‘I’d gone for a walk. The North End, yes. He came at me. From behind. And … And … he grabbed my hair. Utter bastard. He had a knife-thing. And. And … slashed me. Punched me. I was a mess. An absolute mess. He took my … my … knickers.
‘No. Nothing more. He was disturbed.
‘By a scream? A gull?
‘He wore a balaclava. I’ll have to wear a mask now. My face …
‘I DON’T KNOW WHAT ELSE HE WAS WEARING!
‘Sorry. I squeezed my eyes shut.
‘I didn’t see the barmaid. I didn’t see Beatrice.
‘There was so much rain.
‘No, I didn’t see anyone else. And … I can’t remember how I got down to the community centre.
‘He shouted at me. I can’t remember exactly what.
‘I DON’T KNOW WHAT ACCENT! HE WAS PUNCHING ME AT THE TIME!’ 297
*
They tell her the injuries will heal and you’ll hardly be able to see the scars. A few stitches. The swelling will soon go down. Mild concussion. Mild hypothermia. Small hairline fracture. That’s all. She’ll be released tomorrow. She can’t wait to get away.
Mild. Superficial. No real harm done, they say.
She doesn’t want to see Beatrice or Kit. She just wants to go, get as far away as possible from this godforsaken place.
She probes the puffiness of her lip with her tongue and explores the new contours of her forehead and cheek with her fingertips, although they tell her not to touch. She still can’t bear to look at herself.
She does not like the police – they give her the ick. She told them she didn’t need victim support as she has a proper counsellor back home.
There are things she didn’t tell them.
These superficial injuries aren’t the worst thing.
The words he said! They can’t take them away. They’ll never take them away. She can’t repeat them. She can’t tell the police what he called her.
You stupid fat cunt.
She shivers, although the hospital room is over-warm.
There’s a big bunch of flowers from Kit, which make her sad.
She didn’t tell the police that she’d taken Kit’s phone. Petty. Not sure what she was thinking.
The police seem to think Kit might have had something to do with the other thing, Hannah’s disappearance. Let them. She may have told them that his relationship with the barmaid 298was volatile. She may have mentioned that big bust-up between Hannah and Kit in the pub just before Christmas. Loads of witnesses to that. That wasn’t spite on her part.
They asked if she’d ever seen him be violent. She’d shook her head. But she hadn’t exactly said no. It was easy to look tearful – this whole horrible experience has made her tearful.
No. Kit doesn’t really deserve that. She needs to give herself a talking-to. She needs to put the record straight …
Golly sent her a lovely message this morning. The pain on life’s journey is a precious gift. It took her until this afternoon to realise that is true.
There is a silver lining. She has had so many likes for the shot of her bruised hand on the hospital bed. That post was one of her most popular ever! If only her parents had cared to comment. And she’s lost almost three kilos already!