Enough is Enough- A Reddie Short Story

Chapter Three

When she pulled into the drive, she breathed a sigh of relief. Eddie's car was already parked there.

She carefully got out of the car, groaning in pain as she walked along the concrete drive to her front door. Everything ached.

She wiggled the key into the lock with shaking fingers, stepping inside without hesitation.

The smell of coffee wafted through the hallway, as well as the sound of the kettle boiling. She slumped against the door for a moment, breathing deeply, trying to calm herself down.

Eddie popped his head round the kitchen door, smiling at her.

"Hey, you're back!" He greeted

As he walked over to kiss her, his smile dropped and his blood ran cold. Her face was smudged with blood, bruises starting to form underneath her pale skin. She was holding her wrist to her chest. Eddie noticed it was misshapen and bent at a funny angle, unmistakably broken.

It only took one glance at him for her to break down completely.

Eddie pulled her into his arms as she sobbed, sinking down to the floor with her. She was trembling against him, his heart threatening to break as her breathing became heavier and her sobs grew louder.

Suddenly, she was fighting for breath. Her throat felt like it was shrivelling up, closing in on her air pipe, strangling and suffocating her. Her lungs and chest felt like they were on fire. The walls of the house felt as though they were closing in on her, about to crush her.

"Breathe Rach, breathe" Eddie instructed encouragingly, holding her tighter

"I... can't" she gasped between breaths

Eddie sat in front of her, taking her uninjured hand into his own, tilting her chin so her deep, brown eyes were looking into his own.

"You can, match my breathing" he reassured

He started to take slow deep breaths, in through his nose and out through his mouth, calmly encouraging Rachel to imitate him.

It took a few moments, but she started to copy him. Her breaths were heavy and wheezy, each one more painful than the one before. Just when she thought she couldn't manage another, Eddie tilted her chin again so she was looking into his eyes, letting her know he was there.

Eventually, the walls of the house began to retreat, her throat had opened back up and her breathing had started to return to a normal, albeit wheezy pace. She collapsed into Eddie's arms, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. Eddie kissed her forehead gently, his thumb gently stroking her shoulder.

"What happened, Rach?" Eddie asked eventually, once she had calmed down

Rachel looked at him painfully.

How could she tell him?

What was she supposed to say?

Even though Eddie had never met the man that Rachel was so intimidated by, he knew a lot about Max Tyler. They had spent hours talking about him. Rachel had come home on so many evenings, angry, frustrated and sometimes tearful because of his behaviour and the way Max was treating her. He knew about the bullying, the controlling behaviour, the lying. Rachel had told him everything. He knew that he was still married, even though he was seeing Kim. He knew that he had Kim wrapped around his little finger, which had caused the friendship between Kim and Rachel to breakdown. He didn't have to meet the man to know whether he liked him or not. He didn't. And he suddenly had a feeling he was about to hate his guts even more.

Rachel took a deep, shaky breath.

"It was Max" she whispered, unable to look Eddie in the eye

Eddie sighed painfully, anger bubbling inside him.

"What happened?" He asked, placing his hand on her arm gently

"Kim found out about his wife. I... I couldn't keep it in any longer Eddie, I had to tell her! She was falling head over heels for him and he'd been lying to her the whole time! What kind of friend would I be if I'd known about it and didn't tell her?"

She took another deep, wheezy breath before continuing

"So Kim finished with him, and he came storming into my office and he... punched me" she explained tearfully

She showed him the lump on the back of her head, and the swelling around her left wrist. The bruises on her face seemed to be growing stronger in colour minute by minute, as well as the swelling on her nose.

Eddie held her closer, wanting to protect her with every ounce of his being.

"You did the right thing, Rach. Kim had a right to know. He had no right to take his anger out on you though"

"It doesn't matter now, the damage is done" she shrugged

"You need to report him for assault Rach, what he did to you, it's disgusting! You have to contact the Police" Eddie reasoned

Rachel shook her head frantically

"I can't do that Eddie. There's no evidence, it's his word against mine!" She argued

"Rachel, you can't let him get away with this!" Eddie insisted

"Eddie the Police don't care, cases like these don't stand in court! They never have done. I just want to forget it ever happened" she protested

Eddie sighed heavily. He knew he couldn't force her to press charges if she didn't want to. But he had to do something.

He took her hand into his own again, cringing as she whimpered at the pain in her wrist as he did. He let go immediately.

"Will you at least let me take you to Hospital to be checked over? I think your wrist is broken" He requested

Rachel nodded, lifting it back up to rest it across her chest

Eddie helped her up, guiding her carefully out of the house and to his car. He helped her into the passenger seat, closing the door behind her.

He climbed into the driver's seat next to her, squeezing her hand gently to reassure her.

"It's going to be ok Rach, we'll sort this"

Rachel nodded

Eddie started the car, reversing out of the driveway and in the direction of the hospital.