The ceiling fan is the first thing Valeria notices when she opens her eyes. It isn't so much that it is interesting, as though she had never seen one, but it is her second clue to know that she isn't in her own bed. Her first had been before she opened her eyes. She had moved her arm across the sheets and immediately felt the lack of silk material. These sheets are comfortable, but not the ones she had been living with for the last three years. Still, it doesn't dawn on her until she looks up at the fan that this isn't her bed, room, or house. Not that she had any of those anymore, but for the life of her, she doesn't know how she got to wherever she is now. Last she remembers, she stumbled through the streets and collapsed on a park bench. She thought it was fitting to die listening to the sounds of children playing in the distance, however morbid that sounded. Somehow their laughter brought her a shred of peace with dying. She knew she was dying, too, because in all the pain she had endured over the years, he made it hurt more this time. Perhaps he thought he had to make the most out of it if this was his last chance. She had blacked out once it started, as it usually did, and like always, she woke up bleeding on the floor. He wasn't anywhere in sight for once, and she didn't wait around for him to return. In some dark and twisted way, she was free of him, legally this time.
Taking a deep breath, Valeria tries to look at her surroundings, but the room is light by only the glow coming through yellow and white marble glass. It almost made it look like a dream, but the pain is never in her dreams. It is a small room, with windows to her left and a door straight ahead at her feet. She supposes this size would have been a decent closet in her old house: his closet, never hers. There is hardly anything in the room other than the twin-sized bed and a small table next to it...and the dining chair by the door that has someone in it. Blinks, thinking it is the odd lighting playing tricks on her, but no, someone is watching her. A man, older than her by a few years, sits hunched over with his elbows resting on his knees and his hands intertwined. At first, his hands had been touching his stubbled chin. A second later, he starts to move as though afraid to move too fast. His eyes are dark and wide as he realizes she is awake. He unfolds his hands and holds them up in a mean-no-harm way. In some way, he looks familiar to her, but she can't place it.
A sudden loud rumble causes her to jolt and look towards the window. The building jiggles slightly, a low vibration of a nearby train. No, she is definitely not anywhere near her old home. The sound is gone as fast as it came, and she stares out the window a second before she starts to laugh. How odd everything is, she thinks to herself. Of all the places she could wake up, it had to be the most different than what she was used to, and she has never been more thankful.
"You're laughing...?" The man's voice pulls at her attention a second before Valeria winces in pain and grabs her side. "What is wrong?" Even the stranger sounds more concerned over her than anyone else right now...not that she has anyone else in her life.
"Bruised rib, it will heal in a few weeks." She would know. Valeria looks back to him to see him standing now, and in this small room, he is not easy to miss. His grey sweats are untied at the waist, and his sleeveless, white t-shirt is too big with the hems stripped off. Of course, she can't forget the giant sketched taco drawn across the t-shirt with the phrase, "I'm into fitness...Fit'ness taco in my mouth." Reading the words makes her want to laugh, but the bruised ribs still hurt from the last one.
"How are you not freaking out right now?" He questions, and she looks back up to meet his gaze. He looks puzzled, staring at her with his mouth partially opened. "You wake up in pain, in a strange place, with strange noises with a strange man in the room, and you laugh?"
Valeria sits up a little and quirks an eyebrow at him. "Believe me, when you have been through what I have, strange is a comfort...normal is the nightmare."
The man nods slowly as his eyes soften. She must look like a nightmare. Valeria is used to how she looks without makeup to hide it, but she is thankful her ex didn't do worse. "Coffee? Tea? Water? Juice?...Vodka?" He quirks an eyebrow back at her.
"Tea is fine." She mumbles, but she stops him when he moves to get it. "If it isn't any trouble...and whatever brand or the kind you have is...fine...." She trails off and stops herself, knowing she was reverting to the habit of pleasing someone else. That is what he made her, and she hated it.
The man watches her for a moment, studying her through hooded eyes. He knows, maybe not everything, but he isn't blind. "No trouble at all, Evie likes tea, so I keep it on hand for her."
