GRAVE CONDITION (Continuance)
She was so tired from a twelve hour shift, Tara didn't notice him lurking in the corner as she made her way to her apartment door. Her key turned the lock and she went to enter her door, when she felt Josh's hands grab her shoulders, spinning her around.
"You went to my boss?! You dumb fucking bitch!"
She didn't even have time to process anything, or even scream but she did try her damnedest to push him out of the opening of her door. If she pushed hard enough, he would be in the hall way again and she could shut it. Her buck twenty versus his tall frame was nothing and stuck his foot between the door and the jam to stop her.
"Get away! Stop!"
"Fucking bitch! Come here!"
He grabbed her ponytail and pulled hard, causing her to cry out.
Tara felt like her world was crashing around her. Josh was going to kill her, this she was certain of. His eyes were crazed and in just the few seconds he accosted her, her body felt broken. He pulled at her and she felt his fingers inch near her throat.
"No!" she finally screamed, more like a warrior's call, pushing him back into the hallway, but not before she felt his fist pop her across the face, full contact.
Her head snapped back, and she saw stars but she didn't have time to let that deter her.
She was trying to fight for her life. She pushed again, bit, kicked, and scratched, and stomped his foot until finally she was able to throw the door shut, squeezing the deadbolt between her fingers. She heard him banging outside, yelling at her for trying to get him fired. She latched the chain lock as well.
Tara slid down the door, her dark hair spread above her. She began to cry violently, drowning out his voice as he called out to her, a sudden and maniacal change in his demeanor.
"Tar-Tar, I'm sorry, baby. Open the door. Open the door, sweetheart..."
She closed her eyes, blood dripping down her nose and on her chin. Her face was red and pounding, probably swelling with every passing moment. Tara's whole body shook, from the pain and from shock. She cried in dry heaves, but realized she needed to put more space between her and the door. Tara gathered herself enough to crawl to the bathroom down the hall, grabbing her phone as she did. Throwing the lock on that, she moved a toiletry cabinet in front of the door for extra security.
She was going to dial 911 when she looked in the bathroom mirror and saw what Josh's brand of love did to her face. Her eyes grew wide and she let her fingers graze the swollen purple bulge in her cheek. She dropped her phone and frantically grabbed a clean washrag, trying to clean up the mess that was her face. Outside her door, in the dark de-shuffled hallway, her landline phone rang and rang.
"Detective Morales."
"He violated the restraining order," she said, no introduction offered. She wasn't going to keep playing games. That restraining order was nothing but a useless piece of paper because she didn't feel safe. The law was perverted and no one seemed to want to help her.
"I'm sorry who is this?"
"Tara Knowles. I had...have a restraining order against Joshua Kohn. He violated that order tonight."
"Hold on while I find that file?"
She heard papers being moved and then he sighed into the phone. "Okay, your name again?"
"Tara Knowles," she muttered, trying to contain a progressing scream.
"Did you call the police?"
"You are the police."
"You need to call the dispatcher-"
She disconnected the call without warning. Tara looked at the gun she recently purchased in her hand, regarding the feel of cold metal in her fingers. She felt like there was no safe haven for her in Chicago. Covering her face with her hands, she cried once more in frustration.
The one place she never wanted see again, was the only place she felt like may be the safest. It was her past, telling her presently, her future would be in Charming. Tara had no doubt Josh would find her. She wasn't stupid. He would find her, using his ATF resources, and track her down like an animal. He would finish what he wanted to do in the hall way. She knew the only way this could end was with one of them dead. He wasn't going to give up. But neither was she.
Tara had given Dr. Steiger a courtesy call after taking a week of personal time. She would not be returning. He tried to talk to her, to find out what happened, or what he could do to help. She asked him to forward her items to Charming, California. She'd be starting a new residency there. The administrator, Margaret Murphy, was eager to have her.
Dr. Steiger asked her again what was wrong.
"I have to leave, before he hurts me. Or a patient," she stated, giving him back the very words he had spoken to her.
Dr. Steiger was silent for a moment. "I see. It was a pleasure working with you. Should you ever find yourself back in Chicago-"
"I will," she said, ending the call.
She looked around at her empty apartment, most of the insignificant things donated or taken to storage. She wasn't going to take much. Her father's home was already packed with insignificant shit and she wasn't going to add to it. Tara looked around her, looking at the life she had tried to cut out for herself. A successful surgeon at a big city hospital. It worked for awhile. But as usual, her mistakes follow her and her past twists through her present. She'd miss her tiny apartment.
She placed her key on the kitchen counter and grabbed her ticket to the airport. She was going to him. Josh could come for her, bringing his brand of blood and pain, but she she couldn't be scared anymore. If Jax and the club were still in Charming, an even bigger pain would be waiting for the abusive shit of an ATF agent, if she needed it to be.
Tara wasn't sure if she wanted Jax to see her like this. Broken, shattered, and used. When she left Charming, she left to be better, to have better. It would embarrass her deeply to be seen as crawling back. She doesn't know what would happen, her mind had played through several scenarios. At the very least, she could see Jax before she met a violent end. If he even cared to see her at all. When she called to check on her father's house and estate, she had fished for some info on Jax, only to find out he was married. The blows in her life kept coming, even if they weren't in the form of a fist. But Tara couldn't let that deter her. She had to leave Chicago, she had to go back because there was nowhere else to go.
Tara took a deep breath, walked out of her former apartment, away from her new life, and back to everything she ran away from. Tara Knowles was going home.
*I could continue on into her time in Charming. Haven't really decided yet. Let me know if that's something you're interested in me delving into. Thanks for reading.
