Those In Glass Houses
Tangled In The Great Escape
Austin’s POV
All I could see was a red liquid on the ground and Aaron yelling for someone to call 911. Alan came out shortly with a limp Marie in his arms. But the thing that scared me the most was that she was covered in the red liquid. Her arms and jeans were stained very badly.
She cut herself.
She did it.
But didn’t she promise she wasn’t going to do it? I got in the passenger side of Aaron’s car while Tino and Alan got in the back. Phil turned the car on and sped up to catch up to the ambulance. I heard cars beeping at us, but I couldn’t care. Marie was in the ambulance probably dying for all I know and there was nothing I could do. Phil drove fast, but carefully behind the ambulance and soon we made it to the parking lot. Phil parked the car in a random spot not far from the entrance and turned the engine off. We got off, rushing into the emergency room and barging in. Aaron was filling out a bit of the paperwork and he looked over to us. We walked over and sat down, waiting for him to talk.
“The doctors said she lost a lot of blood, but she’ll be fine.” Aaron assured us. I sighed, relieved that she would be fine.
“Why didn’t I see this earlier?” Alan asked, throwing his head back.
“What do you mean?” Aaron asked, staring at Alan.
“Alan and I found scars on her wrist earlier today.” I answered. Aaron sighed relieved and shook his head.
“She used to cut during high school. They’re old.” We stayed quiet for a few hours until the doctor came out. We all stood up and he sighed heavily.
“Well, Annemarie is going to be fine, the problem is that she will need to be under close watch because of this incident. It seems that she had old scars on her wrist and a few new ones on her abdominal area.” I began feeling really angry for not realizing that there were other places she could hurt herself.
“Can we go in and see her?” Tino asked and the doctor nodded, giving us the room number. We walked over and Tino gently knocked before opening the door. Marie sat on the bed, her wrists bandaged up and her eyes puffy and red from the crying. She looked over and locked eyes with Aaron. She looked away from us and looked out the window. Why was she so mad at us?
Annemarie’s POV
I heard them pull up the chairs and sit around the bed, making me feel a bit uncomfortable. “Annie, why did you do this?” Aaron whispered. I glared at him and sat up.
“You want to know why? Because Josh finally changed! He finally admitted that what he was doing was wrong and he wanted to change! Now he’s going to jail and I won’t have him anymore! You’re my best friend Aaron! You should want the best for me and allowed me to go with him and start over!” I yelled. Aaron stared at me, shock written all over his face.
“How many times has he told you that before?” He asked. I began thinking, looking away, ignoring his question.
Too many times to remember. I thought.
“That many times, huh? Did you believe him then?” I clenched my eyes closed.
Of course I did.
“What makes you think he was telling the truth this time? I am your best friend, and I do want what’s best for you. So this whole, ‘I changed’ shit isn’t going to work.” I opened my eyes and looked at Aaron. He was right. Josh only wanted me to believe him so he can continue torturing me. I looked at my legs, which were covered up with the blanket, and sighed sadly.
“I’m sorry, really I am.” I whispered. I felt a hand softly grab mine and I flinched, pulling it back and seeing Phil smile kindly at me.
“We care about you and worry about you. You’re going to be spending time with us and because of that; you’ll need to help us around.” I looked at him and nodded, understanding that I had to get over this step by step. The doctor walked in and smiled at us.
“Miss Hughes, you’re going to be watched closely by these men okay? But one thing is unclear to me.” He looked through the papers in his hands and pointed to the clothes the hospital put me in. “You had a small fracture in your ribs. These could be caused by falling or being hurt.” He looked over at me, waiting for me to say something.
“My boyfriend kicked me.” I whispered. He nodded and wrote it down.
“Anything else, I should know?” He asked. I knew he had seen the bruises and marks on my stomach so there was no point in hiding anything anymore. I lifted the shirt and showed them the marks.
“The bruising and wounds are also from him. He would kick, scratch and push me.” The doctor nodded, writing more down and yanking the paper out of the clipboard and putting it in a manila folder.
“You’ll need this for evidence if you’re going to press charges.” He walked out of the room and the guys looked over at me.
“Why did you date him?” Tino asked me. I sighed and hugged my thighs, looking out the window.
“Because he said we were in love.” I answered. “We met when I was 20, three years ago. He walked in to the bakery I used to work at. The girl who worked in the front had stepped out because of the slow morning and I stayed in the back, making the bread. He walked in, looking around before going to the back where I was. He asked if anyone worked in the front and I told him the girl stepped out but she would be back. He stayed though, talking to me and getting to know me. We talked for hours, making plans to have a dinner date.” The guys around me stayed quiet, waiting for me to continue.
“We went out more and more, soon after 4 months, we were dating. We went out for a good 10 months when he decided I should move in with him, and that’s what I did. We were fine for 5 months, until I came home from work and found him having an affair with some girl in our bed. I remember leaving and just barely getting to the front door before Josh stopped me, making me go back to the room. He kicked the girl out, which I thought he realized the mistake he made. But he began yelling at me, like it was my fault.” I took a deep breath and clenched my eyes closed.
