abuse

chapter 2

For nine months, Lucy endured the abuse without anyone noticing. John and Jackson saw that her usual spark was gone, but they attributed it to job stress.

One morning, Lucy woke up feeling sick and ran to the bathroom to vomit. Levi, disturbed by the noise, stormed in. "What are you doing in there? Why did you wake me up?" he yelled, seeing Lucy hunched over the toilet. Furious, he started beating her, which only made her vomit more. This time, he didn't care if the bruises were visible. Lucy lay on the ground, unable to move.

Levi went to the living room to watch TV when someone knocked on the door.

"Lucy, open the door," Tim called out. Lucy, still in the bathroom, tried to keep herself from vomiting again.

Levi opened the door, facing Tim. "Who are you?" Tim asked, not recognizing him from the first day with Lucy.

"I'm Levi. Can I help you?" Levi replied.

"I'm looking for Lucy Chen. She wasn't at roll call today," Tim explained.

"Oh, she probably forgot to call in sick. She's been in the bathroom puking all morning," Levi said. Tim felt uneasy. "Is she okay? And why are you here? Lucy never mentioned living with someone."

Levi, now aggravated, just wanted Tim gone. "She'll be fine. I'm her husband. Now, let me take care of her and you can leave. Bye," Levi said, closing the door in Tim's face.

Back inside, Levi was furious. "WHY THE HELL IS THERE AN OFFICER AT THE DOOR?" he shouted. Lucy, still in pain from the morning beating, couldn't respond quickly enough before Levi started hitting her again until she blacked out.

Tim returned to the station, worried. He found Jackson and John. "Do you guys know anything about Lucy's personal life?" he asked. Neither of them knew she was married. Tim's worry deepened. He went to speak with Grey.

"Hey, sir, do you have a sec?" Tim asked.

"Sure, what's going on? And where's Lucy? Why isn't she here?" Grey responded.

"That's why I'm here. I went to her apartment and found out she has a husband. He got angry when I asked where Lucy was," Tim explained.

"I knew she was married; it's on her personnel file. So, what's the problem?" Grey asked.

Tim hesitated, just having a bad feeling. "It's strange she never mentioned her marriage. That's all. I'll get out of your way."

Lucy woke up with a severe headache, trying to stand but collapsing again. She knew something had to change. "So, you're awake. Make sure that officer doesn't come back, or it will be worse next time," Levi threatened.

Lucy started to cry from the pain and fear. "I promise, I will make sure he won't come back."

The rest of the day passed without incident. Lucy went to bed early to have extra time to apply makeup to her bruises in the morning.

She tried to get out of bed without waking Levi and went to the bathroom to apply her makeup. Levi woke up. "So, you're going back to work?"

"I need to, or Tim would show up at the door again," Lucy said, trying to sound convincing.

"Okay, but stay away from that Tim guy. I don't like him."

"I can't. He's my TO," Lucy said, tears streaming down her face.

Levi started hitting her again. "You better not talk about what happened," he threatened. Lucy was too scared to tell anyone and planned to go to work like nothing was wrong.

At the station, John and Jackson approached Lucy, asking about her marriage. Lucy brushed them off and went to the locker room to change in a cubicle, hiding her bruises. After getting dressed, she went to roll call.

Tim noticed fear in Lucy's eyes but couldn't place its source. During their shift, she dropped a bag from the pain, quickly trying to recover it, knowing it would be a long day.

"So, you're married," Tim said, trying to start a conversation. Lucy just stared out the window, avoiding interaction.

They returned to the station to process someone when Levi walked in. Seeing Lucy and Tim talking, Levi's anger flared. He approached Lucy, asking to speak privately. Out of fear, Lucy agreed, knowing he couldn't hurt her in the station.

Tim felt uneasy and went to talk to Angela. "Hey, Angela," he started.

"Yo, what's up?" she replied.

"Lucy's husband just walked in, wanted to talk to her. I have a bad feeling about him. Something's not right," Tim explained, pointing at Lucy and Levi. At that moment, Levi punched Lucy hard, sending her to the ground and continuing to hit her.

Tim ran up the stairs, but Levi threw Lucy down them. "That's what you get for not listening to me!"

The station focused on Lucy and Levi. Tim arrested Levi, who fought back. Angela ran to Lucy, grabbing her radio. "I need a RA unit to the station, officer down, not breathing. Starting compressions."

Tim saw Lucy on the ground, not breathing, as Grey helped arrest Levi. "Sir, can you handle him? I need to help Lucy. This is my fault."

"Yes, go. I'll handle him," Grey responded.

Tim joined Angela with Lucy, who still wasn't breathing. Tim started feeling anxious. Why didn't he see the signs?

The ambulance arrived, continuing CPR as theyloaded Lucy onto the gurney. Tim stood there, unsure of what to do. Angelaasked, "Are you riding with them or coming with me?" Tim silentlystepped into the ambulance.