He laughed again. “I’m not dropping the charges, that fucker broke my nose! You should see what he did to my face,” he shouted, making me flinch. How is it that he still scared the life out of me, and he was only on the phone?

“Please, please don’t do this, please?” I begged, trying not to cry.

He sighed. “You want me to drop the charges?”

“Yes,” I answered, wiping the tears off of my face.

“Come to my house and we’ll talk about it,” he stated, sounding amused.

Go to his house? Oh my God, is he kidding me?

“Please drop the charges. You know you hit me first, please?” I begged, feeling the bile rise in my throat, he liked holding this over my head I could tell.

“Come to my house and we’ll talk about it,” he repeated.

I looked up at the clock; Jake would be here in about ten minutes. “Can I bring Jake?” I asked, knowing that was the stupidest question I’d ever asked in my life. Why on earth would I be allowed to take Jake? If he was anywhere near him then we wouldn’t need to worry about charges, because he would be buried by the side of some road somewhere.

“No. Leave that fucker out of it!” he growled.

Oh God, can I do this? Can I really go there and talk to him? Was I strong enough? I knew the answer to that question. I would do anything for Liam, even if I had to kill my father myself to stop him pressing charges. No victim, no crime.

I swallowed my fear. “OK, I’ll be there within the hour,” I said quietly as I snapped my phone shut, trying desperately not to have a panic attack. I needed to be strong now.

I laid back down in the bed and tried to calm myself. I couldn’t be too freaked out when Jake came, otherwise he wouldn’t want to leave me on my own. I laid there, counting the foam tiles on the ceiling, trying not to think about anything else. I got to 867 before Jake ran into the room. He looked really tired and stressed. I would bet my bottom dollar that he didn’t sleep too well last night. He pulled me into a hug gently and I tried not to wince as it hurt my stomach and hips.

“Shit, Ambs, this is bad.” He shook his head, looking both angry and worried at the same time.

I nodded; I needed to get him out of here quickly. “Jake, I need you to go to the police station and see if there’s anything you can do for Liam. I’m not going to be released from here until this afternoon, so I can’t go,” I instructed, squeezing his hand.

He nodded, looking concerned. “You sure you don’t need me to stay with you for a bit? Are you alright?”

I nodded and smiled weakly. “I just need Liam to be OK. So if you could do that for me, Jake,” I requested, nodding towards the door.

He hugged me again. “OK. I’ll call you if I hear anything.” He kissed the top of my head and put a bag of my clothes onto the floor next to my bed. “If they let you out, call me and I’ll come and get you and take you home,” he said sternly.

I nodded and pulled him into another hug so I wouldn’t have to lie to his face. “OK. Please go see if you can do anything,” I pleaded.

“Right. See you in a bit.” He smiled reassuringly before turning and running from the room.

I gave him a minute to leave before I pressed the call button on the wall. A nurse came in within a minute. “Hi, how are you feeling today? You need some more painkillers?” she asked, smiling kindly.

I shook my head. “No, I want to discharge myself. My brother’s gone to get the car. My mom’s had an accident. I need to go,” I lied, swinging my legs off of the bed.

“Amber, you can’t just leave, you had surgery yesterday,” she scolded.

“The doctor said I could go home this afternoon. It’s only a few hours early,” I countered, grabbing the bag that Jake brought and starting to pull on my clothes, wincing slightly as I moved.

“Amber, you shouldn’t be out of your bed yet! Even when you get released this afternoon it will still be for bed rest for a couple of days,” she explained, frowning at me.

“Look, I appreciate your concern, but I’m leaving this hospital right now. You can’t keep me here against my will. I know my rights. I can discharge myself early as long as I sign a form to say I’m leaving against doctor’s orders so that I can’t sue you later,” I said sternly. She was starting to piss me off; I didn’t have time for this.

She looked at me a little shocked before she nodded. “I’ll go find a doctor,” she muttered, heading towards the door.

