From My Despair-1
He wasted no time in dialing "911" for me, getting the Bay City Police out along with an ambulance from Bay City Memorial Hospital while I literally crashed in the Employee Lounge as my adrenalin fueled panic left me shaking in withdrawal.

I felt him hug me as I silently cried, reliving my assault, "Don't worry, Jerri. I've called the Police and you're parents/"

I smiled at him, thankful for his friendship, "Thanks, Gary," I murmured as I passed out from exhaustion.
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When I awoke, I found myself in a private room in the hospital, wearing my Supergirl t-shirt with an IV drip in my left arm. Momma was sitting in a lounger with her ever present crochet bag, "Oh Baby! Are you feeling better?" she asked as she hugged me.'Why? Oh why did this have to happen? Why must she suffer like I did?'

"Oh Momma! It was horrible!" I exclaimed as tears flowed from my eyes.'Can I ever be free of this pain?'

She looked in the eye, "Sweetheart, I know the HELL that you are going through," she sighed.'As much as it pains me, I must let my child know that she is not alone in her pain,'

"You mean?" I asked in wonder.

"Yes, my Child. I too am the victim of rape," she admitted as she cried bitter tears of remembrance.

"What happened, Momma?"

She sat by me on the bed, holding my hands, "I was your age when it happened. Your Daddy and I were ice skating at Cascade Skating Rink," she said with a sad smile.

"You must have some happy memories about it, the way that your smiling."

"Oh, I do! Your Daddy looked delicious in his black denim coverall, and I wore a matching black skate dress with white tights and skate."

"DAMN! I wish that I had your outfit, but something tells me that it's gone," I sighed.

"It is, too bad. You'd look smashing in it."

"Oh? Why do you say that?"

She pulls out a picture showing her and Daddy in their skating attire, "Because you look like me when I was your age, except that my hair is blond, not red like yours is."

"Why do you still have this picture since you attacked while wearing it?"

She smiled ruefully, "Even though I did suffer that day, it was also the day that your daddy proposed to me," Momma whispered as she cried tears of Joy.

"OH MOMMA!" I said silently as I joined her in crying tears of Joy.
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As a woman, I too long to hear my beloved propose marriage to me. Each proposal is different for every woman. As far as I know, every woman longs to hear her beloved ask for her hand in marriage, no matter if the beloved be man or woman.
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"You understand," she stated.

"Yes, I do. True Love will always overcome any turmoil, if you let it."

"Well, True Love is a balm upon your Heart and Soul that helps you to: deal with, and forgive. But you will still have to deal with nightmares, at time."

"How long did it take for you?"

"Terri, it took me over a year of counseling before I was able to let go of the hatred in my Heart and forgive those who attacked me. When I succeeded, the nightmares pretty well went away."

"When do you have them, and are they the same ones?"

"The nightmares come: on the anniversary of the day it happened, on mine and your daddy's birthday, our wedding anniversary as well as whenever a loved one suffers. But I have a way of stopping them, too."

"How?"

"By taking a dose of Valium to repress REM sleep for a week. After that, I'm OK."

"I am glad for you, but right now, I seriously doubt if Valium would help me."

She hugged me, "How I wish that I could simply kiss it better, but unfortunately, you will have to deal not only with the physical, you will have to deal with the mental and emotional as well as facing your attackers in Court, she admitted.

"I know, Momma! But how can I ever be intimate with a man after this?" I implored, dreading even letting Grant or Daddy near me.

She took my chin in her right hand, "Do you trust your father?"

"Yes, but he is a man, and it was men who assaulted me and stripped my innocence away from me," I admitted.

"And just what do you think that your father would have done if he'd caught them in the act? HM?" 'She needs to confront her fear of men so that she can once again see him as her Daddy and let him be her Protector.'

Once I thought about it, I began to laugh out loud as I pictured what Daddy would do to them. After I had laughed myself silly and dried away my tears, I felt a great weight lift from me as I let go of my fear of men. But I still hated those vermin.

