"Yeah he loves you so much that he was trying it on with me just then. Tina he's just using you, can't you see it? He loves to be in control and you let him walk all over you. He knows that he can do what ever he likes and you'll just come begging back for more. You could do so much better than him. He's just a piece of scum. We could move away from him. Me, you, Lou and the baby, we could start again away from all this."
"But I don't want to leave, I love it here. I Love my job, the people, Lou's nursery, everything. I don’t think I could face leaving it all."
"Fine, we'll get a court order against him. Something that means he can't come near you or Louise. Come on Tina we'll think of something."
"Ok then." She said in a small voice.
Part nine
Quickly Chloe bundled Tina and Lou into the car, glancing nervously around for Sean every now and again but luckily he never turned up. All Chloe wanted to do was get away from the hospital. She'd all ready booked a long holiday for the three of them. She needed to get Tina away from him where she could think clearly about what was the best thing to do. She slammed the doors shut and with a final look around she got into the car and drove off as fast as she could.
"Chloe, slow down." Tina urged her friend as the car screeched around a corner.
"Yeah, sorry." Chloe said as she looked round at Lou who was sitting quietly in the back looking scared as anything. It was the first time in a while Lou had actually been quiet and stopped asking where her dad was and everyone was relieved that they could stop answering the un settling questions, for now.
As they pulled up out side the house around an hour later Tina was the first one to notice that there were lights on inside.
"Oh god Chloe, why did he have to be here?" Tina asked Chloe sadly.
"It's ok Tina," Chloe reassured her, squeezing her hand "We'll be fine."
"No we wont." Tina said suddenly
"What do you mean?" Chloe asked, looking confused.
"I mean that I'm going to go in there on my own. All we need is our passports so there's no need for all of us to go in there."
"But he'll persuade you to stay, I know what he's like."
"No he wont, I'll be fine. And besides, I'm not taking Lou anywhere near him. He's not going to hurt her."
"Well I'll come then."
"What, and leave my baby in the car all on her own? No way Chlo, you stay with her." Chloe nodded and Tina got out of the car. She smiled as she walked past the front of the car, putting her shoulders back and head in the air. Trying to look confident when really she was scared to death of what she would find inside the
Staring up at the door her house had never look more scary and intimidating. Bravely she put her key in the lock and as she pushed the heavy door open she jumped as she saw Sean standing on the other side.
"What you doing back?" He asked, and she could smell the alcohol on his breath as soon as he opened his mouth.
"Passports." Tina muttered into the ground as she tried in vain to push past him.
"Why do you need them? You leaving me?" He said grabbing onto her wrists so she couldn’t move away.
"No." She said, struggling to free herself from his tight grip. "Of course not. It's just that Chloe has offered to pay for me and Lou to go on holiday with her." It was only a slight lie and she just was doing it to humour him. To get him to let her go.
"I don’t want you going away with that b***h. I don’t like her." Shaun said letting her go but still blocking her way to the bedroom: which is where the passports were. He was now putting on his sulky face to try and get her to feel sorry for him.
"It's only for a long weekend. We'll be back before you know it." Tina said, stroking his face. He stepped aside and let her pass up the stairs. She let out a deep breath as she got to the top of the stairs, glad that the whole thing was over. She found the passports in no time and then she did something that was quite un-planned. She got Sean's checkbook, the money from the safe and the password to Lou's saving account. Then she went over to her draw and got out a little photo album and a few other personal things and put them all in a bag. It was obvious that she wasn't planning on coming back.
When she got down stairs she saw Sean standing outside the door, waiting for her. She let out a groan and rolled her eyes skywards. Then she quickly put on a big smile, pretending to be glad to see him.
"What you got in the bag?" He asked, pointing at the bag with the bottle that was in his hand.
"Oh you know, just a few things I'll need for the trip." Tina said as she walked outside but he put out his arm to stop her.
"No, I only said you could get the passports."
"It's only a few things for Lou." Tina protested as she tried once again to get over to the car. By this time Chloe had realised something was wrong and had come over to see.
"You alright Tina?"
"Yeah, I just need Sean to let me pass." She said, smiling up at him.
"Not until you show me what's in the bag." He said, trying to grad for it but she pulled it away, just out of his reach. The he grabbed the top of her arms and dug his nails in. Constantly telling her to give him the bag.
"Let her go!" Chloe shouted, hitting him on the back. This wasn't doing any good and even though she struggled Sean just wouldn’t let go of Tina. Her hands flew up to his hair and she started pulling as hard as she could, trying to make him let go of her now bleeding arms. As she pulled his hair he screamed out in pain and pushed her away from him with all his strength. Chloe screamed as Tina's head hit the doorframe with a sickening crack and then again as she fell to the floor with a dull thud.
Part ten
Sean stood by her bedside and stared down at the pale face of the woman he once knew so well, trying to take in the enormity of what had just happened- what he'd done. He looked around the room at Chloe's concerned face and Lou's look of total confusion, Chloe was saying something to Tina- some words of comfort, of kindness but he didn't hear them. All he heard was the constant bleep from her heart monitor- his own heart beating with it and his pulse racing every time it even slowed down.
He couldn’t bring himself to touch her or even speak to her because of what he'd done- it was all his fault. He'd never meant to hurt her- it'd all been a big mistake. When he'd married her he'd never have thought that a few years down the line it would have become this. He loved her so much that he'd have done anything to stop her leaving him- well she wasn't going any were now. A nurse walked in and he looked up at her- hoping for some good news: that she'd be ok, that everything was going to be fine. But he knew with one look into that nurse's eyes that it wasn’t good news she brought.
"I'm sorry." She practically whispered. "But there's nothing we can do for her. She's suffered major brain damage from the fall and it's too late for us to operate now."
"So what's going to happen?" Chloe asked as she found her voice again.
"I'm afraid that her body's slowly shutting itself down." The nurse said with pity in her voice.
"How long?" Chloe managed to force out through her tears.
"A few hours, maybe. We can't really tell." Chloe nodded and pulled Lou farther up onto her lap- holding her as tight as she could while her tears dropped onto her golden hair and turned it a murky brown colour.
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