The week had been slow and monotonous for Jessica. The only bright spots in her days were her meetings with Nick. After a long day at work or dealing with her mother, Jessica was often depressed and drained. Seeing Nick however, never failed to rejuvenate her and brighten her spirits. The only downside to her late night escapes with Nick were the late hours at which she returned home. Often, Jessica was only able to indulge in a few hours of sleep before she had to wake up for work. She was never late though. Jessica was too responsible and conscientious to let anything interfere with her duties at the hospital.

This week, Jessica and Nick had shares countless phone calls and met every single night. Despite Nick�s suggestions and prodding, thankfully, they had never ventured away from the beach.

As the week had progressed, Jessica and Nick had developed an incredible sense of closeness. It was almost like an intimate closeness between the two of them although there was nothing physical about it.

As wrong as she knew it was, Jessica was developing feelings for Nick as she became more attached to him. She told herself repeatedly that they were mere friends, although her heart told her differently. What she felt for Nick in her heart was so strong and so undeniable. It was like nothing she�d ever experienced before.

There were times when Jessica felt that maybe Nick felt the same way she did. Sometimes the way he looked at her and the things he said to her almost seemed to have a hidden meaning. Jessica felt that often Nick was trying to express something to her through his actions. She just wasn�t certain what it was he was trying to tell her.

So far though, Nick hadn�t made any outward attempts of pursuing a relationship between the two of them. Frankly, Jessica was slightly glad about this. Nick was the one and only person she had in the world. He had come to be her best friend, her confidant, her solace. She wouldn�t risk doing anything to ruin their friendship. She couldn�t let herself because he was too important to her. She would be totally lost without him.

�Jessica! Jessica, get in here!� her mother shrieked angrily.

Mrs. Turner�s shrill voice resonated throughout the spacious house and soon, the slight patter of feet could be heard as Jessica rushed into the room, out of breath. She gasped slightly upon entering at the sight of her mother. Her hair stuck out in every direction and was slightly matted to the left side of her face. Wrinkles and dark circles showed visibly because of the lack of makeup. Her lips were pale and chapped. This was the first time that Jessica felt that her mother�s bad habits were finally catching up to her. She looked horrible.

Without missing a beat, her mother angrily jerked an ugly, accusing finger in Jessica�s direction. �Where were you last night?� she screamed.

Jessica�s throat went dry and she paled visibly. How does she know? She quickly averted her eyes to the ground, away from her mother�s intimidating stare. �I was at work,� she mumbled incoherently, unable to come up with a better excuse. Truth was, she and Nick had lost track of time last night. She hadn�t returned home until almost 4 am.

A thick, uncomfortable silence engulfed the air. Slowly, Jessica brought her eyes up from the ground to meet her mother�s. Immediately, she regretted doing this. Her mother�s eyes blazed vengefully with anger. Her gaze was steely and insinuating. Jessica felt her body quiver with fear at the sight.

�Don�t lie to me,� her mother said, her voice threateningly low and deathly serious.

Fear overtook Jessica�s body and for a few seconds, she was completely paralyzed. Her body shook almost vehemently as she desperately attempted to make a sound. Her lips were frozen, totally unable to formulate any words.

Jessica was so frightened that she hardly even noticed her mother�s angry fist flying at her. It wasn�t until she felt the cold hard floor beneath her and a searing pain in her stomach, that she realized what had happened. By then it was too late. Her mother was in control now and Jessica knew in her heart that there was absolutely no stopping her.

Nick awoke groggily and stretched lazily. A smile lit up his face as the memory of last night came flooding back to him. This whole week, that smile had been a permanent fixture upon his face. He couldn�t ever remember being so happy in his life. He had truly thought that he had been happy with Rianna, but now he was wondering if maybe all of that happiness was contrived somehow. She had never been able to make him feel this way.

Surprisingly, this was the first time that thoughts of Rianna had crossed his mind in a week. Before meeting Jessica, Nick�s nights were spent sulking as thoughts of Rianna rain throughout his mind. Now, everything had changed. Each night was spent with Jessica now, talking to her and becoming more infatuated with her by the second. After Rianna, Nick had told himself that he would never care about anyone because it hurt too much. He�d broken his promise however. Every part of his being told him that in some way Jessica was different from Rianna and all the other girls he knew. Something about her was special.

Clearing his throat, he reached for the cordless which he kept upon his night table. Dialling her familiar number, he waited for her to pick up. The phone rang once, twice, three times. With each passing ring, Nick got a little more anxious. As the phone continued to drone on, a strange shiver raced up Nick�s spine. Jessica was usually quick to answer his calls, never allowing the phone to ring more that once or twice. With a frown, Nick hung up and re-dialled, punching in the digits slowly, in the hopes that maybe he had dialled the wrong number.

The sinking feeling in his stomach resurfaced despite his attempts at squelching it. Maybe she was called into work, he told himself reassuringly. As Nick hung up his phone and laid his head back upon his pillow, he sighed nervously. He really wanted to believe that Jessica was alright and that he was worrying for nothing, but for some reason, his gut told him otherwise.

He thought of going to her house to check on her, but immediately discarded that idea. Jessica had been adamant about him not coming to her home. He had to respect her. Besides, he didn�t want to blow things out of proportion if she really was at work.

There was really nothing Nick could do except sit and wait. Wait and hope that Jessica would call soon and everything would be fine.

Jessica opened her eyes cautiously, whimpering slightly in pain. She had lain there for hours, the silent tears escaping her eyes as she had waited for her mother to leave. Now, as she heard the distinct sound of the front door slamming and the familiar screeching of tires, she let out a grateful sigh.

It had been horrible. She had cried and screamed, but never once thought of fighting back. Her mother was too powerful. After a while, she had just given up, painfully awaiting the end.

Now she lay, bruised and battered upon her mother�s bedroom floor, every inch of her body aching. Once again, her mother had strategically administered the beatings in unseen places such as her stomach, arms and legs. As usual, Jessica�s face was left completely untouched.

Wincing, a solitary tear escaped her eye as she doubled over in pain after attempting to get up. Jessica hadn�t ever remembered it hurting this much. Gripping the side of her mother�s bed, she used it as support, finally managing to stand up. As she stood, a wave of dizziness hit her, forcing her to sit on the bed for a few minutes.

Hot, stinging tears sprung to her eyes. Jessica desperately wished that she knew what she had done to deserve this. What was it about her that was so bad?

As Jessica sat upon her mother�s plush bed, sounds from outdoors echoed throughout the house. Peering out the window, through her tears, she saw dark storm clouds hovering about. The wind howled and whistled, ripping leaves from their branches and viciously scattering them about. Already, a few droplets of rain had formed upon the window pane and the sky looked as though it was ready to erupt at a moments notice.

Suddenly, everything became too much for Jessica to handle. As a crash of eclectic thunder sounded, her tears started to flow, her slender body shaking with sobs. All she wanted was for everything to stop hurting. She wanted someone to hold her, someone to comfort her and someone to tell her things would get better someday. What she wanted was Nick.

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