Sherrilyn: Saving Gideon (Angel Chronicles)

by Mary May

  “What’s this?” Sherrilyn asked.

  “It’s my phone number, in case you ever need to talk to someone.”

  Frowning, Sherrilyn glanced at the number before looking back at the woman who seemed to see right through her fake smile, “Why do you think I need to talk to someone?”

  Placing her hand on her shoulder, Kendall looked her directly in the eye. “Please don’t cover for him. I know what’s happening. It’s not your fault and you have nothing to be ashamed of. I just want you to know that you have friend right here if you need one.” Tearing the paper into tiny pieces, Sherrilyn dropped them on the floor and walked away.

  Sitting in the car, she stared at the other people hustling about their day. She wondered how home life was for them. Did they have a spouse that actually liked being with them and was happy to see them when they came home? Were their lives full of love and acceptance and peace? She knew that everyone had problems; no one’s life was perfect, but she would give anything for her biggest worry to be how to juggle the light payment or if little Suzie would do well on her spelling test. She wished she could talk to someone. But she was afraid they would tell her she was crazy for staying and putting up with all of Lonnie’s crap. Truthfully, she thought the same thing. But he had her over a barrel. By providing her father with money, he effectively made sure that she kept her mouth shut.

  “I don’t know why he wants to keep me anyway,” she whispered. “I’m not good for anything.” If and when he said anything to her anymore, it was to make sure she knew just what a hopeless waste of space she had become. The five years she had been married to Lonnie had been the hardest of her young life. She longed to go home to Texas, but she would rather eat worm dirt than to go back as a failure in both her career and her marriage. In her dad’s eyes, Lonnie was all things wonderful, and Sherrilyn was the cherry right on top of his sundae. She refused to let him know anything else.

  Tagin watched with growing dismay as Sherrilyn grew increasingly more depressed and withdrawn as the years rolled by. Trips back home to Texas were few and far between and were only allowed when Lonnie could accompany her. He wouldn’t allow her to go home on her own. When her dad would question her about it, she would laugh it off, saying that Lonnie couldn’t bear to be without her. She got very good at lying and concealing pretty much everything about her life. One day she had received word that her dad had stage four colon cancer and wasn’t expected to live but a few more months. Before she even had time to absorb the shock from that piece of news, she was told that Devon, who was now thirteen, had been caught stealing and running with a bad crowd and was now being sent to a military-style boot camp for troubled teens.

  Tagin had to watch as she seemed to cave in on herself. No crying or screaming or any outward emotion was visible. Sherrilyn just seemed to stop. It was like she went on autopilot. Nothing Lonnie did bothered her. No matter what he called her or how hard he slapped her Sherrilyn had no response other than to look at him with cold eyes.

  One evening after Lonnie had once more failed to return home after work, Sherrilyn picked up the phone and dialed a number. It was a number she had only seen once a year earlier, but she must have memorized it with a glance. After three rings, Kendall picked up.

  “Hello? Hello? Is anyone there?” After a long pause she spoke again. “Sherry? Is it you?”

  Sherrilyn wished she had the nerve to speak…to say something…anything! But simply picking up the phone and dialing her number took all the courage she had at the moment. Kendall then started talking once more. She spoke of everyday things and upcoming projects she was working on with her children. She simply talked. Sherrilyn slid down the wall and sat in the floor just holding the phone to her ear like a lifeline. The sound of someone speaking to her in a soft voice with no condemnation, no expectations was like a balm to her battered soul. Finally, after more than hour, Kendall said she had to get off the phone to take care of the children, but she told Sherrilyn to please call her anytime day or night. After Kendall had hung up, she sat in the floor staring at the phone in her hand. Her heart had felt peace for the first time in such a long time. For a brief moment in time she was able to escape her own hell and live in Kendall’s heaven. Where the children played secure in the knowledge that their parents loved them and Kendall could laugh and tease with her husband, knowing that no hard fist would ever be coming her way. No hate-filled words screamed at her to make her feel small and insignificant.

