Chapter Text
I am going to die, she thought. I am going to die. Jane Seymour laid on the floor, allowing herself to be kicked in the ribs.
“Stop fucking crying!” He yelled. “Stop it! After everything I gave you, you do not have the right to be crying!” He hustled out of the room quickly to the bedroom.
Jane knew this was her moment. She hurried, knowing that if Henry caught her calling the police, there was a good chance he would kill her. The blonde quickly scrambled to the phone despite the searing pain in her ribs and chest. Despite what should’ve been a clear thought to call the emergency line, the woman called her best friend, Catherine of Aragon. She had just pressed the dial button when she heard Henry drunkenly stumbling out of the bedroom, cracking a belt in his hands. Quickly, she dropped the phone on the floor.
“Jane?” Catherine answered the phone groggily, but she was met with silence. “Jane, it’s three in the morning, and you know I have things to do tomorrow morning. This isn’t the time for a drunken phone-” she was cut off by a shriek. “Jane? What’s going on?” The Spanish woman heard what she could only then decide was Jane yelling. She hung up the phone and ran to her car to drive to the Tudor-Seymour household.
“You fucking bitch! Why did you think it was okay to move? I didn’t tell you that you could move!” Henry screamed in her face. “Did you really think you could get away?” He slammed her back against the wall.
“Henry, please stop,” she begged him. “This isn’t-” her pleas were met with a sharp punch, and she fell to the ground. She tried to move but was unable to.
“Stay there! The more you fight, the harder this will be,” he snarled. The broken woman could only pray that whatever was happening would be over with soon. The rather large man had his way with her quickly before getting up and seeing what he had done.
“You tell anyone what happened, and I kill you.” Jane tried to get up but suddenly felt the room spinning and fell back to the floor. Henry took the opportunity to ensure his fiancee wouldn’t move that night and threw one of the dining room chairs at her. As the chair hit her, he grabbed his keys and left. She tried to protest but found it hard to breathe.
Catherine sped her way to Jane’s in a record time of ten minutes, although it truly felt like hours to her. When she pulled up to the house, she saw Henry’s car was no longer in the driveway.
Another drunken day, she thought and sighed. Lord above, this is going to be an interesting sight to walk in on. She silently prepared herself at the thought of Jane being hurt, but what she was about to walk into was something she could have never been prepared for.
Aragon knocked softly before walking in and calling, “Jane? Are you in here?” It was then she heard quiet sobs from what she assumed was the kitchen. “Janey?” She rounded the corner to find a barely conscious Jane Seymour.
“Mhmph,” the blonde cried on the ground, clutching her ribs and face. “It hurts.”
“Oh my god. What the hell happened in here?” She knelt down beside the broken woman before picking her up with ease. Her questions were answered with attempts at an explanation, but she could only make out the words “Henry,” “drunk,” and “ow”. That was all the explanation the unharmed woman needed to piece together what had happened. She was not letting her stay in that house any longer. Carrying Jane to the car as carefully as possible, Catherine laid her down in the back seat. The blonde quickly tried to give in to sleep, but Aragon knew better.
“Not so fast,” she chided. “Stay awake. Talk to me, just to be safe.” She started the car and drove off. They talked for what felt like years to Jane before she fell asleep mid-sentence. Catherine turned around quickly to make sure she was okay. The woman looked so at peace, so she let her sleep for the rest of the five minute-trip. She glanced at the woman once more before turning back around and driving the rest of the way to the hospital.
In those five minutes, Catherine made up her mind about one thing: she was not going to let Jane, the kindest woman she had the pleasure of knowing, turn into someone with a heart of stone.