Battered

Chapter 2

Nadine walks down the hallway and into the living room. It's a nice house, spacious and modern; shame about the wife-beating prick that owns it.

We find Cheryl Cole sitting on the sofa; she is huddled up in one corner and looking very small. She looks up as Nadine and I walk over to her and I have to stop myself from gasping. The last thing this girl needs right now is to feel conscious of her looks.

Officer Jenkins wasn't exaggerating when he said that her husband did a real number on her. Her lip is cut and one of her eyes is almost completely swollen closed. The way she winces when she moves leads me to believe that she has a broken rib or two and there are angry purple bruises already forming on her face.

She notices Nadine and I looking at her, making a mental catalogue of her injuries, and she looks away, down to the floor. Her self-confidence has obviously taken a beating too.

I kneel down on the floor in front of her, "Mrs Cole? My name is Kimberley Walsh and this is my colleague Nadine Coyle." I gesture to Nadine who takes a seat next to Cheryl on the sofa

"Hello Mrs Cole" Nadine smiles politely

"We are family liaison officers; we work with the police and we'd like to offer you some support." I reach out a hand and place it reassuringly on her knee

"I don't have any money" Cheryl says in a small voice, "My husband controls all the finances"

"We don't want your money;" I tell her, "we just want to help you."

"Help?" she scoffs, "How could you possibly help me?"

"Well for starters we can get you out of this house" Nadine says

Cheryl sighs, "And where would I go? All my family live in Newcastle"

"We can get you into a women's shelter. I know a really nice lady who runs one and I'm sure she could arrange a bed for you" I look up into her chocolate brown eyes and it occurs to me how beautiful she is. Why on earth would someone want to mess up a pretty face like hers?

"I dunno" she shuffles uncomfortably, eyes darting over to the window where outside Ashley Cole is being put into a police car.

"Mrs Cole..." I start

She cringes, "Please" she says, "please don't call me that."

"Ok" I nod, "Cheryl, if you want to leave we can help you. We work with hundreds of women just like you and I know it seems scary but I promise everything is going to be ok."

"You can trust us" Nadine smiles

Cheryl hesitates, eyes shifting from side to side as she thinks things over

"I don't want to live like this anymore" she says eventually, tears forming in her eyes

I reach out and stroke her arm, "You don't have to"

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After Ashley is driven away to the police station, I go upstairs with Cheryl to help her pack some of her belongings. Nadine stays downstairs and telephones the women's shelter to enquire about a bed for Cheryl.

We enter her bedroom and I feel Cheryl tense up beside me. This is obviously the room where the attack took place. Her eyes focusing on a speck of blood on the carpet confirm my suspicions.

For a long moment, all she does is stare at the blood drop. It's not particularly big or noticeable but to her it is enormous and I know that she is more than likely reliving the attack in her mind as she looks at it.

I brush my hand gently down her back, "Cheryl?"

She snaps out of her trance and shakes her head, no doubt trying to clear the horrible images from her thoughts.