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Someone Else's Story

Guest Louise_2983

By Guest Louise_2983
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Louise_2983 Member

Louise_2983

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Posted

Story title: Someone Else’s Story

Type of story: Short - Medium

Main characters: Belle, Geoff, Aden plus other regulars

BTTB rating: A

Genre: Drama, Romance

Does this story include spoilers: No

Any warning: Death, Mild Language, SC

Summary: Almost a year after her husband is declared missing presumed dead, Belle Taylor makes plans to move on with her life, but can she really put the past behind her?

“I got it” Geoff announced as he entered the house, a slightly crinkled brown paper bag clutched in his right hand along with his house and car keys which jangled as he moved.

“Well actually I got three, I didn’t know which brand would be best. I’m clueless with all this”

She didn’t respond from where she sat hunched up at the bottom of the stairs, her fingers clenched tightly around her mobile phone as she stared emptily at it, her face obscured by her dark, silky hair.

“Belle?” he questioned cautiously as he walked slowly towards her.

“Belle, what is it?”

“Another body” she mumbled, her voice croaky and breaking.

“The police called?”

“No I saw it in my crystal ball!” she snapped angrily and then sighed regretfully.

“Sorry, that was mean. I didn’t mean to snap, it’s just shaken me up a little”

“I know, it’s okay, of course it’s shaken you up” he told her soothingly, perching on the step beside her

and placing a comforting hand on her arm.

“Where this time?”

“On the beach”

“Our beach?” he questioned a hint of shock apparent in his voice. Of the times they had done this before

the body had never washed ashore so close to home.

She nodded biting down hard on her bottom lip, a little sniffle defying her determination not to cry.

“And they just called you? Couldn’t Angelo have come to tell you instead?”

His voice was brimming with annoyance as he witnessed how the call had affected her.

“Charlie’s in labour” she managed to inform him without crying, her gaze diverting tellingly to the bag he

still held in his grasp. Noticing this he dropped the back onto the step next to him as though it would

scold his hand if he held it for even a second longer.

“We can do that later” he told her as if it had suddenly become insignificant but he knew that if there

was a positive identification this time then it would become even more of an issue than it already was.

“So...I guess we have to wait for dental records and that sort of stuff?” he mumbled hesitantly. He didn’t

want to verbalise the thoughts going through his head, of how after so long in the water the body

wouldn’t be in any state for her to view as she had the others. He knew she would be thinking the same

anyway. It had been almost a year, any visible physical marker of the person he had once been would

be gone by now.

“No” she shook her head and glanced sideways at him, pushing her messy hair from her face.

“They said the body’s been in the water a week at most”

“Then it’s not him” he replied instinctively.

“It’s been almost a year”

“357 days” she told him precisely.

She’d stopped counting the hours and minutes somewhere around the 6 month mark. She couldn’t say

when exactly.

For a long time she had raced to answer the door and phone every time there was a knock or ring and

she had outright refused to the face the fact that he might never come back no matter how much her

friends has tried to tell her otherwise.

But not anymore.

She couldn’t remember the exact moment she had learnt to accept that her husband was dead, it was

almost as though she had evolved into the belief rather than making an active decision to accept it.

“Male, blonde, late twenties, medium build” she repeated the description the police had rolled out to her

earlier.

“It could be him Geoff...maybe he was hurt but not dead...maybe he was out there somewhere needing

me and I just wrote him off and now it’s too late...”

“Belle, you can’t think like that”

“Or maybe he used the accident as a reason to get away from me? Maybe he just wanted out of our

marriage? What if he’s been out there alive and well the whole time? ...Well until now”

“Belle, he loved you. He wouldn’t have left you out of choice you know that”

“I don’t know what I know anymore Geoff” she sniffled, a few tears escaping as he wrapped his arms

around her and held her close.

“I don’t want to wish him dead,,,but I just need to know...I need to know”

He knew nothing he could say would make her feel any better so he simply brushed a kiss over her

forehead and held her. She buried her face in his chest and they stayed that way, in silence, for a while

before he spoke.

“Do you want me to drive you?” he finally asked knowing she would have to do this eventually and the

longer they waited the harder it would get.

For a while he thought she wasn’t going to respond as she kept her head pressed against him and failed

to make a sound but finally she lifted her head and nodded as she wiped her eyes.

He took her hand gently as they both stood up and protectively led her out to the car.

***

She took a deep breath as the officer pulled back the crisp white sheet covering the body laid out before her, preparing herself to stare back at the beautiful face of her husband for the first time in almost a year. She shook visibly as she silently reminded herself that after a week in the water his face may not be beautiful anymore.