"Well? Momma gently asked with a smirk.

"Daddy would have "UNMANNED" them, turning them into "Eunuchs" without any anesthesia," I declared.

"And what about Grant?" 'She needs to decide if Grant is still the ONE for her.'

"What about him?"

"What would he do in the same situation?

"Same as Daddy," I said as I blushed.

"Do you love Grant?"'Dear Lord, Please let it be.'
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I saw Daddy gently enter, carrying a frosty mug of my favorite soda; Diet Doctor Pepper. He sat it down on my tray and stand by Momma who smiled as he laid his hand on her shoulder.

He was the strong, silent type who proved his love for others by his actions, rather than in his words. He'd proven that when he'd married Momma after her ordeal.
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"Yes, Momma! But what about him loving me after what happened?"

"I don't know about Grant, Honey. He and his family are still in Europe on vacation," she admitted, then looked up at Daddy.

"Princess, if he is the Knight that I think that he is, Grant will be there for you and not let his Uncle Leroy's bitterness sway him," assured Daddy as he hugged me.

I felt safe and assured in his presence. When I came out to my parents, Daddy started treating me as his Princess and the spare room became mine.

"But Daddy, that man is the mayor's best friend and owns Frank Henshaw Motors, providing the city with it's fleet of cars and trucks."

"So?"'How sweet for my Princess to put my welfare ahead of her own needs. Before she told us about herself, I already knew and accepted. That's why I had the spare bedroom made ready for her and turned the basement into a guy’s dorm, the attic into a ladies dorm for visitors.'

"He also has connections in the business community and can easily blackball anybody who crosses him," I admitted in fright.

Daddy chuckled, "Don't I know it, Princess. But as much of a tyrant that he can be, he and the mayor have someone who is their equal," he admitted with a smirk.

"Who, Daddy?"'Hate to toot my own horn, but she needs to know that she has very strong support.'

He pointed to himself, " Me."

"WHAT?"

"Princess, as an Eagle Scout, Scoutmaster, and Head Coach, I know the people who really run the city, that includes the criminal element." You're not involved with the people who deal in drugs and prostitution, are you?"

"No, I work with the homeless and drifters to make sure that they have food and shelter."

Then I remembered all of the people selling stuff at the stadiums and the Bay City Civic Center, "You mean those guys who sell all of those wonderful knick knacks?"

"Exactly. They make them in local church basements from donated supplies, or from items bought in bulk from TV offers."

"And just how does that make you as powerful as the mayor?"

"Simple really. With all of the people that I have helped by getting my friends to hire them and their donating their skills to help refurbish old homes for resale, I know who to call to stop anything the mayor wants to do."

"Really?"

"Yes. Remember how the mayor wanted to have Superintendent Wayne Gosford fired for expelling his sons from Bay City High School for possession of weed?"

"Yeah! The mayor made a bigger fuss about it than he did. In fact, it was the mayor who actually blabbed it to the media," I giggled as I saw where Daddy was heading.

"Yes, And because of that, the local media supported Wayne, forcing the mayor to relent and hire a tutor for his boys. Best of all, it got me on good terms with the media and the Bay City Police."

"How is that?"

"Commissioner John Elliot called in the FBI to investigate the Bay City Police for corruption, leading to an ongoing investigation throughout the city."

"That's way cool, Daddy. Just how far has the investigation gone?"

Daddy smiled, "The FBI began digging into their files and working with the local media, have been able to clear most of the City's employees of corruption. In fact, only District Attorney Maxwell King's department is left."

"The department that will be handling any evidence in my case against those attackers?"

"Yes, if you choose to file a suit against them."

"Have the police been here to gather evidence?"

"Yes, and now that you have made your choice the FBI will be providing you with much needed protection."

"But why do I need protection?"

"Because the mayor will do his damndest to stop you from testifying against his kids. But I have a way to help you, Princess."

"How is that?"
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End Of Part Two
To Be Continued In My Despair-3