Hey guys before you get into this chapter I feel it's important to say this chapter warrants a lot of content warning.
There are mentions of: Rape, Abuse emotional and physical, as well as a miscarriage.
For this reason I have decided to split this chapter into 2 parts. For those of you not wishing to read this chapter I completely understand and you are welcome to skip it. I will include a bullet point chapter summary at the end for those of you who do not wish to read, so you can continue with the plot.
The rest of chapter 16 will be uploaded later today as chapter 016.2
Again I am not lawyer so please excuse any mistakes. my knowledge of trails comes from law and order SVU. Thank you Olivia Benson.
19th November, London Court House
It had been a gruelling week for Freya, Luca requested a prolonged recess claiming one of his witness had backed out last minute. The judge complied giving a two day recess which Freya found extremely unsettling. It was now Wednesday and it was their day of witnesses and questioning. To say she was nervous was a severe understatement. She sat next to Brian behind a desk that had two glasses of water. Arthur sat behind her on a bench, right there if she needed him. She smoothed down her blue dress around her knees as she tried to stop herself from nervously picking her perfectly manicured nails.
"I'd like to call Miss Laura Hewitt to the stand" Freya's lawyer Brian spoke as he stood up top address the room.
Placing her hand on the bible and swearing to only speak the truth Laura took her seat next to the judge. Ready to begin questioning. Freya glanced at Luca who looked extremely confused having never seen this person before.
"Would you like to introduce yourself first, Miss Hewitt" Brian spoke as he moved around to stand in front of the table.
"Hi, I'm Laura Hewitt and I was the Nurse in Charge the night Miss Thompson came into A&E requesting a rape kit" She spoke confidently.
"Do you recall the date?" Brian asked.
"June 15th 2015" She spoke easily. Her long black hair tied back in a pony tail, Freya had only ever seen Laura in her scrubs. So to see her in formal attire was new, she almost looked very different but Freya knew it was definitely her, she had cried enough tears that night and squeezed Lauras hand one too many times to forget her.
"Can you walk us through the events of that night please?" Brian asked, as Freya shifted a little uncomfortably in her seat. There was no going back now, everything she had kept hidden for so long was about to be uncovered today. They were pulling back the sheets she had kept so close to her chest, turning on the brightest lights to face her darkest demons. She found herself turning in her chair to glance at her older brother sat behind her. He could only give her a warm smile and mouth 'its okay' before she found herself turning to face Laura, listening to her recall that nights events.
"Freya came into the department at 23:47 to be exact, when triaging her and asking what she came in for she had told me she had been raped by her boyfriend and wanted a rape kit done" Laura made sure to make eye contact with the jury while she spoke "Our protocol is to notify the police whenever a rape gets reported, I told Freya I would be doing this and that's when she became hesitant, she told me she wasn't sure if she wanted to press charges but remembered in high school they taught her that we could do these and hold them incase the day arrived where she felt she was strong enough to press charges, I told her she was right, but our protocol still involved reporting to the police, I reassured her that even with the police involved it was still her decision whether or not to press charges."
Brian nodded as he listened along "can you explain the process of completing a rape kit to the members of the jury"
"Of course" Laura nodded "so it is a very degrading and highly invasive process but essentially we start with the victim undressing over a white sheet of paper that collects any trace of evidence that may fall off of her clothing. The clothing is carefully examined before each piece is sealed into its own bag to prevent cross-contamination. We then collect biological samples with swabs to collect any sort of fluid, semen or DNA, we swab the lips, cheeks, thighs, vagina, anus and buttocks, we ask for a urine sample, we take bloods, we use a comb to collect any hair fibres off of the victims body, we use a nail prick to collect any debris from under the victims nails, and we also pluck a strand of hair and pubic hair off of the victim"
As Freya was listening she couldn't help the tears that welled up in her eyes, immediately being transported back to the night. She felt humiliated, laying there completely naked while individuals she had never met took swabs and evidence off of her body.
"So what I gather from this process is, that it can be extremely humiliating for someone as well as uncomfortable" Brian questioned.
