Safe with me - Lucy Chen.

Part 6.

They all just stared at me, horror on their faces, and I just stared at them, unaware that I looked so terrible. It was silent. Too silent. "Hey...guys," I said, my eyes brimming with tears as the shock had started to wear off and I was now feeling the weight of everything I'd just been through, "whatcha....all doing here?" I asked, throwing on a smile, but my voice was wobbly and uncertain. Angela, along with Lucy and Jackson, got up slowly, still staring at my bloodied and beaten body, clearly on show as I was only wearing a t-shirt. "Teyah..." Ange whispered, she was shocked. No one knew what to say. I felt so awkward. Lucy, getting over her shock, bolted over to me, which scared me slightly, and tackled me in a hug. "Where the hell were you? We've been looking for you for hours! We thought you'd been taken or killed...." She rushed out. I wrapped my arms around her, "Shh, I'm ok." I soothed, as reassuringly as I could muster. With her still in my arms, neither of us letting go any time soon, I looked at the others. I could see Angela had tears in her eyes, which hadn't left my figure since I walked in the door, along with Talia and Jackson who also had tears forming in their eyes. Angela just walked over to me, engulfing me and Lucy in her arms. My girls, I'd made it through the hardest day of my life, and this, right here, was absolutely worth all the pain.

A little while later, Jackson and Angela had gone to bed, sharing his room, Tim, Talia and Nolan had left, and I was sat down on my couch opposite Grey and Zoe. Lucy fell asleep, head on my lap. I was absentmindedly playing with her hair as Grey spoke up. "You're in no state to go to the station, so I'm going to film your interview here. Is that ok?" He asked, to which I nodded. "Ok, tell us what happened Teyah, you can go into however much detail you like." He said, so kind and caringly. I looked at them both. "My mother." I said. I hadn't had a chance to shower and change yet, so I was still just as bloody and dirty as I was when I got in. "You went to see her?" Zoe asked, just a sweetly as Grey. "Yeh. Yesterday, around 7 o'clock. I thought I was only going over there to talk, but they tied me up, and left me in a room overnight. I couldn't leave." I said, my heart rate picking up slightly but Lucy's presence, even though unconscious, helped a great deal. "How did you escape?" Zoe asked. That's when the tears started to flow. "Hey," Zoe got my attention, placing a comforting hand on my knee, "you were kidnapped and held against your will. You've obviously been badly hurt. So whatever happened, you did it purely out of self defence. Survival. And I'm so, so proud of you for escaping, it must have taken so much courage. But I need you to tell us what happened so we can deal with it." She explained, putting me at ease slightly. "I killed her" I said, keeping it short. Their expressions didn't falter, they probably expected that. They stayed silent, waiting for me to continue. "It had been such a long night, I was in so much pain," I said, tears streaming down my face, "and then this morning, it went on for hours. I thought I was gonna to die." I lifted my hand up to wipe away some of my tears, "she was on her own. When she left for a break, I broke free. I grabbed any weapon I could, and we fought. She pulled a gun and shot me, but I kept fighting her. Then I got a hold of the gun and killed her." I sucked in a breath, the days events replaying in my mind. "I called it in from a phone box, they'd have found her body by now, along with my blood. Am I going to loose my badge?" I asked, if I did I don't think I'd have been able to handle it. They looked at each other, turning off the camera. "Like I said, what you did was purely self defence. The judge will see that. And we'll all vouch for you. You're not alone ok?" Zoe explained. I genuinely smiled. "Thank you, both of you." I said. They both go up, hugging me while I sat down as not to wake Lucy, and left.

I needed to shower, so reluctantly, I gently woke Lucy up. She got up abruptly, looking at me with concerned eyes. "What's wrong? Are you ok?" She asked quickly. I smiled, "yes I'm ok, I need to shower and you need sleep. Cmon." I got up, faltering slightly. Lucy leapt up, snaking a hand around my waist and taking my hand in hers for support. Together we walked to my bedroom. "There's Pyjamas in the bottom drawer, help yourself." I said, as I grabbed a towel and went into the bathroom. I turned the shower on and hung the towel on the rack next to it. Steam filled the room and my head rolled, vision going slightly blurry. I stumbled over to the toilet, needing to sit down. In the process, knocking over the toothpaste and toothbrush holder, which flew to the floor, smashing. I didn't hear it though, too busy trying to stop myself from passing out. The bathroom door flew open, Lucy running in. "What happened?? Are you ok??" She asked, running over to me and crouching down, placing a hand on my knee. "I-I'm fine, just dizzy, that's all. Sorry if I scared you." I said, eyes closed and my hand pressing firmly on my temple. "You're exhausted. You need to sleep, don't worry about showering." She said, rubbing her hand on my knee. "No. No I need to-" I sucked in a breath, "I need to get everything off of me, I need to be clean. I can still feel everything, I need it off." I said, struggling to breathe. She looked at me like I was broken, which I was but she didn't need to know that. "Ok, let me help you." She said, matter of factly. At this point, I wasn't going to protest. If I got up on my own and stood up in the shower I'd probably end up on the floor anyway.

