Chapter 29

There was a stunned silence in the room for a few minutes, while the revelation of Emily’s parents’ astonishing betrayal finally began to sink in.  She continued to stare at her mother, tears streaming down her face, her eyes so full of pain.  Finally, she managed to speak.

“Why did you hide the letter, mummy?” she said, quite unable to hide the hurt in her voice.  “Why did you hide it?”

Before Emily’s mother could draw breath, Donna crossed the room and faced her.  She had finally had about as much as she could take, she had kept quiet so far, she had kept her temper, but the look of pain and bewilderment on this little girl’s face had finally pushed her right over the edge.

“Well, aren’t you going to answer her?” she said, her voice shaking.  “And while you’re about it, would you mind telling me why you saw fit to make my husband’s life hell, and to try and destroy his career, and him along with it?  What did he ever do to you?  The only crime he committed was loving your daughter – since when was loving someone a crime?  If he was guilty of anything, it was loving her too much.  If you’d let Emily read the letter he sent to her, it would’ve explained the hell we’ve both been through over the last few months – and why he did what he did.  But now, because you were so damn vindictive, you let her think he didn’t want to know any more, that he’d deserted her just like you did.  Do you realise the damage you’ve done with that article?  How do you think he’s going to get over this?  I think you are the most nasty-minded, vindictive, evil……”

“Donna!  That’s enough!”

It was the first time Jon had spoken since Emily’s mother had admitted to hiding the letter.  He was still in a great deal of pain, and the last thing he wanted was a shouting match.

“What do you mean – that’s enough?!  I’ve hardly started yet, they can’t get away with this.  Don’t you care……”

“Of course I care!” he snapped, holding on to his stomach as pain radiated through it.  “I just can’t deal with it at the moment, Donna!  I feel too ill, I just want to go home!”

“I’m really sorry, Jon!” said Emily, as she gradually calmed down, and lay her head on his shoulder.  “I’m sorry I shouted at you!  I don’t really hate you!”

“I know you don’t, Emily” he said, gently stroking her hair.  “I can understand why you were so mad at me – maybe one day you’ll let me explain why I did what did that night.  Or, maybe, you could read the letter.”

“She can’t!” said her father, suddenly finding his voice.  “I shredded it!”

“Of all the disgusting, cruel, cowardly acts I seen in my time, I think this one must rank as the lowest of the low!”

Jon’s voice was shaking, and his eyes were bright and angry.  With all the strength that he possessed, he forced himself to his feet, and, ignoring the pain, he looked Emily’s father straight in the eye, fighting the urge to actually hit him.

“What kind of man are you?” he said, quite unable to hide the bitterness he felt inside.  “What kind of father betrays his child the way you have?  How many promises have you made to her, and then broken?  Just how much rejection do you think one child can take?  Call yourselves parents?!  That’s a joke!  How the hell are you going to look her in the eye and explain to her why you’ve broken her heart once again?”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you!” said Emily’s father, coldly.  “Now I’d appreciate it if you’d leave!”

“You really are priceless!  And you’re right, you don’t have to explain yourself to me, it’s Emily you need to explain yourself to!”

Donna spoke up once again, she was making up for all the times she had held her tongue, and now she just couldn’t hold back.

“Excuse me!” she said, her eyes darkening.  “I think you’ll find you DO have to explain yourself to him!  Explain to him why you tried to ruin his reputation and his career!  You can’t, though, can you?  The only explanation is that you are selfish, spiteful and vindictive beyond belief!  Think about what you’ve done, and think about how you’re going to put it right!”

With that, they turned and left.   Just before they walked out of the door, Jon turned to look at Emily – the look of hopelessness and despair on her face made his blood run cold – that was just how she had looked when he first met her.  Jesus, what had they done?  Two people who professed to love her, and only wanted the best for her – just what untold damage had they inflicted on her?  They would soon find out….

As they got into the car, neither of them spoke.  They were both completely shell shocked. They could not get over how neither of Emily’s parents had shown the slightest shred of contrition or guilt over what they had done – they were cold beyond belief.  As Donna drove along the quiet country lanes, fuming inwardly, she turned her head in surprise, as she heard a great, gasping sob from the passenger seat.

“Oh, love!” she said, desperately wanting to reach out to him, but not daring to take her hands off the wheel.  “I can’t begin to imagine what’s going through your mind at the moment – you must be going through hell.  You don’t have to go through this alone, you know.  I’ll go out there and fight the world for you if I have to!”

“I know you will!”  He turned to look at her, his blue eyes clouded with pain.  “But who’s going to fight for Emily?  I know I can get through this, with people who love me by my side, but what about her?  Her parents have proved they don’t give a toss – it’s not fair, Donna!  Every child deserves the love of a mother and a father, the thought that her parents don’t care…   it’s – it’s breaking my heart!”