"Correct" Laura nodded.
"So it's not something anyone would be willing to do, because they had nothing better to do on a summers night" Brian continued.
"Correct, from experience we've had victims request to stop half way through or back out once they realise the extent of the process" Laura adds "Once all the swabs were taken we then go through medical photography"
"I'd like to draw your attention to exhibit 'A-D' please" Brian interrupted.
"This is where we take pictures of any markings on the patient, so we started with Freya's thighs which were the most obvious, as you can see in the photos she had fingertip bruises where we believe is where her legs were forced apart, we then took photos of her wrists, which showed skin irritation and some bleeding, Freya's stomach also showed significant bruising especially near the ribs, and lastly fingernail scratches down her back which she required four stitches for one of them" Laura spoke through the pictures. "There was also significant internal vaginal trauma and bleeding which suggests force and fight"
"Thank you for your explanations" Brian thanked Laura "And Freya's emotional state at the time?"
"She seemed numb, a little out of it to start with, while we were explaining the procedure and what would happen she was very quiet and would just nod and say yes to consent" Laura described "It was only once we started really that she let the tears fall, we offered on more than one occasion to stop and take a break but she was adamant she wanted to get this done as quickly as possible, we kept her in the department longer as she required stitches as well as a dose of Levonelle which you may more commonly know it as the morning after pill" Laura explained "We gave her an appointment two weeks later to have the stitches removed and further blood tests to ensure no pregnancy, from the reports I can tell you that Miss Thompson did show however I was not on shift that day"
"Thank you so much for your time Miss Hewitt and everything you do" Brian added "No further questions" He nodded to the judge before taking a seat next to Freya, who was trying to keep herself composed.
"Miss Hewitt, pleasure to meet you" Nathan, Lucas lawyer spoke as he stood up for cross examination. "I think I can speak for everyone in this room when I say thank you for everything that you do for people"
Laura only nodded as he spoke.
"Have you ever had someone lie for a rape kit, claim they were raped and turns out they weren't" He asked
"I wouldn't know" Laura shakes her head "I know people have us do rape kits and then they never use them but I wouldn't like to believe rape is something people lie about, usually by the time they come in for the rape kits they've unfortunately been through it more than once".
"How can you confirm that?" He asks
"I believe them when we ask them" She states.
"So based on belief rather than fact?" He adds
"The fact is in the rape kit once DNA, semen, and evidence which suggests violence and force, such as internal vaginal trauma is found" She adds getting a little irritated.
"But we don't know what kind of sexual activity Freya and Luca were into, maybe some BDSM type relationship where they enjoyed the pleasure found in pain" He questioned.
"Freya's emotional state at the time, and lack of care given by your client suggests otherwise" Laura responds
"But we don't know for sure?" He adds looking at the jury now.
Laura remind silent.
"Nothing further questions your honour" Nathan took his seat, next to his client who remained in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs.
"Lets call recess for 15 minutes, then well have Miss Thompson on the stand" The judge spoke as he dismissed everyone, before leaving the room.
The fifteen minuets came and left in a blur as Freya was now on the stand, hand on a bible and across her heart swearing to state the truth and only the truth.
She could feel Lucas smug smirk from across the room but she refused to give him any satisfaction as she locked eyes with her brother. He nodded supportingly towards her.
"Miss Thompson, can you just confirm how long you and Mr Armstrong were in a romantic relationship?" Brian asked, just like they had rehearsed.
"3 almost 4 years" She answered confidently.
"Was he always violent towards you?" He asked
"No, not at all" Freya shook her head "He was very sweet, charming at first. He'd always compliment me take care of me, make sure I was okay. I was going through a rough patch at the time, my grandmother had just passed away and he helped me through my grief at the time" She said honestly.
"Can I ask when it changed?" He asked
Freya took a deep breath and looked across the room, locking eyes with Luca "February 2013"
"Was there an event that caused the sudden change in behaviour?" Brian asked.
