Broken

Shes gone

As soon as Anna heard what her mother said, everything went black. She didn't know where she was, she couldn't hear her father trying to wake her up, she didn't hear her mothers screams. She didn't hear anything.

She didn't feel anything.

Martha was like a mom to Anna her whole life. Since Anna and Isabelle didn't have the best "mother-daughter" relationship, she looked up to Martha. Martha also had kids of her own. 4 boys and 1 girl, technically 2 if you count Anna but not by blood, Arthur, Thomas, John, Finn, and Ada.

She loved being with the Shelby's. She could actually be herself around them, and they wouldn't judge her, or tell her she wasn't being "lady like". That was the main thing Martha adored about Anna. She was so unique. And that was why Anna loved Martha so much. She never judged her, she never judged anyone. Anna she so glad that she basically took her in as her own, even when she still had 5 other kids to take care of.

•••

Anna woke up very drowsy. She couldn't tell where she was for a moment but soon realized, it was her bedroom.

Next to her was one of the maids, Clara. Anna and Clara had grown a very strong bond together. Anna would always go down to the kitchen where Clara would usually be, and Anna would sit and talk with Clara while she worked. They were like best friends.

"How are you feeling darling?" Clara said. Anna wanted to talk but was still very drowsy with a very dry mouth and sore throat. So she tried to motion to the water so she could try and talk atleast. Clara handed her the water and Anna practically chugged it.

"My head hurts."

"That's normal. Do you know what happened?" Clara was afraid she would have forgotten what happened with Martha since she was out cold for so long. 6 hours to be exact.

"Martha died. I heard mom say that she was gone and thats the last thing I remember." Anna couldn't cry. She wanted to, just so she could atleast try to feel relieved, or atleast go back to sleep and wake up and find out it was all a dream. "It couldn't be real. It can't be real. It's not possible." She kept repeating over and over in her head.

"It can't be real. I have to see him. I have to go to Small Heath. I need to see Thomas." Anna said as she tried to get up but was to weak in the legs to stand.

She needed to see Thomas. That was the one person she needed to see. She had loved Thomas since she was 10. He was her prince. He was her person. She didn't care if he didn't feel the same way, cause she knew no matter what would happen, she would still feel the same way about him.

After about 2 minutes she ran downstairs to leave before she was stopped by her dad. "Hey, hey, hey. Whats the matter?" She began to panic trying to leave the house. "I need to go to Small Heath. I need to see Thomas. Let me go!" Her dad wasn't loosening his grip on her. "Anna, you're not going to Small Heath by yourself."

"Watch me."

And like that she ran. Ran out of the house and didn't stop till she got to the train station. She needed to see him. She didn't care that she left home. All she needed to know was that Tommy was okay.

•••

Anna was running down Watery Lane. She hadn't stopped running since the train station. She ran 4 miles. She got to the Shelby house and stopped for a moment. She needed to think and catch her breath, as she was doing that she started crying. She was about to walk into Martha's house and she didn't know what to expect. She pulled herself together and knocked on the door.

Polly answered the door and was shocked to see the hyperventilating girl outside her house. "Jesus christ Anna. What the hell you doing 'ere?" Polly quickly let her in not wanting her outside any longer while it was freezing and she wasn't dressed properly for cold weather, and it was night time on Watery Lane. Lots of drunk men coming and going from their jobs to bars, bars to home.

"Wheres Thomas." Thats all she said. That's all she needed to know. "Oh honey, I don't know if you want to-" "Where is he" Polly looked worried for her. She knew Anna had known about Martha. And anytime something bad happened, Anna was the first one to ask if Thomas was alright. She always worried about him.

"He's in his room but he's very upset." Anna didn't need to be told twice as she ran upstairs and walked into Tommy's room. He heard someone walk in but didn't turn over on his bed. "Go away."

"Thomas.."

He turned around so fast he thought his head was spinning. He hadn't seen Anna in awhile and he didn't know why but he didn't care. She was here. "Anna. How'd you get 'ere?" She ran into his arms and almost lost it. She didn't want to cry infront of Thomas. She didn't like crying infront of anyone really. She hated it. But he cried. He cried for a long time. While Anna was laying there in bed with Tommy, crying silently to herself.

Even though it was the worst day of her life, she was in her happy place. She was with Thomas and that was all she needed in that moment.

A/N
Hi sorry these chapters might be shorted then usual, but i want this book to be long so i'm kinda spacing out the chapters. but also a little heads up, the next few chapters are going to be basically the oldest shelby kids and anna for the whole chapters. and then they will start to get older after that. hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!!