1. The Balcony

"Look, it was all your fault okay." Tommy splutted out from his bastard mouth. Tommy Gnayer Hamford, a God forsaking image of a husband, not just a husband, the insolent Father of twins, how did she end up with such a beast?, how could she reverse this?, was there really no way she could go back in time to undo this? she loved her twins though, its the only reason she'd tolerated all of this so far, it was because she thought it was okay if her children had a father like the other kids at school but it may have been the wrong decision letting it come this far all through these years.

She had to do something about it now.

"Oh my Tommy, there's no way you can be serious about saying your addiction is my fault." those words she let out were carefully selected, she couldn't afford to utter the wrong words in this situation. She needed to stay calm, it's how she had survived all through this.

"Haah, 'addiction' you say."  Tommy scolded, and at that moment, she knew she had said something that would infuriate him. The word 'addiction' echoed in her ears. She had to say something or else, she would be a goner for tonight.

She didn't want that.

"Tommy, did I say something to irk your nerves? I'm sorry if i——" she muttered quickly but was cut off by the heavy footsteps of Tommy, she knew it was over when he hastened his steps towards her, he was going to haunt her for her sins. As strong as she was, she knew how reckless he could be. She didn't want any harm, more still, she had work the next day. She began to think if It would be better to just die in the hands of Tommy.

However, if she dies, her kids may die too. She couldn't leave her kids to suffer at the hands of a monster, she couldn't give up that easily,she had to be strong.

RUN!!!

The only movement her adrenaline hormones could reinforce at a time like this was to run. There was nothing much she could do anyway. He was much bigger, much stronger, the veins popping out of his pale white skin could be seen clearly without having to peek. All of this because of a miscalculated word she administered to him, she felt stupid for taking a risk to speak a truth.

A fact.

All of this happens so fast, there was no time to think about what had already occurred, she was in danger and she was aware, but she was sure of one thing. Her kids were safe in somewhere no one knew except her all too good secretary, her trust-worthy secretary.

She shouldn't have picked a hotel room for this meeting in the first place, it was way too dangerous, anywhere Tommy stepped foot in, was dangerous, how could she had taken such a risk?. She pulled on the finely made copper door knob, but It wouldn't bulge, no matter how much force she used, it didn't open.

It was locked by Tommy.

Did he plan this from the start?

As feisty as she was, she was completely weak at the face of Tommy but even still, she could only think about her kids, she had to live for them, they were her treasures, they could have been her weakness or her strength but at that moment, they were her strength.

An idea came to life in her mind. It was the most reasonable panacea to get away from the crazy bastard. The ardent desire to initiate her idea took over her.

      * * *

As she laid down still, all she wondered was why she couldn't see or feel but at least she could hear the chattering of people, she realised they were Ellen's and Evans' and a lady in their midst, 'who was that' she thought. She wanted to see them and hug them but she couldn't, she tried to open her eyes but all she could feel was the heaviness of her own body as if she was being oppressed by intense gravity.

"Hey, her fingers just moved, I'll call the doctor, stay with mommy okay kids." Miss liu jumped as she spoke. Of course, the lady in the midst of her kids was Miss liu, her secretary. Miss liu brought the twins here after hearing the news. She was certain that she was a patient in a hospital now and she couldn't help but wonder why.

As she stayed there half conscious, the doctor with a white coat glistening on his tanned skin made way into the ordinary looking hospital ward where she was, Miss liu followed suite. He held his stethoscope to her skin and suddenly she could feel the pain of cold metal stain her skin, the metal woke her senses but there's something protecting her,a hospital gown, she was relieved knowing that she could finally feel and thought she could maybe see too. The urge to see her kids grew as she fought to fit light into her emerald orbs but they still felt heavy.

I want to see them.

"the anaesthetic has worn off quite a lot, she should regain full consciousness soon. Kids, your mom is alright, she'd be sad if you're worried, and get some rest miss." the tan skinned doctor reassured everyone and at once, everyone gave a sigh of relief but they still awaited her wake. She flinched from having to bear the pain of her stiff neck which was bandaged as well as her right leg. The pain was exhilarating but she could endure. It was nothing compared to everything she had to deal with in the past. She wasn't still aware of why she was admitted, she couldn't remember how she got wounded. Her memory itched to recall but there was nothing.

Tommy Gnayer Hamford rushing towards her was the only memory her overworked brain could process. Deep in thought, she wondered where she could have been running off to at that time.

Blurry, an extremely blurry vision was what she could call sight but she was glad that she could now see the broken teeth of two excellent pair of smiles. Ellen and Evans were happy to hear the doctor say their mother was alright and they were hopefully waiting to hear her soft voice, I miss them as much as they miss me. Her imperfect sight was better compared to nothing because she was happy to see her treasures.

