Even though my hiatus was announced by my agency for six months, my schedule became as hectic as ever .
From the morning to night. , I was either working with a physiotherapist or talking with Dr .Ravesh , doing yoga with a specialist personally hired by chairwoman ,working on my speech or trying to walk .
My husband agreed that one year leave would destroy my career so we needed to be prepared to get back on my feet faster .
One morning when I was trying to walk with the help of a crane and the nurses in the garden , my father found me atlast .
In the midday, he looked almost like a human . But just wearing a skin of a man did not make him one .
" Sweetheart," his voice was gentle ," Why don't we talk ?"
The daylight around me started to get dim. I felt like I was back at the bathroom again .
Suddenly I could not speak , I tried my best inspite of that ," How -"
'How are you here?'
I wanted to ask him . He understood me," I came to see how you are doing "
As if he was not the reason that I was broken like this . My vision swam in tears as he reached his hand towards me ," We need to talk ."
" No ," I shook my head .
" Don't be a child ," he clicked his tongue ," You know how much I love you right ? All I did was for your own good . We can not fight among us in such critical situation."
The nurses were before me trying to shield me from the devil who smiled as if they were all ridiculous to him ," What is this behaviour? I am her father ."
" I am sorry , sir but we have been instructed that the patient is not agitated in anyway ."
" Nonsense!," my father laughed out ," Autumn let's drop this act and have a talk ."
I wanted to scream at him .I wanted to tell him that he had no power here . But I was suffocating like he had already thrown a towel over my face.
It did not take long for me to fall on the road .
" Autumn ! ," my father's voice rattled down my spine . I was scared . I was absolutely horrified, letting out an almost animalistic scream that I barely recognised as my voice .
I could not form any coherent word . I could not think of anything else other than the fact that I did not want this man to drag me back to the hell. I solemnly belived that his touch would melt my skin away and rot my flesh .
No matter how much ridiculous was my thoughts , at that time they were more realistic than even the daylight.
My scream only halted when a familiar figure wrapped around me like a shield .
I buried my head on his shoulder trying to disappear in his arms . I shuddered in his warmth as he gently brushed my head ," Julia ? Can you hear me ?"
I noded stiffly . I wanted to tell him to carry me in his arms and run , so we could be far away from this monster .
But no words came out . I had already forgotten how to speak as soon as I was in the periphery of the man who had taught me to live like a dog .
" Mister Anderson, I suppose this is an awkward situation," the devil laughed ,"I came to clear some misunderstanding today . It is just that my daughter had some arguments with me -"
" Arguments that gave my wife to have thirteen fractures ?," Liam's voice was so cold that even I flinched . I looked up searching his face to see if he was mad at me .
It was as if his eyes were sculpted from ice bergs , his face had this expression as if he was looking at something he wanted to dump in trash .
" It is the way we honoured families are taught ," my father shrugged ," I suppose that you would not know since it had been just seven years since Andersons had started to rise on the business field but us ,Danes go way back down the history. We even used to be part of royalty. We have our own tradition to bring up our children so they can carry on the perfect bloodline."
" Well , fuck that bloodline," Liam said so swiftly that I almost did not catch it .
" I am sorry but what ?," my father asked , it seemed he also could not believe what he had heard .
" The security will show you out ," Liam snapped his finger ," Next time you trespass into my house I will shoot you down like a pig that you are ."
" You do not have the right to talk to your father in law so awfully Mr. Anderson," my father was enraged , I knew that from his voice . But he had no power here ," I will take my daughter back . After you two divorce , you won't get a say about her ."
Liam laughed without humour," Good luck with that ."
The security had arrived already . Desparate my father attacked the only person he could scar .
" Autumn, you can not do this to me ," he said , I could feel his gaze even though my back was turned at him ," You ungrateful brat ."
I shuddered. Liam was looking at me and slowly shaking his head . His way of telling me that I did not need to listen to the nonsense that father was spewing .
But it was easier said than done . I could feel my father's fingers pressing on my throat , I rubbed my hands on my neck to remove those imaginary fingers .
" Of all the time your mother had suffered because of you -"
I could not take him . I pressed my palms on my ears , searching for Liam's face to signal him to take me away .
As long as I could run away from here, I could be fine .
But Liam , he was gone .
Terrified I looked around and then I heard the gunshot .
I turned back to see Liam standing before my father . There was a pistol in his hand .
Panicked I wondered if he could shoot . Well , with the scene unfolding before me , I knew that he could obviously shoot.
My father was curled up on the ground .
Was he dead ? If he was dead what will happen to Liam !
" You are insane ! ," my father looked up ," You-you shot me !"
His right ear was bleeding . He had his palm closed around it , trying to stop the blood .
" You are right , I must insane to let a man who tortured my wife be alive like this . I should pull out your teeth and eyeballs and feed them to dogs ," Liam's said in a monotonic voice as if he was just discussing the weather ," I would do anything to not let you die fast . I want to see you crawl like a maggot on the ground beg to my wife for forgiveness. I should just fucking break those legs and send you six feet under the ground ."
" Fuck you , Anderson," my father roared ," Just because your family earned some fortune for past few years doesn't mean you can insult me like that . That girl is my offspring. You do not get a say with how I handle her matter ."
Liam shot again . This time I flinched since it felt real . I almost had convinced myself that the first shot was fake but this - this shot was damn real .
Father yelped in pain as blood gushed down his thigh .
Liam clicked his tongue ," You are ruining my garden Mr . Dane ."
" Liam ," my voice trembled when my lips uttered his name . I was scared . I had never seen him like this . And I did not want my father to turn him into this .
" Liam ," I called again . I was anxious . I needed him to look at me .
He turned at me . His face was white in anger . For few seconds he looked inhuman . I opened my arms to welcome him among them.
" Liam , please ," I stretched my fingers towards him ," I feel so tired ."
He gave up . He ran towards me ignoring my father cursing at his back. Only when he was safe in my arms , I sighed in relief .
" I don't want to be here ," I told him , rubbing his back ," Please , come with me ."
I urged him to leave . I was terrified that he would ask the nurses to take me back while he would be out here with father .
I did not want my husband to be turned into a murderer .
I pressed my lips against him , trying to cool down his anger. He took in a shaky breath and picked me up ," Let's get you inside the house ."
" Yeah ," I sighed in relief as he carried me towards our house , relived that Liam was back to being the gentle person whom I had known forever .