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Tabitha. She was wearing jet black robes which made her
usual creamy complexion look grey. Her long coal black hair was
pulled into a tight plait down her back. Her leaf green eyes
expressed her hurt and sadness.
    “ How is Eli?”
she asked.
    “ He’s coping,”
he whispered.
    “ I can imagine
he is struggling with thoughts of Anne.”
    Jack felt the
tears sting his eyes.
    “ I can see you
are too,” Tabitha soothed, putting her hand on his arm.
    “ I’m sick of
all this bloody death and losing people we care about,
Tab.”
    “ Yes, I’m
growing rather tired of it myself. I'm going to be with Ayden. The
cars leave there at eleven.”
    He swallowed
past the lump in his throat and managed to speak. “Okay. I'll get
Cora there.”
    How am I
going to do that? Jack knew that it was
only a five minute walk, but it would be the longest walk of his
life. Tabitha walked to him, enfolding him in a hug before pulling
back. Her eyes shimmering with tears as she kissed him on the
cheek. Sighing, she stepped around him and left the
shop.
    He walked
slowly up the stairs to Tabitha's flat, taking deep breaths as his
heart pounded with grief. He needed to be strong for Cora. He
couldn’t cave whilst she was with him. He would be her rock if she
needed him. His heart did one last hard thump, and then he walked
into the living room.
    Cora was
standing in front of the mirror absently running a brush through
her thick russet brown hair. She wore the same midnight black robe
as Tabitha. His gut knotted when he saw the pain on her face. He
desperately wanted to take her away from all of this, but he knew
the only way she could cope with it all was to face it head
on.
    Cora’s face
was pale, too pale. Her eyes were sunk too far into her face. The
skin looked like it was shrinking back, pulling over her
cheekbones, forcing them to protrude further. The bruises under her
eyes had become worse over the week. They were deep hanging bags of
black. Jack moved to her and hugged her from behind, looking at her
in the mirror. “I'm here for you. Please know that I'm here for
you.”
    Her eyes
watered before she took a deep breath and looked at him. “I'm going
to wear my hair down today. Mum always liked it down.”
    He held her
tighter as her voice broke, but she didn’t let the tears fall. He
could see the effort it took to pull herself together.
    She'd had
horrific moments over the week. She’d screamed and thrashed in her
nightmares. It pained him that he couldn’t go into her nightmares
and rip them away from her. He’d spent the week on the sofa, which
had resulted in Tabitha mentioning the dreaded word. Bed. Tabitha
had told him the bed was free for him to use with Cora, but he
assured her he was fine on the sofa. It was an embarrassing thing
to talk about with someone like Tabitha.
    It didn't
change anything. Cora always made her way to him during the night.
The already small sofa; becoming smaller with two bodies on it. He
peered at the clock and noticed the time. “Cora, we've got to
go.”
    Cora nodded
her head slowly, he knew she didn't want to believe today was
happening. She would go through today, her own personal nightmare,
in a daze. He knew it was the mind’s way of coping with something
like this.
    Jack pulled
her to him because he couldn't fight the urge not to touch her, to
comfort her. He needed this contact as much as she did. He kissed
her hair, and keeping her close to his side, walked her down the
stairs, through the shop and out onto the street.
    The walk had
been a slow one. He knew that she was stalling. As they neared the
full wall of trees, she was panting with the sobs that had a tight
grip on her. He held her tightly as they rounded the corner and saw
the two striking black cars and hearse that were parked outside
Cora's house. Cora's legs buckled, almost dragging him to the floor
with her. She cried out, her grief consuming her.
    He bent with
her, holding onto her as her cries of pain filled the air.