Broken Silence (Silence, #2)(42)

My heart started beating too fast, and my lungs felt as if they were being crushed. “We’re going in at the side. Linda arranged it so you won’t have to face that,” Mum said, nodding at the large crowd.

I swallowed. “Okay.”

Mum, Cole, and Jasper got out of the car, and I opened my door. I felt rooted to the spot. I wanted to lock the car and hide in the foot well until it was over.

Jasper knelt down. “Are you ready, Oakley?” He held out his hand. You can do it. Just take your brother’s hand. He won’t let you fall.

Reaching out, I placed my hand in his and stepped out of the car.

“I’m ready.”

As soon as I was out I was being ushered into the building quickly. Before anyone could recognise us. Linda was meeting us inside, so we stopped a little way in from the door.

I leant against the window and concentrated on breathing. My stomach was in knots. I’m not ready for this. Cole wrapped his arms around me. It was as if he understood what I was thinking. How on earth could I go in there and face him when even the thought of it made me panic.

I mentally counted down the minutes until I would have to see him. Everything came flooding back. I could see everything happen as if I were watching a horror movie. I was on the outside, looking in at a terrified child as her dad allowed his friend to abuse her. Dad’s face burned into my memory, looking on with no emotion whatsoever.

My eyes stung, and bile rose up my throat. I pulled back, and Cole frowned.

“Where’s Linda?” I asked. I wasn’t going to last much longer, so I needed to just do it.

“Oakley?” Linda called, jogging towards me. I turned and headed her way, leaving behind my confused family and friends. Are you ready?” No, not at all. Nodding in a daze, I flattened my jacket. “Would you like a minute with your family?”

“No, let’s just go,” I replied.

“Oakley?” Jasper called, but I ignored him and followed Linda.

I couldn’t look back. I forced my feet to follow her, and with every step, even the simplest thing, breathing, became a challenge.

Linda took me to a small room that had a few chairs and a dark wood coffee table in it. “This is where we’ll come if you need a break. Remember you can have one whenever you need. If it gets too much just tell me, okay?”

“I will,” I whispered.

Someone opened the door. I didn’t look up, but I saw Linda nod and knew that was our cue. Oh God. Linda smiled, reassuringly.

“This way.”

I followed her through the other door in the room and across a corridor, into the courtroom. I stepped inside, and my hands started to shake.

I was on my own now. My family, Cole, Jenna, David, and Mia were all sitting in the public gallery. I wanted Mum with me, but I had to be strong and do this myself. My eyes immediately scanned the rows of seats in the public gallery. Finally, I found Cole sitting at the end closest to where I would be.

“Are you okay?” Linda whispered. I nodded once in response. Very soon I would have to find my voice.

With a deep breath, I looked to my right. Dad sat in his seat, looking straight ahead, at nothing. I felt as if I physically couldn’t get enough air. Like my lungs were too small to take in the oxygen I needed, and they quickly started to burn.

Someone was talking to me, but I couldn’t focus. The only noise I could hear was my pulse crashing in my ears. A copy of the Bible was shoved in front of me and I raised my hand, placing it gently on the worn book. Linda had been through what would happen, so I knew what was being said to me, but I couldn’t hear a word of it.

“I swear by almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” I said and took a deep breath.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dad staring at me. I had to look at him, to show him that I wasn’t afraid, even though inside I was terrified. Very slowly, I raised my eyes and met his.

I felt as if the air had been sucked from my lungs. This time they refused to work at all. I gasped but took nothing in.

My lungs burst into flames and black fog blurred my vision. The tips of my fingers tingled painfully. Someone stepped in front of me, but I couldn’t see who it was. The room burst into life. I heard voices, but somehow they didn’t sound real.

Someone, possibly whoever had stood in front of me, picked me up like a child. My head fell back and then I felt nothing.





Chapter Fourteen


Cole




I sat forward in my seat. What’s she doing? Oakley looked frozen. Her body was still, apart from her chest rising and falling rapidly. Linda rushed to her side, along with someone else and together they helped her down.

Shit! What the hell had happened?

“Oakley,” I shouted. Jumping up, I ran towards the door. I couldn’t get to her from the public gallery, but I knew roughly where she would be. Dodging people as I ran, the only thing on my mind was getting to her.

I didn’t care about the group of tracksuit clad teens that I almost knocked over, or the old man shouting at me to slow down. Oakley. She was all I could think about. She was scared and nervous, of course she was, but I had no idea it was that bad. As soon as she looked at him it was like she just shut down.

I was out of breath by the time I got to where we left her earlier. Linda took her to a room just off the hallway, so that was the first place I planned on looking. I burst through the door hoping it would be the right one.