The Life Anna Endured

She laid, crumpled and destroyed in the middle of the kitchen. She had no idea what she had done wrong but it was apparently something terrible in his mind.

Anna hadn't always lived this way. Nope, at one point in her early 20's she had been a viable contributing person. She held down a good job that she was proud of. Made good money, and held her own. In fact some people in her work field considered her intimidating.

That all changed shortly after she met him. He was a handsome strong man, broad shoulders, sexy even. His deep voice captivated her in a way no other man had ever done so before. She loved John's humour, he made her laugh all the time. John had that charismatic personality, everyone loved him, believed that he and I were the best couple in our friendship ring.

It all ended the day before their wedding. A day Anna would look back on and wonder why she ever continued with him. For 16 years she has looked back at that fateful day with regret and fear.

Anna was excited, she was to be marrying the man she loved, respected and cherished. Hell, even her dad loved him. She was preparing to go out with the girls one last time as a "single" woman. She herself had already felt married long before today. The vows she was to say tomorrow were just a formality in her mind.

She took a second look in the mirror, pride filling her chest as she admired the woman reflected back at her. The long brown hair shined in the light, the curls bouncy and flirtatious. Anna wore little make up normally, but tonight she went all out and was pleased with the outcome. Her outfit, she knew was a little on the risky side but she figured what the heck. Her short skirt rested well above mid thigh, and her blouse was just a little see through showing her cute pale green and pink bra. Her shoes a little higher then she normally wore set her legs off perfectly and made her ass jut out at just the right angle. She giggled as she turned knowing that John would be a little jealous. His ownership over her had been a turn on, she felt like it meant he was proud of her.

Anna, came out of the bedroom walking seductively toward her man, who was sitting in his favorite chair watching TV. She walked past him wiggling her ass, trying to entice him by letting her perfume, his favorite, to envelope him. Without even looking up at her he just stated,

"Go change out of that slutty outfit. No woman of mine is gonna be seen dressed like a two bit whore."

Anna, was taken back. John had never spoken to her in that manner before and she was not going to let him now. Honestly, how dare he.

"Whore? How dare you say that to me."

"I don't dare Anna, you belong to me and what I say goes. Now be a good girl and change into some decent clothes."

Anna, like any woman decided he was no one to tell her what she could wear, after all she was a 23 year old woman. She grabbed her keys and went to the closet to get her sweater. She never saw him coming.

John grabbed her by her hair pulling her back hard. In one fluid motion she was on the ground with the wind knocked out of her. John, her beloved husband to be was on top of her punching her anywhere he could manage to hit. Anna could feel her arms flying in the air as she attempted to block the blows to her body. That was the last thing she remembered.

Anna woke up stiff and sore all over, she couldn't remember why. As she gingerly rose from her bed two things hit her like a brick. Today is her wedding day, and the reason why she was so stiff and sore.

The tears began as she tried to struggle with the knowledge that the man who professed to love her had beaten her until she passed out. Stepping lightly, she moved to the mirror to see the damage. The tear stained face looking back at her was a far cry from what had been, the glorious woman who had been smiling back at her the night before.

Anna went into the bathroom to take her shower. As she stripped she saw the damage he had done, her body was blue and purple. He had hit her so hard in spots that the bruises matched his fists perfectly. Running the previous night in her mind, she had realized that it was her fault. She had set him off, by dressing provocatively. By teasing him, then by getting angry rather then talking it out like adults.

She smiled to herself, as she began to unfold her beaten body at how naive she had been back then.

How taking the blame was so much easier then facing the deadly truth. Now, nearly 2 decades into it she knew who was to blame but she didn't know how to change it. She loved John, loved their life together when he was his normal self.

Anna laughed, well the best she could her jaw felt broken again, and she knew she had swallowed another tooth. That life felt like it had belonged to someone else now. She couldn't even imagine being someone that had been feared in the work place anymore. Her looks, well, they were now non existant in her mind. All she could see now were the scars and the imperfections created by her loving husband. The uncountable black eyes, the three broken noses, the jaw broken twice and not treated. Her face didn't even look like her anymore. As for her broken down body, it no longer felt pain it lived it. She was rarely without at least one rib broken or healing. Her fingers were accustom to moving broken and swollen.

"Yup." she muttered through the blood in her mouth. " I love my life."

Taking her mind of the pain she thought back about what her life was suppose to be. The life that was to have included children laughing and playing. The life that was to be filled with her friends and family enjoying the good times together.

Those days, were never to occur for Anna. Oh she had become pregnant many times. The first two she was thrilled, to think she would be a mother, that she would be carrying a life inside her.

John, didn't want children. In fact the first two pregnancies were taken care of by him beating her so badly that she lost them. Two weeks in the hospital for the second child. John was livid about it. He saw her as stupid for not ensuring it wouldn't happen after the first time. When she had pointed out that he refused to purchase birth control for her to ensure she wouldn't conceive he hit her. Anna knew pointing out that raping her without a condom, was also part of the problem, would just enrage her fabulous husband further.

