Finding Forgiveness

I Give Up

Evgeni's POV
I got home just after midnight to an eerily dark house. It looked no different to any other night but something felt wrong, something turned in my stomach.

I crept up the stairs checking on Misha before heading to bed. I stopped in the doorway when I noticed Kira cuddled up to my pillow with a big purple bruise down the side of her face. She was asleep but she looked terrified, her face scrunched up like she was in pain. 
"Kira," I rushed to her side and ran my hand over her head trying to wake her.

She woke up in an instant, her eyes wide with fright for a split second before they closed and she cowered away. "Don't hurt me" she hugged my pillow tighter.

"Kira?" I sat on the edge of the bed but she tried to push me away. 
"Let me go!" She was trying so hard to get away from me with every bit of lasting energy she fought.

"Don't hurt Misha, please. He's just kid, please leave him alone," she sobbed harder giving up her physical fight with me.
"Kira shhh, it's ok, it's me, it's Evgeni," she began to calm down as I held her to me.
"You can have me, just don't hurt my son."

I held her as she cried. Begging over and over to not hurt Misha, saying she was sorry for everything she did. 

"Kira what happened? Hey, open your eyes," she responded to my calm voice.
Her eyes slowly opened like she was terrified of what she could face.

"Evgeni," she looked relieved to see me.
"Yes it's me, Kira what happened? Who did this to you?" I traced my finger along the bruise.
She winced at my touch before muttering a quiet, "Alex."

"What? Why? Why would he do this?" I pulled back the sheet to see her naked body and it was then that I saw the full extent of her injuries.

There was a large red hand mark on her shoulder where he had grabbed her, two hand marks on his hips where they were beginning to bruise and then when I saw the state of her ribs I knew she would soon be in tears when the pain registered.

I rang Vero and in no time the French couple who saved my life everyday were standing at my door.
"Is she ok?" Vero panicked standing at the door to our bedroom.
"I don't know, watch Misha."

I wrapped her up in the sheet and carried her out to the car, where sure enough she cried and cried in pain
"Give me the keys you have been drinking, you watch her," Flower snatched the keys and jumped in the drivers seat allowing me the chance to keep her calm.

"It's ok Kira, everything will be ok. I love you," I lent down and kissed her forehead.

Soothing, being exhausted and completely overwhelmed, in no time she was passed out in my arms.
"Kira please be ok," I could feel the tears wanting to spill over as my girlfriend, mother of my child, my best friend laid unconscious and god only knows what she had been through.

As we rushed into the emergency room the nurse from behind the desk looked concerned straight away.
"What happened?" the ER was dead quiet at this time of night, early hours of the morning.
"I not know, I think she..." I couldn't say the word, I stuttered on words normally when I spoke English but it felt like my tongue was completely rejecting the word.
"We think she was raped," Marc stepped in and took her from my arms.

I was frozen, I couldn't talk, I couldn't move. I couldn't believe that Alex would do this, why? What could have been so bad between them that he would come to this?

"Come on," Marc put his hand on my shoulder and led me outside.
As we walked out Vero and Sid came across the car park with my son in his arms.
"He needs you," Sid handed him over.

"Daddy," Misha began to cry, "where's mummy?"
"She had another accident."
The poor guy had probably just been woken up and was being dragged around everywhere, still not being used to English and the shy little boy that he was, I thought he was relatively calm as he snuggled into my neck.

"Is she ok?" Sid asked breaking the silence we had fallen into.
"I don't know," I didn't want to talk because I knew I would end up crying like a child.
"Who did it?" it was then that I remembered I hadn't told them it was Alex and honestly I didn't want to tell them. 

My arms tightened around Misha as I tried so hard not to cry. I buried my face into his jumper as the tears escaped.
"It was Alex," I tucked Misha's head under my chin and I sighed letting my tears be known to everyone.

"Sweetie," Vero came to my side and put her hand on Misha's back.
"Don't touch him," my arms tightened again around him. I could feel the anger rising at just the mention of his name. He wasn't going to get to my son, nobody was, ever.

"Daddy," he wriggled trying to move in my arms. I felt like the tighter I held him the less chance he would be hurt, but I was hurting him myself.
"Geno let him go," Vero put her hand on mine, "you don't want to hurt your own son."

I gave up fighting them, I gave up on the tears, in the moment I just gave up. 

Sid took Misha from me and I could feel them all watching me. Like they were waiting for me to break.

"No!" I turned around and swung at the wall in a breif fit of rage before giving up once again and sliding down the wall.

I was done. I couldn't do this fighting anymore. I wanted to curl up and cry until I fell asleep and wouldn't feel anything for just awhile. I would be numb and maybe if I was lucky I could dream about living a normal life. I could have a boring 9 to 5 job and come home to Kira and Misha. We could have have been childhood sweethearts, the only thing I actually wanted but no I had to go and become a hockey player.