I was in the house when he got home. To be honest I was thankful that we didn't have kids. His drinking has taken a toll on me and I knew by the way he pulled in that he has already had a few. I looked at the door from the landing on the second floor as he swung it open. He had a bad day. I saw him walk into the kitchen and heard him crack open another beer.
"Babe where are you," He yelled.
I came down the stairs slowly and quietly said, "No reason to yell, I am right here."
"I'm right here," He mimicked. "Don't yell. Don't tell me what to do bitch."
I sighed. When he was sober he was the kindest man alive. When he drank he was an abusive asshole. I hated this side of him.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"I'm hungry. What's for dinner?" He said.
"I am making burgers and fries for dinner. I just heard you pull up as I was ending my work day," I said.
"Not like you work anyway. You don't do real work like me." He started, "Why don't you get a real job."
I walked past him and headed toward the kitchen. "I have a real job and it pays our bills here."
"What did you say Bitch?" He yelled as he stalked me to the kitchen.
"John stop I am not in the mood to fight I have had a long day. I just want to eat dinner and rest," I said as I pulled the cast iron pan to cook the burgers.
"Oh you want to rest," He belittled. "You had such a rough day. Oh boo hoo you sat on your fat ass and talked on the phone all day. You don't do anything special. Your nothing special."
"Listen John I am not going to do this with you. Every time you drink you say things you say you don't mean. I am sorry you had a rough day but why don't we just relax and have a nice dinner," I said.
"You don't care what kind of day I had," He said.
"Do you want to talk about your day?" I asked, "What can I do to help you?"
"Listen to me you cow I know you don't give a rat's ass about my day. You pretend to give a shit about me like my boss does, but to be honest, you do not give a shit," He said.
I didn't reply as he wanted me to, when he has had too much to drink he gets very aggressive. I pulled out a sheet pan and went to grab french fries out of the freezer. I opened the door to the freezer and put my arm in and then the door was slammed into my arm.
"What the hell," I said pulling my arm out of the freezer. I could see the bruises forming on my arm where the door had been slammed on me.
"Oh stop your bitching, your not hurt," He said, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
"John I am making diner," I said. "You said you are hungry and I am starting dinner."
He grabbed me by the shirt and swung me into the fridge. "Listen to me you fucking bitch you do not do anything without my permission. Do you hear me?"
I closed my eyes, "Yes, I hear you. Do I have your permission to cook dinner?"
He swung me onto the counter and said, "No I am not allowing you to cook for me you would probably poison me."
"Seriously Tom we have been together for three years do you think I would try to poison you," I said stepping away. "You are losing your shit you need to calm down, Please I am begging you."
Tom grabbed my arm and pulled me into his grip, "What did I tell you? I will not tolerate the bullshit your giving me."
With that Tom threw me over the island in the kitchen and I landed against the dishwasher. He jumped over the island and kicked me in the side. I curled into a ball to protect my head. "Please Tom stop your hurting me.'
As he was kicking me all over he kept yelling, "Shut your filthy mouth you whore. You do not matter. I cannot believe I was stupid enough to believe you deserved to be with me. You are worthless."
With one final kick to the head, I saw nothing but blackness. I do not know how long I lay there in my kitchen and if I knew what would be the outcome after that fateful moment I would have wished for death instead.
Chapter 2
I remember hearing the beeping of the machines. The noise was so loud I wish someone would shut them off. I heard movement next to me and then quietly I heard a whisper, "Come on Mads you crazy bitch get up so I can kick your ass."
I knew that voice it was my best friend Amy. Trying to open my eyes hurt and Amy noticed my effort. She called for the nurse, "Hey she is trying to wake up and doesn't have coffee so you need to cut back on her sleepy drugs."
It was so hard to open my eyes but I kept trying. Finally, I managed to get one eye open and Amy's face was inches from mine. She looked like she had been crying and she whispered, "There you are bestie I was afraid I was going to have to go hell to bring you back. Listen you are hooked up to a bunch of machines and you have a tube down your throat. You can't talk but between me and Ben we have not left the hospital so that foul order is probably me you smell."
"Miss if you could move back so we could check Madison," said the nurse who walked in with a Doctor.