Keeping her mouth shut was a hard lesson for Anna to learn. Took nearly ten years for her to let go of the need to voice her opinion. Lessons, she believed were his favorite to teach. John always became calm before he would teach her those lessons. The last one still stuck a chord with Anna. The perfect lesson for her to know never to open her mouth to him.....

As she cleaned her blood off the floor she thought back at that lesson. John had tied her to the staircase banister and left her there for thirteen hours. When he came to her he had a small rubber mallet, pliers and wire. She never saw the knife he had in his pocket.

In Anna's dream like state she watched as John felt the weight of the mallet in his hand. As she watched the mallet being swung toward her in slow motion Anna saw the gleam of excitement in his eyes. Anna heard more then felt her jaw smash and her teeth rattle as the mallet hit her bottom jaw. Stund she blissfully passed out as the second swing approached.

Anna shuddered at the memory of waking up as he was wiring her jaw shut. She can remember the feeling of the slimy gums against her tongue and the taste of iron. Days later as she came to she would realize he had pulled all of her bottom teeth out, well what was left of them.

Since Anna's friends no longer kept in contact with her John pretty much dropped the need to not hit her in visible areas. It took six months for her jaw to heal and it never mended correctly. John apparently wasn't meant for surgery. Nope, he was much better at his profession, construction.

John made good money, not that she would see a dime. If she wanted anything she had to ask in advance and give written reasons as to why she would need it. Of course, that was for extra things like shoes and clothes. Personal needs items were purchased when he did the groceries. Actually, Anna couldn't remember the last time she had ventured beyond her yard and the hospital trips.

The hospital trips ended after the second jaw breaking incident. It had been shattered, the blood and lack of skin so obvious that John couldn't sew it up. Anna, was passed out nearly in a coma by the time he had gotten her there. For explanation as to her condition he had said he had come home for lunch to find her that way.

Neither the doctors or the nurses had believed him.

They had caused all kinds of problems for John. Police had been involved and he had ended up doing 6 months in prison. Thankfully he hadn't blamed her for that. The officers that charged him did so while Anna had still been unconscious. It did however stop him from ever seeking out medical attention for her again.

That had been five or six years ago now. John no longer even bothered to sweet talk her, as far as he was concerned she was a piece of meet to be used and abused whenever he wanted. The rape scenes were barely anything to talk about anymore John's use of alcohol made it difficult for him to keep an erection. God's little joke to him, that she was thankful for.

Anna finished with the clean up and looked at the to do list. He left her everyday while she was knocked out on the kitchen floor. She took the roast out of the freezer and put it in the crock pot. She kept the potatoes by the table since lifting the bag was usually too difficult for her. She numbed out the pain by fantasizing about what her life should have been. Some days she would imagine a friend sitting having coffee and gossiping with her as she peeled them.

She was thankful he had left her hands alone, the past week her fingers were healing slowly but the pain had lessened. She smiled as she thought about being able to go onto the internet, her only connection to the outside world.

Anna logged on everyday around the same time, it was always while the laundry was going and some other chore had to be waited on. Her online friends had no idea what her home life was like. The only pictures she had posted were old and of her wedding day. She lived a lie on the web that made her feel human. It was the life she dreamed of having. One full of loving, caring people, a loving husband and children. The life she knew she would never have.

Anna was so thankful that John had no clue how to work a computer. He knew she went on it to keep contact with her family who now lived two cities over. It saved on long distance charges.

The only friend Anna had kept was Sam. Sam had been her maid of honor and best friend since the third grade. Sam knew there was something going on with Anna but couldn't put her finger on it. Every time she tried to set a date with her Anna always came up with an excuse.

Sam often thought back to Anna's wedding day remembering how Anna had changed. It was like night and day. Like she was just going through the motions. When she had asked Anna why she was moving so slow and guarded Anna had just told her it was the new bed. Her body didn't do well on firm mattresses. The logic sounded believable but now years later it still struck a red flag for Sam.

When she had heard that John was in prison for assault Anna had told everyone it had been on some guy who wouldn't pay his bill. That he had been unable to control himself with the worry of paying her medical expenses while she was in the hospital after having a miscarriage. It was Anna's father that had called Sam to let her know what had really taken place.

Anna's parents were old school they believed you reaped what you sowed and that Anna had chosen to remain there that there was nothing left for them to do. Sam on the other hand tried, she had called everyday trying to convince Anna to move in with her and Shoop. Shoop, a lawyer and an actual good guy also begged Anna to come live with them. She wouldn't budge.

Sam gave up after two years, and just made sure Anna knew she was there for her night or day. Reminding Anna of better times of a better life. What Sam didn't understand was that Anna didn't feel she deserved that better life. That it was unattainable. It was her fantasy that she could escape to when the pain was too much.

