Love In London • a Ross Lynch Fanfic [Book 1]

Chapter Forty Four

Monday, 3 October 2016

Tori's POV

I sighed as I inspected myself in the mirror. It was the second day of the trial and my nerves hadn't calmed down at all. I was barely sleeping because of stress. I could constantly see his face in front of me.

He was haunting my thoughts every second of the day. I dreamt about him, about the trial. Every small detail of both incidents replayed in my head. He kept looking at me with a smug smile during the court, like he was not-so-secretly satisfied and proud about his actions. He was making me go insane.

It was like I could feel myself losing my grip on happiness. It felt like water that kept running through the cracks of my fingers, no matter how hard I clenched my hands together. It felt like I was losing my grip on sanity too, in some ways.

I thought that I'd be ready for this.

I'm not.

***

"Hey, Tori," Tyler said and pulled me into a hug. I mumbled a quick hello and pulled away. A frown settled onto Tyler's face and I could feel Ross's worried eyes fixated on me.

I can't pretend like everything is okay; nothing is okay.

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm breathing so I'm okay," I chuckled dryly and his frown intensified. His facial features pinched up in distress and I felt guilty for making him worry.

A few minutes later I was walking into the courtroom with Julia by my side. I saw Doctor Gordon, who was giving evidence of the rape today along with assault evidence, and she gave me a smile. I returned the gesture and joined Julia in our seats.

"I know today is going to be difficult, but I'm here for you. Just remember, you're not the one who's being accused of anything. Most of the people in this room are on your side," she whispered and I nodded.

The doors at the side of the room opened and Damon walked in, along with his cocky lawyer. My heart clenched uncomfortably.

"Don't look at him – don't show any fear. He can't do anything to you anymore," Julia said and I turned to look at her. I nodded.

"Do you know his lawyer?"

We hadn't gotten much time to talk about the case yesterday.

"Yes. He's a good lawyer, to be honest with you, but he's not getting Damon out of this one."

"All rise," the police man in the front of the room said and everyone stood up. Judge Gomez walked into the room and after she sat down, we all did too.

"We're lucky we got Judge Gomez. He's famous for taking on rape cases. He's ruthless," Julia whispered softly to me. I was glad that we had gotten Judge Gomez – it gave me a little hope.

"Today we'll be continuing case number 34J892, Kors vs. Degraw. Miss Allred?" the judge asked and Julia stood up.

"Good day, your honour. My first witness today is Doctor Jennie Gordon, from the London Bridge Hospital. She treated Miss Kors while she was in London," she explained and the judge nodded. After Jennie was seated, Julia started. "Dr Gordon, you were the first doctor who treated Miss Kors when she arrived at the hospital, correct?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"What was the first impression you had when you saw her? Can you describe the condition she was in?"

"Well, my first impression was definitely an attack. The first signs I saw of the attack were some cuts on her face and the cut on her hip. Her body was also visibly beaten and bruised – you could see that her arm was broken. We discovered that she had internal bleeding and she was rushed into surgery."