But it would always be beautiful to her.

She told herself that it would be him. For in that moment, the alternative didn’t bear thinking about, being called in to simply shake her head as they uncovered the lifeless body of some other guy for her to examine, for the fourth time since the accident. She didn’t think she could handle it again. Knowing that somewhere out there these people had families; wives, parents and maybe even children. Families who were going through exactly the same hell as she was. And knowing that somewhere out there this could be her husband, with some stranger standing over him shaking their head, leaving him as another anonymous body, an unsolved mystery, with no one who really cared, strangled her heart like a noose.

The nightmares were the worst. Even after a year she still had them regularly. Falling into a big black void of emptiness, alone and never knowing the truth. Waking up screaming in a cold sweat was becoming a regular occurrence. She didn’t know if finding out the truth would stop her nightmares or merely replace them with new ones of the reality of what she was really facing, but she needed to know so that she could at least stop living this hell and start living the next. Because whichever way this went, she knew that life was never going to be the same again.

An involuntary gasp escaped from her as she gazed at the peaceful face of the man laid out before her, free of the world and all the pain it held within it. She envied him for the briefest of moments. He didn’t have to suffer anymore, it was the people left behind who would deal with the torture and heartbreak.

Trembling nervously she looked up at the expectant faces waiting for her verdict. Geoff knew of course as he stood behind her, her hand in his he squeezed it gently.

“It’s not him” she exhaled half in relief, half in distress as a huge gush of emotions hit her all at once. It wasn’t him, he was still out there somewhere, somewhere alone and unidentified. Maybe even undiscovered.

Suddenly she couldn’t breathe, even in death she needed people to know to know who he was, to know how amazing he was and to know that she loved him. She needed them to know that he was stubborn and that he left his dirty clothes on the floor and the toilet seat up but that she loved him anyway. That she loved him because of his faults not in spite of them.

She needed him to belong. She didn’t want him to be somewhere where he couldn’t even be himself. Where no one loved him, where no one even knew him.

Hyperventilating she fell back against the broad, strong support of Geoff’s chest as he ushered her out of the room whilst whispering that it was ok.

But it wasn’t ok.

It wasn’t ok as her legs gave way and he caught her in his arms.

It wasn’t ok as she yelped in distress, her tears beginning to stream freely down her red face.

And it wasn’t ok as it all became too much and her whole world went black.

***

He guided her slowly into the house as though she were a china doll he might break if he wasn’t careful. Flicking on the light switch he shut the door behind them and tossed his keys on the table.

“You should go lie down, I’ll bring you a drink”

“I’m fine” she lied still feeling a little wobbly on her feet.

“Belle, you’re not fine you fainted”

“It was just shock and relief and pain” she mumbled still holding onto him.

“I still think you should lie down” he told her, the concern in his eyes so genuine that she couldn’t say

no.

“Ok” she spoke quietly, her head bobbing slightly as she headed for the stairs.

“What is it?” he asked as she stopped at the bottom of them and simply stared.

She reached out to grab the brown bag he had abandoned there earlier and pulled out one of the long rectangular boxes.

“We can do that tomorrow” he told her worried that either result would send her back into another blind

panic.

“No” she shook her head forcefully and tore open the top of the box like it was Christmas and she was

eager to discover what her present was.

“I need to know now”

“Belle, I really don’t th-“

“I’m doing this Geoff” she insisted, pulling the white stick out of box and rushing to the bathroom.

It was several minutes before she returned.

He sat on the sofa wondering if this had all been too rushed, wondering if Belle would be able to cope

with this on top of everything else she was dealing with. He wondered if a negative result would crush

her just as much as a positive. Yet more false hope she would have to manage.

She perched on the edge of the bath staring at the tiny, white stick as the seconds passed. Her hands

shaking as she thought of the last time she had done this. Her heart aching as she thought of all the

chances she had missed.

When the 2 minutes were up she checked the result, taking a few seconds to absorb it for herself before

walking slowly back into the lounge.

He looked up as the bathroom door creaked open and she moved towards him.

She placed the test in his hand, a single line visible in the square window.

“What does this mean?” he asked hesitantly as he surveyed the pink line.

“It means” she smiled weakly as she sat down next to him.

“It means that we’re having a baby”

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bradyell Member

bradyell

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Posted

First of all excuse me whilst i do a little happy dance that you are back!!

*dances*

Phew, now that's over, what a fab start!! I think i'm gonna like this story!!

Very much looking forward to finding out what has happened and of course what's going to happen now!

Loved it Louse :D:D:D

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