Chapter 18…Part 1
“Hey, you almost ready?” Roslyn turned towards the door and smiled at her cousin standing there in her wedding dress. I had been two days since Roslyn was released from the hospital, and in a few minutes, Kaci would be walking down the aisle.
“I’ll be right out,” Roslyn responded absently, turning away from Kaci and looking at herself again in the long mirror. She studied the sadness in her own eyes, the dark circles underneath those sad eyes peaking out from under the layers of makeup that had been applied in hopes of hiding them.
She watched herself in the mirror, feeling like she was looking at someone else, someone she had never wanted to become. Her life was not her own anymore, merely a shell that masked what was really lying beneath, concealing the monster in her body that would never cease to exist until she herself ceased to exist. There would be so much now that she would never experience, so much life she would never get to live.
“I wish you would talk to me,” Kaci said softly, watching her cousin looking at herself in the mirror. She saw just what Roslyn was seeing, but she had no comprehension of the cause. All she knew was that her best friend was slipping further and further away from her with each passing day and so far she could not find a way to pull her back.
“Kaci, we’re ready,” the wedding planner announced, peaking her head into the room. Roslyn turned from the mirror, wiping away a lone tear that had made its way down her cheek and followed Kaci to the back entrance of the church where the bridal party lined up.
Just get through this day and then you can leave. Just get through this day. Roslyn kept reminding herself of that as she plastered the best fake smile she could muster on her face while she marched down the aisle in front of Kaci.
“Oh, they look so beautiful.”
“What gorgeous dresses.”
“Beauty runs ramped in that side of the family.”
Roslyn heard the murmurs and comments as she passed, knowing everyone was admiring the wedding in its entirety, but the compliments went in one ear and out the other. Nothing they were saying mattered anymore and none of it would be true down the road anyway.
As she took her spot as the Maid of Honor at the front of the church, she thought back to her conversation with Rob a few hours earlier.
“Jerome, its Roslyn. I know Rob is there with you and I need to talk to him.”
“Why? So the cops can trace the call and find us? I don’t think so.”
“The cops aren’t here Jerome, I’m by myself. I need to talk to him dammit, it is important. For Christ’s sake, he tried to kill me; at least he can talk to me for a minute…I can give him what he wants.”
There was silence for a few seconds, Jerome obviously processing what Roslyn had just told him. “Hang on,” he responded before holding his hand over the speaker and whispering something to Rob. Moments later, she heard his voice on the line, causing her to shudder a little at the sound.
“What’s going on Ros?” He sounded callous and unmoved, but inside he was frantically trying figure out what she was doing.
“Rob, I have no idea what happened between us; I can’t even begin to fathom it. I know I can’t trust you and I know for some reason you want to hurt me, and I know I’m putting myself in danger by even doing this, but I need to see you. I have to talk to you and I can’t do it right now. I need you to meet me somewhere.” Her voice was strong, unfaltering. She wasn’t afraid of him anymore; there was nothing more he could do to hurt her, and if he tried, it would actually be a blessing.
Again, there was silence. Roslyn looked around quickly while she waited for him to answer her; afraid that someone would walk into the room at that moment and question her about whom she was talking to.
After several minutes, he spoke again. “Jerome has a friend that is working at the reception. I’ll meet you by the backdoor of the kitchen.”
“What time?”
“I’ll be waiting there all night.”
“Okay, I’ll get there as soon as I find a chance to sneak away.” Her voice still didn’t falter; she knew she had to tell him, if he didn’t already know that is.
“Aren’t you scared Ros?” His words were meant to intimidate her.
“No, Rob, not anymore.”
She was pulled from her thoughts by Serena jabbing her in the ribs with her elbow. Kaci was holding her bouquet out for Roslyn to take while the exchange of rings took place and Roslyn grabbed it quickly, feeling slightly embarrassed for her lack of attention towards her cousin’s wedding day. She knew they would understand her distraction if she just told them what was going on, but she couldn’t.