  Every few days she would reach out to Kendall. The other woman never asked what was happening in Sherrilyn’s home. She never even spoke of Lonnie. They simply spoke of pleasant things. Slowly just that small amount of normalcy had Sherrilyn feeling a small spark of her old self, starting to emerge. She started going out and doing things once more. Kendall became her best friend and her salvation. She knew the woman was a Christian with a strong faith in God, but she never pushed her religion on her, not that Sherrilyn didn’t believe in God, she did. She was just very angry with Him right now. How could a loving God allow such terrible things to happen to people, and she wasn’t thinking of her own problems.

  She could take responsibility for some of it. It was her choice to stay, and it was her choice to not report him to the police. The reason was pride, or at least a tiny measure of it. It was the only thing left to her, and she wouldn’t allow Lonnie to rob her of that. So she kept her mouth shut, put on a fake smile and lived her life the best she could. Her anger with God was for allowing sickness and disease to take both her mother and her father. They were good people, decent people and in no way deserved to have their lives snuffed out so soon and in such a way. If they had lived, she couldn’t help but wonder if her life would have been different or Devon’s. That poor baby was as lost as she was and she couldn’t help him. At least he seemed to be doing well in the boot camp he was currently in. The last she had heard, he was currently in his second one. This one was supposed to be even tougher than the last one. She hoped it worked. Devon had so much to offer the world. She hated to see him throwing his life away with drugs and criminal activity.

  Chapter 5

  Sherrilyn’s life actually settled into a quiet routine. Lonnie would get up before dawn and stay gone until after she went to bed. She heard through the grapevine that he had taken up with his latest signed artist, Darah Simone. She was a new upcoming pop singer that had all of Nashville talking. Not all of it good. Miss Simone seemed very determine to achieve her goals through whatever means were necessary. The young woman gave Sherrilyn a very uneasy feeling. Not that she really cared about Lonnie. The only thing he was offering her now was a home and the security of his name, and even that was losing its appeal. The thought of leaving was on her mind more and more with every day that passed. That was until Darah showed up. As much as Sherrilyn didn’t really care for the girl, she hated the thought of anyone else being at the mercy of Lonnie Foster. She just had a feeling that Darah might be the one to convince Lonnie to divorce and marry yet again. The only thing standing between the young woman and a life of abject misery was her. Lonnie wouldn’t touch Darah until he had a ring on her finger, so until then she was safe.

  Less than four months after Lonnie started dating Darah, he presented her with divorce papers, but she refused to sign them. Of course, he grew enraged and smacked her around, but she wouldn’t give in. He stayed gone for more than week and Sherrilyn knew that he wasn’t giving up. She also knew her refusal to sign the papers would only last so long. You couldn’t keep a person married to you if they didn’t want to be. So it was only a matter of time before he would get what he wanted. But maybe she could buy the young woman enough time to see Lonnie Foster for who and what he really was.

  Pulling the covers back, Sherrilyn got ready for bed. Once she had climbed in, she turned on the bedside lamp, grabbed her book and started reading. An hour or so later she heard the front door shut and knew Lonnie had finally decided to come home. A feeling of dread filled her stomach as she waited for him. Whe
n the bedroom door was flung open and she saw Lonnie standing there looking at her with cold eyes, she felt fear take hold of her heart, and she knew it was going to be bad…

  Without saying a word, Lonnie walked over to the bed and pinned her to the mattress. The first blow had her seeing stars and tasting blood as her lip was split open. Throwing up her hands, she tried to block the punches as they rained down on her. In under a minute she was knocked unconscious.

  She came to gagging and coughing as water filled her mouth and nose. Lonnie had her in the shower holding her under the cold spray. He had a crazed look on his face and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that this time he was going to kill her. If she didn’t fight back, tonight would be her last night on earth. A primal feeling of rage and self-preservation tore up from her very soul as she screamed at him.

