whelve - to bury something deep; to hide

emily's pov

i tugged at the collar of cams shirt, adjusting until it looked just right.

"do i look okay?" she asked nervously. i put both my hands on her shoulders.

"you look great." i beamed.

her nervous pacing was cut short abruptly by a knock at the door.

"i'll get it." she chirped. "it's spencer." i nodded.

i didn't know when the last time i'd seen her this wound up was. she was walking constantly and doing that scratching thing on the bottom side of her wrists. i highly doubted she got any sleep last night.

"hey." spencer pulled her in for a hug.

"hi, come in. i'll be right back." she rushed into her room.

spencer positioned himself next to me, leaning in close to my ear.

"how's she holding up?" he asked, apprehensively. i shook my head in response.

"not good. she's freaking out." i answered.

"i figured. is she?" he motioned down to his arm, he was mimicking a clawing motion near his skin.

"yeah."

"don't let her do that." he warned. he was worried too.

i'm not sure what it was but i'd noticed the tension between him and cam for a few weeks now. i assumed they could be seeing eachother, if so, morgan owed me 10 bucks.

"we should probably leave early, right?" cameron emerged from her bedroom holding her keys and phone.

her breath was erratic and she continued to abrade her skin.

"cam," spencer approached her and laid a mellow hand over the area she was harming. "calm down. we have at least 10 minutes before we need to leave." she sat down on the couch, pressing her forehead into her hands.

we closed in next to her, but spencer urged me to stay back a bit, he did the same.

"you're right." she sighed. "do you think they'll have him cuffed when we go in?"

"probably not," i replied honestly. "but he won't be able to hurt you."

her breathing got heavier and quicker, spencer's face had sunk. he wore an anxious expression.

"i don't know if i can do this." she stood back up, pressing a hand to her mouth and walking back and forth near the tv.

"cam, remember; sit and breathe." spencer reminded.

i pulled her back onto the couch gently, i didn't need her to get more worked up than she already was.

"yeah, okay. i'm going to be fine." she assured herself.

"that's right. you're going to do great." i added.

-

"the court calls the case of cameron booth versus drew harden." the judge announced.

an older lady with kind eyes, she was.

dr. green, cams er doctor from that night sat beside us. he was to testify, spencer maybe too.

"ms. booth, are you here?" cam stood up anxiously, holding both her hands to her side.

"yes, your honor." she replied. i lightly rubbed her leg, comforting her.

on the way over spencer had taught her ways to combat panic attacks and anxiety in general. so far she was doing better than we'd both expected. no tears, no hyperventilating, no shaking.

"mr. harden, are you here?"

"present, your honor."

cameron winced at the sound of drew's voice, pulling her hand to her arm. i grabbed her index finger, brining it back to her side. we didn't want the court to have any reason not to charge drew, she couldn't act suspicious; that included nervous habits.

"are you ready to proceed today?" the judge inquired, calling them both to the stand.

drew had a lawyer at his table. he was serious and prepared.

cam also had a lawyer to her side, chris. they'd been friends for a while and when she called for a favor, he had no problem helping her out.

"do you both intend to testify?"

"yes."

"yes, your honor."

"okay, and do we have a dr. henry green here?" she continued. the man next to spencer stood up.

"here, your honor." the judge nodded in response.

"and a spencer reid?"

"i am also here." he waved.

"and for mr. harden, james booth?"

james? as in, cameron's brother, james?

he stood up, eyeing cam from his seat. her jaw had dropped, her eyes wide. she clearly didn't know that he was here. chris rubbed her arm and whispered something in her ear, it seemed to ease her a bit.

"here, judge." he replied.

the last time i'd seen james was, hell, over a year ago. he and cam had always had a strained relationship but this still shocked me. what he really going to testify against his own sister?

"great. for those defendants who i just called upon, you will take the stand when needed." they nodded and sat back down.

"mr. harden," drew and his lawyer stood up, cameron avoided looking in their direction. "please state your name for the record."

"my clients name is drew harden."

"mr. harden, you are being charged with assault and battery of the second degree, aggravated assault of the second degree, and rape of the third degree." spencer's face sunk as i looked at him, i'm sure mine did too.

cam hadn't mentioned rape to either of us, but it was apparent that the word made her uptight. we could see her hands under the table, she continually pushed her nails into the palm of her hand as a substitution for the scratching.