Anna looked at the time, "damn it how did it get so late?" she thought.

She rushed around folding clothes and making sure his beer was chilled and in the icebox of his stupid recliner chair. That everything was in its place and exactly where he demanded it all be.

When John arrived she attempted a smile through her broken lips and teeth, asking him how his day was. He kissed her roughly and mumbled something she couldn't quite hear. He was always talking to her on her left side, she never understood why since he knew she was now deaf in that ear. After all he was the one that hit her so hard that her eardrum exploded.

She quickly served him his meal and patiently waited for him to finish so she could get him the dessert he had requested. Pie, she hated pie and hated making it. It was something he would demand if he was angry enough at her. Once John had been fed, she would be able to eat and then clean up. She loved her slow cooker quick easy clean up. One of the items that she was pleased he left alone. Not for her but because he preferred his meat cooked in it.

Anna sat at the table to attempt to enjoy her meal. With few teeth left it was a chore, she had lost so much weight that even a good slap knocked her down. She cut her meat into smaller then baby size and chewed with gums and the five top teeth she had left. She had asked him once if he would let her get dentures and he had laughed at her. She stopped asking for anything of late. What was the use.

John went to bed. She was not allowed to share his bed. He told her once that she was too disgusting, and gave him nightmares.

She was happy to have her own room. The computer was in there. She could enjoy a normal chat with someone then slip into bed.

This night was different though. She felt it in her bones, like a storm before it hits. She wasn't sure what it was that made her feel it but it was there. She wearily watched him as he stumbled off to bed. The feeling never left. As she logged on she spotted her email button flashing. She clicked on it. From Sam. After reading it she sat frozen in her chair. Sam and Shoop were coming to get her and they weren't taking no for an answer. Anna sat panic over taking her. There was no mention of when they would be arriving but for her not to worry that Shoop would handle everything.

Sam readied the spare room and called Anna's brother and father, her only two living relatives. They were pleased with the idea and would come to Sam's home to await Anna's arrival. Not one of them were ready for what they would find.

Sam, Shoop and the police arrived shortly after 11am the next day. They knocked several times before Sam started looking into the windows. She spotted Anna, laying on the kitchen floor in a puddle of blood. She screamed. The officers now had their reason to kick the door down.

Sam ran to Anna crying thinking she was too late. The officer who had called the ambulance checked for a pulse. It was there but shallow. He rolled her over and gasped at the woman's face. She had obviously been beautiful at one time. Her long brown hair was tangled and greasy. Her face so swollen that he didn't know how she could even see out her eyes. The scaring on her jaw was out of a Frankenstein movie. He could feel the bile rise as he watched her attempt to open her eyes and gurgle out something.

"She is alive!" he shouted with relief.

Anna tried to focus in on who was in her kitchen. She knew she was in her kitchen she was always in there when she came to. Had the neighbours heard John this morning as he attacked and raped her? Had they called the police again? She attempted to speak but couldn't her tongue was too swollen and throat too dry. Focusing in on them was out of the question. John had gone for the eyes today and apparently had done a good job on them. Her head was still ringing.

Sam and Shoop were trying to stay calm. Shoop took out the digital camera and began snapping pictures of Anna. He needed a jury to see what condition she had been found in. He made sure that the damage and scar tissue would be well seen. He kept his cool, he wasn't sure how. He shook with contempt for the man that had done this.

Sam cood and mothered Anna until the ambulance arrived. Then went to the hospital with her.

Anna came to again and a panic over took her. She had no idea where she was. She felt no pain. She went into high panic when she realized there was no pain no pain meant only one thing in her life. She was dead.

Sam and Shoop held a vigil by Anna's hospital bed. It took two emergency surgeries and 4 days for Anna to become coherent. The old injuries would have to be taken care of another time.

Sam smiled at her with tears in her eyes. "Oh Anna, I'm so sorry, so sorry, I should have come sooner had I known."

Anna looked at her friend and smiled. "It's ok now Sam everything is going to be ok."

It's been four years since that fateful day. Anna has had ten surgeries to try and look like her old self. She is happy with the results. She can still see the scars and she didn't get her nose fixed, but she no longer resembled the bride of Frankenstein.

Anna now works with abused women. When they arrive at the hospital beaten battered and lying to save their abusers ass. She tells them a story that makes their hair stand on end, then shows them pictures of that last ominous day. When asked who that poor woman is Anna smiles and tells them it was her. How she is now proud of her strength in enduring sixteen years of beatings. How they too can become proud of themselves again if they find that little bit of pride that they buried deep down.

She knows she isn't going to save everyone but she does know that the ones she saves are so worth the painful reliving of her tale.

Anna now celebrates two birthdays the first when arriving into this world and the second the day Shoop and Sam brought her back to the living.

For that she will always be grateful.