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Great Writing - Home > Extended > Let no man put asunder - chapter 6
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Extended Work
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| Let no man put asunder - chapter 6 | |
| By LynB | ||
| 21 November 2006 | ||
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Reposting Chapter 6 For a minute or two, there was an embarrassed silence, as Jon pulled away from Steve, and looked around the bedroom, taking in the devastation around him. He looked from Steve to Donna, not quite knowing what to say. “Oh Jesus, look at this mess!” he said, as he knelt on the floor, and began to pick up the shattered bedside lamp. “I’d better pick it up…..” “It’s all right, love!” said Donna, putting a tentative hand on his shoulder. “Leave it! I’ll do it later on – I think we all need to calm down first! Come on, let’s go downstairs!” She held out her hand, and he gratefully took it, as he hauled himself to his feet. He noticed the look on Steve’s face as he walked past him, and felt a sudden sharp pang of remorse for the way he had just attacked him. Donna went straight through to the kitchen to make a cup of tea, closely followed by Steve. He stopped in his tracks when he heard Jon calling him, and turned to go back into the living room. “You aren’t going to punch my lights out if I sit here, are you?” he said, trying to lighten the situation a little, but it backfired badly. As Jon glanced at Steve, and noticed the red marks on his arms where he had grabbed him, the realisation of exactly what had happened hit him like a bolt out of the blue. His eyes filled with tears, and he began to shake from head to foot. He tried desperately to control himself, but it was impossible, and eventually he gave it up as a bad job. Just then, Donna came through with three cups of tea on a tray, and placed them on the table. “What is it, love?” she said, shocked by his appearance. “You’re not cold, are you?” “No, I’m not cold! I don’t know what it is! I…..” “Looks to me like you’re in a state of shock!” said Steve, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make light of what happened – I was just trying to lighten things up a bit! I shouldn’t have – I’m sorry!” “No, it’s me who should be sorry! I don’t know what got into me, I really don’t! I’ll understand if you never want to speak to me again – you can even hit me back, if you want to!” “No, I don’t!” Steve’s voice was a whisper, and he was on the verge of tears. “I want to help you get through this! Come on, drink this! It’ll help, you know!” “Oh right!” said Jon, his voice cutting. “I’ll drink this lovely cup of tea, then everything will just go away! Oh God, I wish!” “Of course not! Look, I’m sorry, I just don’t know what to say! I’ll go, and leave you two to talk this over – you don’t need me around sticking my bib in!” “Don’t say that, Steve!” said Donna, putting a hand on his arm. “I’m really grateful that you cared enough to come round, and you’ve helped more than you realise! You know you’re more than welcome in our home – you’ve been good friends to us – you and Laura!” “Well, if you need to talk, you know where I am!” With that, Steve went home, leaving Jon and Donna alone together. For the first time since she had known him, Donna did not know what to say to him. She had seen two completely different sides to him today – one minute he seemed like a wide eyed, bewildered child, crying and asking for his mother, then the next he was completely out of control – shouting, swearing and so full of anger she was afraid – yes, for the first time in her life she had been afraid of him. She knew the anger was not directed at her, but there was no way she could have overpowered him – a grown man almost out of his mind with anger and pain. She felt so confused – she had been afraid of him, yet all she wanted to do was hold him close to her heart and love all the pain away. She knew deep down that he would never hurt her – despite what was happening now, she knew he was incapable of it. One look at him told her just how scared he was of the way he felt right now, and despite Steve’s promise that they would help him through this, Donna realised that the first thing she had to do the next day was make an appointment with the doctor. After clearing away the mess upstairs, she sat down on the sofa with him, taking his hands in hers, then she reached up and gently stroked his face, her heart aching for him. “I think we should go to bed now, love!” she said, softly. “We both need some sleep, don’t you think? The girls and David will be back in the morning!” “Am I losing my mind, Donna?” he said, his eyes filling with tears, as he fought for his self-control. “No, love – of course not! Things are getting on top of you, that’s all!” She put her arms around him and held him close, in a desperate effort to reassure him. Later that night, as she lay next to him in the darkness, she watched him as he slept. At first it was a restless, fitful sleep, as he tossed and turned, and muttered to himself – she could not make out what he was saying, and soon gave up trying. During one of his quieter moments, she gently stroked his cheek with the back of her hand, and placed a featherlight kiss on his forehead. This seemed to calm him, and he remained still, his hand on the pillow beside him. For the moment, at least, he seemed peaceful, and for that Donna was thankful. As she was not expecting it, she flinched as his hand suddenly reached out and took hers – she looked, and realised he was still asleep. Suddenly the realisation of much he desperately needed her right now hit her, and she turned her face into her pillow, and sobbed as if her heart would break. The morning arrived all too soon, and Donna got out of bed as quietly as she could – she figured he needed all the sleep he could get. The children were due back shortly, and she wanted to be ready for when Joanne and her mother arrived. As she sat at the kitchen table, deep in thought, the back door opened, and chaos reigned for a couple of minutes, as they all tried to get through it at once. Emily settled the argument, by pressing the button on the arm of her wheelchair, and, making use of the ramp especially provided for her, she steamed in ahead of all of them. Rosie and Clare followed close behind, pulling faces and blowing raspberries at each other. Donna could help smiling at this rather comical exchange, and she could not contain herself when, in an attempt to get her own back, Clare pulled up Rosie’s dress, and announced in a scathing tone: “Oh, you’ve got My Little Pony knickers on! That’s so last year!” “Follow that if you can!” said Joanne, as she grabbed Rosie’s hand before it could connect with her sister. “I bet you didn’t know that, did you, Donna? You really must stop wearing those My Little Pony knickers, you know!” Her smile faded as she looked up and saw Jon standing in the doorway. He did not seem to know what to say to them. Rosie, however, did not have this particular problem. “Have you got over your strop yet, daddy?” she said, looking up at him. “You should know better at your age!” He could not help laughing, despite the way he was feeling, and he picked her up and held her close, reaching down to ruffle Clare’s hair, as she hung on to his trouser leg like grim death, protesting to Rosie that she’d had her magic cuddle, and now it was her turn! In a bid to regain peace and quiet, he put Rosie down, and picked Clare up – somehow, the gentle touch of his little girls seemed to calm him. All this time, Emily had been watching him, and she could see the inner torment that lay behind his smile, and she was determined to find out was causing it. When her grandma and her auntie had gone, she sat down next to him on the sofa, and put her arms around him, gently rubbing his back. Mummy always did that when she was upset, and it always helped her – maybe it would help daddy, too. “What’s wrong, daddy?” she said, her voice soft and gentle. “You can tell me!” “I can’t, Emily!” he replied, his voice breaking. “You wouldn’t understand!” “I understand more than you think!” she retorted, still holding on to him. “Why don’t you try me, and see! You never gave up on me, even though everyone else did – so I won’t give up on you! Come on, daddy – talk to me! You were there when I needed you – and now you need me, I’m here for you!”
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