ELI
The room had gone quiet after the doctor walked in. I sat on the hospital bed with my hands gripping the blanket tightly, eyes down, throat aching from the pressure building up inside me. I could hear my father breathing heavily beside me, anger simmering in his chest, but he hadn't spoken…not yet.
The doctor cleared his throat. "We ran a few tests," he said, professional, calm, too calm. "There are signs of mild tearing and internal irritation. It seems something was… left inside for a while."
I didn't dare lift my head.
"You mean… what exactly?" my father asked, his voice sharp, cold.
The doctor hesitated for a second, and I wished, begged, for him to lie. To change the topic. To say it was food poisoning. Anything. But he didn't.
"There's semen inside him," he said plainly. "That's likely what caused the stomach cramps. He's been sexually active."
A silence followed. One that screamed louder than any yelling could. Then it cracked, shattered by my father's voice.
"What?!"
I flinched.
"Who did this to you?!" His voice echoed off the white walls, bouncing back with ten times the weight. He turned to me, eyes blazing. "Who touched you? Was it forced? Did someone… did someone hurt you?!"
I couldn't breathe. My chest tightened. My hands trembled. I couldn't look him in the eye.
"Eli! Answer me! Who was it?!"
I stayed silent.
And he reached for his phone. "I'm calling the police. Whoever did this is going to pay…."
"No!" I shouted.
He paused, staring at me. "Then tell me. Who. Was. It?"
My mouth trembled. My heart pounded against my ribs like it wanted out.
"It wasn't rape," I whispered.
"Then who?"
Tears slid down my cheeks. I should've stayed silent. I should've let him call the police. But I didn't want Damir to be arrested. I didn't want it to spiral into something it wasn't.
So I said it.
"It was Damir."
The air was sucked out of the room.
My father took a step back like I'd slapped him. His face twisted not just in anger, but betrayal, disbelief, pain. Like his entire world had been yanked out from under him.
He didn't say anything. He turned and stormed out of the room.
I sat there, stunned, crushed by the weight of what I had just done.
Minutes passed. Then an hour. Then chaos.
I heard the yelling first. Then a commotion. Something broke. Footsteps. Nurses rushing. A scuffle. And then Damir's voice, muffled but there.
I tried to get up, but my stomach screamed in protest. I clutched my side, tears running down my cheeks.
They were fighting. Because of me.
By the time I forced myself out into the hallway, it was almost over. Damir's face was bruised. My father's fist was still clenched. Nurses were pulling them apart. Damir tried to step toward me, but my father shoved him back with a roar.
He sent Damir away.
And I broke.
I was wheeled back to the room. I didn't speak. I didn't cry. I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, feeling like everything inside me had been torn apart.
When we got home, the silence was worse.
My father didn't speak to me. Not in the car. Not while helping me into my room. Not while placing the medication on the table. Not when he closed the door behind him.
But the silence didn't last long.
That night, he stormed into my room.
"Do you know what you've done?" he hissed.
I looked at him, hollow.
"You've ruined everything. Damir? Of all people? My best friend?!"
"I'm eighteen," I said softly.
He laughed bitterly. "You think that matters? You think that makes it okay? You seduced him, didn't you? You little…" he paused again,his anger building.
You going to explain to me why you let a 35-year-old man f*** you?" he continued.
I looked up, stunned. "Dad…"
"Was it money? Did he bribe you? Are you that desperate for attention?"
"No!"
"You are pathetic."
I covered my mouth, the sobs bursting out.
He didn't stop. " Do you know how people will look at us if this gets out? If someone finds out my best friend was screwing my son?"
"I loved him," I said again, weaker.
"You've embarrassed me," he sneered. "You've humiliated me in front of my best friend, the hospital, probably the whole damn neighborhood by now. You little slut."
"Don't call me that," I whispered.
"What else should I call you?" he said, laughing bitterly. "You think you're grown because you're eighteen? You think sleeping with a man makes you an adult? You're a child, Eli. A confused, fucked-up child who threw himself at the first man who tries to give him attention."
"That's not true."
"You destroyed everything. Do you know that? You ruined the only friendship I had,you disgust me!!!"
He left the room. Slammed the door. I sat in the dark, shaking, broken.
He didn't talk to me the next morning. Or the day after. He didn't care if I ate or slept. He didn't even look at me.
I had destroyed everything. My dad's friendship. My connection to Damir. My home. Myself.
And all I could do was sit in the silence, in the cold space where Damir once stood, and wish I had stayed quiet.