"Ellen, Evans, my babies, come give mommy a hug, I missed you soooo much, I'm okay now alright, I'm fine, I'm so sorry I was gone." she sighed, their grip was tight and she could feel it, their desperation to run away from this wicked world with her because they didn't want to lose her neither did she, their father may be sick but it didn't matter, she was well aware of the 9 months her womb housed and fed those two and It would be the last thing she'd ever want to regret.

"Glad youre okay boss, you should stop taking risks seriously, I thought i was gonna piss my pants." Helen liu sighed as she averted her gaze.

"I'm sorry for worrying you," she mumbled, it was true that she felt sorry, she disliked having people worry about her. She smiled to assure Miss liu of her better state of mind of body in which was understood. "But can you tell me why I'm here, it's getting frustrating not being able to remember."  she confessed.

"You just regained consciousness and that's the first thing you're most bothered about? Think about your health for once! you may be a strong domineering woman but the people around you would die worrying about your well being boss." Miss liu hissed. Helen liu was pissed because other than work, she wouldn't call her boss 'boss'.

"Well, Helen, I said I'm sorry, I can't imagine how you must have felt running around with the kids, I truly am sorry okay, but my brain is overheating here, I'm really confused you know." a wry grin formed on her lips while she spoke, she thought it would convince Miss liu to tell her why Tommy was rushing towards her like she was his prey and him, her hungry predator.

"You should at least let your kids fall asleep before looking for sources to soothe your curiosity." she flinched. Was she avoiding this question or she just really wanted the kids to fall deep asleep first. That she wouldn't know,she was impossible to read as always, her Asian eyes could never give her away, she looks as tough as a rock, one which couldn't be broken using just any means, it's how she looked and that's how she had worked as a secretary for so many years, her boss was happy to hire a dedicated employee but whenever miss liu used this tough as a rock method on her, she hated it because even she being the boss, couldn't break her.

"Well sure, Miss liu, my precious, I'll gladly wait if you feed me some food, a patient is starving and I know you were caring enough to bring some food, right?" her voice as soft as ever so Miss liu would give in to her feigned act of meekness.

By this time, she could feel her kids sleepy eyes, the ward was way to small to have them sleep over. Knowing that they all couldn't fit on the bed she was on, she ordered to be moved to a vip ward with two beds. Helen liu had given her a well cooked meal of congee, as expected miss liu always brought her this whenever she'd come up with an illness of any sort, although it made her wonder, was this a tradition in her secretary's country? Or a habit,without any hesitation though, she downed the food and of course it wasn't enough. Miss liu noticed this and prepared to leave the ward by grabbing her purse which she held firmly between her thumb and her palm.

"Hey, I'll be branching the office for a while and then I'll grab some essentials and food for us all on the way, would you like anything?" she asked waiting for an urgent reply.

"You can get the usual for the kids and some pizza too, i'll eat anything you eat." miss liu walked towards the door and halted.

"Get some rest, I won't be long." miss liu said in a low hushed tone, she didn't want to wake the kids on her boss' aching body.

"Thank you Helen, really thanks for everything, I really appreciate." after hearing her boss say those words, she left without batting an eye but she understood, she just didn't want to show her emotions, her worry. Their relationship was non other than a boss and his or her employee but other than at work, miss liu was the only one that could be relied on, would it be considered friendship? They never gave meaning to how close they were, maybe it would be called family considering the hatred for the facade of a word 'friendship'. This was what they shared in common.

      * * *

Her eyes lifted as her pupils dilated to absorb light to see in the dark. She sighted an unfamiliar ceiling different from the ward she was laid in a while ago, she realised she was now in the VIP ward she requested for. Her kids were on the second bed peacefully asleep, she peeked at them and smiled, the bed was more comfortable now. She was happy she had enough money to spend on them. The television was on, a lowered volume though but she could tell that there was a person on the couch. It was Helen.

"You should be hungry, the kids ate already, it's midnight but I think you should still eat." miss liu said without turning back.Her eyes glued to the images on the television set.

"Thanks," she said while she checked her side drawer for her dinner. "Can we discuss now, you know, what happened to me?" she asked, she had been dreaming of talking about it because of how anxious she felt, she wanted to know.

"Sure, it was Tommy." miss liu said without hesitation, she gently opened her meal pack to find out what the meal she was going to settle on for the night was. It was matzo ball soup. She knew she could count on miss liu for food making decisions.

"I know it was Tommy, but do you have any idea what happened?"  she replied as she aimed for the spoon and glanced to miss liu's side, she saw a box of pizza and opened it to see if it was empty. It wasnt, at least she had something to top her meal up with—'was this healthy though?' she thought.