As they pulled up outside the house, they saw a small group of people huddled around their front door.  To their horror, they realised it was the press – just what they needed to end a perfect day!  Donna parked the car on the drive, and, ignoring the sudden barrage of questions, and flashing camera bulbs, she went round to the other side, and gave him a hand to hold on to as he slowly climbed out of the car.  For the first time since they had been in the public eye, Donna noticed a sudden spark of fear in his eyes – it was that frightened rabbit look again.  He was still unable to move very fast, and he felt rather defenceless at the moment, and remained the other side of the car, looking totally bewildered as they began to fire questions at him, asking why he had turned his back on a little handicapped girl, but when one of them asked him if he realised that his actions made a mockery of their claim that they were upstanding young men with kind hearts and consideration for others, Donna flew at them – going at them with both barrels.  When she had finished, they all went away with their tails between their legs – her parting shot was that they should check their source of information before they printed such disgusting, defamatory articles.  She also informed them that she was seeking a printed apology from the people in question, and, if the paper itself did not apologise, she would be taking it considerably further!  When one hapless reporter pushed his luck, she threatened to relieve him of his private parts and feed them to Eileen’s dog!

“The fact the Eileen doesn’t have a dog has nothing to do with it!” she said, after they had gone.  “They don’t know that, they…..    what are you staring at?”

“You are unbelievable!” he said, taking her in his arms.  “I wonder if they would have said as much as they did if they’d known you had a black belt in tae kwon do!  You are one formidable lady, Donna!  I’m glad you’re on my side!”

“No-one, but no-one, treats people I love like that and gets away with it!” she said, with a fire and a passion in her voice that warmed his heart.  “They will find out about my black belt if they come back here again!”

The next few days were rather fraught, with some people pointing and whispering, and the odd reporter ringing up, or knocking on the door.  One of them made the mistake of whispering under his breath that Donna was like ‘a Rottweiler on heat’ – unfortunately for him, she heard him, and took the opportunity to put her martial arts training into practice!  They were both very relieved when they read the offending paper a few days later, and saw an apology on the second page.  It seemed to have the hoped-for effect, and the fuss surrounding the incident soon died down.

As they sat there at the breakfast table, reading the apology, Donna noticed that Jon was looking very thoughtful.

“I really ought to go and see Emily” he said, folding up the paper and placing it on the table.  “I don’t want her to think I’ve deserted her, too!”

“Yes” said Donna.  “I think that would be a good idea!  But I think you should go on your own – maybe it’s for the best!”

“Probably, yes!” he said, with a smile.  “Otherwise you might end up being arrested for GBH!”

“I don’t know what you mean!” she said, returning his smile, as he kissed her, and walked out of the door.

This time, when he arrived at Emily’s house, he did not feel quite the same fear and trepidation as he did the last time he went, then again, the last time he had still been getting over his bout of appendicitis and had been feeling rather fragile.  This time he felt stronger, and able to deal with anything her parents might throw at him.  He rang the doorbell and waited.  Emily’s mother answered.

“Oh, it’s you!” she said, her face expressionless.  “And before you ask, Emily’s dad isn’t here, he’s gone!  It’s been on the cards for a long time now!”

“Left you, has he?” said Jon, cuttingly; he couldn’t help himself.  “Now you know how your daughter feels!”

“It’s hard to tell!” she said, glaring at him.  “She won’t speak to me!”

“Can’t say I blame her!” he said, walking past her into the living room.

He saw Emily sitting on the sofa, watching the TV – or so it seemed.  He went over and sat down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders.  To his utmost surprise, she stiffened, and continued staring straight ahead.  It was almost as though she had not even realised he was there.  He gently turned her head so she was looking at him.  He suddenly had a terrible feeling of déjà vu.  He remembered the first time he had seen that look – she had been sitting in a wheelchair in a residential home staring out of the window.  Her eyes were lifeless, her face expressionless, she did not smile at him – she seemed to be looking straight through him.  He spoke her name, but she did not answer.  She turned away, and carried on staring into space.  He tried again, pleading with her to speak, but again, she turned away.  He expected her to cry like she had before, but this time there was nothing – no tears, no anger, no emotion at all.  It had happened again, he thought, fighting back tears, she was right back where she started.  She had retreated back into her own little world, where nobody could hurt her, where she was safe from hurt and pain.  As her mother came into the room, beside himself with anger and frustration, he did not trust himself to speak to her, and ran out of the front door, and climbed into his car.
 

Halfway home, he pulled into a quiet lay by, blinded by tears, and rested his head on the steering wheel, quite unable to hold back anymore.  He wept uncontrollably, all kinds of thoughts swirling around in his brain, the main one being that, although he had got Emily back into the real world once before, he was terrified that, this time, if she drifted too far away into her own little world for him to reach her in time – would he end up losing her for ever?  The thought was just too awful for him to contemplate, he couldn’t let it happen, he just couldn’t…..