'Cara?'
Cara stirred but still asleep. In her dream she was fighting off Gabe from another beating. Her breathing quickened, her face displaying signs of distress. 'Cara, wake up' Fletch whispered as he shook her, and she suddenly lurched upwards and started to cry. Fletch was alarmed, but she flinched. He recoiled, shocked, and then Cara opened her eyes. She was still crying but seemed to relax. She realised that she was in the hospital, safe. 'Cara what's wrong?!' He pressed gently, putting his arms around her again, stroking her back reassuringly as she tucked herself into his hug.
'Nothing, nothing, it's just a bad dream' she sniffed. Then she realised something. 'Where's Allgera?!' She panicked, shooting out of Fletch's arms and standing abruptly. Fletch stood slowly and held his hands out.
'She's ok, she's with Morven getting some breakfast from Pulses. She let herself out about 10 minutes ago and bumped into us, that's why I came in to wake you, I knew you'd be worried if you woke up and didn't know where she was. My Evie was the same, always wandering off, turned me grey with worry.' He reassured her. 'Bright little button isn't she? How old is she?'
'Three' Cara smiled weakly. Fletch looked at her, concerned. The red mark on her cheek was now a very pale bruise, only really noticeable if you looked for it, and she seemed distant, distracted.
'Are you alright? You're not yourself...' he asked.
'I'm fine' she replied, a little too quickly, as if an autopilot response to that question. 'I'll take Allegra to playschool and I'll be back on time for my shift' she smiled, again weakly. Fletch mirrored this, put his hand on hers and squeezed it before he stood to give Cara some privacy.
'Fletch? Thanks...for all of this' she smiled as he turned to leave the room, smiling back at her.
Cara stood and dared to look in the mirror. Sure enough, her face had a pale bruise, and as she rolled up her sleeves, she saw her wrists were also bruised. Her torso and ribs were sore, dark shades of purple and blue, new bruises to go with older ones that had not yet healed. Her eyes welled up. She felt foolish for coming to the hospital. She had been so secretive about her family life, and now she had brought her daughter in, and Fletch had seen her in the state she was in before when she woke up, she knew it wouldn't be long before people started wondering what was going on. All she could do was go back, go back to Gabe. That way she wouldn't have to lie to her colleagues. She knew the beatings wouldn't stop- Gabe always apologised and promised it would never happen again, but it would. But what else could she do? She was good at hiding her injuries, but secrets like this don't stay secret for long.
'Darling what have I told you about running off?' She sighed at her daughter who came bounding towards her. She looked down as Allegra hugged her knees. 'Dr Shreve, thank you for watching her'
'No trouble at all' she smiled as she waved goodbye to Allegra, now in Cara's arms and exiting the ward. Cara dropped Allegra off at playschool, and then went back to the hospital to compete her shift. She got through the busy shift with no questions being asked, but she got a sympathetic smile from Fletch every now and again. 'Does he know something?' Cara wondered, but managed to distract herself. Before she knew it, she was doing the familiar walk home. It wasn't just familiar because of the surroundings, but the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach had become a landmark of her days, the excruciating fear she felt that she had no idea what mood Gabe would be in when she home. He would either be apologetic and loving, or in a drunken rage. She couldn't fault him as a father- he doted on her. She was his little princess.
Before she opened the door, she took a deep breath and mentally prepared for what was behind the door.
'How was your day sweetheart?' He called out as Cara closed the door. He came out and put his arms around her. She was relieved but still cautious- she knew how much his mood could change and how quickly.
'It was good thank you darling' she smiled as he kissed her. He held her and she winced slightly because of her ribs. He pulled away, and kissed her forehead. 'I'm so sorry about last night' he began. 'But, you know you drive me crazy.' He tried to reason. Cara knew better than to argue so she nodded and accepted his 'apology'. They cooked and ate dinner and decided to spend an evening playing board games, like they did when the first started dating.
They were having a nice evening and then Cara got a text- it was from Fletch.
Fletch: Hi Cara, hope you're ok, is everything sorted now? F'
Cara smiled at his concern but Gabe saw this. 'Who the fuck is texting you?' He snapped. Cara felt her throat tighten with fear, and she gulped.
'Just a colleague' she tried to defend herself as he snatched the phone from her hand. She could almost see the moment Gabe lost his temper, it was like someone had flicked a light switch.
'Who the fuck is this Fletch, and why is he asking if you're ok?! What have you been telling him?!' He shouted, standing up, throwing Cara's phone against the wall as it smashed. Her eyes welled up with tears and he got right into her face, and grabbed it.
'I told him we had a carbon monoxide leak, that's what he means' she tried to say, and then he spat in her face before tossing her onto the floor.
'You lying piece of shit' she shouted as he kicked her, just as he had the night before. Cara yelped in pain and fear and curled herself into a ball to protect herself, and prayed he would get fed up. He stopped after what felt like hours but in reality was a couple of minutes and then just left the room without saying a word. She lay on the floor for a moment to collect her thoughts, and the had to fight the urge to run again. She knew she should, but she didn't want her colleagues to suspicious if she turned up with Allegra on the ward again. When Gabe didn't reappear, she realised that he must have gone to bed, so she made herself comfortable on the sofa and decided to stay there for the night. 'What has happened to us?' She wondered as she welled up. With the constant pain in her ribs and stomach, this was going to be a long night.