"We were trying for a baby" Freya admitted "Everything was going well and I fell pregnant, he came to all my appointments, we started prepping for the little ones arrival, we were both so excited when we found out we would have a little girl, settled on the name, Ellery Violet. After my Grandmother" She smiled softly, and turned to watch Luca, she shifted in her seat as she could see his jaw tick and his fists clenched under the table. They never spoke about Ellery.
"What changed? Brian asked brining Freya back to reality.
"There was no heartbeat during my 12 week scan" Freya spoke as she felt the tears prick her eyes, her hand subconsciously going to her stomach.
"I'm sorry for your loss" Brian spoke, Freya only nodded.
"I was scheduled for a D&C the day after, since my body didn't miscarry naturally. Luca refused to come and it all went downhill from then" Freya spoke "He wanted to keep trying, I wasn't ready to move on and try again yet, I felt like I had failed. My baby hadn't even been born yet and I couldn't protect her" She sniffled, Brian reached behind him grabbing a box of tissues and handing them to Freya. Who gratefully took a tissue and wiped her damp eyes.
"He gave me time, he was angry but he tried to be respectful at the start, after a couple weeks when I still wasn't ready that's when he started to become verbally abuse. He blamed me for what happened to Ellery, and I believed him. His words then turned physical and then he was adamant he wanted to try again and that's when he started to rape me." Freya went through the motions of retelling her story. A story only her immediate family knew, and even then they were only now learning about the abuse that lasted for years.
"Did you ever fall pregnant again?" Brian asked.
"No I went back on the pill, and thankfully it seemed to work" Freya spoke
"Was Luca aware?" Brian asked
"No" She shook her head "time after time when I didn't fall pregnant he would just continue to blame my body and claim that next time he would have to try harder to get me pregnant, the rapes would occur more frequently"
"Did you ever think of walking away?" Brian asked leaning against the table.
"So many times" Freya sighed a little.
"Why didn't you?" He probed.
"I was sacred" Freya said softly almost ashamed "He had threatened to go after my family if I left, specifically my brother. I have two little nephews I was terrified"
"What changed?" He asked
"I was at a friends house, there was ample security around and we were also in the states" Freya spoke "I felt a lot calmer knowing we were so far from my family. It would take him hours to get to them if he wanted to try something. I gave my family the heads up and finally found the courage and strength to leave him"
"No further questions your honour" Brian spoke
"You had your D&C the morning of the 13th February 2013?" Nathan asked as he stood up for cross examination. "You claim my client didn't show?"
"Correct" Freya spoke.
"If you direct your attention to the screen this was Luca's work schedule the morning of the 13th, as you can see he had client after client and at some points even double booked" He explained "How did you expect my client to show?"
"Our daughter had died" Freya spoke scarily low "If not for me I expected him to show for her, I had to wait and the accept our daughters ashes on my own. Only to come home to be asked what's for dinner" Again she glanced at Luca who's knee was now bouncing up and down underneath the table.
"He could've cancelled his appointments he'd done it before, for other commitments" Freya spoke looking directly into Lucas eyes.
"YOU KILLED HER!" Luca bounced up off his seat, Freya flinched back in hers as she took a deep breath. Police quickly pushing Luca back into his seat.
"Mr Armstrong" The judge called out.
"No further questions your honour" Nathan shook his head at his own clients behaviour.
"Thank you for your time Miss Thompson, we will reconvene for the verdict tomorrow morning at 9am" The judge spoke before dismissing.
Freya was quick to leave her seat and collapse in tear against her older brothers chest.
"You did it Fae" He whispered rubbing her back "It's okay I'm so so incredibly proud of you."
CHAPTER SUMMARY
- Nurse Laura testified, she was the nurse who conducted Freya's rape kit
- Freya and Luca were trying for a baby, Freya miscarried a baby girl in February 2013. They named her Ellery Violet, after Freya's grandmother
- The verdict for the trial will be given tomorrow.
- - -
As always thank you for all your support and see you in a few hours for Chapter 016.2
C x