Battered

Chapter 17

Early that morning, I became vaguely aware of something heavy pressing down on my waist. Opening my eyes I see that it's Cheryl's plaster cast. Gently I lift up her arm and place it back down on the bed next to her.

I thought about getting up but a quick glance at the clock told me that it was only seven thirty; much too early to be awake on a Saturday. So, turning over onto my stomach I wrapped my arms around my pillow and closed my eyes again.

A few hours later, I felt Cheryl stirring and open my eyes to find her looking back at me.

"Morning" she says quietly, offering a tentative smile

"Good morning" I smile back, propping myself up with the pillows

She yawns and moves to sit opposite me. Crossing her legs, she runs a hand through her hair and fiddles distractedly with the ends.

"I did it again, didn't I?" she says, referring to her having a nightmare for the second night in a row

"Yeah, you did" I clarify, "But it's ok. It's not uncommon for people to have nightmares after experiencing a traumatic event. It's just your subconscious' way of dealing with what happened to you. "

She looks up at me with a bemused expression and I cringe because I sound like a psychology textbook that I read in my first year of training.

I try again, "What I mean is...it's a perfectly normal reaction. My first week of doing this job, I had nightmares like you wouldn't believe"

"Really?" she leans forward, eyebrows rising with interest

"Yeah, really. After my first visit to a rehab centre, I came home and cried non-stop for about twenty minutes. It really freaked my ex-boyfriend out" I laugh at the memory.

Justin had been completely taken aback by my out of character break down and didn't have a clue how to react, bless him. He tried everything to calm me down, but I even I didn't know what I wanted him to do to make me feel better. It was quite a bizarre night.

"I feel really bad about disturbing your sleep again though. If it happens tonight, just ignore me" she says with a wave of her hand

"I most certainly will not" I tell her, "I couldn't just lie there, knowing you're crying or scared and not come in to check on you"

"But I get all pathetic and clingy and don't let you leave again" she protests half-heartedly

"I don't mind, honestly. It's fine."

I almost tell her that I quite like her being all clingy; it means I get to spend the night in here with her. Aside from the screaming and crying, these last two nights have probably been the best night's sleep I've had in a long time.

And I'm not quite sure what to make of that.

I guess I just miss being close to someone.

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"Fancy going for a walk in the park?" I ask Cheryl, who is sitting on the sofa writing in her diary.

I had spent most of the morning cleaning the house and doing laundry, and it is such a lovely, sunny afternoon outside that I want to make the most of it.

"Sure" she smiles, closing the diary and tucking it under her arm, "I'll just go and get ready"

Cheryl gets up off the sofa and goes up to her room. Ten minutes later she comes back downstairs wearing a dark hoodie and baseball cap, with her hair pulled up into a pony tail.

"Ready?" she asks

"Yep" I pick up my keys and purse, putting them into my jeans pocket and slipping on a jacket.

The park is only a fifteen minute walk from my house and once we get there, we find a quiet spot under a tree and sit down on the grass.

Cheryl lies down on her back, bending her legs up at the knees and taking off her cap. Her hair is a little messed up and the sight makes me chuckle to myself.

She hears me laughing and looks over at me, "What?" she asks, furrowing her brow

"You have hat-hair" I tell her with a smile

She blushes and flattens her hair down with her hand, "Better?"

"Better" I nod, leaning back against the tree and plucking blades of grass from the ground.

I close my eyes and bring my knees up to my chest, enjoying the gentle breeze on my face. The park is surprisingly quiet for a Saturday and I can hear ducks quacking in the nearby pond.

"So..." Cheryl's voice pulls me out of my daydream, "tell me something about you"

I open my eyes and sit up a bit to look at her, "Like what?" I ask

"I dunno" she shrugs, "All I know so far is that you like Dirty Dancing and you're kind of bossy"

"Thanks!" I say sarcastically as she tries to hide a smile

Cheryl sits up and puts her cap back on; for a long moment she just looks at me intently, waiting for me to speak.

"What do you want to know then?" I ask, not really knowing where to begin

"Whatever you want to tell me" she smiles, showing her dimples

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Placing the lid on the casserole dish, I put it back in the oven and go out into the hallway, "Cheryl, five minutes until dinner" I call, standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"Ok" she calls back; her voice muffled through the bedroom door.

I go back into the kitchen and put the finishing touches to our meal. After we arrived home from our walk, Cheryl went up to her room to lie down while I prepared dinner.

We ended up having a really nice chat at the park. Cheryl is really easy to talk to and I found myself telling her near enough my entire life story. Well, most of it anyway, I kind of glossed over the parts about my post break-up nights of passion with Justin. The less people that know about that, the better; it wasn't exactly one of my finest moments and not something I will ever be doing again.

Cheryl had opened up too; sharing stories about the happier times of her and Ashley's marriage, in those first few months together, before he started hitting her.

She also told me about her love of dancing and how she used to be keen ballerina when she was a little girl. At eighteen, she moved from Newcastle down to London to study for a degree in dance at a top performing arts university.

She met Ashley one night at a friend's party and the dancing was soon forgotten about; he made it clear right from the start that he didn't like her receiving attention from other people, especially other boys.

And because she was young and foolish in love, she listened to him; gave up on her dream of being a professional dancer all because he had a jealous streak. She was yet to find out that he also had a very nasty temper too.

Taking the plates out of the cupboard, I don't hear Cheryl come into the kitchen and she startles me when I catch sight of her standing by the counter.

"Sorry" she says when I hold a hand over my heart in shock

"It's alright" I tell her, "you just made me jump, that's all"

She goes over to the cooker and lifts a lid off one of the saucepans, "Mmm, this smells really good" she sighs, inhaling deeply.

I open the kitchen drawer and take out some knives and forks, "Here," I hand the cutlery to Cheryl, "Go and set the table"

"Bossy...." she mutters as she leaves the kitchen smiling.