It will hurt them when I’m gone, but it will spare them so much more then walking with me through it all.
Chapter 18….Part 2
Roslyn sat at one of the tables surrounding the dance floor as AJ’s and Kaci’s family and friends danced, laughed and celebrated the marital union between two people in love, watching them, despising them for the joy and carefree attitudes they all had at the moment. She wanted to feel like that, but she never would again, that much she knew.
When someone would approach her and ask her for a dance, or inquire about her unwillingness to partake in the festivities, she would mutter some sort of excuse, usually ranging from some lie about being tired or having a headache, to eating too much during dinner, anything that would sound convincing enough but not too serious and allowing them to get off her case. Aside from the constant thought of the less than happy ending she was surely going to receive, she felt fine; the atrocity within her not yet taking its toll on her health, but it would, she knew that too.
She could feel the stares her family was giving her; she was sure they were all talking about her, speculating as to the cause of her sudden change in demeanor. Most of them had very little knowledge of the incidents that had been occurring for the latter part of the week, and Roslyn had no interest or sense of responsibility to tell them; it would all be worked out soon enough anyway.
As she sat at the table, waiting for the opportune moment to sneak away, she contemplated the after-effects of her absence. What are they going to think happened to me? Will they try and find me? She answered her own questions in her head, telling herself whatever she needed to hear to make her decision easier to digest, easier to execute, easier to live with…and die with. One question she had though she found very difficult to answer; it broke her heart just thinking about it.
What will Nick do? He seems to really care for me, but how long will that last? He will probably try to find me, help me like he always does, but I give him two months. After that he will lose interest, someone else will catch his eye, his fancy, and that will be the end of what could have been with us. Not that anything could be with us now, not anymore; I have nothing to give him, nothing he would want anyway, just the same fate as mine; but somehow I don’t think it would be as romantic as the shared fate of Romeo and Juliet.
She continued to allow her own thoughts to consume her, no longer paying any attention to the swirl of the music or the people around her.
“She won’t tell me what the doctor told her,” Nick said softly as he, AJ, Kaci and Serena stepped off the dance floor and walked over towards a quieter corner of the room. They had all been keeping one eye on Roslyn all night long, each of them desperate to know what was happening to their friend. “She gave me some line of crap about the doctor suggesting counseling for the abuse and stuff, but I don’t buy it. The nurse had already talked to her about it, while I was in the room. It doesn’t make sense.”
His voice was tense, harsh, making it painstakingly clear how hard this entire situation was on him. He may have been able to conceal his feelings for Ros before, but they were hidden no longer, nor did he make any effort to try and hide them. There was actually little hidden between this group any more; it was raw, they were raw.
They talked quietly amongst themselves, speculating, guessing, just as everyone else was doing. Kaci, knowing her cousin better than anyone else, felt like there was more to Roslyn’s problem than just Rob and what he did to her. She knew deep down that it would take a lot more than a man to break Roslyn’s spirit; she had already persevered through so much in her life, why quit now?
“She’s leaving,” Serena hissed, breaking up the conversation quickly. They watched Roslyn slip out the door of the reception hall.
“I’m going after her,” Kaci said firmly, taking her first step towards the door.
“No, you’re not,” Nick replied, just as firmly. “This is your wedding and you can’t just leave. I’ll go.” He didn’t wait for a response; he simply walked away, heading quickly towards the door that Roslyn had slipped out of moments ago. When he stepped into the hallway he saw no sign of her, and swearing under his breath he started traipsing down the corridor in search of her. He found her five minutes later.
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“Ah, Roslyn, aren’t you a vision in seafoam.” She turned around quickly, peering into the darkened alcove at the back of the kitchen. Like something out of a scary movie, a figure emerged into the light, revealing his identify and instilling terror into the victim in front of him, and this was certainly no different, except Roslyn didn’t feel terror.
