“Let Me Go”

Abby heard the sound of voices and went to investigate where they were coming from. Dwayne’s office door was shut tight, so she pressed her ear against it to try and listen to what he was saying and to whom. She’d been a virtual prisoner here in this big house of his for nearly 2 weeks and she wondered if anyone had wondered about her sudden disappearance. Dwayne had her tell Cal, her boss, that she and her husband where taking off for a second honeymoon, but instead of leaving the Glen he’d kept her locked up here.

As she tried to make out what Dwayne was saying, the door swung open and Abby fell forward into Dwayne’s arms.

“Hey there darlin’,” he said as he caught hold of her arms and helped her right herself. “Looking for me?”

“Yes, I...um... woke up and you weren’t there, and I thought I heard voices in here,” she told him, trying to cover up the fact that she’d actually been trying to eavesdrop.

“Well now you found me,” he grinned, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and walking her out of his office. “So, how are you feelin’ this mornin’, darlin’? Better, I hope?”

“Umm... I’m...um... fine, Dwayne, just fine,” she replied, suspiciously. What on earth was he going on about? Was she feeling well now? She hadn’t recalled feeling ill the night before, but as she struggled to remember she realized she had a big blank spot in her memory of it. In fact, she didn’t even recall going to bed at all last night. Last she’d remembered, she was sitting and having a conversation with Dwayne about... something... and the next thing she knew, it was morning.

“Good, good to hear,” he told her, as he led her into the kitchen and motioned for her to have a seat at the table. “I’ll make you some breakfast. Pancakes okay? I got some fresh blueberries from the market yesterday – just like you like them.”

“Umm... yeah, pancakes would be lovely, Dwayne,” she replied, rubbing her temples. Her head was throbbing.

“You sure did have me worried last night, darlin’,” Dwayne told her as he poured the pancake batter into the pan, then began dropping in the blueberries, one at a time. “You sure you’re feeling better? You kinda look a bit... well... out of sorts, I guess.”

“Truthfully, Dwayne, I’m not sure,” Abby confessed. “I don’t seem to recall much of last night. Actually, I don’t recall even going to bed.”

“That’s because you had one of your... well, nevermind about that, darlin’,” he said, flipping over the pancake. “I know how you don’t like to talk about it.”

“Dwayne... what the hell are you talking about?” Abby snapped suddenly. “I just told you I don’t remember anything about last night and you won’t tell me...why?!”

He stopped, turned towards her – a serious look on his face, “Abby, every now and then, you have, well, a sort of... episode... and you get real mean, do things and say things, bad things, that you don’t really mean. Or hell, maybe you do... but all I know is that you aren’t ... well... yourself.” He walked over to her, squatted down in front of her and took her hands in his. “Last night... you probably don’t remember... hell, you never do... but you did this...” he pulled up his shirt and showed her a 6 inch long, diagonal cut down the front of his chest – directly over his heart. “You said... you said you wanted to cut it out. Crazy talk, but that’s what you said. Luckily, the knife-blade was dull and I was able to get it away from you before it went too deep. Otherwise, well... let’s just not think about that right now.”

Abby was listening to what he was telling her, trying to understand the meaning of it all. “I...I... what, blacked out or something... and then tried to...kill you? Dwayne, you and I have our differences, true, but I’d never... never... try and... I couldn’t do that to anyone, especially not my husband!” she told him, struggling with her emotions.

“That’s why I had to find you, darlin’... find you and bring you back home to me, safe. The night before you left me, you had one of your spells... knocked me out cold with a frying pan, you did. When I woke up the next morning, well, you were gone. It took a load of money and a private investigator but I found you and I’ve arranged for the best doctor I could find in Sydney to agree to take you on as a patient. For now, though, until he can fly down here, he said I need to keep you here, keep you safe. Hell, you already pushed that O’Brien guy you were seeing out the window and broke his leg and if I hadn’t been ready last night...” he trailed off, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.

Abby stared into space, still trying to make sense of it all. All this time she’d believed that Dwayne was the one that was...well... nuts... and now he was telling her that she was the crazy one? She was the one that was...dangerous? She couldn’t believe it, didn’t want to believe she’d be capable of such a thing.

“The pills...Dwayne, I’ve seen you take them... little pills... especially when your anger is up. If I’m the one that’s crazy, then why are you on medication? Huh?” she was reaching, grasping at anything to turn things back around on him.

Dwayne sighed, pulled out the little bottle in his pocket, showed her the prescription. “Blood pressure gets a bit high sometimes, especially when I’m angry or worried about you.” He shoved the pills back in his pocket then put her pancake on a plate for her, setting the syrup and butter next to it, then went back to the stove and poured the remainder of the batter into the pan.

“No... no, this isn’t right, this isn’t me,” she wailed, then got up from the table and ran for the door.

“Abby, darlin’, where are you going?” Dwayne asked, running after her. “Come back and eat your breakfast. Don’t do this, don’t do this to me again.”

TBC...