Never let her go

Chapter 14

Lucy POV

⚠️Trigger warning: mention of violence. ⚠️

My body was burning in pain.

I wanted to scream and cry. I wanted to run from this room and never look back. But I couldn’t. And not just because I was in so much pain. I couldn’t because I had to be strong. I had to wait until tomorrow.

Everything will be okay tomorrow.

I tried to get up, but my body screamed at me. Tears fell from my eyes, down my face, and into my hair.

Memories of last night came flooding back.

“Sir, please, stop.” I begged as Jack slid a knife down my back for the hundredth time.

Jack chuckled darkly. Begging never helped, and I knew it wouldn’t help now, but my mouth moved on its own. I had nothing to do but beg and cry.

Jack had me pinned down on the floor, laying on my stomach. He straddled me and pinned my arms behind my back. He lifted my shirt so he could have access to my back. My cheek was pressed against the cold floor and my tears made my vision blurry.

“Such a pretty nickname.” Jack said, taking a sip of some hard liquor right out of the bottle. “Doll. Brian always knew how to give girls the prettiest nicknames.”

I sobbed and closed my eyes. Last night’s torture wasn’t focused on physical pain. He did cut my back, but the cuts were shallow and didn’t hurt that much. Maybe that was just because the words coming out of his mouth hurt a lot more than any physical injury that he could inflict upon me.

That was his plan all along. He wanted to shatter me, he wanted to scare me, he wanted to see me cry.

He managed to do all of that in just a couple of hours.

I felt broken. I felt complete and utter despair.

He kept mentioning Brian. He kept reminding me of the worst night of my life. He kept calling me by that nickname. He kept pressing the knife into my skin because he knew how terrified I would be.

I hate knives. It doesn’t matter what kind of knife it is. Big, small, butterknife, sharp, dull. I don’t care. I hate them all. I have hated them ever since that night with Brian. Jack apparently found out and decided it would be another great way to torture me.

I sighed and glanced at my watch. 6 am.

I have to get up if I’m going to be at work on time today. I promised Theo I wouldn’t be late. I have to get going. I don’t want him to worry.

I pushed myself to sit on my bed. I lifted my shirt and groaned. My ribs were black and blue with a little hint of green on the edges. Most of my pain came from them, and I knew it would take a while for them to heal. Jack sitting on my back for hours yesterday didn’t help.

I put my shirt back down and stood up slowly. I walked to my bathroom. Each step made me want to throw up.

I turned on the light and stood in front of a mirror. There were dark bags under my eyes, and my cheeks were puffy and red. I looked like I hadn’t slept for days, which was not far from the truth, actually.

I turned around and lifted my shirt so I could look at my back.

It wasn’t as bad as I thought. There were a couple of cuts on my back, but they weren’t deep. I guess it felt like a hundred because I was terrified. Jack probably only pressed the knife into my skin without making a cut. But even that was enough to scare me to death.

I grabbed the Polysporin from my drawer and applied it to the cuts on my back.

I bought the Polysporin a couple of months ago so I could treat the cuts and scrapes Jack leaves on my skin. I didn’t want to get an infection. That would require an antibiotic, and I knew that Jack would never let me go to a doctor. I didn’t have to get a prescription for the Polysporin, so it worked perfectly.

Painkillers were a whole other story. They were actually Jack’s. He had an accident at work a couple of years ago. He worked at the construction site and fell. He broke his leg and they had to take him to surgery. His leg never recovered completely. That is why he is only working part-time. His leg still hurts, and he can’t walk or stand for a long time. They prescribed him with tramadol, and I’ve been stealing that from him for the past year.

I know how dangerous that is. I know that I shouldn’t be doing that. I know it’s an opiate and I could get addicted. But I didn’t have any other choice. Jack would never let me go to the hospital and I wouldn’t be able to go to school or work without the pills. I’ve done enough research to know how much I can take, and I’ve been really careful. I’ve actually been taking an even smaller dose than I could. I really don’t want to get addicted.

Jack never noticed. He doesn’t even take them most of the time anyway. I guess alcohol is doing a pretty good job for him.

The cut on my stomach was much deeper, and it would take a long time to heal. I hoped that Polysporin could help with healing and prevent infection. I applied a generous amount to the cut on my stomach and placed a clean bandage over it.

I actually managed to take a shower last night after Jack finally let me go. It was a good thing, because there was no way I could be on time if I had to take a shower now.

I pulled on a clean black shirt, black jeans, and my old Chucks. It was really warm outside, and I wasn’t really comfortable in long sleeves, but I had no other choice. I couldn’t wear short sleeves until the bruises on my arms faded away.

I popped two painkillers and swallowed them without water. I grabbed the concealer and applied a generous amount to my face, trying to cover up the dark bags under my eyes.

When I finished, I looked pretty good. I don’t think anybody will be able to tell that something isn’t right. At least I hoped they wouldn’t.

It was exactly 7 am when I made it to the diner. I was really proud of myself. With each step I took, I just wanted to stop and lie down. But I didn’t, and I made it.

My brothers were already there, standing in front of the back entrance, waiting for me to come. Theo looked nervously in my direction. Liam and Ezra were on their phones, and Noah was talking to Theo, who ignored him completely.

As soon as he saw me, Theo ran toward me. He pulled me into a tight hug, and a part of me just wanted to push him away and scream. The other part of me was so happy because I finally saw my brother.

Noah was right behind him, giving me a huge smile and pulling me to him.

“We missed you.” Noah said.

“I missed you too.” I smiled and looked at Theo.

He had dark bags under his eyes, similar to my own. Did he not sleep?

“Are you okay, Theo?” I asked, taking his hand in mine. “You look tired.”

“I’m fine.” he said. “Are you wearing make-up?”

He narrowed his eyes and tried to wipe my face with his thumb.

“Yes.” I said, moving his hand away gently.

“Why?” he asked. “You don’t need it.”

I gulped and forced a smile on my face. “I’m a girl. I enjoy wearing make-up sometimes and today is one of those days.”

Theo furrowed his eyebrows, and I shivered. Why is he asking about make-up? Does he not like the idea of me wearing it, or is it something else? Can he see the dark bags? I covered them up nicely. At least I thought I did.

“Hey, love.” Liam pulled me into a hug and broke the stare down between me and Theo. “The process is going great. Pack your bags tonight. I will get custody tomorrow and we are going home.”

“Really?” Noah exclaimed excitedly.

“Jason just texted me.” Liam smiled. “Tomorrow we will finally have you back. For good this time.”