Hi Everyone,
A little later than promised but what can I say, my job sucks sometimes. Anyway, I'm not 100% happy with this chapter but I cannot procrastinate any further. I hope you like. Feedback would be appreciated just so that I know people are still interested in this story. Thanks
Chapter 54
The other occupants were surprised that Prue had asked but also relieved that they did not need to broach the topic. They all felt it was a good sign that she been able speak his name this time and Andy especially recognised this as significant. Feeling Piper and Phoebe defer the question to him simply by looking to him for an explanation, Andy decided to be completely honest with Prue. If any of this was going to work then honesty was going to be key.
"Well, right now he's in jail. After we read the diaries we managed to secure a search warrant and we searched your home where we found Roger's secret room. Before you start to worry, none of us have seen the content of what was found and my partner made sure that as few people as possible saw it and only when absolutely necessary to build the case." Prue relaxed a little upon hearing that. It was one thing in her mind for Andy to have read what she had written about the abuse but she was unsure whether she would have been able to stand him having seen her in such a degrading and vulnerable position.
"Once we found that evidence things moved pretty quickly and we caught Roger about to hop on a plane out of the country. Thankfully my partner had thought to alert all airports etc and we had a tip that he had purchased a one way ticket to London. The way I understand it he didn't know about your amnesia at the time and with me sniffing around he figured it would be safer to just cut his losses and run."
Silence settled once again as Prue let the information sink in. Forcing her mind to think logically she knew that for him to already be in jail meant that they had charged him based on the evidence they had found as she had amnesia at the time and would not have been able to testify. She really hoped that meant that her testimony wouldn't be required but the sensible voice in her mind told her that wasn't going to happen. That small part of her knew that if she really wanted this to be over with for good, then her testimony was going to be the nail in Roger's coffin and she needed to find a way to accept that.
Back at the station, Morris was pouring through everything they had retrieved from the house as well as phone and financial records which they had also obtained following the charges being brought against Roger.
It became very clear that Roger kept Prue on a very tight leash. He controlled all the money, all her accounts such as her cell phone, bank and credit card and Morris could only hazard a guess at how far that control extended. Closer inspection of Prue's cell phone account showed a block in place on all calls except those to a pre-agreed list. Cross referencing showed she had only been allowed to place calls to her sisters, Roger, their house and the museum. Further records showed that Roger himself had two cell phones and one of those phones had a high number of calls to some recurring numbers. Getting onto the phone company to retrieve the particulars, Morris soon found that a high number of calls were to a private investigator and after running the details of the other names he had obtained found the other names to be prostitutes. Morris was hopeful he would be able to get plenty of good information from this lead and that it would only strengthen their case further.
Following the discussion about Roger, Andy had made his excuses to get some fresh air and allow the sisters to talk. Prue had been reluctant at first to let go of his hand but after much reassurance that he would indeed be back she had let go. Before walking out of the room he leant down and placed a gentle kiss on Prue's forehead, pleased when she didn't pull away but lean slightly into it. Andy took that as a good sign as he stepped out into the corridor making his way towards the vending machines and then the main doors. He wanted the chance to eat and drink something and get a little fresh air after the enormity of what had just happened and he also wanted to be able to check in with his partner.
In the room, Piper and Phoebe had taken up space on either side of Prue and were holding a hand each. Although they didn't want to push things they wanted to help their sister as much as possible so they decided it might be a good idea to talk about some of the issues that had come to their attention now. They already knew they would not broach the subject of the baby because that was strictly between Andy and their sister and they knew that that conversation would be hard enough without adding their own thoughts and feelings to the equation. So they stuck to a topic that was their business- their grams and their mother.
With some cajoling, Prue had finally opened up to her sisters and told them all she had endured during her childhood. Every time she struggled with her words, her sisters would give her gentle encouragement and squeeze her hands until she could compose herself and carry on. She told them about their mother's death and how their grandmother had been so devastated she had blame Prue. Prue tried to explain to her sisters how upset Grams had been and how she could understand needing someone to blame but Piper and Phoebe made it abundantly clear that that may be the case but that she had no right to place the blame on Prue in any way, shape or form. For hours upon hours they sat talking about everything they could think of from their childhood and slowly, Prue began to believe her sisters when they told her how special she was to them, how grateful they were to her for sacrificing the way she did to raise them and most of all how much they really, truly loved her.
