Chapter 2
It took me almost an hour to get the grate off. When I finally squeezed through, I dropped into the yard and felt the bone shift in my leg.
I bit my sleeve hard to stay quiet. I had no shoes, no money, and no phone, just my thin pajamas and the fear that Derek would catch me if I stayed.
Mrs. Jenkins lived right next door, but crawling over to her house felt like walking miles. I dragged myself through the dirt and gravel, leaving a trail of blood and mud, and managed to knock twice before I blacked out.
I woke up at Lakeside Community Hospital. Dr. Samuel Lawson told me my tibia and fibula were broken in several places, and I might have a hard time walking again.
“We have to call the police,” he said.
“Yes, but please do not tell anyone I am here first,” I begged.
Nurse Rachel closed the door. Mrs. Jenkins came in and said she had heard screams from our house for months, so she gave me a cheap phone with a new SIM card.
I called the only number I knew by heart, and my mom picked up on the fifth ring.
“Hello?”
“Mom, it is Abigail,” I said, breaking down.
Hearing her cry hurt worse than my leg. My parents had not heard from me in six months because Derek sent messages from my account saying I did not want to talk to them.
They came straight from Cincinnati, but I asked them to talk to Gwendolyn Ross first, a lawyer who handles abuse cases. Gwendolyn came that night, took pictures of my bruises, got a medical report, and filed for a protective order.
She also pulled my bank records, showing my paycheck had been going straight to Margaret’s account for three years. “We can press charges now,” she said, “but they will say it was an accident. We need to get them on record.”
So when Derek called the hospital, they told him I was still out cold. When he and his parents showed up three days later with a fruit basket, Nurse Rachel moved me to a room at the end of the hall.
I watched them through a crack in the door. Margaret was dressed up and smiling, not worried at all, just coming to see how bad off I was.
When they saw room three hundred and four was empty, they started making a scene. “He is her husband! We have every right to see her!” Margaret yelled.
Dr. Lawson walked out in front of everyone in the hallway. “Abigail was moved to a safe facility,” he said loudly. “Her injuries came from being hit multiple times with a heavy object. It was not a fall. The police are on it, so talk to her lawyer from now on.”
Derek went pale. “She is lying,” Walter cut in. “She makes things up when she gets stressed.”
“That ungrateful girl did this to herself!” Margaret screamed.
People in the hallway started talking. Nurse Rachel had her phone in her pocket, taping the whole thing.
The three of them ran for the elevator, and a minute later my phone rang. Derek dropped the nice guy act right away.
“You better get back home right now,” Derek threatened. “You are my wife, and everything you have is mine.”
May you like
I looked at Gwendolyn. She started recording and handed me a folder full of bank transfers, fake bills, and texts where Derek talked about keeping me broke so I could not leave.
I realized then that my broken leg was only part of what they did to me. Gwendolyn pointed to the last page and whispered, “Abigail, when they go home tonight, their lives are going to be completely upside down.”
