I’ve Got You

CHAPTER 5

Finding the mess hall had been difficult. Despite the many makeshift signs and arrows, Eris had become lost quite easily. The facility was massive in size and sprawled out like a maze, and she wondered how anyone was ever able to get their bearings in a place like this. After almost twenty minutes of frantic searching she had found it. The smell of food made her stomach grumble. The mess hall was all but empty. “Eerie isn’t it? We had expected this place to be swarming by now, but so far, we have only managed to evacuate and admit 300 uncontaminated civilians. Not many of whom have much of an appetite after what they’ve seen”. Eris looked up at the Lieutenant General. He smiled without looking at her. “Officer Sarah Charles has your son” He gestured to the back of the mess hall to see the pretty blonde soldier that had escorted them to their room talking to an animated looking Dorian, who had a full plate of sandwiches in front of him. “He’s taking it quite well” Lieutenant General Yarran mused. “You ought to be very proud of your boy. He’s been very worried about you, perhaps you should join him?”. Eris nodded her thanks and thought about what James had said about her needing to be stronger for them. She squared her shoulders and put on her best smile as she rushed to greet Dorian. She threw her arms around him and shot Officer Sarah a grateful smile over his shoulder.

They ate more food than they probably should have as Officer Sarah advised them that if this continued for more than a week they would have to implement rations. They returned to their room some hours later with full stomachs and a container of sandwiches for James.

James was still brooding on the bed and wouldn’t touch his food. He ignored any attempts at conversation unless it came from Dorian. He skipped out on dinner, eventually Eris had resolved to leave him be and let Dorian eat the extra sandwiches before falling asleep together on the single bed.

It was about 8:00 pm when a loud knock sounded from the door of their room. Glancing at Eris, who lay asleep with Dorian wrapped in her arms, James creaked the door open, instantly souring at the sight of Doctor Grimm. “What?”. Doctor Grimm pressed his lips into a thin, insincere smile, “I’m here to check up on young Eris, she was meant to present for her X-Rays when she woke up”.

“yeah well she’s resting so...” James blocked Doctor Grimm’s view of the room with his body. “I’ll be sure to send her over tomorrow at some point.” Doctor Grimm frowned and James gestured to the corridor “You can go now”. However Doctor Grimm did not move. An uneasy feeling settled in his stomach as he tried to crane his neck to see passed James. “May I see the patient?” he asked. James chortled.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“She’s asleep”. Doctor Grimm rolled his eyes and attempted to move past James. But James was already shoving at him. “You’re getting too nosy for your own good. You don’t need to see her now, you can wait till I send her over for her X-Ray tomorrow”. Grimm’s demeanor shifted. The air around him seemed to grow thick with impatience. “As a civilian under the protection of this facility she is my patient-”

“She’s my wife!” James interrupted.

“And as my patient I have a duty of care over her. She presented with some rather concerning injuries. Then neglected to present for further testing and treatment. It is my right to observe the patient’s condition at my leisure. A welfare check of sorts.”

The sound of the commotion had roused Eris from her slumber. Stumbling hastily to the door she put a tentative hand on James’s shoulder and peered around him at Doctor Grimm.

“I’m here. I’m alright... Just fell asleep after eating. That’s all”.

Doctor Grimm’s shoulders relaxed somewhat, he went to speak but James held up a hand to stop him. “Why are you so concerned for her welfare anyway? So she missed an appointment. She’s a grown woman. Why make such a big deal out of it? Fancy my wife, do you?”.

“James!” Eris hissed, appalled at the accusation. Dr Grimm rolled his eyes. “No, Mr Winter, I do not ‘fancy’ your wife. But due to the nature of her injuries, there are immediate concerns for her welfare, and by extension, the welfare of your son.” James’s face went slack, and Eris shook her head at Doctor Grimm, eyes wide, silently pleading with him not to say anything else.

“What concerns?” James replied coldly “she fell”.

“So she claims” Doctor Grimm said, with raised brows, the scars on his cheeks appearing ghastly in the dim light of the doorway. “Rather convincingly I might add. However the bruises that look suspiciously like the shape of a boot say otherwise.” James clenched his jaw, fists balling at his sides. Eris stepped back from behind him. Dread filling her, turning her legs to jelly as he stood to the side so Doctor Grimm could see her clearly. He was furious. She looked at Doctor Grimm, tears threatening to spill from her eyes at any moment. He had just put her in very real danger. She would rather face one of those contaminated people than face her husband after this interaction. Dr Grimm regarded her for a long moment. Checking her for signs of fresh injury. His gaze finally settling on her bare thighs. Her breath hitched and the embarrassment of being seen without pants heated her face. She tugged her tank top down, attempting to cover more of herself. A strange expression flitted briefly across his features as he dragged his eyes back up to meet her face. Doctor Grimm then spoke directly to her.

“Mrs Winters, are you alright?”

“I’m fine” She snapped through clenched teeth. “I told you I fell. This is ridiculous!”. Dr Grimm nodded. Seeming irritated by her snarky response.

“Be back in the medical wing by no later than 10:00 tomorrow morning. That’s a direct order. Don’t make me come back here, I don’t like house calls.” He turned on his heels without so much as a farewell, leaving Eris at the mercy of her furious husband.

James closed the door slowly, he didn’t look at her, he didn’t speak. “James?” Eris breathed

“what did you tell him, Eris?”

“James, please-” his eyes snapped to her, his expression, dark.

“What did you tell him?” he hissed.