“Tell him to bring the forms with him, I don’t have time to wait,” I requested, biting my lip. I was anxious to get this done; I needed Liam out of trouble, now. I finished getting dressed and packing up my stuff and sat on the bed, impatiently watching the second hand on the clock tick round. Finally, after what felt like forever but was probably about three minutes, a doctor came in looking at me sternly.

“Amber, I don’t recommend that you leave the hospital yet,” he stated.

I shook my head. “My mom’s had an accident; I need to get there with my brother. He’s waiting in the car for me, I need to go now. Just show me where to sign.” I nodded towards the clipboard in his hand.

He sighed and passed me the form pointing at the bottom. “This is basically a waiver, saying that I’ve recommended you stay in the hospital and you’re leaving against my orders,” he explained as I signed my name in the three places he pointed. I nodded and passed it back to him, grabbing my bag. “You need to take it easy, Amber. If you start to feel dizzy or weak, then come back in. If you start to bleed heavy or get any strong pains, stronger than normal menstrual cramps, then you need to come back immediately,” he instructed, looking at me worriedly.

I nodded in confirmation. “I will. I need to go. Thanks for looking after me,” I replied, already making my way to the door. I didn’t stop to look back; I walked as fast as I could over to the taxi rank and jumped in the first available cab, giving them my father’s address.

I grabbed my phone and checked the battery, setting up a new family group with Jake, Liam, Johnny, Ruby, and my mom’s numbers in it.

I typed a message to Jake, ready to send it when I got there. I guessed it was about fifteen minutes of fast driving from the police station to my father’s house - that would be plenty long enough to get my father to drop the charges and for Jake to get there before anything happened. At least, I hoped it was.

When the cab pulled up outside his house I was so nervous that my hands were shaking. “You OK there, sweetheart?” the driver asked, looking at me concerned.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks,” I mumbled, handing him the money, taking deep breaths to try and calm down.

I shut the door of the cab and sent Jake the message that I had pre-typed:

‘I’m at Dad’s. Please come and get me, right now. DON’T CALL ME BACK. Amber x’

Chapter 23

I knocked on the door and held my breath, waiting for him to answer. The door opened almost immediately. There he stood, the man that made me lose my baby, the man that’s making my boyfriend stand against charges of GBH. His face was a mess. He was right; Liam certainly did a good job. His nose was strapped and swollen, almost every inch of his face was red and sore looking, and he had two wicked black eyes. I couldn’t help but be a little proud of Liam, I knew I shouldn’t be, but my boy was a badass.

He smiled. “Amber, come on in. How are you?” he asked politely.

Is he kidding me? How am I?

I walked past him and ignored his question. “Let’s dispense with the pleasantries. What is it that you want so that you’ll you drop the charges against Liam?” I asked, willing my voice not to betray how terrified I was.

He grinned and turned and walked into the lounge, obviously expecting me to follow. As soon as he was out of sight, I flicked the latch on the door so all Jake had to do was push it open. Then I followed him into the lounge.

Please let this work, please.

“Have a seat,” he instructed, sitting on the sofa and patting the space next to him. I knew I needed to stay on his good side, I also knew I needed to stay as close to him as I could, so I made my way over and sat down, turning in the seat to face him and getting ready to run if I needed to.

“So, who’s baby is it? Or don’t you know?” he asked, sneering at me.

I could feel my anger and grief threatening to spill over because he was talking about my baby. “I lost it thanks to you. Why did you hit me?” I asked, trying not to cry.

He laughed, shaking his head as if I had said something stupid. “You f**king deserved it,” he said angrily.

“You hit me and made me fall and lose my baby. That’s why Liam hit you,” I replied, matter-of-factly.

“That little fucker, he always was trouble,” he growled, his hands clenching into fists.

I gulped. Oh God, this wasn’t working! “It was your fault. You came around to our house wanting a fight, you wanted this to happen,” I goaded.

He nodded; a sly smile crept on to his face. “Yeah, I was hoping to get your f**king brother in trouble, but that little punk from next door stopped him. Jake always was trouble, even when you were kids he used to get in my way,” he barked, shaking his head annoyed.

