Chapter 26
Max
I heard someone banging on the door then ring the doorbell, I look at my family with confusion covering my face. None of us were expecting visitors so I couldn't think who would be at the door, especially at this time of the night.
I got up from my chair and hurried to the door, something inside of me was pressing me to go faster, that it was important. Like it was a matter of life and death and it confused and scared me at the same time.
I open the door only to catch someone as they fell, I, instinctively, knew it was Liz and I hear Tammy gasp behind me as I leant Liz backward and swallowed hard at the sight of her bruised and swollen face. She looked like she had been in a fighting match, only one that the fight went on with no rules.
"Oh my god!" My mother exclaimed as I carried Liz into the house, away from the cold as my dad hurried over to the phone and called an ambulance. I couldn't think, not with Liz's battered and bruised face lying lifeless.
"The police are over at the Parker's house, apparently there were a lot of noises that the neighbours called them in." Michael stated when he came in with the rest of the gang. "What's going on…?' he caught sight of Liz's bloodied body. 'Fucking hell!" he exclaimed, Maria and Tess moved him out of the way and caught sight of Liz.
"LIZ!" they both screamed as they hurried over by my side. "What happened?" Tess demanded as tears ran down her face.
"I don't know." I whispered.
"Did you say that the police are over at the Parker?" Tammy demanded to Michael and he nodded, we all looked up and saw Tammy looking furious. "Those fucking bastards!" she screamed as she made a move toward the door but my dad wrapped his arms around her arms and her waist, holding her back. "I'm going to kill them!" Tammy screamed; my dad was holding her back as she fought against his grip. "Why couldn't you just let me tell someone Liz, why did you have to make me promise?" she sobbed out.
"Tammy…" Jake started as he took a step toward her, he stopped and looked at me, I was shrugged, confused.
"I'm gonna fucking kill them, I should have done it when I first found out but no you had to make me promise, Liz, why couldn't you just tell him? Why did you have to shoulder it all the time?" she demanded before breaking down, Jake hurried over to her and pulled her into his body as they both fell to their knees, he rocked her backward and forward, kissing her forehead.
"Tammy, Sh, everything will be okay." Jake whispered.
"No it won't, why couldn't she just let me tell someone?" she sobbed into his chest.
"Max…" mom turned to me with a questioning tone.
"Tammy knows who did this to Liz, I'm guessing it happened before as she had been tight lipped." I explained and she shook her head before looking at Tammy.
"My poor baby." She whispered.
The door was slammed open once more and we saw the paramedics rushing through the hallway, they saw Liz lying on the ground and hurried over to her, they checked her over before moving her to the stretcher.
"What happened?" One of the men asked.
"I don't know, she just came here like this and she hasn't woken up since she passed out." I explained and they nodded.
"Okay, we better get her to the hospital as soon as possible." They stated as they led her out of the house.
"I'm coming with you." I told them and they nodded, I turned to the others. "You can drive the jeep." I told them and they nodded as I hurried out of the house, I jogged down the driveway, stopping when I saw a bloodied handprint on the metal of my jeep, I swallowed hard when I realised it was Liz's handprint hurried in the ambulance, questions running around my head.
We, finally, reached the hospital, we all got out and the doctors and nurses took Liz away into the emergency room while I was standing at the door, looking through the window as they worked on her.
"Max!" I heard people shouting, I turned around and saw the gang heading toward me.
"Where is she?" My mom asked.
"She's in there." I told them and they nodded as they led me over to the seat, I was still in a shock at what I saw.
We were sitting there for what felt ages when the doctor finally came out.
"Doctor." My dad stated as he stood up. "How is she?" he asked.
"She's a very lucky girl I can tell you that, she has some internal bleeding which we managed to stop, a few of them were quite life threatening, she is still unconscious though." He explained and my dad nodded.
"Will be able to see her?" he asked and the doctor shook his head.
"Not yet, the nurse is just going to clean her up and they will transport her to the ICU room. She will come and get you when you can see her." He explained before walking off, I stood up and paced the hallway as the nurses transported Liz into the room before spinning around to look at my sister.