The doctor leaned over and said, "Madison I am Dr Lorry, Listen I am gonna be honest with you you are in a bad spot but I am doing everything I can to help you. You are on a sedative so you are gonna feel loopy and out of sorts for a while. You have some amazing friends who have been by your side through all of this. You have a lot of physical trauma and are going to take a long time to heal. If you wake up more we will remove your breathing tube and once you are more awake we will go over your prognosis."
I blinked and the Doctor turned to Amy and said, "Once I am sure she can handle breathing we will remove the tube do not get her excited or upset or I will have to put her back to sleep."
She looked at the Doctor and said, "She has Ben and me and we will get her through Hell itself if we need to. You do what she needs to heal and we will get her the rest of the way Doc."
As she said it Ben walked into the room with a teddy bear! "They said no flowers till you are in a regular room so I got you this guy. His name is Sam and he will protect you from the monsters under the bed."
He leaned over and kissed my forehead, "Girl you scare us again like that I am gonna hide you from the world. Now let me hand this bag to Amy she reaks and the hospital staff said she can shower here if she had fresh clothes."
Amy smiled and said, "Ben you are in charge don't let her be and I will be back in 15 min."
The nurse showed Amy to the showers and Ben sat down and looked at me and he started tearing up. "Mads I was so scared we almost lost you. We will tell you everything when the doctor gives us permission to."
Dr Lorry took that time to walk in and said, "Ben if you want to stand at the foot of the bed I am gonna make this easier on Madison by putting her to sleep for a little bit and removing the breathing tube. As long as she remains stable we will wake her up in an hour."
Ben squeezed my hand and said, "Hurry back Mads."
Dr Lorry put something into my IV and I dozed right off. I felt like I was sleeping beauty when I woke up. You know if sleeping beauty wasn't in a bit of pain. When I woke up Amy and Ben were at my side. Opening my eyes Ben sighed and said, "About time you woke up."
Amy leaned over and said, "Listen you don't need to talk right now. You slept a little longer which the Doctor said was normal you have been through a lot."
The nurse walked in with a cup with a bendy straw and said, "Take it slow Madison, You can do tiny sips of this for now and I am going to get Dr Lorry for you."
She pushed Ben back and sat me up just a bit. Then she checked my stats and went out of the room. Amy picked up the water and held the straw to my lips and I took a sip. Damn, that was the best water I ever had. After I had a few sips I barely croaked out, "How long?"
"Twenty-three days," Doctor Lorry said. "You were unconscious for twenty-three days."
He sat at the edge of my bed and said, "Madison are you ready to hear some hard truths."
I whispered, "Yes."
"First let me tell you, you are extremely lucky your neighbor heard what was going on. He was walking past and ran into your home with his wife. She is a nurse and started treating you while her husband chased the man to the bathroom to keep him there and called 911. You have a skull fracture and a broken wrist as well as a fractured arm. Your knee was shattered and you also have a broken ankle as well as a fractured thigh bone. As well as 5 broken ribs and 4 fractured ribs. Madison are you okay after this?"
I was angry and said, "What else?"
He looked down and said, "Internal and external bruising. Also Madison were you aware that you are pregnant?"
"A baby?" I asked. How could I have not known?
"Yes you are going to be a Mom," He said smiling, We had a high risk OB come in and check you out and the baby is okay. Your only about ten weeks along when you came in, but he or she is a tough one like you and your going to be okay. Especially with these two friends of yours."
I closed my eyes for a moment and said, "Wow."
Amy started laughing and said, "Girl we got you."
Dr lorry stood up and said, "I will leave these two to explain the rest."
When he left Amy said, "Do you want to know the rest of what happened?"
"Tom?" I asked.
"Is in jail where he should be," Ben said. "The police arrested him when they got there. Mads he had 5 times the legal limit of alcohol in his system. He told the cop you laid down to take a nap and your neighbor punch him in the face. They would like to see you when you can have visitors. Your phone was open and the wife Kallie called Amy's phone as she had the most calls."
