Chapter Text
The hard plastic of the hospital chair dug into her thighs, distracting her from the sharp pain of her wrist, bruised where Danny had grabbed and twisted it behind her back, pushing her against the wall, hissing furiously into her ear that if she ever lost the ring again he’d screw it into her bones with a drill. It was swollen and aching, but it hurt less than her heart and her pride.
“Sally?” A blonde no-nonsense looking nurse called her back. Her manner was brisk, though not quite pleasant as she led Sally to a room and took her through the admit questions.
Every question she asked made Sally feel transparent and small - it was so clear that the nurse, Nora, knew what had happened, and was giving her chance after chance to say so and ask for help. But Sally couldn’t. She couldn’t. Danny had been apologetic. He loved her. Didn’t he?
The physician’s assistant was tall and imposing and she expected to feel uneasy in his presence, but she felt comfortable instead.
‘It’s a spiral fracture,” he told her, eyes dark and serious. “Typically, a person gets these from having their arm twisted up behind their back. He searched her face, his own settling into an expression she couldn’t place as he seemed to find what he was looking for. “If you need anything, if you need out. Call and ask for me. My name is Aidan.” A doctor came in to cast it for her and when she got into the taxi, she had waffled before giving her address. She’d sunk years of her life into this, into him, and she was not giving up over a mistake. Once, she told herself, not thinking about finger marks or cowering behind a counter as he screamed at her, once is not a pattern.