Till Death Us Do Part

by V, Krissy

  After a while I hear Luca coming up the stairs shouting "Felix where are you? Where's Tasha? Felix!" He must have come in the bedroom because he sounds closer "Felix what the fuck did you do? Where's Tasha? Felix answer me!" He's shouting at Felix and I can hear him shaking Felix against the door. I'm getting worried now. What happened tonight?

  "She's locked in the bathroom. It's better for her. Luca please help her. "He's slurring and he sounds so faint. I start panicking.

  The next thing I hear is a scream from the bedroom "Kammie turn around and go downstairs and ring for an ambulance NOW" Luca sounds panicked. What is going on? I think I'm ok, I don't think I need an ambulance, why is he calling for an ambulance?

  Oh it's not for me it's for Felix. I start sobbing now, what is wrong with Felix? Will he be ok? He doesn't deserve to die.

  I hear Luca get up and move out of the room.

  "Felix please let me out. Why have you locked me in here? Please?" I'm rattling the door but he doesn't come and open it. Instead I hear him whispering from the other side of the door.

  "Tasha, I love you more every day of my life and I'm sorry for how I've been treating you. I don't know what's got into me, it's eating me up inside. I can't forgive myself for what I've done to you Tasha, I love you. I've locked you in the bathroom for your own safety. Remember that, this is for you Tasha."

  I'm crying and leaning against the door rattling it hard, but he won't let me out. "Felix just let me out, we can sort this out. Let me out!" He's gone quiet, I don't even know if he is still there!

  I hear someone else coming into the room, it must the paramedic because I can hear the radio buzzing.

  There is a lot of shuffling and then nothing, no noise at all. I start rattling the door, how am I going to get out?

  A few minutes later I hear a man in the bedroom asking Kammie some questions, I can't quite hear what they are saying, but then a voice at the door startles me "Miss, miss, can you hear me?" he says.

  "Yeah I'm here" I answer.

  "Can you tell me what your injuries are?"

  What do I say? What can I say? "I have damage to my throat, it's really sore and bruised, I passed out and I feel dizzy and my head hurts, other than that I think I'm ok, it just hurts when I move my neck. I haven't tried to stand up though."

  "OK miss, I am going to stay here and assist you with your injuries and I will travel with you to the hospital so that you can be rushed through admittance ok" I nod and realise he can't see me.

  "Yes I understand, is my friend staying here too?"

  "Yes she is going to stay with us ok!" he says trying to reassure me.

  "I'm ok a bit sore but nothing's broken. What's wrong with Felix? He was alright until I passed out. Kammie something terrible has happened to him hasn't it?" I can feel myself hyperventilating again.

  I lean back against the door and I can feel the room spinning and I start to feel sick, I start vomiting all over myself and I can't move, I'm covered in it, but I can't seem to stand up, I sob to myself while I try to listen to what is happening next door. How did I get into this situation?

  "Tasha, are you in front of the door? If you are then you need to move away so I can open the door" I try to move but my whole body feels like jelly.

  "I'm trying honestly I am, just give me a minute" I flop my body to one side and roll over and then I see the door opening slightly.

  "Tasha, oh my god, are you ok? What has been going on here? Come on baby let me look after you" she pushes me out of the way and then she falls to her knees and pulls me in close for a hug "Tasha why didn't you tell me, why? Luca told me what he could but I'm here to look after you I always have been, you should know that. Come on baby cry, let it all out" she rubs my back while she hugs me.

  "Come on miss I need to get you out of the bathroom so that I can assess your injuries" the paramedic says as he comes through the door and lifts me out into the bedroom. He lays me down on the bed and starts to check me over. I look around the room, what the hell happened? There is blood everywhere, the tears flow from my eyes. What I see is not a pretty sight, everything has been smashed to pieces, there are holes in the walls from his fists and there is blood everywhere. Where did it all come from? I need to know what happened to Felix.

  While the paramedic examines me, Kammie has the facecloth and she is cleaning me up as best she can. "Ow that hurts" I cry when the paramedic touches my neck, he continues checking the rest of my body.

