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#Post#: 3575--------------------------------------------------
Just Hold On To Me
DIR By: Maggie Flannery
Date: October 3, 2019, 12:16 am
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A/N: This may well be the last time I ever write about Frank
Flannery. Colleen is absolutely terrified of him and I'm
currently trying to find another ( non abusive ) ex in which she
separated from. I feel very very guilty about putting Colleen
through so many beatings at Frank's hand over the years that
I've decided to let her chart her own course with the next ex.
I'd like to think that Terry Noonan gets rid of him or he ends
up being killed in prison for some thing or another. ( either by
his fellow prisoners or the guards. I'm honestly not picky when
it comes to Frank meeting an end. ) In this one I've made our
dear Col a New Jersey girl.
There were many things in her life that Colleen Murphy had grown
accustomed to that she knew no other sane woman would ever put
up with. The first had been being called nearly every name in
the book before noon. Today he had settled on simply calling her
the idiot. In their three years together he had called her much
worse. The second was the familiar smash of furniture and other
assorted possessions ( always hers ) being broken around the
apartment they called home. Which really wasn't a home if you
never had visitors or other signs of life around the place. It
was just her and Frank and Frank's flunkies on occasion to go
over business. When had she last seen Frank's brother Jackie?
Ages it seemed. He had always made her laugh. She tried to
remember when it was the last time she saw her best friend
Helene, or her mother or Terry Noonan let alone went shopping
instead of having everything delivered. To say she had checked
out and was now trying to come up with an excuse for Frank was
an understatement, she was on autopilot at the moment and didn't
even notice the moment he had grabbed her. All she knew was that
her scalp felt like it was on fire and he had wrenched her
shoulder out of place again. At least she didn't scream this
time. Something told her that if she had Frank would have
strangled her.
'How the hell am I supposed to fix this? What's the point of
worrying over it now?'
Was all she thought to herself as her face met stark white wall
with a sickening crunch that reverberated in her skull.
“Where's the smart mouth on you now, huh Colleen?”
“Frank...please.”
She sounded pathetic even to her own ears. Deep down there was
no one else to blame for his behavior. Frank had anger issues,
she'd known this, but she never once thought in the time they
had dated all the way up to their vows that he would ever hurt
her. Until he did. She had covered the bruises and black eyes
all while trying to block out the names he had called her just
six months after they'd moved in together. Now the only time he
actually took the time to speak to her was when Colleen did
something to irritate him, that was becoming a near daily
occurrence. She had made her bed and now she was paying the
price. If she had just watched her tone like he'd told her to
she wouldn't be in this much pain, there wouldn't be a slash of
crimson across the wall and she would be able to move her arm.
Time ceased to matter as the blows came one after another. She
could still hear his voice but it was just background noise
against the pain.
He'll get tired eventually...he always does.
All she heard was the thundering of her own heart before the
front door seemed to cave in on itself. Perhaps she'd hit her
head harder than she'd thought she did and this was just some
sort of concussion hallucination? The rumble of voices shouting
orders to step away from her filtered through. It was almost
like time itself stopped as he let her go. She watched as he was
tackled and planted roughly onto the hardwood floor. Spots
formed in front of her eyes as her head lolled for a moment.
Something shook her, either that or she had the shakes again
from the shock of having a dislocated shoulder and the start of
a concussion. Radio chatter and static lulled her for a moment.
“Hey...hey...can you tell me your name?”
Blinking slowly at the voice somewhere above her as she groaned
and tried to sit up. Peering up with one good tired green eye
she saw something that caught the light. Her left eye had
swelled shut at the this point and she wouldn't be surprised if
Frank had broken her cheekbone this time. A badge and a
nameplate. Mahoney. He sounded like he was a local boy. Maybe if
the world were a different place she'd have met a guy like him.
“Colleen Murphy.”
God it sounds like I've got a mouth full of marbles or
something. Am I mumbling?
Mahoney's eyes were blue but not the icy shade Frank's were. No,
they were like the same warm blue shade that reminded her of
days spent at the beach watching the sunset over the Jersey
shore with her best friend before the stars came out. Speaking
of stars they flooded her vision again as a chill swept over
her. She shuddered again as she felt her eyes roll back.
“Hey Colleen...Colleen. Calm down. Hold on...”
The voice itself was smoke burnished and gruff but the words
were meant to reassure her and keep her semi conscious until EMS
arrived. She felt a hand on her good cheek, well, the one that
sported less of a bruise. It gently moved the hair that had
fallen in front of her eyes. With her good eye she noticed that
Mahoney's eyes had welled up with un-shed tears. Cops weren't
supposed to cry on the job...were they? She reached out took the
hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze almost to calm the man
before her that surely had seen sights worse than herself.
Frank must have done a bang up job this time if he's got a cop
tearing up. How bad could I possibly look? God..I'm so tired. I
should've gone back to Jersey like Ma told me to.