  When he jerked her to her feet, she used the upward momentum to head-butt him. The blow was hard enough to knock him off balance, causing him to lose his grip on her arms. She ran but was brought down hard at the bedroom door with a full body tackle. As her head bounced off the floor, she turned over. Going on the offense, she started attacking him. Clawing, scratching and biting whatever she could reach. He would likely win this battle, but he was sure as hell going to know he was in a fight! Lonnie roared when she sank her teeth deep in his left forearm. Bringing his right fist down as hard as he could, Sherrilyn’s world once more turned dark.

  When she woke up the next time, she was alone in the bathroom with a phone cord wrapped tightly around her hands and feet.

  “Oh, God, please…please help me! If You’re really up there, please help me! I don’t want to die like this…” she prayed desperately.

  Hearing footsteps on the stairs, she knew it was Lonnie coming back to finish the job. She started twisting her hands, trying to loosen the cord enough that she could slip her hands free, but he had tightened the cord so tight it was already cutting into her wrists. The only hope she had was to try to talk to him.

  “Lonnie…please…” She tried to talk to him in a soothing voice until she saw what he carried.

  It wasn’t until he walked around the bed that she saw the gas can in his hand. A terror unlike anything she had ever known flooded her heart. “Lonnie? Lonnie, please…please don’t do this! I will give you whatever you want! I swear I won’t tell anyone. I will leave tonight and you will never see me again! Lonnie! I’m begging you, please!”

  Tears mixed with the gasoline as he poured the fuel over her body, the fumes making her gag as she tried to breathe. He finally stood over, looking at her with no emotion. “Lonnie! Please, you can have everything. Don’t make me die like this!” she begged.

  Leaning down, he whispered, “I will have everything!” Then he tossed the match…

  Searing, agonizing pain engulfed Sherrilyn as the flames exploded on her body. The last thought that went through her mind was there was no God...

  Tagin went on high alert the moment the bedroom door flung open. He knew instantly that the man’s intent was to murder Sherrilyn. It was apparent by the cold, calculating gleam in his eyes. He had received no message that this was her night to go home, so he did what he could to protect her from the worst of the blows. He couldn’t deflect them, but by wrapping his body around hers he could lessen the impact.

  When Lonnie threw the lit match, he watched in horror as Sherrilyn was engulfed in flames. Her screams would haunt him for the rest of his existence. Throwing himself on top of Sherrilyn’s burning body, he smothered out the flames. Once she was no longer burning, he picked her up, taking her outside. He placed her gently on the grass in the front yard. She was alive and breathing, but barely. Holding his hands out over her body, he projected as much healing power into her as he could. Once he was sure she was stable for the moment, he went back into the now-burning house and dialed 911, telling the operator to send an ambulance and a fire truck. He then told them they would find a woman on the front lawn badly burned.

  By the time help arrived, the entire house was fully ablaze and beyond saving. Tagin knew that they would find Lonnie’s body at some point. He also knew that the man would never touch Sherrilyn again. Lonnie had sealed his own fate in his attempt to take Sherrilyn’s life. When the fuel ignited, the explosion of fire and heat was so intense that he had jumped backwards, tripping over the very phone line that he had used to secure Sherrilyn. Hitting his head on the corner of the bedside table, he died instantly.

  Standing near Sherrilyn’s hospital bed, Tagin watched as doctors, nurses and specialists came in one after another. The most repeated statement was, “She shouldn’t be alive.” The list of her injuries was long and serious, the burns not even being the worst of them. During the attack Lonnie had fractured and broken several bones throughout her body. The orbital bones around both eyes were fractured, along with her jaw. The fourth vertebrae in her neck was broken, and the doctors feared she would be paralyzed if she even survived. Both wrists were fractured from the cord being tied so tight and from her straining so hard against them. The internal injuries, while not as long, were just as severe. She had bleeding on her brain, which was building up a lot of pressure. They had to put in a drain to release the pressure and try to prevent any brain damage. She had second and third degree burns to nearly sixty percent of her body. That would have been much higher had she not been soaked from Lonnie holding her under the shower. The fuel couldn’t soak into her already-soaked clothing. The parts of her that were most severely burned were her arms, lower legs and her face.

