Page 23 of Fractured
I squeeze her hand. “No matter how pretty the walls are, Anna, a prison is still a prison.”
We remain silent for a bit. Anna whispers, “What about the wedding night? Are you going to sleep with him?”
My stomach drops and I feel the wine turning rancid in my stomach. “I don’t know, I don’t want to.” Anna shifts to her back.
I ask her, “What about Danny? Are you going to sleep withhim?”
She was quiet for a long time.
“Okay, let’s make a pact. We will ride dicks tomorrow night. We each have one, right? Both are grade-A assholes. So… fuck it! Let’s really go out with a bang!”
The way she says it as if we are ordering a pizza, makes me giggle, then it’s full-on laughter, and then Anna laughs as she curls in on herself. We slowly stop after a few last chuckles, both laying on our backs looking at the ceiling in the dark.
“I love you, Izzy.” She says it softly.
I wipe the tears off my face and say, “I love you too, Anna.”
I can hear Anna sniffle, “Get some sleep, bitch, we have a fake wedding to pull off tomorrow and dicks to ride. And I’m going to make sure you’re hot as fuck, so he regrets being such a prick and losing the best thing that would ever have happened to him.”
“Okay.” I smile in the dark.“
~ ~ ~
As soon as I open my eyes in the morning, my gut twists.
Today is the day I will belong to him.
Anna is a flurry of activity, flying around the room setting up the breakfast Sasha brought us. I try my hardest to be cheerful and a part of her excitement, but I can’t get my anxiety under control. I threw out my medication, so I can’t take one of my pills, and the idea of drinking any alcohol makes me feel like throwing up after the amount of wine we drank last night. The conversation and wine kept flowing, even though I’m not a drinker.
I make my way to the bathroom, giving Anna a quick hug on the way there. I do my business, brush my teeth, and go sit on the couch beside her. She’s crunching on toast.
“My god, I could get used to this, Izz.” She waves her hand around the room. “Wake up, roll over. Oh look, here’s your breakfast.” She giggles and takes another bite of her toast.
I grab a plain piece of toast and take a small bite. The crumbs are like grains of sand in my mouth, and I reach for my coffee and take a swallow, slightly swishing it in my mouth to help it go down.
“You can’t eat, can you?” Anna puts her hand on mine.
I just shake my head and put my toast down, looking at her. I can feel my eyes starting to sting. Anna drops her toast quickly onto her plate and pulls me into her arms. The tears flow as soon as I feel her arms around me and she just rubs my back, soothing me.
“Shhh, we will get through this day. Together! She pulls back and looks me in the eye.
“We are going to get you looking hot so you can marry that dick.”
She squints her blue eyes.
“Then we are going to get your ass out of here. Got me?” She lifts my chin. “I mean it!”
I nod. That’s all I can do. I can’t talk or I’ll lose it again.
“Go shower, get under the hot water and just try to breathe, Izz. Chuck in some of that enormous bottle of lavender salts in there. You need to mellow out.”
I smile and get up, “Okay.” Walking to the bathroom, I turn back to look at Anna’s tiny form all tucked up on the couch, eating toast. I smile. I’m so glad she’s here with me this morning.
“My mother and sister will be here soon. I’m not sure what time his mother is coming, but the ceremony is at two this afternoon, so once we shower, it’s going to be nuts in here.”
Anna smiles at me, “My kind of party!” She punches one hand in the air. I laugh and head to the bathroom. I have my hand on the cold brass knob when her soft voice says, “Izz?”
I turn and look at her.