She helped me up, aiding me as we walked towards the shower that was still running. My shower was connected to my bathtub, so I perched on the side of it, taking off the t-shirt I never wanted to see again. I heard a slight gasp from Lucy, which I kind of expected. I tossed the shirt as far as I could away from me, which earned a questioning look from her, but I didn't have it in me to explain, and I sat there in my underwear. I had to brace myself, I was still in so much pain, even standing hurt. Sitting hurt too actually, so reluctantly, I got up. Lucy grabbed my hand with hers, holding tight, and grabbed my forearm with the other, keeping me up. I climbed in and Lucy got in after me. I walked towards the water, which was scalding hot, burning my skin but it was exactly what I needed. Standing directly under it, I let the water consume my frail and broken frame. I grabbed the body wash, squeezing out way too much that it started spilling out of my hand, and made sure every part of my body was clean, I needed everything off. I could still feel their hands on me, so I scrubbed harder, and harder. I accidentally reopened one of my stab wounds, only realising when I saw the water beneath me turn red. Useless fucking staples if you asked me. I ignored it and kept scrubbing, but ended up being turned around by Lucy, who took my hands in hers and looked at me, sadness spread all over her face. "You going to hurt yourself." She said, calmly and sympathetically. Before I could reply, she'd put some soap on her own hands, "where's unclean?" She asked, I looked at her, tears forming in my red, sore eyes. "Everywhere. They were everywhere." I choked, barely above a whisper, the tears threatening to fall. With her free hand, she moved my hair out of the way, and cleaned my back, then my shoulder, my arms and my stomach, taking extra care not to hurt me where my wounds were. She was so gentle, and made sure I approved it was clean before moving on. My heart could have exploded with appreciation and love. Love. I thought back to the letter I'd written her. I love you kept replaying in my mind. It seemed silly now, but when I was in that room, on my own, I kept thinking back to those three words, and who I wanted to tell them to. Because I really did, with every fibre of my being. 'Don't be stupid. Straight and uninterested. And she's your best friend, you can't fuck that up' I thought to myself.

I realised I'd zoned out when Lucy's voice pulled me back. "You ok?" She asked, placing a hand on my cheek. I nodded, words completely failing me. Whoops. "How do you feel?" She asked, genuinely. "Better." I said, very quietly, but she nodded. "I'm going to grab your towel, you ok standing or do you wanna sit down?" I felt so bad that she felt the need to look after me. I didn't need looking after. But out of everyone, I'm glad she's the one who's doing it. "I'll be fine." I said, smiling weakly. She hoped out, grabbing the towel off the rack and coming straight back, giving it to me. I dried myself off, with difficulty no less, and wrapped it around my shaking body. I got out and could walk slightly easier, so made my way over to my bed. "I'll be right outside if you need me." Lucy said, smiling as she shut my door behind her. I left my towel on my bed and wobbled over to my drawers, taking out some bottoms and a t-shirt. As I did, I saw the untouched letters. Taking them and my clothes over to my bed, I sat down, laying them out in front of me. I lifted the shirt over my head, wincing as the action pulled at my staples, and eventually got it over my head, letting it drop over the rest of my body. I put the joggers on with more or less no problems, though it still hurt pulling them over my already scaring thighs. I turned back to look at the letters. What was I going to do with them? Chuck them? Jackson could see them if he took the trash out one day. I couldn't have that. That wouldn't be fair to him, plus I'm fine right? There's no reason to keep them.

Lucy knocked on the door, and I leapt to pick them up, which hurt. Like. A. Bitch. I yelped slightly, which is when she walked in. Why not. "You ok?" She asked, concerned. I put the letters behind my back, grabbing onto my side with my free hand. "Yeh, yeh just moved too quickly." I said, smiling slightly, a pained expression on my face. "What's behind your back huh? And why don't you want me to see." She said, smirking slightly. "Nothing. Just reports and boring shit like that." I said, lying through my teeth and she could sense that. "You're such a liar." She smiled. "I know, but I'm still not showing you." I smiled back. At least the sympathy looks were gone. That was a plus.