I heard glass breaking all throughout the house and felt the rage build. I hadn’t realized the man held a knife to my throat until I protested his hold and felt the sting of it. The blood seeped slowly out and I whimpered.
God, no, if he is going to kill me, please make it quick.
All I could think of were those trick or treaters and how I would leave this world without ever knowing what it was like to be a mother. The only people who would attend my funeral would be my parents, maybe a few realtor acquaintances, and Molly.
And Rhys.
My chest heaved as I panicked. Rhys was waiting for me. I’d just gotten him back. If I didn’t show, what would that tell him? Would he even bother to find out why? I heard more glass breaking as I stood still, listening to the pig behind me breathe as he held my life in his hands. I couldn’t move my neck to get a better look at him. I heard a loud crash in the kitchen and jumped, feeling the knife go deeper. I held my whimper in.
I had done nothing in my life but live for a man for the last few years. I had nothing to show, no legacy to leave. What could they say at my funeral? What had I done that truly mattered? In that twenty seconds of rational thought, I’d come to two conclusions.
One, I didn’t want to die.
Two, if I lived through this, I would have new priorities.
“Stupid bitch doesn’t have anything here worth shit!” His partner came in and pulled up my left hand. I tried to take inventory but it was impossible besides height and weight due to the fact he was wearing a Halloween mask. He leaned in and I flinched, even more terrified as his disfigured clown mask inched closer to my face.
“Where’s your wedding ring?” The truth that set me free might get me killed. I leaned into the man holding me prisoner as the knife dug in deeper.
“I sold it,” I said truthfully. He didn’t like my answer. I got backhanded and was unable to recover before I felt the next blow. The man released me from his grip and I felt the warmth spurt up my cheek and no longer had any clue what was happening as I took blow after blow. I refused to beg for my life. Somehow, I knew it wouldn’t help.
And then everything went black.
I came to on the floor, noticing my purse had been ransacked and was a few feet away on the floor. I moved toward the blue light as my head pounded. I felt the moisture on the floor and raised my hand to see it was blood. Fear raced through me as I reached my phone. The black was creeping back in. I fought it hard, sliding my thumb across my phone to open it. A text message came through as I grabbed it. I swiped the screen with my thumb again, trying to see through the streak of blood that I’d just put on it.
RHYS: I’m leaving. I can’t stay.
He’d just sent it at midnight. It was 12:01 a.m.
I only managed to type one word and hit send.
VIOLET: Help.
I knew the minute Rhys was by my side. He pulled me into his lap, then I heard cursing and his call for help before I was out again.
“Home invasion...didn’t take much...big items...neighbors saw nothing.” I heard the words coming from an unrecognizable voice as I faded in and out. I tried to open my eyes at the prodding of the voice directly above me.
“Violet, can you hear me?” I moaned and reached for the top of my head and my arm was brought back down.
“Listen to me, Violet, I’m going to get you to the hospital. I just need you to tell me you can hear me.”
“Yes,” I said, growing cold suddenly. I looked amongst the people crowding my entryway, searching for the pair of eyes that could make me forget, just for a second, the pain I was in. As soon as I wished for them, they were there. “Rhys,” I said, pleading for him silently not to leave.
“You’re going to be okay, Violet, you are.” His voice was hoarse and his shirt covered in blood—my blood. His kiss on my wrist had tears coming down fast.
“Rhys,” I croaked, unable to keep from shaking.
“Violet, honey, I know you’re upset, but you can’t do that now.”
Another paramedic spoke to me now, waving her hands in front of my face to catch my eyes. She was a beautiful black woman with short hair and kind eyes. I gave her my attention.
“You have lost a lot of blood, baby. You need to stay with me, okay?” I looked back to Rhys and realized the woman above me was pressing hard on my neck. I felt the pinch of the pressure and winced. I fought the pain and turned to look at him again.
“He knows you love him, honey. If he didn’t before, he knows now. Don’t you, Rhys?” He nodded quickly as tears streamed down his face. “I do.”
“See, he knows. No, Violet, stay with me. Stay with me now—She’s crashing!”
I went in and out, thankful for every uncomfortable situation I was in, every bit of sleep that was interrupted, because it meant I was still here, still alive and fighting. I felt hands grab mine at times and then it was silent. I had no sense of time, only the bright light that greeted me each time I was interrupted from my slumber. I felt a warm soothing sensation flow through me from time to time and basked in the feeling, letting it warm me and take me to a more peaceful place.