Rainbow Reflection

Chapter 27

Take Me Home

Sung by Jess Glynne

"Wrapped up, so consumed by all this hurt

If you ask me, don't know where to start

Anger, love, confusion roads that go nowhere"

Micah:

I walk back to the quarters and my bedroom where my wife is waiting for me. My dread grows with each step I take, I know when I return to my bed still damp from the shower Rosy will be awake, hell she will be awake now, before I even reach the building. There will be no words between us, even if I reach out for her the silence will be there between us.

I go through the motions of a shower mechanically, I am loath to wash the scent of my daughter from my skin but if I don't make this small concession to Rosy she will leave the room. I barely wipe the moisture from my body before lifting the sheet and sliding into bed. Rosy is laying on the far edge of the bed with her back to me, I lay with my head turned towards her for a few unbearably long moments before I turn my head to stare at the ceiling. As I lay there I can hear the slightest hitch in her breathing and I squeeze my eyes shut tightly before reaching out blindly to turn the radio on. I don't want to hear the faint telltale sounds of her crying.

The small space between us contains an insurmountable wall, a distance between us I don't know how to close. I lift my left hand, the one that once again wears my wedding band, I want to reach out and touch her. Slowly my hand lowers to the mattress once again as I loose my courage, I don't think I can take the way she holds herself rigid in my arms.

Rosy:

I lay awake long after I begin to hear Micah's odd quiet snore above the soft music playing. Early each morning when he returns from her he turns the radio on, he doesn't speak to me anymore, doesn't offer what comfort he can give me. The emptiness that sits coldly within me aches and I clutch my arms around myself as I carefully ease myself up to sit on the edge of the bed.

The DJ on the radio chats away in a quiet voice and as the notes of a new song begin to drift softly from the radio I turn my head to listen to the tune that seems to echo the sadness inside me. I listen to the words as the songstress sings, it's as if the song is being played for us. The lyrics touch something deep within me and I close my eyes as I let my head lower until my chin rests on my chest. The song comes to an end and another starts, slowly my eyes open and my chin lifts as I listen to the words of the song. I move to sit in the rocking chair that has been pushed back in the corner, I push with one foot until the chair is rocking in a steady rhythm that soothes.

"In that set we had Adele with Love in the Dark followed by Jess Glynne and Take Me Home and Sugarland with Stay. On a more upbeat note we had ..."

I block out the drone of the DJ's voice as I close my eyes and loose myself in the gentle rocking motion of the chair.

"Turn here!" I demand as I lean forward as I point at a dirt road to the left. I hear Sam grumble beneath his breath in the back seat as Malcolm chuckles behind the wheel before slowing abruptly to take the corner safely.

"Where the heck are we?" Steven demands from behind me. I can hear the traces of sleep in his voice as he says something to my brother but I am too enthralled with the bush that flits by as the vehicle travels up the dirt road.

The knowledge we are drawing closer fills me, it soothes something inside of me while feeding some wild need. I jerk around to stare out the driver's side for a bit before squirming in my seat to look out my own window.