  "I'm going to put a neck brace on you it looks like you've badly damaged your neck and we need to keep it still for the time being until we can xray it. How long ago did you break your cheek bone? It looks quite fresh"

  I can't look him or Kammie in the eye "last weekend" is all I say, I don't think I need to say anymore. Kammie starts to cry and rushes over and takes my hand "Tasha, I should have known something wasn't right when you fell down the stairs, that isn't like you"

  "Kammie it's ok, I couldn't let you know, I was going to tell you when we met up on Tuesday and then tonight, tonight just went so wrong, I don't really know what happened" I tell her.

  "Ssh Tasha don't talk, we can talk later ok" she says. The paramedic has come back in the room and is putting a neck brace on to protect my neck from further damage.

  "Are you able to walk? Can we try and stand you up Natasha?" I nod my head as much as I can in a neck brace and he takes my hand and helps me to stand up, I'm really wobbly but he manages to help me to walk to the top of the stairs, then he sweeps me up in his arms and carries me down them and out to Kammie's car.

  She drives to the hospital and the paramedic is sat in the backseat with me, he keeps checking my pulse and asking me questions, I think he is making sure I don't pass out again. It hurts when I talk so I just give a slight nod or shake my head in response to his questions. We arrive and the paramedic goes to get a wheelchair to help me into the hospital. The only thing I want to know is how’s Felix, but no one tells me anything when I ask.

  I'm taken to triage to be assessed and then they wheel me into a room and leave me alone with Kammie.

  We don't say anything for a good while and then a nurse comes in and asks me to take my clothes off so that she can examine me. I'm a bit confused, but do as she says. When I'm naked, I hear Kammie gasp, I forgot the bruises on my body from some of the smaller attacks by Felix. I quickly put the gown on and wait for the nurse to return.

  When she walks in I ask her "So what do you want to check and what do you want me to do?"

  She looks at me and says "I need to perform a rape check and I need to catalogue your bruises and marks" she can't look me in the eye.

  "Felix is my husband, he can't rape me, we are married for gods sake" I don't understand why she wants to do this, but I can't argue with her. Kammie says she wants to stay, at this stage, I don't care, I just want this night to end.

  Chapter 23

  IT TAKES THE NURSE about half an hour to complete the checks, I feel totally violated, she gives me some medication to help me sleep and I slowly drift off.

  Before I go, I hear Kammie talking to someone "I'm sorry Luca, I'm sorry. She's not great, I think he raped her repeatedly and often beat her, I can't feel sorry for him, not after knowing what he did to her. Let me know how he is ok, I'll talk to you later when I know that Tasha will be ok. Oh and Luca, I need a really big hug later, please. Ok" I hear her sobbing as I drift away.

  When I wake up Kammie is asleep in the chair in the corner. I watch her for a while, she looks so innocent and I laugh because she can be such a bad girl.

  I try to cough but my throat is just so sore, Kammie must hear me because she opens her eyes and smiles at me, she walks over to me and kisses me. "Hey you, how are you feeling today?"

  I must have slept all night, everything suddenly comes flooding back to me. "Kammie, how's Felix?" It really hurts when I talk, I look around for a drink of water. Kammie sees me looking and pours me a glass, then moves the head of the bed up so that I'm in a sitting position
and holds the glass close to my mouth so I can sip it. I still have the neck brace on. "Tasha, I don't know anything about Felix. The nurse was in earlier and they are sending you down for an MR.I to see if there's any lasting damage to your neck. Do you feel up to talking about what happened last night?" I try to move my head very gently from side to side "My throat is too sore Kammie, sorry!"

  "Ok that's fine, let's see how the scan goes and then we can decide what happens next ok". We sit in silence for a while, Kammie holding my hand, rubbing the back of it with her thumb. The nurse comes in to wheel me down to X-ray. I lay on the bed thinking about Felix and what he's done to me, I cry a little because I'm scared of what is going to happen next.