“Rob, I see you’ve been studying that box of crayons again. I’m impressed…seafoam.” She looked him straight in the eye as she spoke, showing no signs of fear or any intention of backing down. He glared at her, taken aback by the newfound spunk in her tone. He actually preferred the dossal Roslyn to this bitter, condescending woman in front of him. At least dossal Roslyn didn’t put up much of a fight.
“And I see you’ve grown a pair since our last encounter,” he retorted, referring to her new “ballsy” attitude.
“I told you Rob, I’m not afraid of you anymore, and I’m not standing here right now because I want to be. There’s something we need to talk about, something you need to know.” He spoke before she could go on, taking her breath away as he said it.
“You tested positive.” It came out more as a statement than a question, accompanied by a smug smile plastered on his face
Roslyn reeled back at his verification, hatred towards the man in front of her building like a time bomb inside her. He knew, the whole time he knew, and he did nothing to help me or protect me. My life is ruined because of something he could have prevented!
“You fucking bastard!” she screamed at the top of her lungs as she lunged at him, throwing her fists against his face and his chest repeatedly. At first he seemed to be stunned by her forward attack, he made no attempt to fight back and just let the blows fall where they may, but a few seconds later he snapped out of it and shoved her backwards, her body lurching back into the stainless steel counter behind her.
She braced herself for the impact, bending her arms at the elbow to absorb the shock and she pushed herself off the counter as she hit it. She looked over, saw a large chopping knife within reach and grabbed it, pointing it at Rob before he could make another move. She lunged forward, holding the knife as steady as she could, ready to sink it into his flesh, but he shoved her arm to the side as she approached him, sending the blade swiftly across his abdomen, slicing his shirt and the skin underneath it relatively deep.
“Bitch,” he sneered, wiping his hand over the trail of blood dripping down his stomach to the floor. He raised his bloody hand and swiped the back of it across her face, her feet flying out from underneath her from the force. She landed solidly on the hard, concrete floor, her body making a deep thudding sound on impact.
“Get away from her!” Nick screamed as he came rushing through the kitchen. Rob bent down and grabbed the knife that had flown out of Roslyn’s hand as she fell, swinging it wildly in front of him as Nick charged towards him. Nick batted the knife away as he plowed into Rob, sending Rob toppling backwards onto the ground with Nick on top of him.
The knife had slashed a deep wound on Nick’s palm when he batted it away, and now both he and Rob were covered in blood, each others blood, cut by the same blade. He staggered to his feet, never taking his eyes off Rob as he lay on the floor, unmoving, with the exception of his chest rising and falling, a sign he was still alive.
“Police! Everybody freeze!” a female voice shouted from behind him and he instinctively raised his hands into the air, a river of blood trickling down his arm.
“Nick, are you alright?” Kate yelled as she lowered her weapon and approached him. She didn’t wait for him to answer. “Send in the paramedics,” she yelled into her two way radio as she surveyed the damage and saw both Nick and Rob were bleeding. She grabbed a clean dish towel off of the rack against the wall and wrapped it tightly around Nick’s hemorrhaged hand.
“This will help until you get to the hospital,” she said softly. “Do you know what happened?” she asked, motioning towards Roslyn.
“I saw him hit her across the face. What happened before that I don’t know. I just watched her go down and then I tackled him.”
She walked over to Roslyn, bending down next to her and feeling for a pulse. “Roslyn, can you hear me?” Roslyn started to stir, moaning loudly as she tried to sit up. When she focused on the scene in front of her, her eyes landing on Rob and seeing all the blood, she knew they had to be warned.
“Don’t touch him without gloves,” she yelled, her eyes moving from Rob to the knife lying on the ground next to his limp hand. It was covered in blood, his blood, and Nick’s blood. She looked up at Nick, knowing that same blade had cut them, knowing his life was in danger now too. “He has HIV.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
I split this chapter into two parts...I wrote part 1 yesterday and part 2 this morning...I hope you enjoy it!