"Right, I want answers and I want them now!" I snapped.
Tammy
"Right, I want answers and I want them now!" Max snapped as he looked at me. I just continued to look through the window at Liz lying there, black and blue, lying at death's door because she refused to let one of us tell someone that could have helped us. "Tammy." I hear Max warn and I sigh as I turn around to face everyone.
"Liz's parents did this." I whisper and everyone stared at me before looking at Liz then turning to face me once more.
"This is what the secret was?" Max demanded and I nodded.
"Before you ask, I found out purely by accident." I informed them.
"How?" Max asked and I took a deep breath before speaking.
Flashback
I walked into Liz's bedroom and found her lying on the bed, crying.
"Hey Lizzie, what's wrong?" I asked as I sat down on the edge on the bed. I placed my hand on her back and I felt her wince in pain, confusing me. "Liz?" I asked.
"It's nothing Tam." She replied; I shook my head as I pulled up her top and I saw bruises and couple of cuts.
"Liz?" I asked, shakily, wondering what the hell was going on.
"I told you Tam, it's nothing." She told me as she pulled down her top and moved away, I stared at her, incredulous.
"Nothing? Liz, you have cuts and bruises on your back!" I exclaimed as I racked my brain for an answer then it hit me, Liz growing quiet after Rosa's death, how she seems dead all the time, how she seems to fear going home, always making excuses why we can't go over to her house, wearing jumpers and such even in the hot weather. "Liz, have your parents been beating you up?" I demanded and she shook her head but the paling of her face and fear in her eyes told me that I was right. "Liz! Why are they beating you up? You've done nothing!" I shouted.
"I deserve it!" Liz shouted at me. "I drove Rosa to her death!" I shook my head, I knew that Liz and Rosa had an argument before Rosa droved off and somehow ended up crashing into a semi truck. She was killed instantly.
"Liz, you had an argument for crying out loud! Max and I argue but it doesn't mean that he going to drive himself to death!" I shouted back.
"I pushed her over the edge, it was my fault!" Liz shouted and I shook my head.
"You listen to me, it wasn't your fault! Rosa, obviously, had some problems that she never told anyone and it drove her to her own death, not you!" I snapped back and Liz shook her head.
"She left a message, she told my parents that she couldn't live with the fact that I was sister, I drove her to her death!" Liz snapped and I took a step back in a stunned shock.
"Did you read the message?" I demanded and she shook her head.
"No, my mom and dad did." She told me and I let out a scoff of disbelief.
"And you believed them? Liz, as far as we know, there probably wasn't any letter!" I shot back. "In fact, your sister had a lot of problems, she was doing drugs for fuck sake!"
"No she wasn't!" Liz shouted at me and I looked at her, confused, it was well known that Rosa did drugs; it was even in the autopsy report, my father found out when he was checking out the case.
"Liz, she was doing drugs." I stated, softly and she shook her head.
"No she wasn't, mom and dad told me that it was my fault!" she snapped back and it hit me, they must have started beating her since Rosa's death and told it was all her fault that it's now programmed in her head. Damn!
"Liz, we need to tell someone!" I shouted.
"No Tammy, we don't!" Liz shouted back but I refused to back down.
"Let me tell Max." I protested, without knowing that saying his name had caused my phone to autodial his number. "He'll help us!" I exclaimed, Liz shot out of her seat and grabbed my arms.
"No Tammy, you can't tell him, please!" she begged me and that was when I finally realised the full extent of her feelings for my brother. I had made a mental note to talk to her later on about it.
"Liz, we can't deal with it on our own, we need help!" I protested and she shook her head as she put out her pinkie.
"Pinkie promise me you won't tell." She snapped and I shook my head, pinkie promise is the one thing I hate because you are not allowed to break it, you can't break it unless you were willing to lose the person you promised. "Pinkie promise." Liz begged as tears ran down her face and I broke down.
I linked my pinkie with hers and looked deep into her eyes.
