Battery

"So you fell off the stairs again?" The doctor asked, looking at her quizzically.

“Yes, I did.” She replied quietly with her eyes trained on the ground.

"Your x-ray shows fractured ribs. You have swollen eyes and lips, your nose is bleeding and yet you claim to have fallen off the stairs. These bruises don’t look like you fell if you ask me."

"Look mister! What else are you looking for? She said she fell off the stairs or are you telling us indirectly that it is time we register with a new hospital?" Her husband retorted angrily.

He was a very violent man and he had no control whatsoever on his anger.

“It’s not my fault, this trait wasn’t prominent while we dated”, she said to herself but she shuddered as she remembered the numerous slaps she had seen him give his sisters while they were dating.

She had also seen him push his mother down during an argument but it was just once and he explained perfectly what happened.

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“Gosh! You couldn’t even tell the doctor convincingly you fell. You are such a slow woman”, he said shamelessly and without remorse. “I am sure you would have not hesitated to spill everything and ruin my reputation at that hospital”, he continued.

She laughed. She had been quiet all along but this time she laughed. If only he knew he had no reputation. How could she ruin what he did not have? She didn’t need to say a word to people. Her constant bruises  and the way he related with others spoke volumes. Everyone knew he was easily provoked.

He flared up at the sound of her laughter, then went on and on about her being stubborn and how he would bring her to submission with blows.

She suddenly found her voice and said “Only a stupid man beats his wife and cannot control his anger. Idiot!”

He parked abruptly by the side of road. She knew what was next. He would drag her out of the car by her hair and beat her up.

She ran with all her strength despite the bruises and yet he pursued intensely. He had no shame, no restrain, no voice of reason. He was a beast. He caught up with her.

She didn't know where it came from. All of a sudden she found her mouth screaming at the top of her lungs, "Thief! Thief! Help! "

In seconds a crowd surfaced. She slipped through the crowd as they descended heavily on him. She just couldn't take one more blow.