Heavenly Virtues

Part 15

The rest of her week played out the same day after day. Dragging herself out of bed or off the floor after a disorienting nightmare and forcing herself to shower. Looking in the mirror she could see day after day the affects the little sleep and continuous crying had on her. By Friday dark bags had formed under her eyes that grew continuously hard to cover with makeup and her eyes were swollen and red. She felt spaced out and lonely, officer Saunders picked her up every morning with a coffee, little bit of chit chat and at some point they would switch off. Officer Sanchez would bring her home, sometimes sitting with her just to keep her company, or to make sure she ate.

By Friday she looked like she had dropped 5 pounds and was a shell of the person she was. The boys listened, leaving her alone and never catching a glimpse of her as she finished work long before them and by the time they came to the pub she was locked away in her room.

But today was the day, her parents where coming for the weekend. Some point through the week her granda had talked her into telling her parents what happened and they were worried. They begged her to come back to Toronto and they could figure it out as a family, but she couldn't, something was holding her here and it didn't matter how much danger she was in she couldn't bring herself to leave.

Officer Sanchez brought her home again and stayed for tea before leaving. Ashley showered and changed hoping she could pass for better then she felt. Today would be the first time she left her place to hang out at the pub this week. A chance to see the boys from a far and her parents wanted to catch up with her granda who had to work since Kathy was off sick. When she made it down to the pub it was still fairly empty, she sat at the end of the bar closest to the stairs leading to her place and kept her head down.

She sat there nursing her drink til she heard the cheers of patrons that signaled the boys arrival. She couldn't bring herself to look at them, she had no right, but that didn't stop the longing she felt to talk to them, sit with them and pester them about their day, feeling their small affectionate touches. She downed the drink she had been nursing and asked for another.

Conner brushed past the crowd of regulars that cheered them on and found a booth with Murphy and Rocco in tow. Tonight was the first night they could really drink the way they wanted to without worrying about work the next day. They had been here every night this week silently hoping to run into Sarah so they could confront her in a softer way then Murphy had left it but she was never in the pub. When they had asked Doc he had as politely as he could, brushed them off. This is why they were sat at the booth, if they sat near doc they would bug him about it all night.

It didn't take long for Murphy to see her, tucked away at the far end of the bar. Her hair was covering her face, she was sitting alone, but he could tell she wasn't herself. He watched her for a while, pounding back drink after drink until he could see Doc place a water in front of her when she had layed her head on the counter. Conner and Rocco had noticed her too and her display only worried the three. The place was filling up and between the crowds of people they could only catch glimpses of her.

Until the door opened and two middle aged people who they had never seen before walked in. The man a tall and plump, graying fellow who looked as if he would hit you just for looking at him the wrong way and the woman a short thin, redhead who looked like the sweetest woman on the planet. They crossed the pub and hugged Sarah in a desperate embrace, which is when the three finally caught a glance of her face.

Ashley had been in her own world, blocking out the din of the crowded pub around her when she felt a small and delicate hand on her forearm, making her jump. She looked up to find her ma looking at her with such pity it choked her up. She fell out of the chair as her ma wrapped her in an embrace and let out a small sob. Her Da wrapped his arms around them both and sqeezed her so tight she thought she might actually be able to keep it together.