"how do you plead?"

"not guilty, your honor." drew replied.

"okay." drew and his lawyer sat down.

the judge qued for cam and chris to stand. they did, cams hands shaking behind her body.

"please state your name for the record, ms. booth." cam cleared her throat.

"my name is cameron booth." she answered and chris urged her to sit back down beside him.

"we're ready to begin. cameron, can you tell us what happened on janurary 23rd?"

"yes," her voice was shaky. "on the night of janurary 23rd i decided to leave drew. i got out of bed around midnight when i thought he was asleep and went downstairs to get my bag. i was putting some last minute things inside when i felt his hand on my shoulder. he then proceeded to knee me in the stomach and drag me to our living room. he then," she hung her head lower. i watched her hands on the arm rests of the chair, they were trembling horribly. "he then raped me on the couch. when i was able to fight him off i made it to the door where he kicked me four times, he broke my ribs." i couldn't see her face until she turned her head to the side, pursing her lips together to hold back tears.

spender looked as if he might cry too. i leaned into him.

"she's doing great, be proud." i whispered.

"thank you." the judge replied.

"your honor," chris started. "i would just like to say on the record, this was not a one time offense. my client has been in the throes of mr. hardens abuse for quite some time now."

"thank you." she repeated. her eyes were soft and giving, i could tell she wanted to help.

i was able to catch glances down at cam, she was breaking at the memories of that night, and i'm assuming every other time he'd hurt her.

"cameron, what brought you to the decision to leave drew?"

"well, like my lawyer said, this wasn't the first time he'd hurt me. it was becoming more and more frequent, i believed that if i stayed he could've killed me." she admitted.

"so you feared for your life?"

"yes, your honor." her voice was edging more and more.

"okay. calling witness spencer reid to the stand." spencer stood up and adjusted his tie.

he was led to the front of the courtroom where he was sworn in on a bible.

"dr. reid, is that right?"

"yes, your honor."

"dr. reid, is it true that ms. booth came to your apartment after the attack?"

"yes." spender leaned into the microphone to answer.

an official looking man approached him with papers, he was given a glance. his eyes narrowed at the photos.

"did you take those photos of cameron's injuries?"

"yes, i did. there's more where that came from too." he answered, almost angry. i eyed him, forcing him to stay calm.

"what do you mean by that?"

"i mean that this isn't the first time that cam has come to me with injuries at the hand of her partner. i have more photos."

"thank you doctor. any questions from the defendant?"

drew's lawyer stood up.

"yes, your honor." he stood in front of spencer, challenging him.

"mr. reid," spencer cut him off.

"doctor."

"ah yes, my apologies. dr. reid, you and cameron have been friends for a while, right?"

"yes, we've been close ever since she joined the team." he nodded.

"has your friendship ever become something more than so?" the lawyer asked.

"what? no, we're just friends."

"that will be all, your honor." the lawyer responded, leaving spencer puzzled.

he came back to his seat next to me, dr. green was called up next.

he was asked questions about loads of medical mumbo-jumbo, half the words i couldn't even understand. it did seem to sway the judge towards cams side though.

"any questions?" the judge glared at drew and his lawyer.

"yes." the lawyer stood up against dr. green. "was a rape kit done?"

"no, at the time that i treated ms. booth there was no mention of rape."

"so, how can one testify against my client with rape charges if there is no evidence?"

this comment appalled me, it clearly made spencer more than angry as well.

"let it go spencer, we can't interfere." i assured him.

cam was angrily whispering to chris who nodded in response. she glanced back at us, her eyes wide. we gave her reassuring gestures, i'm not sure that they helped.

"ms. booth, is it true that you didn't report the rape in the emergency room?" the judge looked at her.

"yes but," drew's lawyer interrupted her. he knew that he'd won.

"no further questions, your honor." he grimly stated.

cameron was now scrawling at her arm again, chris clearly noticed.

"your honor, may we request a recess?" cam needed a break.

"request granted." she slammed her gavel against the wood, everyone in the room dispersed.

we followed cam out of the courtroom into a smaller conference room. she was defeated and panicked, honestly, i would've been too.

***

sorry to leave y'all on kind of a cliffhanger. please vote!