Suffer In Silence by Jack Cartwright

Author:Jack Cartwright [Cartwright, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-07-23T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY

“Ben?” Freya whispered. “Ben, talk to me.”

“Give him a moment,” Doctor Bell suggested, and she moved around to stand beside him. “Come on, Ben. Let’s get you sitting down, eh? That’s what you need. A nice chair to–”

“I don’t need to sit down,” Ben said, and he pulled his arm away firmly, but without risking offence. That was Ben’s way. A gentle giant. And it pained Freya to see him like this. “I just want to be with her.”

“You knew her well, didn’t you, Ben?” Freya said, and then waited. She turned to Doctor Bell. “Perhaps some tea?”

“Oh, tea. Now there’s a thought. I’ll just be a jiffy or two.” She paused mid-step and turned as if to ask how he liked his tea. But then she thought better of it and disappeared through to the room where they had been given gowns.

“I’m sorry,” Ben said, and it took a few moments for Freya to gauge whether the apology was for her, or for Marie.

“Ben, please. If you knew her, you have to talk to me.”

“I knew it was. I knew it, Freya,” he said, fighting the tears. “Her hair. In the hole, it covered her face. I couldn’t see.”

There had been times in the past six months that Freya had wanted to give it all up and tell him how she felt. But that had been a girlish dream. It had been borne of girlish fantasies that craved physical connection. Something sexual. There had been times, in the same period, that she had looked upon him as one of the best friends she had ever had, then disregarded the notion due to the short amount of time they had known each other. There had been times, just as the previous night, she had just wanted to curl up beside him. All fantasies aside. Just be with him. Just touch him. But she had refrained, with too much to lose. His friendship, for a start. But now was different. Now was a time when he actually needed her. Now was a time that she could hold him, like a sister, or a friend, or a partner. Now it didn’t matter. And she held him. Pulling him tight, she knew she couldn’t take away whatever pain he was feeling, but they could share it. She could absorb some of the blow for him. Whatever he was thinking, whatever memories were playing out in his mind, as she knew they would be, he would know she was there. Standing beside him. Holding him. Helping him through.

A warm tear landed in her hair, and his limp arms found her.

They stayed that way for longer than Freya cared to remember. It was something she had longed to do for months. To hold him. To be there. But now she was there, she wished there had been no need to be. She would have quite easily walked out of the door with him hobbling beside her, both of them none the wiser as to the woman’s identity.

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