Chains

Chapter Two

POV: Norma

It was at the point now that it was so late at night that i'd sat and watched the date change from October the 21st to the 22nd on the radio in Alex's car. I was exhausted-emotionally drained.
But Norman needed me.

I stood with him in the bathroom upstairs, gently washing the scarlet colored liquid from his trembling hands. Watching it wash down the sink, accompanied with the flowing water, was an accurate representation of it washing out of my brain. The longer he stood there with blood on his hands, the closer I would be to physically throwing up.

He began to mumble, and I had to switch off the running tap to hear him clearly.

"Mother-what are we going to do? Nobody can find out. Nobody can find out what you did to Bradley."

Of course I payed full attention to all he was saying, but I picked up on one word in particular. You.
I approached this carefully, knowing he'd had experiences with thinking he'd seen me do or say things that didn't happen before. I didn't want him to get upset-or god forbid, angry.

"Norman, honey...I never did anything to Bradley. I haven't even seen Bradley tonight."

"What are you talking about? Yes, you did, and you have seen her. I watched you keep on hitting her head on that rock! I told you not to do it, but you didn't listen." he pulled his hands away from mine, shaking off the excess water.

"Norman..." I repeated once more, a sadness to my voice. "I've been at home here the whole night, then I came out to find you. I promise you, I haven't seen Bradley tonight."

"You haven't?" He sounded genuinely shocked, as well as very confused, and it was as painful as a punch to the gut.

"No, sweetie." I said honestly, shaking my head. Picking up a towel, I lightly dried the both of our hands.

After a long pause, Norman finally spoke again-his voice barely above a whisper. "Was it me?"

The previous pause ensued once again, with me not being sure how to reply. "I think...maybe it was..." I whispered, wanting to be truthful with him.

I could see the fear growing on his face, and I knew he needed some reassurance.

"But nothing is going to happen to you, okay? Nobody is going to find out. I promise." Holding his face in my hands, I gently kissed his forehead. "You need to rest--it's reeeally late. Let's get you to bed, hmm?"
Although it was true that he really did need rest, the main reason I began to insist he should go to sleep was because I didn't want this conversation extending further than it already had. I didn't want him to begin asking questions about his condition-ones I didn't know the answer to.

He nodded, trusting me with my reassuring words, but clearly still hesitant about it all. "Okay, mother."

Leading him over to his room, I waited for him to change his clothes then got him some clean pyjamas and took away his bloody clothes. Once he had got into his bed, I sat on the side and kissed his forehead once more. "Get some sleep, don't worry about anything, and we will sort everything tomorrow." He didn't seem to be responsive, so I jokingly tapped the end of his nose. "Okay?"

A very quiet, breathy laugh escaped his lips and he nodded in agreement. "Okay."

"Good." I smiled, standing up from the bed and switching off the light. "Goodnight Norman." I walked out of the room, closing his door and taking a deep breath. Every time something like this happened, I had to keep a calm demeanour. If I began to panic, that would make Norman panic, and he didn't deserve to have to deal with the stress that I do on a daily basis.