  When I get back to my room Luca is there and I can see Kammie has been crying, this must be a lot for her to take in. I smile at Luca and he rushes over to me and takes my hand "Tasha, I can't believe I let you back into that house, I should have insisted you didn't go back. I'm really sorry!" He has tears in his eyes.

  "Please tell me about Felix, I have a right to know" I reach out for a drink and Luca brings it to my lips.

  "Tasha, are you sure you're ready to hear this?" I nod gently for him to go on. "When Felix rang me he told me that he had lost his sanity, he wanted to hurt you and had locked you in the bathroom for your own protection. He was reaching out to me for help. When you passed out he got scared and dragged you into the bathroom. He thought you were dying. He got angry and wrecked the room, smashed all the ornaments, the wall everything. Then he sank to the floor in front of the door waiting to hear you. When he didn't hear you he thought you were dead, so he picked up a piece of the broken mirror and started cutting his wrists" Luca stops for a minute and holds me tight "Luckily he did this after he had rang me, but he lost so much blood when we got to him he was barely alive. The paramedics were able to save him and keep him alive." I lean back in the bed and breathe deeply. Felix is alive thank god, we can work on him getting better.

  The doctor comes into the room and asks to speak to me on my own. I say it's fine for my friends to stay. "Natasha we've concluded our examinations of you, you have severe whiplash in your neck so we will give you some painkillers and a neck brace, which you will need to wear for a week and then come back for a check up." I nod as I can see he has more to say.

  "You've broken your cheek bone, I know this was done last week but you will need anti-inflammatories to bring the swelling down. I know it is painful to touch, so try and avoid touching it." He smiles at me when he says this and I know that he is saving the worst part till last.

  "You have severe internal damage and also you have tears in your anus, have you been bleeding this week from your back passage?" I hear Kammie gasp. I just nod, I can't bring myself to look at her. She knows I'm embarrassed and comes over and takes my hand.

  "We will have to operate to repair some of the tears both vaginally and anally, so you won't be going home until tomorrow, as long as everything goes well in surgery. I'm going to send one of the nurses in to hook you up with some pain relief and insert an IV line ok" I just nod and he walks out the door.

  Kammie starts crying "Tasha I'm sorry, I noticed you were getting distant but just thought it was the first flush of married life" she says.

  "Kammie it's not your fault, I didn't think anyone would believe me, that's why I didn't mention it. I suppose I should ring my Mum and Dad before I go into surgery. I don't know what to say to them, they'll be heartbroken, they love him" I say shaking my head very gently.

  "I'll ring them Tasha you don't need that stress. I picked up your phone from the house so I'll leave it here for you. You've had a couple of messages so you might need to look at them. I'll go outside and ring your parents. I'm just outside if you need me" she leans down and kisses me on the cheek, I flinch slightly because it's still sore.

  When she leaves the nurse comes in, gives me some painkillers and starts hooking me up with the IV line. I pick up my phone and see a couple of messages from Caleb.

  "Just thought I'd let you know I did dream about you last night, I just can't get you out of my mind"

  "I had a bad feeling when I woke up are you ok Tasha? Let me know you're ok please"

  "Tasha, please I'm going out of my mind, I've tried to ring you and you're not answering, just let me know you're ok"

  I know I have to tell him, he's my friend and I like that he cares about me.

  "Hey Caleb sorry I missed your messages, I'm in hospital, the paramedics were called to the house, I'm going down for an operation shortly, I just wanted to let you know and for you to stop worrying about me"

  I got a reply immediately.

  "Are you ok? I want to see you. Just to make sure you're really ok, where are you? In the hospital? I'll never stop worrying about you!"

  "No! My parents will be coming in soon, I'm going to surgery and then will be in recovery. I'll let you know how I get on Caleb"

  "Are you going to be ok after the operation Tasha? I'll fucking kill him. How can anyone hurt you? You don't deserve it"

  "I'll be fine, I just need to take it easy, no disco dancing for me lol. He tried to kill himself last night, so you don't need to bother. The nurse is here now, I'll text you when I'm out and able to text ok"

  "Ok my Angel, but I still want to see you to make sure"

  "Caleb I know you will ;-) thank you for caring me about me so much xx"

  I couldn't resist the kisses, he made me smile and feel warm inside.