Valeria has no clue who Evie is but mentally thanks her. She tries to smile, and he leaves while shutting the door softly behind her. Valeria takes the opportunity to push back the covers and look at herself. She thought she would see her naked skin glaring back at her. Surprisingly she is wearing baggy pajama bottoms with mini-burritos scattered across it and an oversized t-shirt with "CRAP" written across it in AC/DC lettering and a voltage icon in the middle. This t-shit had to be his, reminding her of her dad. She shakes her head and tries to move. Though the bed is comfortable beyond belief, her muscles act from lack of use.
A slight knock at the door catches her attention, and she looks up as a woman enters. Valeria startles a second, not expecting to see that person ever again. "Doctor Evenson." The woman is middle-aged, with blonde hair and green eyes that stare into the soul of her patients. "You make house calls now?"
"I do for my friends." She replies with a smile, but Valeria knows that she is only a patient to her, not a friend. She understands that the doctor is friends with the man. She approaches Valeria and moves her head gingerly left and right with a hand under her chin. "He called me a few days ago saying he found a woman passed out on a park bench and brought her home. I told him that strange women are not stray puppies. He said she was beaten up and that I needed to come to check on her." The doctor meets Valeria's gaze and gives her a stern glance. "Had I known it was you, I would have driven faster."
Doctor Evenson kneels in front of Valeria, who moves to sit with her feet hanging off the side. She lifts up the t-shirt enough to check her ribs and other bruises. By now, it is a routine. Over three years, she has seen this doctor more than she can remember, with typical random excuses: tripped down the stairs, walked into a wall, fell off a bike, tripped while on a morning run. She didn't even bother to come up with an excuse this time. "I haven't seen you in a month, Valeria. You worried me."
"He kept me locked in the house." She mumbles, feeling ashamed that someone had the power to do that to her. "I got out now, so you don't need to worry anymore."
"Did you know he would hold you prisoner, for an entire month? Did you know he would do that when I gave you that document?" Doctor Evenson questions and gives her a level stare that makes Valeria feel like she is fifteen again.
Valeria shakes her head. "I was so sure that was all I needed...that he would let me go...sign the papers and be done with me...." She scratches her earlobe before adding, "I was wrong."
The woman takes a deep breath, lets it out, and starts examining her knuckles. "I suppose I should have known...you are not the first battered woman I have seen. I should have stopped you...driven you to a shelter myself." She stops speaking for a second while she holds Valeria's fingers. "You put up a fight this time. I haven't seen those bruises since you started coming to me."
"Yeah, well...It didn't stop him, no matter how hard I tried. The last one was the worst." Valeria watches the woman understand her words, even though she doesn't go into too much detail. She didn't need to, she supposes. "One last hurrah before he won't get another chance. The beating was the worst, and I guess I blacked out for the rest of it."
The doctor doesn't say anything else. She doesn't need to. Still, Valeria can see that she is furious at everything her patient has gone through. When she is done checking her over, she gives her a list of exercises to help with the aches and leaves some generic meds on the side table for her. "I will come by to check on you in a few days, but have them call me if you get worse. If you leave here, before I come back, then in a week, come by my office...." She hesitates and looks back at Valeria with a deep expression. "If I don't hear from you, I will call the police." Valeria understands what she means and nods once.
The woman exits, but a second later, the door opens again. This time a young girl is carrying a cup toward Valeria. She stares at the little girl, but it isn't until the girl looks up that she realizes who she is. "Evelyn?" The girl had been seven when she saw her last, three years prior. Even though the girl is older and her hair is a few shades darker than the blonde she remembers, she could never forget those pale grey eyes and a pretty smile.
Valeria gives a small laugh of surprise as the girl gets closer to her. "Pops wanted me to bring this to you." She sets the steaming cup and saucer on the side table by her meds. "I think he was afraid you might hit him if he got too close." She stands up straighter and looks at Valeria like she used to, with bright, intelligent eyes. "But I knew I could get close to you. You are my favorite teacher."
