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Great Writing - Home > Extended > Let no man put asunder - chapter 5
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Extended Work
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| Let no man put asunder - chapter 5 | |
| By LynB | ||
| 21 November 2006 | ||
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Chapter 5 Donna did not know how long she sat there on the living room floor, holding her husband in her arms, tears streaming down her face as she listened to the heart rending sobs that seemed to come from the depths of his soul. Occasionally, he would fall quiet, and she would attempt to move him so she could stand up, but each time he would cry out, and cling on to her as if his life depended on it. Eventually, as the muscles in her legs began to seize up, and her arms began to ache, she gently moved him, despite his protests, and stood up, stretching her aching back. He remained on the floor, staring up at her, a look of total bewilderment on his face. He reached up to her, like a child pleading to be picked up. She turned away, so he could not see the tears in her eyes, and began to make her way to the kitchen, to make a much-needed cup of tea. She took the telephone in there with her, and asked her mother if she could look after the children for a bit longer, until she found out what was going on. She had very kindly agreed to have them overnight. “Donna! Where are you going? Don’t leave me!” “Jon, I’m only going into the kitchen! I’m not leaving you! Come on, come and sit with me – I’ll make you a cup of tea!” He did as she asked, and when she came back into the living room, with two cups of tea, her heart ached at the sight that met her eyes. He was sitting on the sofa, staring straight ahead. His eyes were lifeless, and he was hugging himself as if he were cold. As Donna sat down next to him, and put a gentle hand on his shoulder, he glanced at her, with that same confused, bewildered expression on his face, almost as if he were wondering where he was. “Feeling better now, love?” she said, turning his face towards her, and kissing him gently. “Don’t know” he said, his voice completely expressionless. “What happened?” “Can’t you remember?” she whispered, gently running her fingers through his hair. “You’ve just spent the last half an hour crying on my shoulder, and before that you lost your temper and yelled at the baby, because he was crying, then you….” “I’m sorry, Donna!” He turned away from her, and, covering his face with his hands, he began to rock back and forth, crying softly. He shook off the gentle hand Donna placed on his arm, almost as though he could not bear to be touched. Her heart almost broke in two as, once again, he asked her where Eileen was. “Darling, I told you!” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “She’s gone! Don’t you remember? She passed away just over three months ago! You took some of Rosie’s birthday cake round to her, and found her in her chair. You thought she was asleep, but….” “Stop it!!” he yelled, putting his hands over his ears. “Stop it!!” With that, he ran from the room, and Donna heard his footsteps on the stairs, then the bedroom door slamming. She ran upstairs after him, but when she tried to open the door, she realised it was locked – or so she thought. When she tried again, she realised the reason she could not open it was because he was leaning against it, and no amount of pleading would persuade him to move. “Come on, love!” she begged, trying to push the door open, but it was like trying to move the Rock of Gibraltar. “Please, let me in! You can’t go on like this! Please! Let me help you!” “Go away! Leave me alone! Don’t come near me! I said – go away!!” There was silence, and when she tried the door again, it opened. She swiftly shut it again, as Jon lifted up the bedside lamp, and hurled it in her direction, and she heard it shatter as it hit the door. She heard another crash, but did not dare look to see what it was. She tried to talk to him, but he was beyond reasoning with, and every attempt at conversation was met with another crash, and a barrage of profanity – which was so completely out of character. Jon knew his fair share of four letter words, but he had never directed any of them at her – in fact, he despised any man who effed and blinded in front of women, and would accept no excuses for it. Donna knew this, and it shocked her beyond belief. She also felt another emotion she had never felt before in front of her husband – fear. She had never seen him so out of his mind with anger, and, for once, she just did not know what to do. As she stood by the door shaking and crying, she heard the front doorbell – just what she needed! Whoever it was could go away, she thought, she had enough to deal with at the moment. The doorbell rang again, then someone knocked on the door. “Donna! What’s going on? I heard all the noise! Are you all right?” “Steve!” She ran downstairs, and opened the door. “Oh thank God! I could use some help here!” “What the hell’s going on? I thought you were being attacked, or something!” “No! Come on, Steve! He’s upstairs!” “Who is? Donna, you’re not making any sense ….. oh Jesus….” Steve stood in the doorway to the bedroom, his eyes wide with horror at the scene of devastation that met his eyes. He stood there rooted to the spot, as Jon slowly approached the door, his eyes blazing, breathing heavily after all his exertion. When he spotted Steve, he slammed it shut again, and they heard a click as the key turned in the lock. “Donna, what’s going on?” said Steve, turning to face her. “What’s the matter with him?” “I don’t know!” she said, her voice breaking. “He hasn’t been himself since he came back – he looked completely exhausted, he keeps losing his temper over the slightest little thing, and he broke down and cried in front of the kids this morning, and I don’t just mean a few tears, he stood there and sobbed like a baby….” She did not trust herself to carry on, and Steve put his hand on her shoulder, in a gesture of silent comfort. He leaned against the bedroom door, and tapped on it gently. “Jon?” he said, in what he hoped was a calming tone of voice. “Come on, mate! We can sort this out! Whatever it is that’s bothering you, you don’t have to deal with it alone! Come on, a problem always seems much smaller if you share it…..” “Piss off!” yelled Jon, as another unidentified missile hit the door. “And take your patronising platitudes with you, and shove them up your….” “Jon!” Donna was shocked. “He’s only trying to help!” “No one asked him to!” was the furious reply. “I don’t need his help! I don’t need yours! I don’t need anyone’s!” “I think you do, mate!” said Steve, trying his best to stay calm. “Come on! Donna’s beside herself out here! Open the door, or I’ll break it down – it’s your choice!” He waited for a minute or two, then, when no reply was forthcoming, he took a step back, and hurled himself at the door with such force, it nearly flew off its hinges. Suddenly, with no warning, Steve felt himself flying backwards as Jon launched himself at him, his face like thunder. “What gives you the right to come in here, talk to me like I’m still at school, then try and wreck my house while you’re at it! Get out! Go on, get out!” “I’m going nowhere!” replied Steve, as he tried in vain to struggle to his feet. “From what I’ve seen you need help, and you need it fast!” “How would you know? How the hell do you know what I’m going through? You don’t know! You don’t know and you don’t care!” With one final almighty effort, Steve managed to free himself. He held Jon at arms length, as he continued to yell and swear at him, completely beyond reason. Donna just stared at him, crying softly, her heart breaking. What was happening to the gentle, softly spoken man she loved? Steve continued to hold him – Donna was mystified as to where he found all his strength from. “Come on!” he said, his voice gentle. “That’s it! Get it all out! Scream and shout all you want! Get all that anger out! There’s so much inside you, I can tell! It won’t do you any good to keep it bottled up! It’s all right - I can take it! Go on – hit me if you want! If it makes you feel better, go for broke! Come on, it’s all right…..” “You bastard!” Jon feebly pounded Steve’s chest with his fists, then lay his head on his shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably. “You happy now? You happy now you’ve reduced me to this…..” “No!” said Steve, feeling his eyes burning with tears. “Of course I’m not! What do you think I am?” “Oh God, Steve! I do need help – please…” “You’ve got it!” said Steve, still holding on to him. “Don’t say another word! We’ll get you through this – you’ll see!” As he glanced over his shoulder at Donna, realised they were both thinking the same thing. Now Jon had admitted he needed their help, he had taken the first step on the road to recovery – it was a long road, but with the help of people who cared about him, he would make it.
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