DEMARCATION

Seven

AVA

It was evident from their expression that all were shocked at first but within seconds they were pitying him. The fact that they were pitying the accused instead of the victim was getting on my nerves. I could see that Joe was also irritated by this but before he could stand up for me George came forward and informed that he is undergoing PTSD and this was an escape for him.

"I lost my family in a fire and I could only be a bystander. After that I had to go through various treatments even then it gets triggered at certain times. I hope Ms.Ava could understand what Liam was going through and forgive him."

I just kept quite and stopped Joe from reacting by holding his hand. I knew that if we go against him now all will blame us for being cruel and for the next few days we will be avoided turning this into a nightmare. Next Wendy confessed having depression and almost taking her child's life which made her realize that it had gone too far and if not taken care of anything could happen so she joined here.

Amy was the next but instead of  a confession she just laughed.

"I don't have any problems but I like to take a break every year and detaches myself  from the society."

"We lost our only child last year and have not been able to cope up with that" John told to which a whimper escaped from Martha's side. John stopped and started consoling Martha."

"My brother was murdered and we wanted to avoid any emotional problems due to that in our future so..." Sharon told. I was waiting for Wendy next but she kept quite.

I was sad for them but that didn't give them the right to induce a new trauma into me after everything I have gone through. I turned to see Joe staring at Amy in trance mode and I didn't want to create any trouble so I left the hall without any word. Jane tried to stop me and instructed me to take food but I just acted not to hear it. I Went to my room and closed the door.

I tried to sleep but my  insomnia started to work up again and it was hard to fall asleep. I started thinking of Sid and my family. My parents started feeling disappointed in me after Mila's marriage which resulted in me moving out. Due to my plan to quit the job I was aware of the fact that I would be in need of money very soon. So instead of buying a new home I opted to share a two bedroom apartment with someone. Since I couldn't provide a tenant to stay with me I had to share it with an unknown person. The apartment consist of a tiny kitchen, a spacious hall if no furniture is added and two bedrooms. I remembered how I met Sid in the apartment and thought him to be a burglar. Even though we hated each other for sometime it turned into an unexpected friendship. 

It was for the first time I had a friend whom I could trust and with whom I started spending more time than I thought. I knew Joe from childhood as we used to be neighbors and classmates but we didn't bond as I avoided him for most of the parts. It was also due to my parents expectation I felt to avoid anything except studies. Later on Joe moved away from there and we had no contact until I met Sid. Joe was Sid's friend who always visited him. When we met again through Sid it was awkward at first but slowly we started to bond.

Our trio was a bit different as  Sid was a surgeon, Joe being a cop and me being in the IT field. I started to open up about my family to them but slowly I detached from my family. I stopped going over to my house and contacting them because they never wished for it. All was good until Sid died... or more correctly murdered.

Everything shattered for me. We have just confessed to each other about our love and I lost him before we could start a life together. Joe was there constantly consoling me from time to time and slowly I started to act like I was moving forward as not to trouble Joe anymore. He was having trouble in job along with that and I didn't want to trouble him anymore. He started the cold shoulder treatment then as he faced problems but he tried to keep it in control when he was with me so as not to make me concerned. But I was aware of the fact that Sid's demise was a shock for him too and he abandoned sleep for days as to find the culprit. But he was failed to do so and after that certain cases troubled him which was either similar to Sid's or totally different cases which looked like accidents but had various unmatched factors.

Sid's death was the starting point of my insomnia along with my family problems. I will never forget that day when I lost everything - Sid and...my baby.