"Babe, there's a letter here for you." Harry called out, walking inside and I got up, heading to the kitchen.
He handed me a letter and I furrowed my eyebrows at the return address, my stomach falling. It was from Wandsworth Prison. That's where my dad was. I shakily ripped it open and read the letter, a hand coming up to my mouth at the words. He was getting let out. No, no, no. This can't be happening. He was supposed to be in prison for fifteen years.
"What is it?" Harry asked and I shook my head.
"He's getting let out. My dad is being released tomorrow." I stumbled over my words and Harry frowned, grabbing the letter from my to read.
"What the fuck? He should be there for another ten years."
I nodded, my mind racing. I felt my hands begin to shake as panic coursed through my body, tears welling up in my eyes. I sat down on the counter chair, threading my fingers through my hair and leaning my elbows on the counter. This cannot be happening. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping that this was all some nightmare and everything was going to be fine. Nothing is fine.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Haz, what do you want for dinner?" I called out, hearing the front door open and shut. "Harry?"
"You should really learn to lock your door." My whole body froze at the familiar voice and I shakily stood up from the couch, walking into the kitchen.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, watching my dad swing a knife around.
"Can I not pay my daughter a visit?" He said, stepping closer.
I made the brash decision to turn around and run to try and get to the back yard. I wasn't quick enough, though, because he grabbed my and held the knife to my throat making tears fill my eyes. I stopped moving, not wanting him to kill me, and he gripped my ponytail, dragging me down the hallway. He stopped at the guest room and pulled me in, pushing me to the ground after harshly slapping me on the face. A small sob left my lips and I knew what was going to happen because he unbuckled his belt as he kicked me in the stomach.
"Please stop." I sobbed and he rolled his eyes, keeping the knife on my stomach.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sam?" My eyes opened and closed slowly as I heard someone call my name. "Sam, you home?"
I heard footsteps so I turned my head, tears dripping from my eyes and onto the bed sheets underneath me. I was in so much pain and I couldn't even call Harry's name to come help me. There were footsteps coming down the hallway and they passed the guest room before coming back. The door was pushed open and I heard Harry say my name as he came over to me, his eyes wide.
"Oh my god, what happened?" He asked and I shook my head, more tears spilling onto the bed. "I'm gonna fucking kill him."
Harry grabbed his phone and called the police, telling them that we needed an ambulance and I broke out crying again, thinking about having to go through all of this again. I looked down and saw all of the small cuts on my stomach from his knife and the two long ones just above my breasts. Harry took off his jacket and put it over me, grabbing my hand. I flinched away and his face fell and I tried to stop crying, squeezing my eyes shut.
I knew there were bruises on my neck from where he squeezed and a cut on my cheek. I could feel the blood dripping down and after a bit, there were sirens coming to the house and Harry picked me up, carrying me outside to the ambulance that was in front of the house. I flinched away as the medic took the jacket off of me and there were a couple police who were women in the car with us to take my statement.
I told them what happened, from what I could remember, and tried to stop crying, not wanting to seem weak. I let the man stitch up the cut on my stomach and once at the hospital, they took me into a room to finish up with the cuts and to do the rape test. I had Harry leave the room as I told the police exactly what happened, since he was fuming and I didn't want to see him angry at me.
"It seems you have some vaginal bleeding, was there anything else he did?" The nurse asked and I shook my head, tears dripping down my cheeks.
"I'm pregnant." I whispered and she nodded, going to get the stuff to do the ultrasound.
"Do you know who did this to you?" The police asked and I nodded, wiping my cheeks.
"My dad. He got sent to prison five years ago for doing the same thing to me but he got let out a few weeks ago." I said and she nodded, telling someone on her radio to go look for him. "Please don't tell my husband about the baby. I was gonna tell him myself." She nodded and the nurse came back and squirt the gel on my stomach before moving the wand around.
"Do you know how for along you are?"
"Two months. I got tested a few weeks ago." I said and she frowned, watching the small screen.
"I'm very sorry, but I can't find a heartbeat. I believe you had a miscarriage during the assault." She said, turning the machine on and I gulped.