“After, it began getting worse. He slapped me for the first time a few weeks after that, drunk of course. But then he would hurt me when he was sober, he then raped me for the first time that night.” I felt tears falling down and I wiped them away. “After that, the physical abuse stayed the same, but he would tell me how no one loved me and I should be lucky that I found him, because he would never leave me. He told me that my mother and father didn’t love me, that’s why they killed themselves.” I cried harder and felt the bed shift next to me, feeling Aaron’s familiar arms embrace me. I leaned into him and wiped the tears away from my face and sighed heavily, finally being able to let out all that.
I looked around at the guys and they were staring at me. My eyes locked with Austin and he seemed very distant, like he didn’t believe a single word I had said. Aaron pulled back a little and smiled at me. “I’ll go ask the doctor when we can bring you out. You need the rest before the court date.” He slowly got off the bed and Alan got up.
“I’ll join you.” They both walked out, leaving me with Tino, Phil and Austin. I watched as he came back from his small daydream and looked at me.
“You suffered so much.” He whispered. I nodded, and he shook his head looking at me closely. He was about to speak when the doctor walked in and smiled.
“Alright, we need to properly dismiss Miss Hughes here so if you guys can wait for her in the waiting room, she should be getting out in half an hour.” The guys nodded, walking out and leaving me with the doctor. He looked over at me and began working on the machine. “Are you going to press charges?” He asked. I nodded and he returned it. A few nurses came in a while later, making sure I was fine and they warned me about my cuts and to be careful and not force myself to do anything that could open them again. They wrapped a new and clean bandage on my wrists and a knock on the door was heard.
“Hope you guys don’t mind, but we brought her a change of clothes.” Tino walked in and set the pile on the chair and walked back out. I went to the bathroom, grabbing the clothes and changing into them. I slipped off of my dress material the hospital gave me and put on the black undershirt with a large green colored, knitted sweater and the ripped white jeans. I glanced at my now somewhat healed thighs and sighed heavily, pulling my pants up carefully. I walked back out, putting my black Vans on and followed the doctor out to the waiting room, fixing my outfit a bit. I saw the group sitting and talking among themselves.
We went back to their house after that, waiting for news on the court trouble.
All I could see was a red liquid on the ground and Aaron yelling for someone to call 911. Alan came out shortly with a limp Marie in his arms. But the thing that scared me the most was that she was covered in the red liquid. Her arms and jeans were stained very badly.
She cut herself.
She did it.
But didn’t she promise she wasn’t going to do it? I got in the passenger side of Aaron’s car while Tino and Alan got in the back. Phil turned the car on and sped up to catch up to the ambulance. I heard cars beeping at us, but I couldn’t care. Marie was in the ambulance probably dying for all I know and there was nothing I could do. Phil drove fast, but carefully behind the ambulance and soon we made it to the parking lot. Phil parked the car in a random spot not far from the entrance and turned the engine off. We got off, rushing into the emergency room and barging in. Aaron was filling out a bit of the paperwork and he looked over to us. We walked over and sat down, waiting for him to talk.
“The doctors said she lost a lot of blood, but she’ll be fine.” Aaron assured us. I sighed, relieved that she would be fine.
“Why didn’t I see this earlier?” Alan asked, throwing his head back.
“What do you mean?” Aaron asked, staring at Alan.
“Alan and I found scars on her wrist earlier today.” I answered. Aaron sighed relieved and shook his head.
“She used to cut during high school. They’re old.” We stayed quiet for a few hours until the doctor came out. We all stood up and he sighed heavily.
“Well, Annemarie is going to be fine, the problem is that she will need to be under close watch because of this incident. It seems that she had old scars on her wrist and a few new ones on her abdominal area.” I began feeling really angry for not realizing that there were other places she could hurt herself.
“Can we go in and see her?” Tino asked and the doctor nodded, giving us the room number. We walked over and Tino gently knocked before opening the door. Marie sat on the bed, her wrists bandaged up and her eyes puffy and red from the crying. She looked over and locked eyes with Aaron. She looked away from us and looked out the window. Why was she so mad at us?
Annemarie’s POV
I heard them pull up the chairs and sit around the bed, making me feel a bit uncomfortable. “Annie, why did you do this?” Aaron whispered. I glared at him and sat up.
“You want to know why? Because Josh finally changed! He finally admitted that what he was doing was wrong and he wanted to change! Now he’s going to jail and I won’t have him anymore! You’re my best friend Aaron! You should want the best for me and allowed me to go with him and start over!” I yelled. Aaron stared at me, shock written all over his face.
“How many times has he told you that before?” He asked. I began thinking, looking away, ignoring his question.
Too many times to remember. I thought.
