The Rosey Thorn

Chapter 9

My mother was the first to run out of the room crying when she saw my back. Everyone else left one by one wiping their tears, leaving Jake alone with me, avoiding my eyes. I don’t like it. He won’t look at me. Am I disgusting now? Am I so tainted that he won’t even touch me?

“Jake,” I said softly, which was more like a whisper. “Jake, please look at me.”

He slowly met my eyes and I flinched. There was no disgust in his eyes, only anger. He hates me? Why? Because I lay with other men? I was forced against my will! It’s not like I asked for it.

“You’re angry at me. Why?” I cried. “I didn’t want to be taken. I fought back; I did. I did everything I could.”

Jake immediately stood up and paced back and forth. “I’m not angry at you,” he began. “I’m angry at myself.”

What?

“I should have gone to your apartment to check,” he mumbled, then looked at me. “I thought you left me. I stood there waiting for you to walk down the aisle, but you never showed up. You broke my heart because I thought you left me. I should have gone after you. I should have…”

He trailed off and something felt wrong. The way he was talking seemed like he felt guilty. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, like someone was standing on my chest to keep me from breathing. It was then I looked at his left hand and noticed a gold band on his finger…his wedding finger. Jake notices.

“I thought you abandoned me, and I was so heartbroken that…”

He stopped.

“That what?” I growled. Slowly my world begins to crack.

“Mary was there.”

My sister?

“She helped me get through it. She comforted me and one thing led to another. She’s my wife now, Rose.”

“You married my sister?” I whimpered.

My world was shattered. The man that I so desperately loved married my sister. The love I felt for this man became hollow. I thought that our love was unbreakable. My body vibrated with ire that it overshadowed the pain of my beatings.

“Get out,” I growled. Hurt shone in Jake’s eyes as he slowly turned for the door. “You were the one thing that kept me alive,” I began softly as tears wet my cheeks. “Knowing that you were coming to get me kept me going. Your face was all I saw when they took me. I never once stopped believing that you were coming for me. Do you know why Jake? Do you remember the promise?”

He didn’t answer. His body just trembled as he cried.

“You promised that you would come for me if I was in trouble, but you never came. Every day I hoped that you would bust in and save me, but you never did. Why? Because you were f*****g my sister, and then you married her. You kept me alive, and you married my sister!” I bawled.

My head hurts. I couldn’t stop the tears; it was like a river. It kept flowing and flowing. “I loved you, Jake. You were my world, and you betrayed me. While you were enjoying your life, I was in hell. I was beaten every day. I was passed around like a common w***e if I wasn’t obedient to my owner. And where were you? Living in LaLa land while I suffered.” His eyes were blood-red, and I could no longer look at him. “Get out Jake. I don’t ever want to see you again. Don’t come to visit me. Stay away from me.”

“Rose, please don’t,” he begged.

I pressed the call button and a nurse answered. “Yes?”

“There’s a man I have never seen before in my room. Please send security.”

“Rose, please,” Jake cried.

Within seconds, military police barged in with my doctor escorting Jake out. My doctor was confused as I told him that I no longer wanted to see anyone. As everyone filed out, leaving me alone, I cried. I cried and cried until I cried myself to sleep.