The past few days had been horrible. Arizona and her baby girl were sick. The annual flu had taken over each of them. Four days of the sniffles, fever, aches, cuddles in the bed, chicken noodle soup, and watch her favorite Disney movies. Her mommy duties were more important at the moment. So there was a load or two of laundry that needed to be taken care of, or the house needed to be cleaned a little. An she hadn't made dinner in a few days because she hadn't had enough energy to do so. The house was usually kept up and straight, but Matthew was buying the mess. Unfortunate for her, the physical abuse finally started. In the past it had been a few hits, and pushes. Arizona played them off, but lately the number of hits, and the strength caused her to break and fall. She couldn't hold herself up any more.
Hearing Matthew's car door, Arizona snapped up. He's home. She thought to herself. She mentally had to prepare for the worst. All she knew was to protect her little girl who was sleeping beside her finally. She had been sleeping for the past hour, finally after a fever that refused to break. Her little girl was in enough pain.
"Dammit Arizona!" Matthew's voice rang through the downstairs. His voice echoing every corner of the house, every little space vibrated with anger. "I told you to have this house cleaned and straightened up. How hard is it to do a fucking load of laundry every damn day. There is shit everywhere. Ava's shit is everywhere and nothing is ready for dinner. What the hell did I marry you for?" He screamed, his footsteps closing in on the hallway upstairs. My first reaction was to get up before he came in. Before my little girl saw the abuse her mother took every day of her life. I didn't want Ava to deal with those memories. Getting off the bed, I looked in the mirror for a minute. My cheeks were flushed with sickness, I knew a bruise would probably soon to form on her skin after the first hit. Cracking the door a little, I squeezed out as best as she could. I was average size, I had never been super skinny, and after having Ava I filled out a little more. Matthew never called me beautiful, nor did he ever say I took his breath away. I didn't feel beautiful anymore. Nor did I feel like a woman. I felt like an abusive relationship statistic. Stopping at the doorway, I avoided Matthew's eyes. They were full of fire and power. "Matthew...I..Ava...we're both sick. With the flu. I have to take care of her. I'll get to those things I prom..." I shook my head a little as the slap stung my skin. His hand hard, and unforgiving. The brunt of it made my eyes water. Salty tears ran across my skin, his ring had scratched my face a little. The air caused it to sting a little.
"Arizona, I don't care okay. I work to pay for this house, and the least you could do is clean it up. How long does it take to mop the floor, do the dishes? Are you that lazy? She's four okay. Give her some medicine an tell her to get her ass in the bed. She doesn't need the movies, and the other childish shit you give her. I'm tired of you babying her and not doing your job. This is your place and you work to keep this place nice. If you can't do simple stuff like this, then you my dear are the biggest waste of a woman I've ever seen." I felt my tears spilling over. They rolled down my chin, the salt falling upon my taste buds. "I'm sorry Matthew. I didn't mean for this." I sobbed out, my chin shaking with fear, and sadness of being so demoted as a human being.
"Momma?" I heard Ava's little raspy voice fill my ears. No Ava, please stay in the bedroom, don't come out here. I begged and begged for her in my mind to some how take a hint as to what I could only say to myself. Sadly, and as unmotherly as it was, I wasn't sure if I even had the strength to protect her like I should. There wasn't that strength I could pull from. But fear had paralyzed me. I knew what he could do to us, to me, to her. He was stronger than me on my best day, and lately there hadn't been one of those. I knew Ava though. She was going to come out here. Hearing her little feet pad the wood floor, Matthew's glare shot at her. "An didn't I tell you to pick up every toy that you play with in this house. I might as well just send you to boarding school or foster care." He snubbed at her. Immediately, her little lip quivered. My poor baby was already hurting.
"Matthew leave us alone. I swear to god, I'll call the police if you hurt us again." I growled out, my voice coming from some where deep. Some place that had never been tapped before. He knew, and could taste the fakeness of my words. I knew he could kill us if he so pleased it. Would that be extreme? Yes. Would he ever try? I wouldn't put it past him. "You touch her Matthew, and I promise you will never live to see tomorrow." I said softly, my anger gritted through my teeth. "Your weak baby. I can tell you are. I'm not worried about what you can and cannot do. I'm stronger and you know it. There isn't anything you can do anymore. You can't run and escape. I'll always find you." It was true. I wouldn't run, or escape. I was too worried about what he would try. Ava walked towards me. She was shaking, her little legs wobbled like she had no pull of gravity. Matthew knew she was my weak point. He grabbed her by the arm roughly, and sat her down. "Sit down right there. You move one muscle and see what happens." He huffed at her. She rubbed her arm softly, sobbing at the pain of the tight grab. I immediately went towards him, my arms flailing to slap him, punch him. Any physical pain I could exert on him. My legs kicked and tried to knock him off balance. Matthew pressed me against the wall roughly, his hand grabbed my wrist, pressing it up roughly. A punch wracked my insides. There was his one blow to knock me again. I could feel the pain cursing through my body. I felt my wrist snap and the pain shoot through my arm. I felt myself losing consciousness, and I couldn't hold on.
Waking up, my eyes fluttered in pain. Matthew was gone. Probably to go screw some woman that he met at the bar. Ava was sitting there beside me shaking. "Momma, your hurt?" She whispered and had the phone in her hand. "911 momma?" She asked me, and I had to nod and groan a little in pain. Hearing her little voice on the phone, I could only sigh and thank the heavens that this little girl was this smart. "Momma is hurt mam. She's hurt really bad. Please come, please. For my mommy." Her voice trembled and fell silent when the dispatcher hung up. I could hear the wail of an ambulance before I blanked out from the pain.
A/N: This is another update for you guys. :) I'll probably start on the next chapter, but I want to get this one up tonight. I'm really loving this story at the moment.