Valeria pulls the girl into an embrace and fights the tears that threaten to fall. When she closes her eyes, she has a flash of memory. "Miss Marshall? Miss Marshall, are you okay? I will go get help. I will be right back, Miss Marshall." That voice rings in Valeria's mind. Realization hits her that Evelyn had found her at the park. She remembers the park, having been led there by the sounds of people, which meant help. She found help, and she now remembers being carried though she was too weak to fight it. She remembers thinking it was her ex, that he had followed her and was taking her back. She remembers thinking that little Evelyn would be sad if she returned and couldn't find her. She remembers thinking that it might be better for Evelyn McLeod to forget her because the woman she knew as Miss Marshall is dead.
"I ran as fast as I could, I promise." Evelyn's voice now causes Valeria to hug her tighter, knowing the girl had been worried by her tone and how she clings to her former teacher.
When Valeria pulls away, she notices the man standing in the doorway watching her. Now she realizes who he is and where she has seen him before. He had come to a parent-teacher conference. After having missed the previous ones in the school year, she told Evelyn she would get extra credit if she got her dad to come to talk to her. He had been last in line, but he had come. She doesn't remember what she said to him and barely remembers looking up from her papers. She knew she was trying to annoy him due to him ditching the previous appointments. It was petty, but it had caused her to giggle after he left.
"I know you did, Evelyn," Valeria tells the girl when she turns her attention back to her. "And I am alive today because of you."
"I didn't do anything." She mumbles, shocked at being told such an important role she played. "Pops carried you and called the doctor."
Valeria fights to not look up to her father, knowing that is what she remembers. He carried her here, and she has been here ever since. "Yes, but he would never have found me. No one would have if you didn't find me first and seek help." She stressed to her students the importance of what to do in emergencies, what is classified as an emergency, and what to do when you don't know what to do. Evelyn had tried to talk to her, and when she didn't answer, she went for help. She found an adult, her father, who would know what to do. "I have never been prouder of my star student." Even though she hasn't taught a class in three years, all the children are her students, and it doesn't matter how old they are now. She never thought she would ever see any of them again.
A chime comes from beyond the open door, and the girl's eyes light up. "My show is starting...." She looks to her father, and he gives her a slight nod. She hugs Valeria again quickly and then darts out of the room.
"It is a show she got into a couple years ago, where they read to you...." He starts, and Valeria nods. "I suppose you showed that to her...." Again, she nods.
"I know we have met before, but I hope you will forgive me. I don't remember your name...." Valeria states with a slight wince as she looks up at him.
He doesn't move from his spot at the doorway, making Valeria realize Evelyn had been right in suspecting he was afraid she would hit him or something similar. "Ray McLeod."
"Valeria Hogan..." She catches herself with the name prickling the dark corners of her mind. "Marshall, again...now...." She meets his gaze again, and he is studying her again. She can't tell how she feels knowing he is studying her.
"Evie watches a lot of interviews on the tablet...she likes the ones with you talking." He confesses, and Valeria sucks in a shaky breath before letting it go slowly. "She likes the ones when you are alone and not with your husband."
"Ex." She states rather quickly. She won't have another person, even for another moment, thinking she is married to that monster.
"Right..." He mumbles, and Valeria realizes he is deliberately speaking in a calming tone. She isn't sure whether it is for her benefit or to keep his voice lower so Evelyn wouldn't hear him. "Evie says you aren't you in those interviews with him. You don't smile or talk unless you have to."
"He didn't like me to speak out of turn, and I smiled, but not in the way Evelyn remembers," Valeria states, feeling a bit protective of her actions though she doesn't know why.
"How long were you married?" He questions while tilting his head at her slightly.
"Two and a half years...." She answers, though, not knowing why she is telling him anything. Perhaps she thinks she owes him for helping to save her. Maybe she just doesn't want to lie anymore.
"When did he start...how long has he been doing that to you?" He motions to his chin, though she knows he would have motioned to hers if he was closer.
"Two and a half years...." She adds without looking away from his gaze. Valeria watches his jaw twitch slightly when his jaw clenches shut. "He hid it well when we met like most monsters do...the second that ring was on my finger, I knew I made a mistake. Maybe I knew before that, but even then, I couldn't fight him."
