I couldn’t even look at Sheila, afraid to see her expression. She was probably horrified by my situation, and even more so by my docile behavior. The thought of this made me pipe up.
“Just go, because this is over. This cycle of you hurting me,” I said through gritted teeth, still trying to free my wrist.
“I want an answer,” Tommy growled out, tightening his grip.
“Tommy,” I pleaded.
“Hey, she wants to go see her daughter,” said a furious grumbly voice I’d know anywhere.
I’d been silently hoping Mick didn’t get involved, and realized he’d bided his time and now was done, actually seeing me be abused.
Tommy squeezed even tighter, and I was grateful this wasn’t the same wrist he’d squeezed last time. “Mind your own business. I don’t even know who the hell you are,” he yelled at Mick, tossing his head back, all the while not taking his hand off me.
Sheila decided to pipe up. “He drove Margaret here. He’s a friend. He can be here ...” She trailed off as she realized what she just said.
I’m guessing Sheila didn’t have much personal experience in the domestic violence arena. Maybe she hadn’t said where I’d been, but she’d confirmed who I was with, and by doing so, had unwittingly make things worse. She’d meant to defuse the situation, but this information lit a fire in Tommy I’d never seen before.
“Hebrought you here?” Tommy spat at me, pushing me back toward the wall.
Phantom Priscillas called to me from everywhere, and I wondered where the doctor or anyone was. Why was the hall so empty? A continuous symphony of beeps and dings played from the nearby nurses’ station.
“Stay here,” Tommy demanded, letting go of my wrist.
This time, I definitely heard Priscilla yell out, “Mom!” But I couldn’t go to her because when Tommy released me, he punched Mick in the jaw.
“Sir, you’re going to have to calm down.”
Finally, someone from the hospital made an appearance. A nurse, I thought. The man was wearing scrubs and taking in Tommy’s beady eyes, hopefully thinking he needed to call for backup.
Luckily, Tommy’s punch barely moved Mick an inch. He stood tall, staring down my husband, a warrior coming to my defense. It couldn’t have been a worse scenario, and I still hadn’t seen my daughter.
“I will not calm down. My daughter is injured and hasn’t been treated because she was waiting for her mom to get here,” Tommy said, his voice rising with every syllable. “Her mom, who was apparently out withthis fucker.”
“Hey, take it down a notch,” Mick said, then addressed the nurse. “My friend would like to go see her daughter, but this man just got physical with her. I’m pretty sure she needs an x-ray of her own, on her wrist.”
I couldn’t look at Mick. Refusing to meet Tommy’s menacing glare, I focused on poor Sheila. Her wide gaze bounced from me to Mick to Tommy and back again. Her mouth hung open, and red splotches had formed on her neck.
Everyone’s focus turned to my wrist, which was swelling and turning redder by the second.
“Sir, please sit down over there,” the nurse said to Tommy in a forceful tone, then grabbed his walkie-talkie and called for security.
“That’s bullshit.” Tommy turned to stalk toward the hospital exit, clearly not caring about his daughter.
“No, you don’t.” The nurse came over and clapped his hand on Tommy’s shoulder.
Tommy stilled, clearly unsure of what to do, and sweat beaded on his forehead. This nurse was a burly man, clearly not taking any shit, and wasn’t his broken wife.
Finally, Mick swung an arm around Tommy’s shoulders, stopping him. “The man said to wait.” To the nurse, he said, “Tell security to hurry.”
Finally, Mick’s attention swung to me.
“Go see Priscilla,” he told me. “Sheila, right? Can you go with Margo?”
“Margo?” Tommy asked. “Who the hell is that?”
No one had a chance to answer because security arrived, and I ducked into Priscilla’s room, wanting to avoid whatever happened in the hallway. I genuinely felt bad for the security staff and worried for Mick, but I needed to be with my daughter.
As soon as Priscilla saw my face, tears slid down her cheeks. “Mommy,” she said through raspy tears.
