AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He doesn’t bother knocking, he just walks right in. “You done fucking avoiding me?”
I shake my head. “I wasn’t avoiding you. I just needed some space.”
“You didn’t even let me explain. What you heard was nothing. She was nothing. I swear to you.” Austin walks toward me, but I back up with each step he takes. “I love you.”
I wish I loved hearing him say that, but honestly, I don’t, not anymore.
I laugh harshly. “No, you don’t. If you loved me, you wouldn’t have cheated on me. You know how I feel about that.” Tears burn my eyes, but not because of Austin—because ofhim, but I push that right out of my head.
Suddenly he pushes at my chest until I hit the wall, hitting my head on a picture frame. “You don’t fucking tell me how I feel.”
My eyes widen in shock and suddenly fear flows through me. As many times as Hank and I fought, I wasneverscared of him. “Leave, grab your shit, and get out of my house.” I try to sound braver than I truly am.
Everything happens so fast I don’t have time to react. The punch to the face stuns me. He knocks me into the wall again, and I fall to the floor as his foot connects with my ribs. After that, things become a blur.
***
I open my eyes slowly; pain radiates from my head to my toes. Nausea hits me when I look down and see that my pants are torn, but let out a painful sigh when I feel my panties are still on.
My phone is on the coffee table, and it takes all my energy to drag myself toward it. The moment I have it in hand, I dial the only person I can think of.
“Mom?” I begin to cry. “I need you.”
The phone slips from my finger before I hear her answer. I crawl to the sofa and grab the throw, hanging off the side, even as my body screams in pain.
I wrap it around me as I curl back up in a ball, which is how I stay until I hear her car pull up. With a strength I didn’t know I possessed, I pushed myself to a standing position. When the front door opens, she rushes toward me.
“Oh my god, sweetheart.” She scans my face and the rest of my body. “We need to get you to the hospital.”
I nod, even though it hurts to do so. It takes her about ten minutes to get me dressed and loaded into the car. She’s silent as we drive across town, but her hand is wrapped around mine as I stare out the window, watching the passing scenery.
I’ve always loved my town—Maline, Illinois—it’sbig enough people aren’t totally in your business, but small enough so it feels homey.
Once we get to the hospital, she helps me walk inside. They try to make her wait in the waiting room, but I refuse to let her go. Panicking, I grab on to her. “D-Don’t l-leave me,” I beg.
The nurse nods and they lead me to an exam room. After that, it’s a flurry of activity. They take pictures of me, do a rape kit even though I told them I didn’t think that had happened, and call the police. While we wait for them, they stitch my lip, then take me to be x-rayed and to have a CT scan.
Back in the exam room, the officer shows up, taking my statement. “I’m sorry I can’t t-tell you much m-more,” I tell her as she scribbles notes down.
“This is plenty. We’ll bring him in and question him. In the meantime, get a restraining order against him, and if you have somewhere else to go, I’d recommend that. Take my card and if you need anything, don’t hesitate to call.”
Once I’m discharged several hours later, Mom helps me get dressed. “I’m taking you back to my house.”
I shake my head and whimper.
“Sweetheart, I’m not arguing with you about this. At least until we get you that restraining order, okay?”
They wheel me out while she gets the car and then helps me inside. On the way to her place, she stops at the pharmacy, dropping my prescription off. When we get back to Mom’s, she helps me out of the car and leads me inside.
As we walk down the hall, I refuse to look at the pictures hanging on the wall, knowing it would break me to see what’s on them.
She leads me to one of their spare bedrooms. This one has a twin bed inside. I lie down with her help and Mom brushes my hair back. “Try to get some rest. I’ll wait until Mick’s home before I go get your medicine. I love you, sweetheart. You’re going to get through this.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I whisper.
As soon as she walks out of the room, the tears start to flow, running steadily down my cheeks.
Where did I go wrong? Austin never showed any signs that he was abusive. Sure, he was self-centered and rude sometimes—he was never,everphysical. This just shows that I have terrible taste in men. I roll to my back and I hold in the cry that wants to escape because I don’t want Mom to hear me.