  Kendall was one of the few visitors she had so far. The woman stood and prayed over Sherrilyn for as long as the doctors would let her. At first it was twice a day for ten minutes; then as Sherrilyn slowly grew stronger, it was twice a day for twenty minutes. The entire time she would either pray or read the Holy Scriptures out loud. Tagin liked the woman very much and enjoyed her visits immensely. He could feel his own faith being bolstered and rejuvenated during her visits. He hoped that she continued to come after Sherrilyn woke up. The doctors were keeping Sherrilyn in a drug-induced coma to give her body a chance to heal. After six weeks they finally decided to start waking her up.

  A steady beeping sound was the first thing she noticed. It was annoying and it wouldn’t stop. Sherrilyn lay there trying to stay wherever she was. It was peaceful and it didn’t hurt. The floating feeling was nice...drifting in a safe place where no more harm could come to her. She really wanted to stay but that beeping sound kept dragging her out! Finally, she heard voices speaking softly. Someone was calling her name, urging her to keep fighting. She didn’t want to fight anymore. She was tired of fighting and failing. Nothing worked out like she thought it should. No, she would stay right where she was. Too bad, though…the voice sounded nice.

  The next time she became aware, the nice voice was gone and a new one had taken its place. This one was harsher and extremely bossy. It made her feel nervous. She was glad she could stay in the dark place where she didn’t have to hear it and, more importantly, didn’t have to respond to it.

  The beeping was back…Why couldn’t someone turn it off? Was it an alarm of some sort? This time it was pulling her farther away from her safe place and she could hear several more voices. They sounded like nurses. At least they were talking about someone’s medical charts, so she assumed they were nurses. Oh, wait…that nice voice was back. Soft and soothing, it coaxed her to stay. It sounded familiar…She knew this voice…She had spoken to it before…but before she could remember, she was pulled back under once more.

  Sherrilyn finally woke up. No fuzzy hazy feeling, no drifting floating sea of peace. She was thrown back into the world and she felt like she landed with a hard jolt. Gone was her safe cocoon of safety. The first thing she noticed was the pain. It was so bad it frightened her. Lonnie must have hurt her very badly to hurt this much. She tried to recall what had happened. Then in a flash everything came back at once. Lonnie staring at her with so much hate from the bedroom door, the fight, and then t
he tossing of the match…

  Kendall saw Sherrilyn jump slightly. They had been trying to wake her up for days, but she was fighting it, or that’s what the doctor said.

  “You have to make her want to wake up. She can lie right there and choose to die. If you can make her hear you, then she might have a chance. According to her charts, she doesn’t really have family? Is that correct?”

  Kendall nodded sadly. “Both of her parents have passed and she has a younger brother. but the last I heard he was in some sort of boot camp for troubled teens.”

  The doctor looked at her with concern. “So she truly has no one?”

  “No, not that I am aware of. No family. But she has me.” Now she waited, willing Sherrilyn to choose to stay and fight. She just knew that Sherrilyn Lane Foster had a bigger purpose to fulfill on this earth!

  Sherrilyn’s eyes fluttered then slowly opened. The doctors had advised her that she would be blind because the fire had burned her retinas. Not wanting her to be afraid, Kendall gently took her left hand, “Sherry…sweetheart, this is Kendall. I’m right here. You’re not alone.”

  “Kendall? Why am I in the dark? Can you turn on a light, please?” Sherrilyn’s voice was whispery and faint, but her words were unmistakable.

  Kendall looked up at the doctor who just nodded his head at her. She guessed she would be the one to tell her that the lights were on.

  “Sherry, the lights are on. I’m so sorry, but the fire damaged your eyes really badly.”

  Sherrilyn grew very still. She may have even stopped breathing for a few seconds. Then slowly she raised her bandaged hands to her face. Kendall gently grasped her hands, stopping them from exploring her face and wounds.