“This will teach you not to fuck with me,” he whispered, leaning forward against her ear.
For a second she was filled with panic he intended to try and fuck her in the arse. It was something she had only experienced a couple of times but it was sufficient experience to understand the potential it offered him to hurt her.
She relaxed a fraction when she realized it wasn’t his intention but she still didn’t want him and her body didn’t want him. He took several stabs before he pushed his way into her. Her dryness made it hurt like hell. After the initial shock, followed wave upon wave of further pain and indignation as he cruelly and relentlessly assaulted her body. She emitted muffled sobs and grunts each time he buried himself to the hilt inside her. When finally he’d finished he withdrew and she sank to the bed.
“Like that, did you?” he said grinning.
She rolled onto her side, tucked into a foetal position and cried like she’d never cried before in her life.
After a couple of minutes, somewhere in a corner of her mind she registered the sound of running water. It was a bath filling up. She opened her eyes and saw with great clarity what she must do. She heard the taps turned off, followed by the sound of a large body entering the bath. She forced herself to get up off the bed, although her legs almost buckled under her when she tried to stand.
She moved weakly to the cupboard and took out her small suitcase. She quickly threw her few clothes inside. Feeling nauseous she sat herself down once more on the edge of the bed. She took a few large breaths. She could hear Connor splashing around in the bath. She dressed in the clothes he’d made her remove.
She was feeling stronger. A wry smile crossed her lips. It was over. Practically speaking it hadn’t been a much different physical experience to some others in her past. Fortunately on this occasion, he was as crap and quick as other men she had known. But she had offered those other men her body. This evil bastard was going to pay for taking her uninvited.
“We’ll have some more in the morning,” he shouted from the bath.
“Fuck off,” she answered, just so he knew she was still there.
“Thanks but I’ve done enough fucking for a while,” he laughed at his own joke.
After a moment’s silence she moved quietly to the door. She was out the room and hurrying down the wooden stairs half expecting him to give chase. But she heard no sound of Connor behind her. He was both arrogant and stupid. Had he really expected her to stay in the room to be abused again, whenever he felt like it?
As she reached her car, she remembered he would be naked when he came out the bathroom and that would give her a few extra minutes to escape, while he dressed. She drove away uncertain which direction to head and then settled for the one route she knew, which was towards the centre of town. There wasn’t much traffic and she felt conspicuous. She didn’t fancy being stopped by the police, even though she hadn’t been drinking or directly committed any crime.
She drove for ten minutes to put distance between herself and Connor, then turned into a side street with cars parked down each side. She found what she wanted halfway along the street and spotted a small parking space just a few feet further up the road. She hurried to the telephone box, wishing she had worn more than the flimsy jacket that did little to keep out the cold weather. The door was heavy and stuck but she forced it open with her shoulder. The stench of urine was foul and she was careful where she stood. She gingerly lifted the receiver with little expectation of it working but at least with this small matter, luck was on her side tonight. She dialled 999.
Tom arrived at the hospital and introduced himself at the Accident and Emergency department. He was asked to take a seat and sat alone away from the handful of others that were waiting their turn for treatment to a variety of injuries. He stared at the large Christmas tree stood in one corner, which seemed an inappropriate reminder of what should be a season of celebration. Not many visitors to an Accident and Emergency department had much cause for rejoicing.
Tom had been a patient in this very department a couple of times in the distant past. Both times as a result of running injuries. An ankle with badly torn ligaments had needed bandaging and a cut lip had needed a couple of stitches. Nothing serious, certainly nothing to compare with being shot but he’d been well treated.
It was a teaching hospital with a good reputation but how many gunshot wounds would they see in a year? Would they have anyone with the experience needed to save Colin’s life? He knew he must call Liz and let her know what had happened but first he wanted to establish Colin’s condition. He would have liked to accept the policeman’s offer to call her but it wouldn’t have been right, just personally easier. She was family after all and deserved to hear from him not a stranger. It was going to be bad enough having to wake her in the middle of the night to tell her Colin had been shot but he was desperately hoping he was also going to be able to tell her not to worry and that her husband would live. Whatever he said though she was going to suffer a terrible shock.
Unfortunately, Janet Harding already had to face up to the rest of her life without her
