Note: Chapter 14 and we still aren't up to the start of the movie. I just can't stop writing this.

Big mistake

Work dragged on that day, but I knew as much as I wanted to get back home I knew it must be worse for Murphy. But that thought lead on to another. I hadn't spoken to my brother yet about what Doc and I had discussed that morning. The room was ready for whenever Anna felt up to moving, but I didn't know how to bring it up with Murphy. After what we had found when we rescued Anna the night before, it had been difficult enough for him to let go of her at all, let alone let her leave our apartment. I knew that she wouldn't be ready to leave for at least a couple of weeks, but I needed to talk to him about it before we discussed it with Anna herself.

"What's on your mind Con?"

We were outside having a cigarette on our break when he asked me. Obviously he had see my agitation as clearly as I could see his. I took a deep breath trying to organise my thoughts before I said anything.

"I was speaking to Doc this morning."

I tried to sound as casual as possible, but it was difficult because we could read each other so well.

"Aye"

He had tensed slightly beside me, but let me continue.

"And he had a suggestion. Anna can't stay with us forever, and he has a spare room over the bar. That way she wouldn't be very far but she could have her own space."

We were both silent for a moment and I had to look over at my brother to make sure that he had heard what I had said. He had, but he surprised me with what he said next.

"That's a good idea."

He turned away from me flicking his cigarette away. Then he was gone and I was left on my own.

Anna stood for a moment in the large towel just letting the moments pass, before shuffling back over to the box. Slowly due to the stiffness in her limbs Anna got dressed. It felt a little odd at first, dressing in something different after all of these years. But it felt good as well. She had never actually liked the way she dressed before, only doing it because it was what her husband wanted. That had never really been her. The clothes, the jewellery, the hair, had all just been a disguise. But standing in front of the mirror at that moment she barely recognised herself. If it hadn't been for the bruises she wouldn't have. That left her thinking something truly terrifying, because now that she finally had a chance to be herself, she didn't know who that was anymore.

When we got back home, Murphy still hadn't said anything and I had to pull him aside before we went inside.

"What the fuck Murph?"

I asked stopping him with an arm on his shoulder. He sighed heavily before turning to face me, and I could see that he was really struggling.

"To be honest Connor, I have no idea what I'm doing. I mean what the fuck am I supposed to do now? I don't want to go, in fact I don't want to ever let her out of my sight ever again. But I know she can't stay here. She's been dependant on that asshole ever since she was a teenager, and now all she has is us and our shit-hole of an apartment. I want to give her space to heal, and to get used everything. But I don't know if I'm ready for that."

There wasn't much that I could say in response to his confession, but I had to say something.

"I'm not suggesting we pack up her stuff tonight. But we have to give her options. Let's just talk to her about it. Make it clear that she can stay as long as she wants, but also let her know that she can have her own space as well."

When we got back upstairs we found Anna awake and dressed, looking at herself in the mirror. I had a feeling that she had been there a while, because she was sitting on a chair she had dragged across the room, and she was leaning forward slightly peering at herself.

"Grasta sweetheart, are you alright?"

Deciding that I should probably leave them to it, I walked back out the door to call Rocco and see when he thought he would be back.

Anna heard the door open but she couldn't look away from the reflective surface. She didn't know whether it was the baggy clothes, or the short hair, or the bruises that covered the flesh she could still see. But she was really having trouble coming to terms with what she was seeing.

"Grasta sweetheart, are you alright?"

As Murphy knelt down beside her Anna dragged her eyes away from the glass. He was looking at her so concerned and confused that she had to say something. Even when she wasn't really sure herself what was going on.

"Is this me?"

She asked indicating the mirror with one hand while Murphy held the other. The confusion cleared from his face but the concern remained.

"You can be whoever you want to be now Anna. But the most important thing is to get you healed up."

Anna turned back to the mirror for a moment to look at her reflection once again. That was the problem she supposed. She could be anyone she wanted to be, she was starting her life over again. But she had no idea what to do with that. Murphy must have noticed that it was all a bit much for her. She had only just left her husbands house after he had nearly killed her, and suddenly her whole life was changing.

"Hey, you don't need to do anything about it right now. It's all going to take some getting used to."

She nodded. He had given her something to think about. Whatever or whoever she decided to be, it was entirely up to her. One thing she knew, and that was that she wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. She had rushed into her marriage with Lorenzo without knowing very much about him and that was a big mistake.