“James, you heard what I told him! I said I fell! It’s not my fault he knew! He’s a Doctor! Of course he knew!”. James strode over to her, grabbing a fistful of her hair and pulled her up by it so they were eye level. Eris cried out, pawing at his forearm, with her uninjured hand, and desperately trying to untangle her hair from his grasp with the other. “Well then you weren’t convincing enough!” Dorian stirred in his bed, Eris tried to look over at him, but James used his free hand to grab her face in a vice like grip that bit into her jaw, muffling her sobs. “I’ll let you off this one time. But I am f*****g warning you Eris! That cunt comes snooping around here again and I will f*****g end you”.

Eris nodded, tears streaming down her face, her heart pounding in her chest. James shoved her away from him. Stumbling, Eris glanced towards Dorian to make sure he was still sleeping, when James spoke again. “The bathroom for this floor is around the corner, to the right. Go clean yourself up. You’re a f*****g disgrace.” He threw the small toiletry bag she’d packed at her. “And you’d better hope I’m asleep by the time you get back”.

Eris Sat on the tiled floor of the communal showers, The water had long since run cold, yet she continued to sob as she shivered beneath it. Not enough fight in her to stand or move. Her head where her hair had been pulled stung. Her jaw ached. Her wrist throbbed, and her ribs sent sharp pains through her side with every heave of her chest. After what had felt like forever, she checked the time on her watch. Hoping that she had stalled long enough to give James a chance to calm down, she pulled herself up from the floor and turned the water off. Slinging her towel around her she put on the same clothes she was wearing before. It was all she had. She hoped they would let her wash them soon. Running a brush through her wet hair she gazed at herself in the mirror. Her wide, green eyes were bloodshot, her upturned nose was red, and her lips were puffy and cracked. Small spotted bruising had begun to appear around her jaw where she was grabbed earlier and Eris wondered if her iron was low again. She seemed to be bruising very easily lately. After brushing her teeth and dabbing her wrists, neck and ears with her favourite coconut perfume oil she gave herself a once over. Vaguely remembering how pretty she used to be, Eris cast her eyes away from the broken, mess of a woman that stared back at her from the mirror. An image she didn’t care to see any longer. She gathered her things and Left the showers. Hoping with all her might that James would not be awake when she returned. When she entered their room he was laying still, back to the door. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief and laid down, as close to the edge of the bed as she could get. James slung his arm around her waist, she froze, sheer terror taking hold of her. But to her surprise, and her revulsion, James inhaled at the skin of her neck. “That’s better”. He murmured sleepily. He planted a kiss right by her ear and she grimaced, his lips on her made her feel disgusting, made her feel dirty. Her shoulders shook slightly as she cried herself to sleep. In the embrace of the monster she used to love.

Eris woke to the sound of Dorian calling for her from his bed, she sat her aching body up and peered at her watch. 6:00 am. “Yes baby?” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

“I’m hungry, can we go get food from the mess hall?” Eris nodded. “Yeah, I’ll take you. Go to the toilet and brush your teeth first” She said, passing him the small toiletry bag and standing to stretch. She looked at James’s sleeping form and reached out to shake him awake. Then she remembered the way he’d treated her the night before, and thought better of it. She wasn’t quite ready to look him in the face just yet. Instead she rifled through the draw of the bedside table, finding one unused note pad and one blunt, red pencil. She scrawled a hasty note that read: ‘

Took Dorian to eat, then going to see Dr for X-Ray. I love you xx’

Looking at the note, Eris sighed, ripping the page off the notepad she tried again.

‘Took Dorian to eat, then going to see Dr for X-ray. Bye’

The reality being bit by bit, Eris was beginning to realise that she didn’t actually love her husband that much at all anymore.

Dorian and Eris walked hand in hand towards the mess hall. The corridors of the army facility were somewhat busier than they had been the day before. People shuffled past them, most of them injured. All of them looking dejected and miserable. Eris looked down at Dorian, his beautiful blue eyes were cast down at his feet, he was unusually quiet, brow furrowed. “What’s eating you?” she asked. No answer. “Mate?” Dorian looked up at her, his heart shaped face a picture of misery. “We aren’t ever going to go home again... Are we Mum?”. Eris sighed.

“I wish I had an honest answer for you, baby. But I really don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows whats going to happen now”. Dorian considered this for a moment. “Mr Fern... Back at home the other night... Was he contaminated?”

“Yes, I think he was.” Dorian stopped and looked up at his mother, hugging her waist tightly. “I’m scared, Mum. I’m scared. I don’t like it here. I want to go home”.

Eris hunkered down, rubbing soothing circles on Dorian’s back as she held him in a tight embrace. “I know mate. I’m scared too. It’s okay to be scared”. Dorian pulled back to look at her and scrunched his face up. “You said Mums aren’t scared of anything”

“I’ve changed my mind. I’m scared of some things”.

“Things like Dad?” Eris’s face went slack, Dorian looked away as if he knew he’d said something he shouldn’t. “I saw him hurt you last night”. Eris winced

“Your daddy is...” Eris trailed off. For once not entirely sure how to defend James. She racked her brain for a response.

“Your daddy is just stressed. He’s scared too. He’s just not good at talking it through. He shouldn’t have done what he did. And I’m so sorry you saw it. But we don’t think any less of him okay? Your Daddy is a good Dad and he loves you with all his heart. And we are both going to keep you safe. We will always be there to protect you. Okay?” Dorian nodded. But his demeanor did not shift. Eris wrapped him up even tighter in her arms. “You are one incredibly brave kid, you know that? We are so proud of you”.

“I love you Mum”

“I love you too, mate… let’s get some food in you”.