"He is Cory Hogan...not many go against him and win." Ray states and the name prickles her skin. That name is always everywhere. She saw it every time she went out, and she could never escape it, like a cruel reminder of the worse mistake of her life.
"How did you get away?" He questions, taking the small opportunity to keep her talking and get answers while she is still willing to answer.
"It wasn't a clean getaway, as you can see." She offers and watches his jaw clench again. "Doctor Evenson gave me a document...test results that I had a one in a ten-millionth chance of getting pregnant. That is what he wanted...the perfect family." She trails off, lost in the bitter memories of years of abuse she withstood in his attempt to get that perfect family. "He hit me, locked me up, and called his lawyer. He kept me there like a prisoner until he got what he wanted...a divorce, so he could start over with someone else. I saw the tv interview he did. I saw him smear my name, telling people I lied to him about being able to start a family. He got the pity votes and looked like a hero for going after the life he wanted. No one ever even suspected I was sitting in a locked room in his house with a black eye and bloody lip."
Valeria looks down at her hands, feeling them shake. She balls them up and places them on the mattress. It is his turn, she decides. "Where am I?" She questions as she looks back up at him.
"You aren't being held prisoner if that is what you are asking." His voice is different from Cory's: lighter and calming. "You are at my place, in my spare room. I apologize if it isn't very comfortable, and I know it is small, but I tried to find you a comfortable bed. You were in my room for a few days, but then I thought you should have a space to yourself, something untouched by anyone else." Valeria watches him closely, taking in his words and realizing the care he put into every thought, even for her. "You need not worry about me having looked when we changed your clothes. I helped move you in here, but Denaya changed your clothes." He mumbles something about modesty and not wanting to disrespect her.
"Who is Denaya?" Valeria questions, feeling insecure at the thought of anyone looking at her...of anyone seeing the bruises underneath. "Is she Evelyn's mother?"
"No." He shakes his head with an airy breath as though trying to keep himself from laughing. "She and her husband are my best friends. They live here in the apartment across the hall. She has been keeping an eye on you for me. I didn't think you wanted to wake up to see a strange man watching you, but she had to work today, and I was worried you hadn't woken up yet."
He studies her again for a long minute. "What are you going to do now?"
Valeria shakes her head. "I will find something. I got some money saved back that Cory didn't know about." She is lucky she did. She started before they even started dating, as though fate told her she would need it. "Maybe I will get a bus ticket and get as far from this city as possible, somewhere he won't find me."
"He won't find you here." Ray offers, and Valeria knows what he is telling her.
"I can't impose upon your life here...your wife must be furious to have a strange woman in her spare room...." Valeria starts, but he shakes his head. "No, she isn't mad, or no, she isn't here?"
"No, as in I'm not married. Only Evie and I are living here, and her mom left her on our doorstep when she was a year old." He shrugs with a look in his eyes that Valeria can't place. "Her mother was the type to seek comfort anywhere she could." She understands what he is saying but keeps quiet. "When she left, no one stopped her, but she was that way. Always going from one place to another. When Evie showed up, we knew she belonged here, but no one could tell who the father was. She became a group project of sorts, an it-takes-a-village type of thing. When she was five, I adopted her and gave her my name. The state had taken notice of her and tried to take her, but she became legally mine, so that was that."
"That is very kind of you to do," Valeria replies, and the corner of his mouth turns up in a soft grin. "Evelyn is a special girl, and she deserves all the happiness in the world. It seems that she has that with you." She takes a deep breath and lets it out. "I think I judged you too harshly when we met before. I didn't know and said things I shouldn't have."
Ray shrugs his shoulders with that smile still on his face. "You spoke the truth, Miss Marshall. I stepped my game up after that."
"Glad to hear...and you can call me Ria." She offers while knowing that he didn't deserve to have to be so formal, no matter what she went through. "Just don't call me Val." She warns, and he nods once in understanding. Val is what cory called her, and she hated it from the second it fell out of his mouth.
"Are you going to do anything about it?" He questions, and Valeria doesn't have to guess what he means.