It had been a long time since Prue had felt truly loved. Of course she always knew that her sisters loved her but really feeling it was different. She tried to cast her mind back to the last time she had felt that way and the answer became obvious. Andy. Every good thing in her life seemed to come back to either him or her sisters and at that moment she deeply regretted many things. She regretted never standing up to her grandmother, she regretted breaking up with Andy, she regretted having the termination, she regretted not asking for help sooner and she regretted ever getting involved with Roger. Something about him had never seemed right from the beginning and she knew that if it weren't for her feelings of worthlessness, she would have figured out what sooner rather than later. She also knew that those feelings of worthlessness were not gone for good. She knew deep down that they could come back at any time, without any warning and she knew then and there that was going to need help. From her family and from a professional because listening to her sisters, and having listened to Andy earlier, she now knew she had people to live for. But she wouldn't allow her mind to ting about Andy just yet. She knew that no matter what he had said before, things were going to be anything but simple or easy between them. So much had happened and so much hurt had been caused that it wouldn't be as simple as talking about things and moving on. They both needed to understand what the other had been thinking, why they had said the things they had and why they had done the things they had done. Because now, here at this moment, Prue knew that honesty was going to be the only way forward for her and she also knew it was going to hurt like hell.
Prue, Piper and Phoebe continued talking well into the night – a conversation punctuated by words of comfort, words of reassurance and words of love from all concerned. Together, the three of them had begun to heal the wounds that had been opened without them realizing and they all had to admit it felt good.
Eventually, around midnight, Prue was beginning to fade fast and they knew that was their cue to leave for the night. With promises of picking up where they left off at a date very soon, Piper and Phoebe kissed and hugged their sister goodbye and for the first time, smiled a real, genuine smile as they waved goodbye and left the hospital.
Prue was exhausted but her mind was going a mile a minute and she was struggling to keep up. Her thoughts were flitting between her sisters, her grandmother, Andy and then Roger and occasionally her mother popped up amongst everything else. It felt as if her mind was full up and everything was jostling for control. She lay in the bed with her eyes closed tightly willing her mind to settle down. Even if just picked one thing to obsess over that would be better than this cacophony of sounds and images and words running on a loop. Realizing that no matter how tired she was, she wasn't going to get any sleep with her mind in overtime, Prue managed to sit up against her pillows. Practicing some breathing techniques she had learnt a long time ago she tried to force her mind to calm. It took several attempts as she was quite rusty but she eventually began to tune out many of the thoughts in her mind. Deciding she had spent some significant time this evening going through things with her sisters and talking about her mother and grandmother Prue carefully removed those thoughts from her mind. She felt a lot calmer immediately but she still felt tense with the two remaining issues in her mind. Andy and Roger. She knew that dwelling on either would cause her emotional pain but her talk with her sisters had left her feeling a little stronger so she turned her mind to her fiancé.
'Well ex-fiancé', she thought to herself. 'I suppose since he tried to kill me that the engagement is broken. It's strange but the events are still a little fuzzy. I remember going to dinner. I remember being surprised when Roger ordered drinks for me since that never happens. But I guess that was all part of his plan – to make it look like I was driving drunk and caused the accident. Hmm I wonder how he planned to explain why he let me drive after so much to drink. I suppose I should have seen the warning signs earlier. I knew he was pissed about Andy but it didn't really occur to me that he would be this bothered by it. After everything he had said and done to me he must have known I wouldn't have said a word to anyone. But on the other hand Andy has always been like a dog with a bone, maybe Roger realized that Andy wasn't going to let things go. Maybe he realized that Andy would keep investigating and putting pressure on me to be honest until I cracked. He had to known how I felt about Andy because God knows I was useless at hiding it. And the truth of the matter is I do love him. I tried to deny it for so long, to bury it deep down with everything else that was painful to me but I guess everything does always come to light eventually. After all, I never imagined in a million years that I would escape from Roger. I mean, I planned for it but I didn't think it would ever actually work. I thought I was destined to die at his hands, with my sisters and Andy never knowing how much I loved them and how much I sacrificed for them. Because they are right. I did sacrifice many things for them – my childhood, my college dreams, my one true love, even my baby so that they wouldn't have to give up the things they dreamed of – for Andy that was college and a life in the police force. I know deep down that if he had known I was pregnant he would have dropped out of college, gotten a job and taken me away from my Grams so she couldn't force me to have a termination. But that in turn would have meant leaving Piper and Phoebe and I couldn't ever have done that. They needed me so badly to help them in every way possible – to help them find their way in the world and to work out what their own dreams were. None of them would have been the people they are today if I had done things differently so for that reason alone, I cannot truly regret all my decisions. But I do regret the ones that have hurt them the most. I regret them all finding out everything that has happened the way that they did. I wish I had had the opportunity to come clean with them myself so they didn't have to read about it in a book. But I know that regrets are not going to do me any good now. I need to concentrate on making them understand and then making it up to them if they'll let me. I know I made good progress with my sisters tonight so tomorrow, if he will let me, I need to speak to Andy. I need to say so much and I need him to listen. I know that he truly meant what he said, but a small part of me can't help but worry that once we have everything out in the open, the wounds will be too big to heal, the gap too wide between us.'
Calming her mind further, Prue allowed herself to be pulled into sleep by an image of Andy beckoning to her from their swing. As she drifted off, a slight smile played across her lips.