“That many times, huh? Did you believe him then?” I clenched my eyes closed.
Of course I did.
“What makes you think he was telling the truth this time? I am your best friend, and I do want what’s best for you. So this whole, ‘I changed’ shit isn’t going to work.” I opened my eyes and looked at Aaron. He was right. Josh only wanted me to believe him so he can continue torturing me. I looked at my legs, which were covered up with the blanket, and sighed sadly.
“I’m sorry, really I am.” I whispered. I felt a hand softly grab mine and I flinched, pulling it back and seeing Phil smile kindly at me.
“We care about you and worry about you. You’re going to be spending time with us and because of that; you’ll need to help us around.” I looked at him and nodded, understanding that I had to get over this step by step. The doctor walked in and smiled at us.
“Miss Hughes, you’re going to be watched closely by these men okay? But one thing is unclear to me.” He looked through the papers in his hands and pointed to the clothes the hospital put me in. “You had a small fracture in your ribs. These could be caused by falling or being hurt.” He looked over at me, waiting for me to say something.
“My boyfriend kicked me.” I whispered. He nodded and wrote it down.
“Anything else, I should know?” He asked. I knew he had seen the bruises and marks on my stomach so there was no point in hiding anything anymore. I lifted the shirt and showed them the marks.
“The bruising and wounds are also from him. He would kick, scratch and push me.” The doctor nodded, writing more down and yanking the paper out of the clipboard and putting it in a manila folder.
“You’ll need this for evidence if you’re going to press charges.” He walked out of the room and the guys looked over at me.
“Why did you date him?” Tino asked me. I sighed and hugged my thighs, looking out the window.
“Because he said we were in love.” I answered. “We met when I was 20, three years ago. He walked in to the bakery I used to work at. The girl who worked in the front had stepped out because of the slow morning and I stayed in the back, making the bread. He walked in, looking around before going to the back where I was. He asked if anyone worked in the front and I told him the girl stepped out but she would be back. He stayed though, talking to me and getting to know me. We talked for hours, making plans to have a dinner date.” The guys around me stayed quiet, waiting for me to continue.
“We went out more and more, soon after 4 months, we were dating. We went out for a good 10 months when he decided I should move in with him, and that’s what I did. We were fine for 5 months, until I came home from work and found him having an affair with some girl in our bed. I remember leaving and just barely getting to the front door before Josh stopped me, making me go back to the room. He kicked the girl out, which I thought he realized the mistake he made. But he began yelling at me, like it was my fault.” I took a deep breath and clenched my eyes closed.
“After, it began getting worse. He slapped me for the first time a few weeks after that, drunk of course. But then he would hurt me when he was sober, he then raped me for the first time that night.” I felt tears falling down and I wiped them away. “After that, the physical abuse stayed the same, but he would tell me how no one loved me and I should be lucky that I found him, because he would never leave me. He told me that my mother and father didn’t love me, that’s why they killed themselves.” I cried harder and felt the bed shift next to me, feeling Aaron’s familiar arms embrace me. I leaned into him and wiped the tears away from my face and sighed heavily, finally being able to let out all that.
I looked around at the guys and they were staring at me. My eyes locked with Austin and he seemed very distant, like he didn’t believe a single word I had said. Aaron pulled back a little and smiled at me. “I’ll go ask the doctor when we can bring you out. You need the rest before the court date.” He slowly got off the bed and Alan got up.
“I’ll join you.” They both walked out, leaving me with Tino, Phil and Austin. I watched as he came back from his small daydream and looked at me.
“You suffered so much.” He whispered. I nodded, and he shook his head looking at me closely. He was about to speak when the doctor walked in and smiled.
“Alright, we need to properly dismiss Miss Hughes here so if you guys can wait for her in the waiting room, she should be getting out in half an hour.” The guys nodded, walking out and leaving me with the doctor. He looked over at me and began working on the machine. “Are you going to press charges?” He asked. I nodded and he returned it. A few nurses came in a while later, making sure I was fine and they warned me about my cuts and to be careful and not force myself to do anything that could open them again. They wrapped a new and clean bandage on my wrists and a knock on the door was heard.
“Hope you guys don’t mind, but we brought her a change of clothes.” Tino walked in and set the pile on the chair and walked back out. I went to the bathroom, grabbing the clothes and changing into them. I slipped off of my dress material the hospital gave me and put on the black undershirt with a large green colored, knitted sweater and the ripped white jeans. I glanced at my now somewhat healed thighs and sighed heavily, pulling my pants up carefully. I walked back out, putting my black Vans on and followed the doctor out to the waiting room, fixing my outfit a bit. I saw the group sitting and talking among themselves.
We went back to their house after that, waiting for news on the court trouble.
Notes
Title Credit: Pierce the VeilA sort of look into Marie's past. :) I'm pretty happy on how it turned out. :)
Oh my god!! All the feels are so uncool!!
1/22/14