Morning comes fast and I push myself out of bed to begin my day. I look at the mirror and inspect what's left of my face and the only difference is that there isn't blood all over anymore. Setting aside my usual routine of self pity I prepare for my day and eventually leave the house.
As I arrive at the hospital, there is a little crowd of reporters in front of the hospital trying to get the attention of a man. But he is fast enough to escape them. I laughed to myself at how annoyed the reporters looked. I stride into the hospital and head straight to get my face checked.
The doctor attends to me and I get a stitch where I need one. I know my face doesn't look like how it used to after the beating but I know my face will return to normal after a few weeks.
After my checkup I moved in to see my mother.As I walked down the hallway I saw him, the man that made me feel so many emotions, the man that made me feel special one moment and feel so worthless the next. The man that took my pride. He stood tall as he spoke to the doctor with seriousness, he looked disturbed. As I got closer the disturbance on his face was replaced with sternness. Even with the stern face you could not deny that he looked like a Greek God, chiselled jaw, perfect cheek bone, well structured nose. Even his suit was magnificent. I walked briskly with my face down in order not to be seen, I tried to make myself as small as possible so as not to be seen or recognized by him. "Miss Walter?" The doctor questions. I was only a few steps away from them when the Doctor called my surname. I stopped in my tracks and looked at the doctor trying as much as possible to avoid looking at Gregory.
"What happened to your face?You were okay when you left here yesterday and now this? What happened" the doctor asked me. He looked into my face trying to probe me with his eyes. I looked away from him slightly and my eyes locked with Gregorys' and his grey eyes were trying to decipher my thoughts or is it my whole being. I quickly looked away from him and turned my attention back to the doctor
"It's nothing serious doctor, just an accident" I tell him, he doesn't seem to believe me, the look on his face says it all. I say a little prayer in my heart that Gregory doesn't recognize me because if he does I'll just die of embarrassment, he'll really think I am some cheap prostitute that got beat up by her last client. Luckily for me the doctor doesn't say anything and neither does Gregory. I take that as my cue and walk away from them with my head bowed. Despite walking away I have this feeling like I'm still being watched but I ignore it and continue to my destination.
"Oh my goodness, my poor baby, what happened?" my mum croaked out in pain as soon as she saw me.
"Mum I'm fine I just got into a little accident on my way home. It's no big deal, I've met the doctor too and he said I'll be fine, plus my face will be back to normal in a few weeks so relax". I try to calm her.
"This doesn't look like an accident Denise, it's more than that, you're beginning to keep things away from me honey…, tell me the truth. What's going on?. And this isn't the first time you've been injured like this. The last time you were injured badly was before Mr Pickles died, you thought I didn't notice your limping?Well, I did, I just let it slide but I'm not going to let this one go just like that so you better start talking. What's going on Denise?." Her voice was low as she spoke.
"Oh mum, fine… I'll tell you, promise me you won't get mad". I pleaded with her.
"What's going on Denise". she responds
"Just promise me you won't get mad".
I pleaded again.
"Fine, I won't so what's wrong" she enquired.
"Okay, some months ago when your health seemed to be getting worse, I didn't know what to do since we had used up the money dad left for us for other stuff, and the pay I got from the studio wasn't enough to get us by, I got a loan from a guy named Patrick, he gave me the money and told me I could pay when I have the money. Turns out he lied, he began to demand his money sooner than I expected. I tried to avoid him for a while but that didn't work and he found me and when he did, he beat me up. And gave me a week to pay up. Luckily I got a gig to pay him up completely but then you lost consciousness and I had to put you first because I love you too much to let anything happen to you. After the surgery he came for his money again and he beat me up when he found out the money was not complete. So here I am, but I'll let you know that I'm working on it and I'll have the complete money soon. So no need to worry.
"Oh my goodness Denise, why didn't you tell me earlier, we could have found a way other than this. My poor baby", she pulls me into a hug.
"I didn't want you to worry, plus I can handle it. I murmur.
" Shhh…. I'm meant to be the one taking care of you, you're my baby. She whispered.
At this point I know she's crying. "Mum, it's how it should be. I'm old enough to look after you so stop crying, I got it all covered.
I began to tell my mum random stories to get her mind off what I had just revealed. I purposely refuse to tell her in detail what I went through so she'll not get scared.
While I was still telling mum random stuff Rosie walked in. She looked at mum and then me and repeated it again before she moved towards us and gave mum a hug "glad to see you doing okay Mrs Walter" she says.
"Stop with the silly formalities Rosie, you're family, you can call me mum or Marilyn" mum tells her.
Rosie giggles " I know, I just wanted to rile you up".
"Now as for the elephant in the room. What happened to your face" Rosie asked with a scrunched face.
I smile warily and give her the same version of the story I gave mum. Leaving out the serious details. When I was done I knew she wasn't buying it.