A Beautiful Prisoner

Laura's POV This wasn't the first time I had been rushed to the hospital, fighting for my life. Falling unconscious had become the only way my body had learned to protect my face from Mark's fist. I had fallen unconscious in the living room and woke up in the back seat of my husband's car. He was speeding towards the hospital, desperate to save the life he had nearly taken. I didn't let him know I had gained consciousness. I kept my hands and legs still and made my whole body limp. But my mind was wide awake. Why was I in hospital again? Because of another “fall” down the stairs. At least, that was the story I had told the doctors and nurses. I had used the same excuse so many times that I had almost stopped thinking about it. “Doctor!” I recognised my husband's voice as he hastily called for someone to help. I kept my eyes closed. I heard him open the car door, and a few seconds later, several hands lifted me out. Most of them seemed to belong to women as they placed me on a stretcher and hurried me into the hospital. Even with my eyes closed, I recognised the familiar smell of an hospital. “What happened to her?” A male doctor kept asking my husband questions as he followed us inside. I listened carefully, waiting to hear what Mark would say. “Please save my wife. It was an accident.” “What kind of accident?” Mark did not answer. He knew the medical staff would not wait for him to explain before taking me into the emergency ward. “Domestic accident...” he finally muttered. “You do not need to come in here, sir. Please wait in the waiting room.” Why were they so desperate to know what had happened to me? Weren't they used to my case by now? The doors closed behind me. I was too ashamed to open my eyes. The doctors and nurses already knew what kept happening to me. But they needed me to say it myself before they could do anything about it. And every time they asked, I gave them the answer they didn't want to hear. “Bring the oxygen tank.” Their voices became distant as they worked around me. They were trying to save my body, but there was a kind of pain inside me that no medicine could treat. “She’s breathing.” I heard those words and wondered, not for the first time, if this was what my marriage was going to be like for the rest of my life. I did not know when I fell asleep. Perhaps it was the medication. When I woke up again several hours later, I heard two nurses talking in the room. “She must be a lucky woman. Her husband was pacing around the lobby all night.” “He really loves her. And he's so handsome.” I knew they were talking about me. “If only all men were like him, most women wouldn't be so afraid of marriage. How can a man be so wealthy and still be so loving?” I almost sneered. Everyone saw my husband as wealthy, handsome and loving. No one knew what his hands were capable of. The door opened, and their conversation stopped. “Is Mrs Mark still asleep?” It was a man's voice and footsteps came closer to my bed. I slowly opened my eyes, and the brightness from the ceiling lights made them sting. It was nothing compared to the pain I had felt when Mark struck me across the face last night, the very reason I passed out. “Good morning, Mrs Mark.” The doctor gave me a reassuring smile, but his eyes immediately went to my reddened cheeks. “What happened to you?” There was sympathy in his eyes, but I could also see that he wanted an answer. I had learnt to avoid questions like that. “I fell down the stairs.” “Oh, I'm sorry.” He paused and looked at both sides of my face. “And it affected both of your cheeks?” I forced a smile. This was a different hospital and different doctors and I knew why he came here. The hospital we usually went to already knew what was happening to me. But here, I had to say it and they will have no reason to doubt me. “Your husband has been very worried about you,” the doctor continued. “He wants to see you, and he's asking when you can be discharged. How are you feeling? I think you need to get some rest.” I knew exactly what that meant. If I told him I wanted to stay in hospital, Mark would ask me the same question he always asked. “Are you trying to stay away from me?” I knew my husband. I could read him better than anyone. And if I did not want what happened last night to happen again, I knew exactly what I had to do. “While you think about it, your husband would like to speak with you.” My heart slammed against my ribs. I had heard that Mark had not slept all night. Would he blame that on me? The door opened again. The doctor stepped outside and spoke quietly to someone. Then Mark came in. As the doctor tapped him on the shoulder, Mark's eyes fell on me. His gaze seemed to say, ‘What have you been telling the doctor about me?’ It didn't take time, the nurses followed the doctor out, leaving us alone. The very man who had put me in this hospital was now walking towards my bed. “I am so sorry, my dear.” He lowered himself onto one knee and took my hand. “I’m so sorry for what I did to you. I couldn't sleep all night. Please...” He blinked, and I wanted to look away. Instead, he gently held my gaze. “I’m sorry. I don't know what came over me.” I had lost count of how many times he'd said those words. “I’m really, really sorry.” He kissed the back of my hand. “But we need to go home. You'll get better.” His phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and looked at the screen. “Your mum is calling. What are you going to tell her?” He stared at me. He did not need to say anything else. I knew exactly what he wanted. There was no way I was going to tell my parents what he had done to me the night before. And Mark had made sure they never came to our house without first calling me and I knew why. He wanted our marriage to look clean outside. “Hi, Mum.” “I'm planning to pass by your estate. Your father and I want to come and say hello to you and your husband.” There was a short pause before she continued. “You know you told us to call before visiting.” I had not made that rule. Mark had. The phone was passed to my father. “Your husband has been so good to us. Our health insurance and…” “Dad, can we talk later? We're not at home at the moment.” I stopped when Mark cleared his throat. “My husband and I went to visit his parents. I'll call you when we're back.” I saw the satisfied look on his face before the call ended. A few minutes later, the doctor returned. “Mr Mark, you can take your wife home. But you need to be very careful with her. We've scanned her entire body, and thankfully, there are no fractures.” “Thank you, Doctor.” I could hear the discomfort in Mark's voice. He gently helped me to my feet and led me towards the exit. We had barely stepped outside the hospital when he whispered into my ear. “What did you tell the doctor about what happened to you?” The question brought back the memory of last night. I did not want to talk about it. He leaned towards my ear again as we walked out of the hospital building and said. “I didn't like the way the doctor was looking at me.” His fingers tightened around my arm. “What did you tell him about what happened to you?” His voice started to change again and this time, I knew I was in danger.