Family Portrait (Fam Series #1)

Chapter 124 - Trapped, Princes Park

Two months later.

Adeline -

One good thing about me.

I don't gasbag on and on about things that might annoy people, like my children, or relationships, or material possessions.

And that leads me to the bad things.

I don't know how to speak up. I never have. I've always been terrified that the floor will fall through if I do. My whole life, I've always walked around on eggshells waiting for the next thing to kill me.

When I left the hospital, after my suicide attempt on my 21st birthday, I tried my best to ignore the elephant in the room. I didn't want to talk about what had happened. While everyone at work and on the streets gave me looks of sympathy or disdain, I simply just wanted to act as if nothing had happened.

Not only was the attempt itself traumatic, so was seeing Stephen's terrified, worried sick face when I woke up in the hospital. Zac asking him if I'd survive.

And of course, learning of the miscarriage that I'm pretty sure would have been to the handsome devil himself.

Sometimes I'd rather act like the hospital got it wrong though. Like, as if I'd never been pregnant and I had just gotten my period instead.

I've been pregnant a lot of times now. I think I'd recognise the symptoms.

But that's just great. Because while I've left the hospital, trying to rebuild my life at Ashleigh's and slightly in Richmond, the media have taken a liking to me. They all know about what happened that day. They're all writing about it. Jamie Raegan Dunkley took to publicly slamming and slut shaming me on her Instagram story and a post, and boy did everyone just eat that up. I'd never felt so low. I was no longer Adeline. I was now Adeline the psychotic slut.

COVID-19 has now been ravaging my country as well as the entire world. It's like a thing of nightmares. You leave your house and EVERYONE is wearing a mask of some description. You go into Melbourne City and it's dead. You can't be closer than 2.5 metres with someone. There's press conferences of the premier talking bullshit out of his ass every day. The prime minister has disappeared again, New South Wales have shut their borders to us, and so many people are sick and dying. And after a full autopsy, the Epworth Hospital have decided that they're confident Jack's true cause of death was this virus. But because it wasn't well known enough about back then, there couldn't have been a formal diagnosis.

Nothing at work really feels normal. People are getting sent home with their computers. Stephen says any day now and we'll be one of them, working from home. Zac's about to lose his shifts in the cafe, it is craziness. Maddening.

I still haven't spoken to Josh Dunkley. He has completely switched me off and I don't know why. I don't know what I can do to make him speak to me again. He's suddenly all over his wife in photos and videos on Instagram. He was showing off to me on my birthday. Kyle seems to be the nicer sibling now which is shocking because I thought nobody could ever top Joshua. I guess I was wrong.

'Morning Stephen' I say, as I sit down in my chair and set up my laptop.

'Not now!' He says, as he waves me away with his hand. I look up to see he's in some sort of aggressive phone call.

I awkwardly spin around on my chair as I continue getting ready for the day, well aware of the conversation going on behind me.

'I ASKED YOU NOT TO DO THAT. I REMEMBER SPECIFICALLY ASKING YOU TO DO THE EXACT OPPOSITE'

Sigh. This call really sets the tone off for the day.

'Adeline' Zac says, popping his head in through the door as he delivers my coffee. I put my finger to my mouth to shush him, as I gesture back at Stephen.