Tortured Beginning by V. M. Holk Page B

ground.
    "My wife is calling the police. You need to let her go."
    I can see the anger building in Ben. I pull my arm from his grasp, with all my strength. He must of let go of his grip, slightly and I fall backwards. I lose my balance, tripping over my purse. I smack my head on the ground, I feel a sharp pain on the back of my head.
    I look up to see Ben walking towards my neighbor. Suddenly a cop car pulls around the corner. They stop in front of my house and quickly get out once they see me on the ground.
    "What's going on here?" the male officer asks.
    I watch Ben stand his ground and look down at the cops. The other officer, walks around the car and straight to me. He is an older gentleman, with very kind eyes.
    "Mam, are you okay?"
    I nod, "I think so."
    He stoops down and starts checking me out. He touches my head and I wince. I put my hand where he was on my head, and pull it away. When I look down at my hand, there is blood. I can't stand the sight of blood and I feel light headed.
    I can here my neighbor telling the young officer what he saw. Ben is still standing there, not saying a word. I hadn't realized that the officer in front of me was talking to me and I put my attention back to him.
    "Um, sorry. What did you say?"
    Before he answers me, I see Trevan's car pull up behind the cop car. He gets out and walks up to Ben.
    He points his finger at his chest, "You were told to stay away from her. You don't get it do you?"
    "Fuck you. Where do you get off telling me what I can do with my woman?"
    "She is not yours, you fucking scumbag. Now you can think about that while you're in jail."
    "Don't think I don't know about you asshole, you will get yours in the end. Learn to keep your hands to yourself."
    The young officer walks behind Ben and pulls his hands behind him to put on handcuffs. I watch as he leads him to the back of the squad car. Once the door is shut, I turn back to Trevan. He walks the short distance to me, he kneels down and puts his hand on my arm. I wince, and mentally kick myself for doing so.
    "What? Did he hurt you?" he asks.
    As he pulls up my sleeve to look at my arm, it's already changing colors. He then sees the blood still on my hand. He puts his thumb and finger on my chin, and gently turns my head. I can feel the blood flowing down my neck now. I see the officers come towards us, Trevan stands up and  turns to talk with them. They talk for a bit, while I sit there feeling stupid. I look over to my neighbor, I stand up and walk over to him.
    "Thank you," I try to smile at him.
    "Hey don't worry. Are you okay?"
    "Yeah, I'm fine. Thank your wife, too."
    He nods, looking at me with pity. I hate when people do that to me. I turn to walk back to pick up my stuff. I crouch down picking up the things that fell out of my purse. I hear the two officers get into their car, as I stand up. I turn to see them drive away, Ben with them. Well at least I'll be able to sleep tonight, knowing he won't come back.
    "Um, I'm going to have to take you to the hospital."
    "What? I don't need to go."
    "You are bleeding Jaylah, you might need stitches. Plus, we don't know how hard you hit your head."
    I sigh, not liking where this is all going. I simply nod, and let him grab my arm gently. He guides me to the passenger side of the car, and helps me in. Once in the car, I zone out, not wanting to think about what is happening. I don't remember any of the ride there, and if we even talked. It's about a twenty minute ride, and I couldn't tell you anything about it.
    When we pull up to the ER, I simply sit there. Trevan gets out and grabs a wheelchair. He opens my door and helps me out and seated in the wheelchair. He hands his keys to the valet and he pushes me in. I feel in a fog, not wanting to deal with any of this bullshit. How the fuck does this shit keep happening to me?
    He wheels me up to the nurse, waiting to register me. I hear Trevan talking to her and I'm assuming what the situation is. I retreat further into