Chapter Twenty Four
The next morning Lauren let herself out of the house, needing to go food shopping. Jake had given her a list of things to buy and the exact money to pay for it. She could feel his eyes on her as she walked towards the market. He didn't seem to care she'd been working at the club until 2:00am (well actually she walked around the square and sat at the war memorial until she was actually due to leave the club before she went home). He'd woken her up at 6:00am and she had cleaned the upstairs of the house, scrubbing the bathroom with a toothbrush. It was now 8:30am as she headed to the tube and looked up at the train times. She had 20 minutes to wait for the train. Lauren leant against the wall. She had £40 in her pocket and knew it wasn't enough to get far enough away from Jake. Raising her eyes she scanned the timetables and prices looking to see how far she could get.
'You're not going to get far' Jake said from beside her, she jumped and turned to look at him.
'What?' she tried to sound innocent.
'You left your Oyster card on the table' he said holding it out to her.
'Oh…' she took it from him 'thank you' she stared down at the card.
'I thought I'd try out the lobster recipe tonight' he said to her 'what do you think?'
'I'll get something on the way to the club' she told him, turning towards the stairs.
Jake grabbed her arm as she turned to go, pulling her roughly round to face him 'you will eat with me and you will eat what I make you' his voice was low and threatening; she could smell the alcohol on his breath.
'Have you been drinking already? It's barely 9:00am' she whispered.
'Are you going to tell me when I can and can't drink?' he hissed at her, his grip tightening on her forearm. She winced in pain.
'No. Of course not' she gasped 'Ouch…Jake please…you're hurting me' tears sprang to her eyes. He twisted her arm and she could feel the bones straining beneath his grip.
'You are my wife. You will obey me' he spat in her face. 'SAY IT' he hissed at her.
'I am your wife' she whispered fighting back the tears 'I….I …will obey you' she swallowed.
'And you better remember that' he twisted her arm a little bit more and she bit down hard on her bottom lip to stop from crying out as the bones grated together, she could taste blood in her mouth and then suddenly Jake was gone. She held her arm close to her chest and held her breath, the pain shooting through her arm was agonising. She leant against the wall for ten minutes, trying to pull herself together, breathing through the pain.
*JB*JB*JB*JB *
Lauren was relieved to find Jake passed out on the sofa when she got back from the shops. She quietly and carefully unpacked the food and went up to the bedroom and changed her clothes. She looked at her arm, it was badly swollen and it hurt to move or even touch it. She felt her eyes fill with tears again and sat down on the bed. She contemplated taking a risk and calling or texting Joey, but she was too frightened about what Jake would do if he caught her with a mobile phone.
She stood up and crept down the stairs, scared that even the tiniest sound would rouse him from his sleep. He stirred as she opened the front door clumsily with one hand, she froze, holding her breath, squeezing her eyes shut. She waited a few more minutes before she took a chance and snuck a peek behind her, Jake was still asleep. She stepped outside and closed the door quietly behind her and she darted across the road to Joey's flat. She hammered on the door, her head swiveling back every now and then to glance at her house, the door was still shut. She hammered on the door again and she heard movement from the other side. The door opened and a bleary eyed Joey appeared. He stunk of alcohol too. She pushed against him, glancing back at her house again. Joey frowned.
'What are you doing here?' he asked her.
'Just let me in…please' she replied, her voice was shaking with unshed tears and she was trembling.
Joey stepped back, sensing her urgency and he looked across the square at her house and saw the front door start to open. He closed the door to the flat quickly and locked it. Turning to look at Lauren. She was shaking. 'What's wrong?' he asked her, concern flooded his senses. He crossed the room, his hands clasping her shoulders, 'Lauren…?' She raised her eyes to meet his and he saw the unshed tears in them, 'Sweetheart, what's happened? Talk to me' he said gently. He manoeuvred her to the sofa and sat her down on it, it was only then he noticed she was holding her right arm close to her body. He reached out and he took her arm gently in his and carefully took off her coat. He watched her face carefully and saw the pain flicker across her features as he drew her sleeve off. He looked down, Joey saw the bruises on her arm, the swelling. He knew it was broken. He swallowed the bile that rose in his throat as he contemplated the pain she must be in. 'Did Jake do this?' he asked her, already knowing the answer to the question before he asked it. The tears started to fall down her cheeks. Joey put his arm around her and he kissed the top of her head. 'We need to get you to a hospital' he said quietly.
'I just need some ice and pain killers' she replied shakily.
'No. You need more than ice and painkillers' he said softly. 'You need to have an x-ray, probably a cast'
'No!' she shook her head, getting up and moving into the kitchen. She opened his freezer and took out some peas, awkwardly wrapping them in a dishcloth before placing it on her arm. She bit back a cry of pain. Joey watched from the doorway.
'Lauren, your arm is broken' he told her softly 'you have to let me take you to the hospital'
'He didn't mean to…he's drunk' she told him quietly.
'Oh and that makes it okay?' he snapped at her, she looked down and he instantly felt guilty. 'I'm sorry…I just hate the fact that he's hurt you…' he grabbed his phone off the kitchen table, Lauren listened as he ordered a taxi. 'It'll be here in ten minutes' he told her softly. 'Did he do this last night?' he asked her, she shook her head.
'This morning' she replied in a whisper 'I told him he shouldn't be drinking so early' she explained 'I shouldn't have said anything, I know he doesn't like it when I call him out on his drinking' she told him 'it's my fault' she whispered.
'No, Lauren it isn't' Joey told her softly, shaking his head 'this isn't your fault' he lifted her chin with his fingers and he looked at her. 'It's Jake's' he told her softly.
AN: Thank you for all your reviews I guess you are all enjoying TBB! So we learnt a little more about Jake and I don't know about you but I'm still not his number one fan! And how caring is Joey when Lauren goes to see him? So is Lauren's arm actually broken and what is Joey going to say if it is the case? Leave me a review… back later.