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‘It’s worse than it looks—’
‘I need to examine you properly, Stacey. He could’ve fractured your cheekbone.’
Gently, I palpate the area around her eye socket. A periorbital haematoma – a black eye – is caused when blunt force or trauma results in burst capillaries and subsequent haemorrhaging. The fatty tissues around the eye are soft and bruise easily when compressed against margins of bone which surround and protect the eye socket, and fluid tracks forward into the eyelid and quickly accumulates – hence the rapid swelling after an injury. As the blood decomposes and is resorbed, various pigments are released, which is what causes the lurid discolouration of a shiner.
Judging from the vivid blue and purple bruising, I’d say Stacey was hit sometime within the last twelve hours, probably late last night.
I fetch the pencil torch from my medical bag and shine it in her eyes to see if her pupils are dilating normally.
‘Can you follow my finger with your eyes?’ I ask.
I move my index finger from left to right, then up and down and diagonally across her field of vision. Her left eyelid is badly swollen, her eye narrowed to a tiny slit, but she manages to follow the tip of my finger.
‘I don’t think you have a fracture,’ I say, returning my torch to my bag. ‘And your vision seems normal. Once the swelling goes down in a day or two, you’ll be able to cover the bruising with make-up, but you’re going to have a black eye for at least a week, maybe more.’
Tom places her coffee in front of her. ‘Is this Felix’s handiwork?’ he asks.
She looks away. We both take her silence as assent.
‘You need to report him to the police, Stacey,’ Tom says. ‘Not just for your sake, but for Archie’s.’
‘He’d never hurt Archie,’ Stacey says quickly.
‘Until Archie fights back,’ I tell her. ‘You’re his mother. Sooner or later, Archie’s going to try to defend you, and then Felix will turn on him, too.’
I see my father’s hands around my mother’s throat, the vision so vivid the blood pounds in my head and my palms are suddenly damp.
With an effort, I blink the image away.
I don’t want Stacey to feel pressured, but Felix has already broken the primary rule of the middle-class abuser by hitting her in the face, where she can’t hide the bruises. Whatever parameters they may have established in their dysfunctional marriage, they clearly no longer hold good. His attacks are escalating. Things could spiral out of control very quickly.
I should know.
‘Where’s Archie now?’ Tom asks.
‘Felix’s mother, Frances, picked him up yesterday and took him back to Devon with her for a few days,’ Stacey says. ‘He loves staying with her. And we thought a change of scene would do him good after his accident. He’s been so quiet and withdrawn since he got home. I don’t know what’s going on with him.’
I could hazard a guess, but now isn’t the time to discuss Peter’s role in what happened at the pool.
‘You can’t go back home while Felix is still there,’ I tell her. ‘It’s not safe. You can stay here with us till we figure out your next move.’
‘That’s kind of you, Millie, but I don’t want to put you out. You’ve done enough.’
‘You’re not putting us out. Wewantto help.’
‘At least promise us you won’t go home on your own,’ Tom adds. ‘If you need to get some things, I’ll come with you.’
I throw a grateful look at my husband. We may not always be on the same page, but when push comes to shove we’re on the same side.
I expect Stacey to argue the point, but to my surprise she acquiesces. ‘I’m due some leave,’ she says. ‘I can’t go into work looking like this anyway. But there’s no need to go back home: I always keep a holdall with a few days’ clothes in the car, in case I’m sent on a story. I could go and stay with a friend of mine in Exeter for a few days. She lives not too far from Felix’s mother, so I’d be close to Archie, too.’
‘We need to document your injuries first,’ I say, getting out my phone.
‘I’m not going to report it, Millie. I can’t do that to Archie.’
‘You need to report itforArchie.’
She won’t. My mother never did either. Fewer than one in five incidents of domestic abuse are ever reported to the police. On average, a woman experiences more thanfiftyviolent assaults at her partner’s hands before getting effective help.
