table gathering words from the corner of the brain where they had been hiding.
"Yes..." he eventually spoke. He closed his eyes as he finally felt beaten. Beaten by the truth.
"Why? Why?" Paul stressed out.
"I didn't do it on purpose dad. I swear."
"You didn't do it on purpose?" Paul rose from his seat. "Okay, so tell me how you got a young woman like her in that condition without doing it on purpose Ethan. Tell me!"
"I don't know how it happened, dad! I don't know!"
"They will find you all over her Ethan just like they found a whole lot in the crime scene, do you know that? The evidence is too strong and overwhelming I don't know how I can dig you out of this one."
"Do you trust me? Dad, do you trust me?" He rose up from his seat too. Paul looked at him drawing his brows closer. His chest swayed in and out due to the heavy breaths that he had been taking. He was mad.
"I don't know who to trust anymore! You, my son, or the evidence. I mean why did you? Couldn't you just keep it in your pants? You are Ethan Purcell! Any girl out there would have willingly given you if you had asked nicely! It didn't have to be Elena, boy! It didn't have to be her."
"Dad, look" tears were forming in his eyes, "You know how much I love her. You know how much I care for her. You know that I would never lay a finger on a woman without her consent. You raised me, and you raised me right! To be just like you... in morals and all the good that you have. You know I have never disappointed you-not once in your life! So for now, please believe me when I tell you that I didn't do this on purpose...please!" He finally gave in and the tears that were being held back came out. Paul saw him crying and he got surprised.
"Don't you dare! Don't you dare cry, boy!" He backed. Ethan snuffed a little bit and wiped off the meandering tears. "Don't you dare! Couples have been married for a long time and even in those marriages, couples get raped, Ethan. So how unique is your situation? These things happen to lovers at the hands of their lovers. I'm sorry but it's the truth!"
"Dad, please! Don't let them take me away! Please." He repeated his plea again.
Paul raised a brow and looked at him. Ethan was trying as much as possible not to give in to the tears again.
"There's only one way in which I can help you." He finally said. "You'll have to plead guilty."
"What?!" He couldn't believe the words that had just come from his father's mouth.
"It's the only way, Ethan. If you plead guilty the judge might reduce your sentence. You'll be in prison for a while and you'll be out probably sooner than if you deny the charges."
"Dad...please. Believe me! I did not get on her on purpose! I cannot go to prison for a crime I did not commit!"
"But you did!" He roared at him at the top of his lungs. "Ethan please..." Paul cried out letting a little sigh in the end. They were both still standing. "I'm trying. I'm trying really hard to help you. If she was okay with it then we wouldn't be here. I know you're trying as much to convince me but I want you to put yourself in the shoes of her parents. You have this daughter of yours who has been raped. You know the perpetrator. There is enough evidence. You would want to put that person away forever and..." before he could finish his sentence, Ethan quickly shot out of the room with the unclosed door coming to his aid. Paul was instantly surprised by his son's move. He raced out of the room immediately to try and stop him. Ethan was up the hallway and almost out of the door that led to the interrogation rooms.
"Ethan! Stop! Somebody stop him!" He yelled as he tried to catch up.
Ethan quickly took a right corner and raced towards the hallway that led to the main entrance of the station. He pushed an officer off his way and finally got to the main door. Before the secretaries and officers at the reception desk could react to him, he was already out of the premises, outside the gates of West Precinct Police Department (W.P.P.D), and in the streets. He had really flashed out! He quickly ran away towards Lower Queen Anne where the Purcells' home was. The police were already looking for him; both on foot and from their cars.
Ethan slowed his pace when he was about ten minutes away from the station. He looked around as if he was a lost puppy with his head avoiding looking directly straight up. He maneuvered across Blanchard Street making as much of an effort to avoid the police from noticing him. He found a payphone booth and asked for some quarters from a nice old woman who was passing by. He quickly entered the money in the thingy, dialed a phone number, and someone at the other end picked up.
"Hello?" Answered the receiver.
"Hey, Ingrid." He panted heavily. "I don't have enough time to spare. I need your help!"
"Oh my God Ethan! Is this you?" Ingrid asked. Ethan was surprised that she picked up the phone. She had been ignoring every call since the previous week's Wednesday and the fact that she managed to pick this one up was a surprise!
"Yes, I need your help. I need to know where Elena is."
"Oh yeah, yeah...she's in...Ethan what did you do? Mom and dad told me that..."
"Ingrid I have no time to explain all of this! Please, where is she?" his panting continued.
"She was been taken to the Virginia Mason Hospital..."
"Thank you! Thank you!" He exclaimed still trying to catch his breath. He quickly hung up, got out of the booth, and headed towards W.W.P.D.
Virginia Mason Hospital and Seattle Medical Centre was seventeen minutes away from the police department on foot. He was ten minutes away from the police department. The hospital was east of W.P.P.D and it was east of him. He knew the risks of going back to that area but he had to.
He wanted to see her and ask for forgiveness. The cards had well played in his mind; he knew no bail would get him out of the W.W.P.D and that the evidence against him was enormous. He knew that if he would go to prison without talking to her and at least asking for her forgiveness, he might never get the opportunity again and Elena might live her entire life hating him. And he couldn't live with that! He wasn't a bad person and neither was he good. He just cared after all, for her.
He knew that the police would be searching for him though and that he was getting himself into more and more trouble. Thoughts about how he forced himself on her, how he ran from the police, and the anticipated conversation that he was going to have with her staged their dominance in his mind as he trekked down the less busy streets. Through 7th Ave with lots of panting and avoiding eye contact with whoever was looking for him, he slowly made his way to the destination.
After about half an hour he was at the reception desk of the hospital. He acted calmly now and was involved in a small conversation with the female receptionist at the desk. He lied that he was Elena's cousin who had come to see her after the news got to him and the lady was compassionate and nice enough to give him her room number. He quickly took the stairs to the second floor and walked down a long hallway before stopping in front of a door. Elena's room. He grabbed the door handle, turned it clockwise, looked on the right and left of the hallway; it was pretty clear since Sundays didn't have a lot of activities. He gave out a slight sigh and entered.
He immediately turned to his left and saw her sitting by the table, eating what appeared to be lunch. She turned her head around after taking a sip of her juice and saw him. A gasped breath escaped her lungs and the glass slipped right through her fingers. It broke into many shards upon its impact on the floor. The drink flowed in the tiles' minute crevices that separated them. The time was 12:04 pm.