"I did...I got out...I walked out that door, and I didn't look back." She reveals while studying him. Why does he care so much about her life? If anything, she is a nuisance that will be gone the second she can. He should be telling her to get out. He should be telling her to stay as far from Evelyn as possible.
"The people deserve to know that the man they vote for as mayor is a monster." He adds with a hint of anger in his tone. She knows he is madder at Cory than her, but hearing his tone stirs something inside her.
"And spend the rest of my life with a target on my back?" Valeria counters with a partial glare up at him. "It is bad enough I will spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, but if I spoke publicly about what he has done, my days would be numbered." She gazes at him for a long minute before she adds on out of necessity. "And so will yours if you repeat anything I said to anyone."
His gaze is firm, and his jaw clenched. "He won't get to you. I can promise you that."
"You can't promise that." She shakes her head and continues when he tries to contradict her. "I don't care who you are or how many friends with connections you have. Cory will always have more. He has money, influence, and a whole team of lawyers itching to bury anyone who moves against him. You won't risk it, not when you have Evelyn. If Cory knew I was here, he would come after you and use Evelyn as leverage."
"He could try. He wouldn't be the first." He warns, and Valeria stares at him to decide how to react to that statement. "Will you go back to your family, then?"
"I cut those ties for Cory." She admits with a shrug, though her heart still hurts at what she had to do. "He didn't like them, and I burned bridges."
"Bridges can be rebuilt, Ria." He suggests.
"And yet, Rome wasn't built in a day." Her words cause him to grin a bit more than he had before.
"You have nowhere to go, and you need to heal," Ray states in a matter-of-fact tone. "I have the space and work nights, so you don't need to worry about me having shady motives." He shrugs his shoulders as though realizing that just because he works nights doesn't mean he doesn't have shady motives. "Evie's got school during the day, so the apartment will be mostly empty. Please stay. Take time to heal before you leave."
Valeria watches him closely and sees a look in his eyes that he is sincere. "I suppose I could stay for a couple days, just till I get better...." She reveals secretly that it would be nice to have somewhere to lie low in case Cory is looking for her. He would never find her in a place like this, which made it perfect for her. She watches him let out a deep breath of relief at hearing her answer. Other than Doctor Everson, no one had cared about her health in a long time, and it felt nice to know he was letting her stay to heal. "Thank you...for helping to save my life. I meant what I said to Evelyn. She saved my life because she found me and got help, but you didn't have to bring me here. You could have dropped me off at the nearest hospital, and not even looked back."
Ray shrugs his shoulders again. "Anyone would have done the same had they found you first."
Valeria shakes her head. "Not everyone..."
"Any decent human being...." Ray corrects with a look in his eyes that shows he knows much more about her situation than he will say. "Any man with a shred of decency would have done the right thing. I could have taken you to the hospital, but somehow I felt you were running from someone, and it was a gut feeling to get you off the street as fast as possible. I called Doc but didn't know she knew you until she got here." He crosses his arms and leans in the doorway, relaxing a bit since she said she would stay for a while. "Even if I had taken you to the hospital, I would have stayed to ensure you were alright and safe."
"I don't know how I can ever repay you." Valeria strangely gazes at him. She doesn't like being indebted to someone. Somehow she knew that he wouldn't take it if she offered him money. "If there is anything you ever need me to do, I will do it...no questions asked." She offers and watches as he tilts his head slightly. She wonders if she misspoke, and now he thinks she will do any favor a man wants. No, she wouldn't do that. Not because she wouldn't be tempted or because it was decent repayment, but because the thought of any man touching her makes her stomach churn. Cory was the only man who ever touched her. He made sure of it before he married her. Somehow that made things worse because she can't forget. She can't replace him in her mind with someone else.
Ray grins at her with his airy laugh, and she relaxes slightly. "I may hold you to that." He states but gives a wink, revealing that he isn't serious. He has no intention of cashing in that favor, but mentally Valeria says that she will repay him eventually. All debts need to be repaid, Valeria quotes in her mind. That is how she was raised. She has to repay him, no matter what, and no matter the favor. It didn't matter if it was a big favor or something as small and meaningless as saving her life. Debts need to be repaid.