Broken Not Shattered

Prologue

Alex McCoy stumbled down the hallway, only partially awake. The pounding persisted and grew in its urgency. Not thinking to flip on the light, she swung the door open and looked into the dim corridor. Her senses were suddenly alert when she saw Jill Bishop’s distorted face. Jill smiled, but the effort caused her to wince.

Alex led Jill inside, making sure to secure the deadbolt behind them. In the living room, she turned on the table lamp to examine Jill’s face. She wished she hadn’t. Alex tentatively reached out and touched Jill’s cheek. Jill closed her eyes at the light touch of Alex’s fingertips.

“We need to get you cleaned up.” Jill nodded.

Alex guided Jill to the bathroom and helped her ease onto the closed toilet seat. Jill slumped against the tank, her arms hanging limply at her sides. Alex grabbed a washcloth, ran it under the faucet, and wrung out the excess water.

Turning back to Jill, Alex steadied her trembling hands, not wanting to inflict further pain. She lightly brushed Jill’s dishwater blonde hair away from her face before wiping around her dark brown eyes. Alex discovered she could not wash away all the red. She took a deep breath as she cleaned the blood from under Jill’s nose, then rinsed the rag and moved to Jill’s lips, causing Jill to flinch when the cloth brushed against the scab that was forming.

After Alex finished cleaning her face, Jill tried unsuccessfully to stand. Alex offered her arm for support, which Jill used to pull herself up. Once Jill was on her feet, she twisted a couple times, trying to remove her shirt; finally, she yanked at her sleeve, and her face went white. Her breath caught, and she grabbed the sink. Alex moved quickly and wrapped her arm around Jill’s small waist, easily supporting her full weight. Jill leaned against Alex, her head resting on Alex’s chest. She took several deep breaths before her breathing evened. Alex offered to help with her shirt, and Jill nodded. Alex gripped the bottom of her blouse and lifted it slowly, trying not to brush any part of her skin. Alex grimaced when she saw the angry red welts accenting the older purple and green bruises covering Jill’s torso. Trying not to stare at the damage, Alex helped her raise the shirt over her head.

In order to regain her composure, Alex turned away under the pretense of preparing the shower. She adjusted the temperature and flicked her hand under the jets to ensure the water was warming. Satisfied that it was, she opened the linen closet, pulled out a fresh towel, and draped it over the shower rod. Alex looked back as Jill was sliding her sweat pants down her narrow hips. Alex’s eyes widened when she saw the dark red blotch on Jill’s panties. Bile rose in her throat, but she forced it down. Jill stood n***d and exposed, like a battered child. Alex wanted to comfort her, but didn’t know how, so she stepped forward and brushed a b****y wisp of hair from Jill’s eyes.

Jill stepped into the shower, and Alex picked up her discarded clothes. She left the room and hurried to the half bath. She barely had the toilet lid up before she lost the contents of her stomach. She stood over the toilet bowl for several minutes in case her stomach decided to rebel again. She flushed the toilet, splashed cold water onto her face, and ran her hand through her short hair. When she glanced in the mirror, she was surprised by how pale she looked.

She angrily took the b****y clothes into the laundry room, wishing she could burn them. Instead, she treated the blood with stain remover and threw them into the washing machine. She scrubbed her hands vigorously in the utility sink, erroneously believing blood covered them.

Alex could still hear the shower running when she went to the kitchen. She opened the pantry door and scanned the bottles. She located Jill’s favorite Pinot Grigio, and pulled it from the wine rack. She positioned the corkscrew over the top of the bottle and twisted. Still shaken, she missed her target and the spiral dug into the cork at an unnatural angle. Alex swore as she struggled to straighten the opener, so it would grip the cork enough to allow her to remove it. After some maneuvering, the cork popped out without leaving any remnants behind to fall into the wine. She emptied the bottle into two glasses and swirled the liquid to ensure it was free of debris.

When Alex returned to the bathroom, Jill was finished in the shower. Jill had slipped on Alex’s thick terry cloth bathrobe and looked small and frail as she wrapped it around herself. Without a word, Alex handed her one of the glasses. Jill’s hand was shaking when she brought the glass to her lips and the liquid sloshed against the sides. A thousand vise grips tightened around Alex’s chest when she looked at the shattered woman in front of her. Alex knew anger was the last thing Jill needed, so she choked down her rage and moved closer. She looked at Jill tenderly and tentatively reached out her hand. Jill responded by clutching Alex’s hand, but she still didn’t speak. Alex led her from the bathroom into the bedroom. The covers were askew from where Alex had been asleep not long ago. Jill stiffened when the two reached the bed but said nothing. Jill obediently got in, her demeanor suddenly making Alex uneasy. What little life Jill had left in her eyes flickered out, and she opened her robe.

“God, no.” Alex was unable to find any other words. She wrapped the robe tightly around Jill and covered her with a soft blanket.