THE DEEP END
The pink stick lay bare on the table that stood between Elena and Tyler. The single red line that peeked from the glass threatened to unleash the full wrath of Tyler's anger. She was seven months into their marriage and she had not missed her period once. The loud sound of shattering glass made Elena shriek in horror. As she looked at his face she saw a strange mix of fiery anger, hatred and despair that made his eyes darken. Elena took two steps backward to avoid being hit by the number of objects he was throwing sideways in anger. He faced her with so much fury that she felt his countenance would swallow her up. "Look at me you God forsaken soul" Tyler hit the table so hard as he spoke that the vase on it fell to the floor from the impact of his fists. Elena's head remained bowed, refusing to stare into the eyes of the monster she had married. She wanted to scream out loud and let him know that childbearing didn't just happen, how it was possible she wasn't getting pregnant because of the stress and emotional turmoil she was going through, how his treatment of her made her body too weak and her mind too frail to bear a child for him. The words kept eluding her each time she tried to find her voice. Instead a mix of fear, anger and anxiety took over her entire being. Not only that, she had begun to hear voices in her head that suggested to her that she run. However, the thought of death appealed more to her and that scared her. She had found herself most times, deliberately staying long under water in the bathtub, sometimes playing with the flames in the fireplace and wishing they would engulf her and end her misery. She found herself enjoying the dark thoughts of ending it all. If that would give her peace, she found herself considering the option of taking her life. "I'm really sorry Tyler, it's not my fault" Tears threatened to choke Elena's voice as she spoke. As she tried to explain further, a loud noise that sounded like the flat line of a heart monitor filled her ears making her fall to the ground. Before she could make sense of what had happened to her, a deep sharp pain bolted into her side further making her roll sideways into the dresser. With teary eyes and so much pain, she lifted her eyes and saw him standing there looking down at her with clenched fists. He had done it again. She had lost count of how many times he had hit her in the past few months. She kept clenching her side while trying to grab the handle of the dresser so she could stand but this time was different, she could feel it. The more she tried to get up, the sharper the pain she felt in her side and worse the more laboured her breathing became. Realising that she couldn't stand up herself, she reached out to Tyler weakly with her hands hoping that he would help her up. He didn't offer his hands but he took a chair instead, sat down and watched her writhe in pain. Elena kept trying to push through the pain and get herself to get up at least into the bathtub cause she could feel a warm liquid oozing through the side of her head. She knew that she was bleeding. Suddenly, the room began to spin and her body felt too heavy for her to move. The smell of the blood close to her face became stronger and she realized that Tyler's face began to fade. She was trying so hard to keep her eyes open but she couldn't. She tried breathing, crying for help and shouting but she was too weak to let him know that she was slipping out of consciousness. Her life seemed to her like it had come to an end. She had heard people talk about seeing dreams of what their life should have been when they were faced with death or slipping out of consciousness but she only saw darkness. It was all around her threatening to engulf her. She tried fighting the exhaustion but she stopped because her body was too tired. Taking one last look at Tyler's face, she determined to agree with her body and stop fighting. Before she closed her eyes finally, she noticed a change in his countenance. He suddenly began to sweat. He rushed to her side and began shaking her violently as if he was trying to get her to speak. She wanted to tell him to stop,that he was hurting her and she he was at peace. She wanted to tell him that he need not worry about her, she thought he heard her when he left the room hurriedly, running as if he was being chased. She didn't understand what was happening with him. Why was he panicking? Wasn't it his wish that she died? Slipping fast out of consciousness, she saw him storm into the room with the other servants. He carried her hurriedly into his arms making her feel intense pain all through her body. The slamming of doors and his voice barking orders at servants was the last thing she heard. She had heard people describe their near death experiences as a chaotic one, how they were scared of dying and wished they had one more chance. But it was different for her because in that moment she felt peace. She felt at ease and she felt a deep sense of serenity that her current life had denied her. She felt happy.