"The police got involved you know, you could have died, why did you call him to meet you up in a hotel room?"  miss liu frowned as she turned to look her in the eye. She began to remember, she was sure she called him, and it was relating to his addiction.

LSD addiction.

"They did?" she spluttered while trying to contain her surprise but it showed eventually.

Why did the police get involved?, how serious was this?

"Well yeah, considering the fact you were thrown down a two storey building 20 feet apart." irritation overcame miss liu's voice, she looked at her boss ever so painfully then stood up and shuffled towards the bed.

"I was thrown? Can you explain furth—" she was cut off.

"Tommy is with the police right now, everyone is waiting for you to press charges, we're all sure you will, he can't be free anymore Jane, please, this has gone too far," she talked as she looked at her boss in the eye after sitting on the chair beside the bed. Press charges? Was he caught already? That wouldn't be good, he shouldn't be caught because if he is, what would happen to her? She was also involved.

"The police had their hands on him and also the cctv at the hotel you both were, I'm happy there was a cctv staring into that balcony. It looked like you were running to jump out but Tommy had your hair covered tightly unto his fists, I thought he was gonna stop you Jane but he pushed you down there himself, you still don't want to press charges? He's crazy Jane, he truly is. " miss liu blurted without realising her raised voice. If what she heard was true, then there was no reason to feel surprised, she could now remember what happened, it seemed that her brain just needed a push.

      * * *

She ran to execute her plans, the perfect escape plan to get away from the aggravated beast, she was just about two and a half feet away from the balcony rail, plants and flowers filled the place and her nostrils flared with olfaction,agility and trepidation. She felt a tight grip on her hair, she had thought she was fast enough but the heels she wore did more harm than good, if not for them she would have been faster, she wouldn't be feeling this oppressed by Tommy if she was faster.

"My lovely Jane, repeat what you said and I shall let you go." Tommy's voice was in a hushed tone but she could still hear how hoarse it was, it filled her head like it was in 8d.

I'm gone.

"I'm... I'm sorry, just let me go, we can talk this out Tommy." she apologized. The apology had no tone and the reason was as clear as day. She didn't feel apologetic. She still wanted to fight up until the last minute. She heard the keys in his ****** pocket. If she could just act it out a little more and snatch them from his pocket as fast as she could.

"I said repeat what you said, are you disobeying me Jane, should I punish you Honey? You used to like my punishments back then right?" Tommy smirked, she could see it from the side of her eyes, his eyes glistened as his dilated pupils stared down at her. She desperately wished she could slap that dirty smirk off his face but she still had to act to retrieve the keys.

"Tommy, just relax okay, I'm sorry, I won't misuse my words again, I promise."  she spat out.

"Dear little Jane, you dare to disobey me?" he gushed irritably. Now that he was irritated, calming him down would be impossible. She flinched and tried to escape his strong hold but his fingers pulled on every strand of her thick wavy black hair making her squirm. Blood pulsed through his veins faster than usual making it obvious that he was under the effect of drugs, she hated it when he called her 'Jane' in that state because it reminded her of what she used to be. She hated the name infact. The most boring name in the whole entire female hood. She thought of how to retrieve the keys because putting up an act would obviously end up a failure. She immediately turned back as she endured all the pain coming from her head, she hastily got hold of the keys but before she could make motion back to the door, Tommy's other hand squeezed her neck firmly as she choked and before she could beg, she was flinged off the balcony. She thought she was going to meet her doom.

She could see him smiling while he watched her fall to her end, it was the effect of that drug. The LSD. He was devoid of emotions as he thought it was all a joke.

A play.

It happened in slow motion. She felt like all the anxiety she hid throughout the past years unleashed itself as she fell, fear pierced through her heart but still, all she thought of were her kids, she wondered whether she was going to die and leave them by themselves, she was sure she wouldn't survive the fall that easily but in that split moment, just when she was about to hit the hard cemented floor right in front of the grand floor entrance of the hotel building, that was when she had realized that she made contact with something ever so forcefully.

Something as hard as bone and at the same time as soft as flesh.

A human body no doubt.

Not in the arms of this person but atop the skull and she could feel vividly how the body saved her but how she ruined the person. They both came crashing to the ground. The pain was extreme to both sides but she couldn't push aside the fact that she was saved. She was glad. She fought to look at where the body was before she lost consciousness and she saw a man, he looked huge compared to her average stature but he was unconscious or did she kill him?.

The piercing sound of the siren of the ambulance filled the scene as she thought of how Tommy threw her over like a piece of paper and then she released her lids to put her gorgeous green orbs to rest.

Who was this person who saved her? An angel?

She wanted to find him and thank him for saving her kids.

'I have to find him' she thought.

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