Battered

Chapter 11

I walk in to the room and go over to Cheryl's bed. For a few minutes I just stand in silence looking at her.

Her beautiful face is even worse than the first time I met her. Not to mention the broken arm that is in a plaster cast and the massive bandage wrapped around her head.

And that's just the damage on the outside.

I can't even begin to imagine how this is going to affect her as a person. She was just starting to get her life back on track and now this is going to knock her right back to the beginning. That bubbly personality is going to be overtaken by uncertainty and fear again. Every little bit of confidence she has gained over the last few weeks is going to have vanished when she wakes up. She's going to feel like a victim again.

Pulling up a chair, I sit down beside her and gently take hold of her uninjured hand. I can't help but feel incredibly guilty that this happened to her again. I promised to help her. That day when Nadine and I went to her house I promised her that everything would be ok; that she could trust us. I told her that she didn't have to live in fear of him anymore.

I promised her

I was supposed to keep her safe and now look what's happened. She's lying here half dead all because I didn't do my job properly. She trusted me to keep her safe and I couldn't. I couldn't even warn her that Ashley was back out on the streets. I would never have let her take that job in that stupid bar if I'd have known.

I don't even realise I'm crying until one of my tears falls onto Cheryl's arm. I wipe it away and rest my head down on the bed, "I'm so sorry" I whisper, still holding onto her hand.

**********************************

"Kimberley?"

I feel a hand gently rubbing my back and open my eyes. Looking up, I see Nicola standing over me. It takes me a few seconds to remember where I am.

The hospital. I must have fallen asleep last night. That would explain the aching muscles in my neck and back.

"Hey" she smiles warmly, taking off her coat, "I thought I told you not to stay too long"

"I didn't plan on staying" I say, sitting up and rubbing at my sore neck, "I guess I just crashed out"

"I spoke to the doctor on the way in. They are taking her down to theatre in about half an hour" Nic tells me. She walks over to the little cupboard at the side of the bed and picks up Cheryl's wedding ring from on top of it.

I never even noticed that it wasn't on her finger; the doctor must have removed it when they put her arm in plaster, in case her fingers swelled up.

"Do you think she'll put it back on?" I ask as Nic looks at the ring

"Who knows" Nic shrugs. She puts the ring down and takes a seat in the chair on the opposite side of the room, "But I do know that she doesn't have to worry about Ashley anymore; the police caught up with him at football training this morning and re-arrested him. He won't get bail this time, that's for sure"

A nurse enters the room and smiles at me and Nicola. She goes over to the bed and checks the readings on the machines that Cheryl is hooked up to. After making a few notes on Cheryl's medical chart she looks up to address us, "We will be taking her down to surgery in a few minutes"

"How long will it take?" Nicola asks

"About an hour or so" the nurse says, going over to take Cheryl's blood pressure

"Will she wake up after that?" I ask hopefully

"I'm afraid I can't give you a definite answer. It all depends on the severity of her head wound. We've given her a CAT scan and there didn't appear to be any brain damage so she will wake up eventually; it's just a question of when." The nurse makes a few more notes on the chart and leaves the room.

Five minutes later Cheryl is wheeled down to the operating theatre.

"Why don't you go home and get some sleep?" Nicola says, putting on her coat to leave, "You can't have got much rest in that chair"

"No, I'm going to stay. I want to be here when she wakes up"

"But Kimba that could be hours, or even days"

"I don't care" I say determinedly, "I'm staying"

Nicola sighs loudly and holds out her hand, "Give me your keys"

"What?"

"Your keys" she repeats, "give them to me. If you're staying here all day then you are going to need a change of clothes aren't you?"

"Thanks Nic" I smile. I grab my handbag and search through it for my set of keys. When I find them I walk over to Nicola and pass them to her, sweeping her into a hug at the same time.

**********************************

I walk Nicola to her car and then head to the hospital shop. I haven't eaten all morning and my stomach is beginning to rumble. I grab a chicken salad sandwich, bag of crisps and a couple of bottles of coke; that should keep me going for a while.

As I'm making my way to the till, I walk past the display of fresh flowers. They smell lovely and I figure they will add a bit of colour to Cheryl's grey hospital room, so I pick her up one of those bouquets that are tied up with water already inside so you don't need a vase.

Looking up at the clock, I realise that I only have twenty minutes before Cheryl is due out of surgery. I quickly pay for my items and head back to her room.