Beyond repair

Chapter One

Melissa let out a long sigh as she rolled over, transferring her weight from her left side to her right side. It had been over two months now that she hadn't had a full night's sleep. She opened her eyes slowly and stared at the silhouette of the man who lay next to her, trying to make out his features in the moonlight that shone through the window. A slither of moonlight highlighted his scar that stretched from the top of his ear down his cheek to his chin. It looked smooth and soft, and she wondered how it felt to touch, although she would never dare try.

An ache echoed through her chest as she watched the face of the man who slept beside her. A stranger who, in reality, was no stranger, at least his physical essence wasn't. He was David, her husband of 15 years, and for the most part her best friend. But 2 months ago things changed. He changed and now she spent most of her time feeling completely estranged from him.

Sighing again loudly she rolled back to her left side as the memory of a seemingly harmless day that ended in a tragedy filled her thoughts. Tears filled her eyes and she pulled herself up in the bed. She glanced back at her husband as her feet met with the cold bedroom floor. As silently as she could he got out of bed and made her way through the dark room until she reached the door. As the door screeched open her husband groaned behind her and rolled over in the bed. She turned to look at him and their eyes met for an instant before he looked away and rolled back on his side without saying a word. She too turned, walked through the door and closed it behind her.

The hallway was dark, yet familiar as she made her way to her daughter, Isabel's, room. The door seemed heavy as she pushed it open and leaned her head against the frame. Directly across from the door, was the bed. The empty bed. A reminder of what she no longer had. She wiped her hand across her cheek as the tears began to fall.

Isabel, their only daughter, had wanted for so long to go to the seaside. She had asked every day of that summer holiday until Melissa finally agreed, David's firm encouragement had helped of course. The morning of their trip had buzzed with excitement and caution as Melissa voiced several reasons that they should delay the trip for another day, but Isabel's enthusiasm managed to quell any opposition. And David had already prepared and packed a picnic basket and a change of clothes in case they decided to go swimming Melissa's concerns may as well have been falling on deaf ears. In any case, Melissa's nephew and niece soon arrived, and the 3 children stood at the doorway bouncing up and down like hyperactive toddlers and brimming with enough excitement to make even someone as stoic as Melissa burst into a fit of laughter. So any further doubts about the feasibility of the trip left her mind and she decided it would be better to simply enjoy the day than oppose it.

The train was a lot less crowded than she had imagined. Another pro she said to herself as she settled down in their cabin next to her nephew Michael. Michael was quite mature for an eight-year-old. And, knowing of Melissa's anxiety about travelling, had offered to sit next to her to allow her to relax without Isabel and Sarah disturbing her too much. Although they were only sitting at the other side of the table with David, at least he would have the responsibility of keeping them calm and quiet.

"Thanks," Melissa whispered to Michael as David swapped positions with the girls for the 3rd time.

"Okay," he said with a slight sound of frustration finally spilling out. "You have to stay by the window now, Isabel. We can't keep switching places."

The girls laughed in unison and then turned their attention to the window view. Their soft murmur of whispers was only disjointed by random, yet regular intervals of giggles. Melissa had no idea what they found so funny about their view but she found their laughter was annoyingly contagious as it tried to creep up on her despite her discomfort.

She flicked through the pages of a home management magazine she had picked up at the newsagent, and in the hope of suppressing the giggle that had been emerging for some time, she let out a groan and tossed the magazine onto the table, her eyes catching David's gaze.

"Don't worry Mel," he said smiling brightly at her. "The ride's just a couple of hours, we'll be sitting on the beach before you know it. I promise you'll have fun today, okay?"

"Okay." She said melodically, and although she was still not completely sold on the idea of a day at the seaside, she soon gave in to the usual banter and games that always take place on a trip.

"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with ... B." Michael sang.

"Bed" Sarah screamed, which sent Isabel into laughter.

"You can't see any beds!" Michael explained.

"Bees," She screamed again, "Busy bees."

"NO!" Michael shouted back. "I hate playing this game with Sarah. She just shouts out anything."

"It's ok Michael." Melissa said calmly, "She's still young and she's excited."

"She's always spoiling the games." He continued to moan.

"Bridge?" Isabel asked awakening from a thoughtful daze.

"There aren't any bridges around," David said sleepily. The fact that he was still awake was surprising. David almost always fell asleep when they were travelling, which is why they always took a train when they went on long journeys. Melissa had never gotten around to taking her driving test, although she had done several hours of lessons. So David was the sole driver in their household. But he hated driving long distances because the ride always made him sleepy.

"Yes." Michael said grumpily, "There was a bridge over there when I made the spy!"

"Bridge?" Asked Sarah, "Oh yes. B...br...bridge. I saw it too."

"Well, you didn't say it!" Michael said, "It's Isabel's turn."

"But it's not fair," Sarah shouted, "You should have said it begins with 'br'."

Melissa chuckled and David closed his eyes. Having only one child meant they were only partially accustomed to sibling arguments. This was something they only experienced whenever they had Michael and Sarah come over for the night. They could argue over anything and they could do it for hours if you left them.

Melissa reached into her bag to take out the bag of pick and mix ...

"No," she whispered and softly banged her head against the bedroom door frame. That was the last thing she remembered from that day, wrapping her hands around the bag of pick and mix.