"What?" My voice cracked.
"Did he put anything else inside of you?" She hesitantly asked and I shrugged.
"I don't know. I passed out." I whispered, trying to compose myself.
"How about I give you a minute and then I'll send your husband back in, alright?" I nodded and sniffled.
She left the room and it was silent except for my sniffles and movement of the blankets around me. I buried my face in my hands as I started crying again and after a few minutes, Harry came into the room, his cheeks red and tears in his eyes. I completely broke down at the sight of him and he sat down in the chair next to me, hesitantly grabbing my hand and pressing a kiss to my knuckles.
"I'm sorry." I sobbed and he frowned, shaking his head.
"You didn't do anything. Don't say that." He whispered, moving his thumb back and forth across my hand.
"I was pregnant and I was gonna tell you tonight at dinner but I had a miscarriage because of what he did to me." I rambled and a few tears fell from his eyes. "If I'd have just locked the front door, none of this would have happened."
"Don't blame yourself." Harry mumbled, looking at me.
I nodded and sniffled, wiping underneath my eyes. The nurse came in to do a few more tests and once she was done, they told me that I needed to stay the night so that they could watch my cuts to make sure they wouldn't need stitches. I laid down in the bed and curled into myself, watching Harry watch me from his chair with furrowed eyebrows.
"When I came home, I figured you were asleep since you weren't answering me. But then, I realized that you haven't been able to sleep alone since he got out so I knew something was wrong." He said quietly and I looked at him, closing my eyes after a minute.
"Can you stay in here with me?" I whispered and Harry nodded, keeping my hand in his.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are you sure you're okay to testify?" Harry asked, looking over at me and I nodded, standing up.
I smoothed out my black skirt and paced the small hallway, chewing on my thumbnail. The thought of seeing my father again only a few feet away from me, made me feel sick, but I knew I had to do this. I wanted him to get put away for as long as possible. An officer came out and led me inside the court room, helping me up onto the stand. I took the oath and kept my eyes on my lawyer, not wanting to look anywhere else.
"Mrs. Styles, can you tell me exactly what happened the night of January 19th?" My lawyer stood up and I took a deep breath.
"I was at home and the front door opened. I just assumed it was Harry, my husband, so I went to the kitchen when I didn't hear him. I saw my father standing there with a knife in his hand. I tried to run to the backyard, but he grabbed me and held the knife to my throat so I couldn't move. He drug me down the hallway by my hair and took me to the extra bedroom." I swallowed hard and caught Harry's eye from across the room.
"Would you mind telling us what happened next?" I cleared my throat and shook my head.
"He kept hitting me and I was pushed to the floor and he started to take his pants off." I momentarily closed my eyes as my throat closed up. "Um, he forced himself on me and kept a hand on my throat. Before I passed out, he cut me on my stomach and just above my breasts. When I woke up, he was still on top of me and he finally left. I couldn't move because of how much pain I was in, and then my husband came home and called the police."
"Thank you. No further questions." My lawyer sat down so dad's got up.
"Do you normally leave your front door unlocked, Mrs. Styles?" He asked and I shook my head.
"No. I figured my husband was coming home a few minutes after me so I left it unlocked." I answered, fumbling with my fingers in my lap.
"So, you could have been asking for someone else to come into your home?"
"Objection. Relevance." My lawyer stood up and the judge dismissed it.
"Let me rephrase. If you knew your father was out of prison, why wouldn't you lock your door if you were so afraid?"
"Um, I don't know."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sam, come to bed." Harry sighed, leaning against the door frame.
"I'm not tired." I mumbled, continuing to paint.
"Yes you are. I can see it." Harry walked over and put a hand on my shoulder, making me flinch.
"Sorry." I whispered, hating that I couldn't control it. "I'll be in there in a few minutes."
"Sam," Harry said quietly and I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.
"I'll be in in a few minutes." I mumbled, not looking at him as he stood in front of me, his tattoos on full display.
"Don't work yourself so much, babe." He sighed, moving towards the door. "Goodnight."