  I put my phone in the bag that Kammie had packed for me, she comes in and I can see she's been crying "Your parents are on their way, but I heard the nurses say you were going down for surgery now"

  "Thanks for ringing them Kammie, tell them I love them and I'll see them later" I smile but I don't really feel like smiling, I just want to cry and cry and cry.

  The nurse comes in and says they're ready for me in surgery, I reach out and take Kammie's hand and squeeze it tight. "I love you Kammie" she leans down and kisses me on the cheek "I love you too bitch".

  Chapter 24

  WHEN I COME ROUND I'm back in my room and my parents are looking at me with tears in their eyes. "Hey baby girl" Mum says, I start crying. "It's ok Tasha, we're here to take care of you now, no one's going to hurt you again ok" she leans over me and hugs me and I can feel myself sobbing really loud, I can't breathe because I'm sobbing so much and then I start to panic.

  I start throwing my arms around and Dad runs out for the nurse, who comes in and gives me a light sedative "Now Natasha, you need to breathe in and out slowly, you're just having a panic attack. The medicine will take effect soon ok, calm down honey" I nod and try to slow my breathing down, it starts to work and I feel a little calmer.

  I see Mum in the corner wrapped in Dads arms "I'm sorry Mum and Dad I'm sorry" I'm apologizing that this happened to me, they don't need to see their daughter like this.

  My Dad comes over to the bed "Don't you ever apologise to us, you're our daughter and we love you unconditionally, we don't know why you didn't tell us, but that is for another day, you just need to get better. You're our baby girl" he leans down and kisses me. Dad would never be one for showing his emotions so I know this has been hard for them. I close my eyes and start to drift away.

  I start to wake up later in the evening and I can hear some people talking "Sorry who are you?" It's Kammie, I can't quite open my eyes but I would recognise that voice anywhere.

  "I'm, I'm a friend of Tasha's and I heard she was in the hospital. I just wanted to see for myself that she is ok, please just let me go into her, look she's asleep I won't stay long, please. It's Kammie right?" his voice is like silky chocolate, but I can hear the worry in it.

  "Eh yeah, how do you know my name?" she asks, clearly startled.

  "Tasha smiles when she talks about you so I know you're very special to her and that is why you're protecting her now. You can come in with me if you want" he says.

  "Yeah, ok I will. It's not that I don't trust you, I just don't know
you, ok" she says, bless her she's always protecting me.

  They both walk in and Caleb comes over to the bed "I know you said you were fine Tasha, but I had to see for myself. You look so peaceful and beautiful as always. I'm sorry that this has happened to you, I'm here if you need anything, anything at all"

  I hear a phone ringing and then I hear Kammie "Hey Luca, what's happening at your end?" she walks out the room. Caleb takes one of my hands and sits down "My beautiful Angel, how anyone could hurt you I don't know. I sensed you were in trouble, I just knew it. Please get better, you have a whole new life out there, I want to help you, to guide you"

  I squeeze his hand and slowly open my eyes "Caleb thank you, you're wonderful and I'm lucky to have you as a friend" I feel a tear rolling down my face, he reaches out and wipes it away.

  He then looks to the door, leans down and kisses me gently on the lips. "I will be here for you, I told you I want you in my life, you are my friend Tasha, I'll help you to get through this, you just have to trust me and let me help you ok" he kisses me once again and then stands up, he is still holding my hand when Kammie comes back in the room.

  She looks at him and scowls slightly and then sees I'm awake "Tasha, I'm sorry he just wanted to come in to make sure you were ok. I hope that was ok, I don't know who he is, although he does look slightly familiar" she says walking round to the other side of the bed and taking my other hand, bless her she's being territorial.

  "It's ok Kammie, this is Caleb, he's a friend and he just needed to see for himself I was ok. I texted him earlier to let him know I was here" I smile, she looks at him, then at me and says "Oh ok, we really do have a lot to catch up on if you are keeping friends like this secret from me" she laughs and I know that everything is all right.