Emma turned the key in the lock and the door to her empty flat swung open. She stepped inside, every sound she made was magnified a thousand times. She slipped off her shoes and made her way through to the kitchen. After pouring herself a glass of water she padded into the living room taking in her appearance in the big mirror which covered one wall.
Reaching up she gently touched her cheekbone and flinched as the pain shot down her cheek. One side of her face was still red from where Matt had hit her. She had been trying to let him down gently but it didn't go so well. He was convinced that she was seeing someone else. Eventually she had gone silent realising that Matt would think what he wanted. He took this new silence as a 'yes' and promptly began to hit her around the face.
After delivering the blows he had stormed out of his flat leaving her slumped against a wall with tears falling down her cheeks thick and fast. She had finally managed to pull herself together and went to retrieve her belongings which were scattered throughout the rooms.
The events of the previous hours were still playing in Emma's head. It was as though a movie was running inside her mind. She couldn't shut out the image of Matt hitting her. It haunted her to think that he was capable of doing this. The man that she had loved had reduced her to a sobbing heap. At about half ten she finally gave in to the temptation of sleep and her eyelids drooped, giving way to an uneasy dream.
Will sat in the briefing room occasionally glancing across to Emma's empty chair. It wasn't like her to be off. If she was ill then she would have phoned. She wasn't exactly the sort to 'pull a sicky' so he could rule that one off his list. He wandered over to where Gina and Smithy were standing at the end of the briefing and stood waiting for them to finish their conversation.
"Gina…I was wondering if you'd heard anything from Emma? It's just well, it's really not like her to be off. Especially without phoning in sick." He said picking at his thumbnail sub consciously.
She frowned at him before leaning in to listen to Smithy. She nodded slightly at his suggestion and turned to Will before saying, "Yes. You were supposed to be in the front office but I think we've already got Leela there. Go and see if you can find out what's wrong with Emma and then come straight back. Will I'm warning you, no funny business." She was well aware of his and Emma's brief fling a few months previously.
He pulled up outside her flat about ten minutes later and quickly scaled the steps to her door. He knocked before trying the handle. To his surprise the door swung right open and the stepped inside to investigate further. He made his way quietly through to the living room to see Emma curled up in tight ball in an armchair. She shifted in her sleep and turned her head so he saw her other cheek.
He breathed in sharply as he saw the large purple bruise and the cut just under her cheekbone. He tiptoed towards her and crouched down by her side.
"Em. Emma it's time to wake up." He said softly in her ear. Her eyelids fluttered open and she recoiled slightly when she realised someone was sitting next to her. However she relaxed when she saw it was Will and allowed a fresh set of tears to well up in her eyes. He took her hand and tried to help her to her feet but realised that she was too shaky to stand by herself.
Lifting her gently off of the chair he grabbed the keys from the table and made his way towards her front door. He locked up behind them and carried her down to his car where he settled her in the passenger seat and clipped her belt in for her. As he walked round to the other side of the car he phoned Smithy and told him about the state that Emma was in and how he was taking her to St Hugh's Hospital.
He helped her out of the car and held her hand as they walked into the main entrance and up to the A&E wing. Will kissed her lightly on the cheek before she went to get stitches. Sitting in the hospital bed she couldn't wait to see him again. The nurses had given her some mild pain relief so her face wasn't hurting any more. She was just hurting inside. There was no pain relief for that.
As with all of my fics reviews are much appreciated and keep my writing...I already have a couple more chapters written and the rest of the story planned out but I would really like a few reviews before I upload the next bit. xxpippaxx