“Jake used to stop you beating me. He stopped you trying to rape me. Is that what you’re talking about?” I asked. Oh God, please answer the question!

He looked at me angrily. “Rape? Screw that, it’s not rape. You’re my daughter; you owed me for all the shit I had to put up with. You were f**king ripe for the picking,” he stated, looking me over slowly, making my skin crawl.

My hand tightened around my cellphone in my pocket. “You think you can beat the crap out of your wife and two children for years, sexually abuse your own daughter and try to rape me, and that’s OK?” I asked, my voice breaking.

“You lot made my f**king life a misery! You needed a good slap to keep you in line. I was disciplining you, that’s all,” he spat, getting up from the sofa gripping his hands into his hair.

“Discipline? One time you punched Jake so hard in the stomach that he couldn’t eat for a days. You broke his arm, and ribs. You made us all scared to do anything in case we made you angry!” I shouted, trying to provoke him.

He rounded on me and I stood up quickly, needing to be on my feet in case I needed to run. “Jake deserved all of that! I should have f**king drowned that kid at birth!” he shouted, slamming his hand down on the coffee table, making me yelp.

“What about Johnny, Matt and Ruby? Do they need discipline too?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, they all need to learn some respect. Where is Ruby anyway?” he asked, his eyes trying to bore holes into mine.

“She’s gone back to Mersey,” I lied.

He made an angry growling noise and gripped hold of the coffee table, tipping it over roughly. I jerked back as it almost crashed into my feet.

Come on, Amber, you can do this!

“I want you to drop the charges against Liam, and leave town,” I stated matter-of-factly.

He laughed and rolled his eyes. “Right, that’s not going to happen. I tell you what, I’ll drop the charges against that little punk, if you come and live with me,” he bargained, looking me over again slowly. I cringed back, feeling sick and slightly dizzy, then I realised it was because I wasn’t breathing so I drew in a ragged breath.

“No. You’re going to drop the charges and leave town and never bother me or my family again. And when I say my family, I mean Ruby, Johnny and Matt too,” I said sternly.

Oh God, this was going to work! I couldn’t help but smile; I brought my phone from my pocket and pressed send. I laughed quietly before putting my poker face back on.

He was looking at me like I had lost my mind, making it seem even funnier to me. “And why would I do that?” he asked, his voice coloured with amusement.

“Because if you don’t, I’m going to go to the police and tell them everything about what happened when we were kids. Trust me; the time you’ll spend in jail will be a lot longer than the time Liam will get. And, you’ll be in a much worse part of the jail too, where they put the rapists and paedophiles,” I shrugged.

He burst out laughing. “And who’s going to believe a dirty little tramp like you? Knocked up at sixteen. I’m a respected professional. I can afford the top lawyers to rip your case to shreds, and besides, you have no proof. This happened so long ago, it’s your word against mine,” he growled, stepping closer to me.

I felt the bile rise in my throat and I prayed that Jake was close. How long had it been since I sent that text?

“Actually, that’s where you’re wrong. I have your word too,” I corrected, smirking at him as I pulled out my cellphone. He looked at me like I was stupid again. “Clever things phones nowadays, they have all sorts of gadgets in them; cameras, music players, calculators…….. voice recorders,” I chirped, raising my eyebrows at the last one.

I flicked through the menu and played back our conversation that I had just recorded on my phone. I watched his face with a satisfied smile.

“So, who’s baby is it? Or don’t you know?”

“I lost it thanks to you. Why did you hit me?”

“You f**king deserved it!”

“You hit me and made me fall and lose my baby. That’s why Liam hit you.”

“That little fucker, he always was trouble.”

I stopped the recording. “Heard enough, or do you want to hear what else is on here? Can you remember what you said? What you admitted to? Abuse, attempted rape,” I said, grinning like an idiot. He grabbed my phone and dropped it on the floor, smashing his foot down on it, hard. I fought hard against the urge to laugh. “Oh, Daddy, that phone cost me a lot of money. Do you know how much a brand new iPhone costs nowadays?” I asked sarcastically.