"They are the sweetest people and Amy rushed to the hospital and Kallie road with them. Kallie even went over and cleaned the mess from the attack so you would not have to see it." Ben said. "I went in and packed all of Tom's shit and threw the boxes in the Garage."
"What are the police charging him with?" I asked.
"Attempted murder on you and now the baby. They are also charging him with lying to the police," Ben said.
"Hey I know you love him Mads," Amy started. "But his drinking was getting out of control and I am afraid of what would have happened if Kallie and Mark had not intervened."
Tears rolled off my face and Amy wiped my tears and said, "Now none of that you have to be strong Mads you have a baby on board and have to think about him or her."
There was a knock at the door and Dr Lorry came in with another woman and a ultrasound machine. Well Madison how about we meet your bright spot. Amy and Ben you know the drill at the head or out. Amy and Ben moved behind me and the tech lowered the blanket and said, "Hello Madison you look so much better. Shall we meet your little one? Don't worry I warmed up the gel."
She placed the gel on my stomach and placed the doppler on me and she said, "There he or she is. I will warn you this baby is a active one. From the measurements I could get your about thirteen weeks along now. It was hard to get accurate measurements when you first got here."
When the tech pushed down a little bit the baby stayed still and the tech was able to get a picture. She looked at me and said, "This baby is a survivor, just like you are. I see no problems and when your feeling a bit better we will do a full work up on the little one but as of now brain, heart and organs all look amazing and look he or she is waving at you."
I looked at the screen and saw the babies hand raise in a wave. I started crying and said, "This baby is everything."
The technician handed me a tissue and said, "They always are Madison. You both are gonna get through this and before you know it he or she will be here."
Amy and Ben were behind me and I said, "So what do you both think of your god child?"
Ben was the first to ask, "You sure you want me as her godfather?"
Amy said, "Ben hush you might bat for the same team but who better to teach this girl style. Her mama is a jean and tshirt girl. You know Madison has never cared about that."
Lifting my head I said, "Ben you and Amy would be my only choices and will always be my choices. Will you guys do me a favor? I want to crochet some baby blankets will you go to the store and get me a couple sets of soft yarn?"
Amy started laughing and handed me a huge bag of yarn from Hobby Lobby. As she handed it to me she said, "We did the math with Dr Lorry and this little one is due around September 15th. So there is Fall, Halloween, Christmas and New Years yarn colors. There is also a beautiful girls color and a rocking boys color in greens. You can crochet to your hear is content."
I started crying and Ben sat on my bed and took my hands, "Mads your not alone we got you and by the time the baby is born you will be sick of us."
"I could never get sick of you," I said. "Amy would you be awesome and hand me a crochet needle and the first of the Halloween yarn. OH my did either of you contact my work?"
Ben laughed and said, "Your phone is right here on silent I took the call when you missed two days and explained to Charlotte your supervisor what happened. She was shocked but said you heal and you come back with bells on. They are holding your job. As for your bills for the house, I called and explained everything and Amy and I have been paying for what is coming due. However so you know I am doing this for selfish reasons. I have been staying in the guest room and Mike and I broke up and I needed a place to crash. Besides once you come home I think you will need some help."
"Oh Ben I am sorry," I said as Amy handed me the yarn. "You stay as long as you need. Which room did you take?"
"The one next to the office," Ben said. "I left the room next to yours alone as it will make a great nursery with the big windows and natural light. Also all you have in there is the day bed and dresser both in white, which would be great with a white crib."
Amy and I started to giggle. I started to yawn as my stomach growled and I said, "Man I am hungry."
The nurse in the room said, "Madison we have you on a liquid diet but let me page Dr Lorry and see what he thinks about your diet now?"
The nurse left and I said, "So Ben you think your going to design the nursery?"
He looked at me and said, "You know its my thing and I would love to help."
"I would love for you to design the room," I said. "I would love to keep the furniture white but I would love to see one wall be a forest scene with some birds in the trees and animals in the trees."
Ben looked at me and said, "That would be good for a boy or a girl. I will draw something up and show you. See my design school degree will go to good use."
Madison- Main
Amy and Ben - Best friends
Kallie and Mark- people who saved Mad
Dr Lorry-
Tom-EX
Charlotte- Supervisor
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