"I promise." I whispered.
End Flashback
Max
I stare at Tammy in a stunned shock; I knew Tammy wouldn't pinkie promise unless she really cared about the person.
"I can't believe her parents blamed her for Rosa's death!" Maria bit out bitterly.
"Liz and Rosa had an argument the day Rosa died, they believed Liz pushed Rosa over the edge." Tammy explained and I cursed as I rested my back on the wall.
All those times I knew something was wrong; I let them brush me off saying that everything was okay. God, I was so stupid. "Max?" I looked up and saw Tammy staring at me with fear in her eyes; I hurried over and took her into my arms.
"It's okay, I'm not mad at you. I know you were only doing what Liz begged you to do." I whispered and Tammy nodded.
"How did she hide the bruises and that?" Michael asked and I felt Tammy take in a shuddering breath.
"Liz and I have a huge supply of Foundation, one that were specially made to cover up bruises. You'd be surprise what the make up companies can do when paid money." Tammy explained. "It helped, especially when it came to cheerleading."
"And that's why she never showered with us. She made sure that we were all gone first." Isabel exclaimed and Tammy nodded.
"Yeah, this way no one would see the bruises and cuts and ask questions." Tammy explained.
"But she didn't act like someone who was being beaten on a regular basic." Michael exclaimed, confused.
It struck me like lightening. All those times where she flinched and such, god I was such an idiot.
"She's good at hiding her emotions, her entire life based on it." Maria whispered.
"God Max, we hit it on the mark when you asked if she was being physically abused!" Tess whispered and I nodded.
"Why did on earth did you agree to it?" my mother asked and Tammy sighed.
"I only agreed to the promise if we made a pact, Liz assured me that her parents weren't hitting her too hard, which I didn't believe but had no proof, I told her that if she ended up in hospital, that was it, I would blow the lid off the whole secret, no matter what." Tammy informed them and our mother shook her head.
"What about the medicine?" Kyle asked and Tammy shrugged.
"I don't know if it's due to her injuries or if it's something else, we never really spoke about the attacks because I made it pretty clear how much I hated the secret so she didn't tell me anything in case of provoking me into going to someone." Tammy explained and I shook my head.
"God, why couldn't she tell me?" I asked, anguish filling my voice, she looked at me, she was about to reply when the doctor came out and walked over to us, I stood up.
"Is she okay?" I demanded and he nodded.
"Yeah, she's fine, she has a couple of broken ribs, broken arm and she sprained her ankle. She looks worse than she is, she has bruises and cuts over her body." He informed us then sighed. "I'm sorry to say she lost the baby." He told me and everyone gasped, all I heard was a roaring sound in my ear, the words, 'lost the baby' rang through my head, over and over again. She was pregnant?
"She was pregnant?" I asked and he nodded before understanding dawned on him.
"You never knew, sorry, I assumed you were the father." He told me and I looked at him. "How do you mean?" I asked and he sighed.
"As you said it was her parents who beated her up, I have no idea how further than beating they have gone." He informed me and I felt bile rise up in my throat, the thought of her being sexually assaulted by her father made me sick, I turned to Tammy, pleading in my eyes and she shrugged.
"I have no idea Max, she never told me anything except the beating." She told me and I closed my eyes. The only person who knew was Liz.
"That's where the blood was coming from?" Isabel asked and the doctor nodded.
"Yes, I'm sorry." He whispered before walking off.
"She was pregnant?" my dad asked before looking at me. "Max, did you ever?" he asked and I nodded.
"Yeah, we made love a couple of times." I told him and he nodded.
"It could have been our grandchild." I hear my mom whisper; Isabel broke down in tears.
"Why couldn't she come to one of us? Why hold it in?" Michael demanded as he stood up and I sighed.
"That's who she is." I whispered.
A nurse came over to me.
"Hi, would you like to see Liz now?" she asked and I nodded.
"Please." I whispered and she nodded.
"Follow me." She instructed, I followed her to Liz's room; I was going to see her.
TBC