The Love Trials: Ashley

Chapter Thirteen

WARNING. EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL ABUSE TRIGGERING

I was in the hospital for another day or two before they finally let me go. My ribs were not too bad but they told me that it had to stay strapped up for a while. My left wrist would be in a splint for a short while. They took the stitches out of my cuts, the swelling had gone down on my head and they were satisfied that I was topped up with blood supply again. Caitlin picked me up from the hospital and she was speechless. Literally did not say a word until we were in town. That's when all hell finally broke loose.

"We warned you."

"Don't Caitlin. It was just a mug-"

"Don't you dare say that to me. It was not a mugger and we both know it."

"I... Provoked him... It was my fault." Caitlin gasped suddenly and I looked at her to see tears in her eyes.

"Do you hear yourself?" I didn't know how to respond to that so I left it. The rest of the journey was quiet apart from Caitlin's sobs. When we got to Bradley's house, I thanked her for the pick up but she didn't say a word. She just carried on crying and drove off the second I got out.

I opened the door to the house. The door had been fixed with a new lock. I opened it and the door was unlocked.

Bradley was sitting on the stairs. He looked... anxious.

"Ashley?" He looked confused to see me there.

"Hey..." I shut the door behind me and walked over to him. He held out his hand carefully. I took it and he pulled me onto his lap. I placed my head on his shoulder, wishing I could feel safe there.

"I'm so sorry babe... I really am... God... You just... You just can't do that to me! You hear me?" His voice was gentle but I wasn't seeing the good side of him. Bradley had no good side.

"I know... I'm sorry; it was all my fault..."

"Yes it was... You're a silly girl, you hear me?" I nodded. "Now tell me what you told the cops. And I'll know if it's the truth."

"I told them I was mugged."

"Good girl. That's my girl." He rubbed his nose in my hair.

"Bradley... I... I don't want to fight anymore." Bradley stroked my hair.

"I know, babe... I need to take good care of you now, don't I?"

"Yes please." I murmured.

"Only the best for you, my sweet. Now should we run you a nice hot bath?" I nodded and Bradley helped me to stand up, being so gentle and careful. He took my hand and we went upstairs together.

He ran me a bath, helped me to take your clothes off and made me a hot cup of tea. My bath was all bubbles and smelled like strawberries. He took my clothes to wash as I soaked in a bath. When he came back, he helped me to wash my hair and my body, being so gentle that it was almost hard to believe that he would ever hurt me. If it hadn't been for my own memories and the redness of his knuckles (which he wrapped up with bandages but took off to help me wash), I would never have believed Bradley could do such a thing.

Bradley went to get towels once I got out of the bath. As the water drained, I wiped the condensation off the full body mirror. And looked at myself for the first time. Apart from the splint on my wrist (covered with a carrier bag so as not to get wet) and the bandage and plaster around my abdomen (a special one that could get wet and not unstick), I could see the rest of my body properly. The bruising now was mainly yellow. It had covered my sides, arms, chest and also my throat. The nurse had said they looked suspiciously like finger marks when they were first made. I had shrugged it off.

I had a healing cut on my head which had been quite deep but was healing well now. Small little cuts had been made on my arms but they were all healed up too. It was just my ribs and wrist now.

"You're beautiful." Bradley told me as he re-entered the room. He helped me to dry down, blow dried my hair for me and helped me to dress into pyjamas. He then tucked me up into bed. He left me for a moment then came back with a tray of tomato soup, a glass of orange juice and a hot cup of tea. He left the room and then came back with a television set.

"As you're supposed to be relaxing, I thought you could use this." He placed it on the cabinet at the end of her bed (the room had been tidied up in her absence and the smell of lavender air freshener did little to mask the smell of bleach used to cover up the blood). He then switched the set on and put on a random talk show channel. He handed me the remote then came to sit down on the bed beside me.

"Thank you." I told him as I snuggled up to him. I ate my tomato soup as we sat like that for some time, watching the show talk about cyber bulling, the latest celebrity scandal and the new story line on a soap opera. Once I had finished the soup and orange juice, Bradley placed the cup of tea on my newly fixed bedside cabinet. He then took the empty glass and bowl downstairs. He came back upstairs and handed me a box.

"I got you a present. I hope you like it because I spent ages doing all the fiddly bits so it's just right for you." I took the box. Inside it was a mobile phone. Not any old-fashioned one but a brand new model in a white phone case.

"Wow Bradley... How much did this cost?"

"Oh that doesn't matter. What do you think? I've registered your contacts up and everything." I switched it on via the power button. Once it had loaded up, I checked it out. The contact list had barely any contacts. Home number, Brad and work. I couldn't access social media. Everytime I tried, a message popped up mentioning parental controls. However, it was an okay phone.

"It's perfect. Just what I needed." Bradley hugged me.

"I'm glad you like it."

"So what happened to my old phone?" I asked casually, putting down my phone and picking up my cup of tea.

"I binned it. You won't need that rubbish anymore will you?" He brushed my hair with his hand and then left.