Broken

Chapter 48

Harry was forced to leave, his big pleading eyes not doing him any favours. He kissed my forehead and neck before slipping out of the room, looking over his shoulder at me.

"Love you," he said, waving goodbye and leaving me feeling alone in the tiny room.

I spent most of the night staring at the ceiling, Wendy popping in and out the odd time. The hospital seemed still and silent, the screech of the ambulances coming and going keeping me awake. My eyes felt tired and heavy, begging me to fall asleep.

By the time I nodded off, the room had turned grey with the dim light from outside. My body felt clamy, my head spinning like a top. I dreamt of dad, his huge fists haunting me. He was chasing me down a huge white corridor, my feet not carrying me fast enough. His hand wrapped around my arm, pulling me back into his grasp. He pushed me against the wall, banging my head against the bricks again and again...

"I'm back," he whispered in a creepy little voice, knocking me out of sleep.

I screamed and sat bolt upright, shaking in the darkness. Wendy came rushing in, throwing her arms around me as I wept.

"Hush now," she whispered comfortingly, "your safe now."

My tears made a wet patch on her shoulder, her fingers gently stroking my tousled hair.

"I'll never forget him will I?"

She shook her head, making my heart sink. I wanted his memory to disappear forever, I didn't want him to be stuck in my mind every minute of every day.

"No honey, probably not," she sighed.

She held me out at arms length, dabbing at my face with a tissue.

"I hate him Wendy," I cried, "why me eh? Why?"

She bit her lip and tucked a stray hair behind her ear, clasping my hand gently.

" We don't know why these things happen dear, they just...do?" she explained," but every cloud has a silver lining."

I couldn't see any silver lining to this cloud. All I could see was a dark rainstorm drowning me, swallowing me up like a big black hole.

"Harry thinks I'm over it, that I'm putting it all behind me...but I can't! I just can't!" I cried, hugging my knees and bursting into tears all over again.

Wendy sighed and patted my back, turning on the little bedside lamp so I could actually see her properly.

"Oh dear, oh dear," she whispered as I looked up at her with big bloodshot eyes, "what are we going to do with you, mhm?"

I smiled sadly and threw my arms around her, hugging her scrawny shoulders tight. She was the only adult I had ever felt close to.

"Do you have kids Wendy?" I asked.

She giggled slightly, and rocked me like a baby, her heart pounding in my ear.

"I did," she said," but they're all grown up now, my lad living on the other side of the world along with my four grandchildren."

I smiled as she practically told me her life story, how she fell in love with a soldier in the war at fifteen and ended up pregnant.

Now I understood why she had warned me the other day.

Her first love, John, had been sent to the front line to fight, leaving poor Wendy alone. She never got the chance to tell him about the baby, losing his life at war and never coming back. My heart ached for her, feeling the pain she must have felt all those years ago.

"So I named him after his papa, telling him stories as he grew up of how brave he was. And now...well now he's left me too," she finished, close to tears herself.

"Oh Wendy, I...I'm so sorry," I whispered, feeling guilty for asking.

"No matter," she said, sucking in a huge breath and slipping off my bed.

She tucked me in and kissed my forehead switching the lamp off, "go to sleep now, you need to keep your strength up."

I nodded and buried under the covers, closing my eyes again as she shut the door gently...