She slipped in and out of consciousness to the steady sound of
radio chatter and medical jargon all the while holding the hand
of a man that had most likely saved her from a fate worse than
death. Blinking heavily one last time she looked past the EMT's
shoulder and straight into Mahoney's eyes as he stood back.
“Thank you.”
She would have smiled at him if her lip hadn't been split and
her jaw partially dislocated. Her voice held a rasp that made
her words barely register to his ears and it was only then when
he looked at the slender column of her throat did he see two
large hand shaped bruises on either side.
“You okay there, Mahoney?”
Turning towards the hulking form of his partner he blinked
slowly almost dazed. Her neck was too damn small to bear that
type of mark. She was too delicate, like a china doll.
“Yeah...'m good Kowalski.”
He felt a wetness on his uniform front and glanced downwards.
Tear stains. He had held a woman beaten so badly all she could
do was cry and gasp between slipping into unconsciousness. Her
eyes were deep spring green, he'd always remember them no matter
how long he lived. She had touched his face ever gently as if to
console him. She was the one that looked like she had gone ten
rounds in the ring and she still found it in herself to make
sure he was okay. But those eyes. They should have had a feral
look to them instead they were calm. A tired broken sort of calm
he'd never seen before and all he had done was hold her gently
and tried to keep her conscious for EMTs.
“No, you're not, Joe. Every single one of us has a case that
gets to us. This one's under your skin.”
“No, Walt. No it's not. I just I...”
“What? Got somethin' in your eye? Bull. I've known you for seven
years, kid and you've never ever looked like this. Not even when
there was that pile up on the beltway last Fourth. If we weren't
due back to the station to type this one up I'd say go follow
her just for your own sake but this one's going to be a long
one, boyo. Seems like Francis Flannery has a rap sheet ten miles
long and the divers just pulled a body out of the Hudson down by
pier thirteen. Looks like the missing Flannery brother
resurfaced along with another body. ME's still trying to sort
out dental records. Could be that McGuire kid.”
An icy cold shiver ran down Joe's spine as he went to follow
Walt out to the squad car. Something in his very gut told Joe
that if they had been maybe just five minutes later Colleen
Murphy would have been another casualty at the hands of a mad
man. Stopping for a moment he stood there chewing at his thumb
nail for a moment. Joe wondered if perhaps he should give a Miss
Murphy's emergency contact a heads up about which hospital she
was due to arrive at. Spying a purse hanging off the nearby coat
rack he found a small address book and dialed from the landline.
He took careful note that from the looks of her address book and
her work number Colleen was originally from Union City.
'Her mother only lives two streets over from Ma. Small world.'
"Hello, Ms. Starling? This is Officer Mahoney, you spoke with me
Monday I believe. I just wanted to let you know that Colleen's
going to Christ Hospital. Holland Tunnel's the fastest way to
get there this time of day."
#Post#: 3577--------------------------------------------------
Re: Just Hold On To Me
DIR By: Wolfy
Date: October 30, 2019, 7:50 am
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I am so very sorry this has taken me so long to respond to! I've
been pretty unwell over the last few weeks as you know, but I do
recall I said I'd read this piece already and would be
responding as soon as possible, so I feel extremely guilty that
this is such a late review! Initially, I got a little bit of '
emotional whiplash ' reading it for the first time and again
just now, I got the same, aha. It reminds me vaguely of the
handful of times my brother got a little too violent. Most
recent being last summer, where he pushed me so hard into the
bathroom door as I moved by him that my head bounced off of it
and I saw stars, so that was a little wake up call for me.
Reading this actually put it into perspective a little more
because thus far I'm bowing to the fact that my mum and brother
both just keep trying to keep me quiet about it and that it's '
been too long now to tell anyone ' and ' it wasn't that bad ' as
they like to say about most of those incidents. You've actually
described things incredibly well, lots of vivid detail and it
has produced an even deeper loathing of Frank Flannery which I
never thought was possible, but this piece has definitely
achieved that! Helene is livid with the man, as is Harvey and of
course, Joseph. I feel like at some point I would try to pen a
drabble in which Frank and Joseph meet, perhaps a time after
Colleen had been beaten by him and Frank had stormed out of the
house in a huff to go drink in a local bar; I'd have Joseph pop
over just for a visit but he finds her in such a state. I really
love what you've done with this one and I hope she never has to
deal with Flannery again, ever, he is a vile human being.
#Post#: 3578--------------------------------------------------
Re: Just Hold On To Me
DIR By: Maggie Flannery
Date: November 4, 2019, 2:44 pm
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Oh my God, I'm so sorry for what you've had to go through at
your brother's hand and not to mention your mother's. Do you
need help? I mean, I'm over here and I'm not sure if I can do
much but it's something. I'm also so so sorry that you got
emotional whiplash from this piece not once but twice. By all
means go for it with the drabble! Anytime you'd like to borrow
Joseph please feel free to. Im so glad you enjoyed this one
though. Perhaps one day I'll figure out the right punishment for
Frank Flannery. You will be the first person to read it. :-) No
worries over the late reply! I hope you're feeling better. Have
you been to your GP?
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