The Greatest Sacrifice

[Red Ranger 1]

Oh boy...Loved Rachel's talks with Morag and Tony but when Lucy lied on the stand my heart sank. Join everyone else in hoping things go well for Rachel.

[KirstyEkua]

Laura i apologise for my lack of comments; i know i have been terrible at keeping up with this and my only excuse is that i am very lazy and forgetful!! But you know how much i love this story and think you are a brilliant writer.

I loved Rachel and Tony's little holiday with Jack and Martha! It was so lovely to see them having fun and Rachel being so relaxed and happy. Love that Martha and Rachel took photos of the guys not exactly looking their best It was nice they all had a chance to have some fun together and for Rachel to have a break from everything that has been going on back in Summer Bay. I love the relationship between her and Tony. He's been so incredibly supportive and understanding and it must be heart-breaking for him. He has no control over what is happening and it must be so awful for him to watch his girlfriend go through so much and know he can't do anything to help. But i adore them together in this story, it's so sweet seeing their relationship progress and just how much they care/love each other.

I love that you brought Morag back to help Rachel She has been amazing and you have written her so realistically. I hope she has done enough to get Rachel found not guilty! I was shocked when Lucy lied so vehemently. Surely she understands how severe the consequences will be for her if the truth comes to light. Saying that i do understand her reasoning; she must be terrified and it's not easy to admit you were a victim of domestic abuse, even if your partner is deceased. As much as i dislike her for lying i do feel incredibly sorry for her and just hope she realises sooner rather than later that she needs to tell the truth; not only for Rachel's sake but for her own as well. I think she needs help to deal with everything that happened to her. It must have been horrific for Tony to find out about Henk at the trial and i really admire him for how he reacted to it. He had every right to be angry (not at Rachel but the situation) but instead he put her first and was there for her which was just really lovely. My heart just breaks for Rachel. Having to admit she was raped and having to an extent, relive it, in front of complete strangers and people she loves must have been devastating for her. I thought she was really brave though and held herself really well. I'm glad she didn't just breakdown and completely lose it which would have been perfectly justified.

I love Jack and Martha's role as supporting characters. They are both an indispensible support to Tony and Rachel. I'm looking forward to seeing how things develop with them and their baby! And i hope Jack man’s up a little and doesn't freak out with birth related stuff

Can't wait for more

[Sabrina]

Poor Rachel. I'm glad she has Tony to support her.

I can't believe Lucy lied on the stand.

Like everyone else I hope Rachel is found not guilty.

Can't wait for the next chapter.

[charmed60]

Carina, Zetti, Red Ranger, Kirsty and Sabrina; thank you thank you so much as always! Your comments, wishes and predictions are all greatly appreciated. I know this chapter is only tiny but I've been so crazily busy and unwell lately that I haven't had much chance to write lately and so I wanted to put you out of your misery and let you know the result of the verdict I'll do my best to update as soon as I can but work's unfortunately taking precedent at the moment!! Anyway, hope you enjoy!

“I love you” Rachel whispered as she closed her eyes tightly; her arms wrapped tightly around Tony’s back as she tried to take in his smell, his touch; desperate to allow the feel of him stroking his fingers softly upon her back to stay in her mind. She didn’t want to forget it. She didn’t want to forget him.

“I love you to, so much” he replied optimistically, kissing her hair a number of times as he tried to push out the thought that this could be the last time he was able to do this for the next who knows how many years. “You’re going to be fine” he whispered, cupping her face in his hands as he traced his fingers along her cheeks and brushed her hair away from her eyes; tucking it behind her ear.

“You know how much you mean to me don’t you?” she trembled, gripping his hands tightly.

“Rach, please don’t do this…” Tony interrupted. He didn’t want to cry in front of her although after getting no sleep last night his strength was weak and he could feel the tears beginning to form. He’d been too busy watching her sleep, her chest rising and falling; her expression so peaceful, so relaxed. As much as he’d tried to be optimistic he knew it could be a long time before he watched her sleep again and he didn’t want to miss a moment.

“I just need you to know that…”

“I already know all this Rach because I feel the same way to” he smiled bringing her hands up to his lips. She smiled back weakly before wrapping her arms back around him and gripping him tightly.

“Rachel, time to go” Morag coaxed, straightening her wig.

“I’ll be right behind you” Tony whispered in her ear as she reluctantly pulled her hands away and kissed him, lingeringly. “It will be okay.”

She smiled weakly as she entered the court room, her breath catching in her throat as the size of the room suddenly appeared to grow. She took a seat next to Morag and wrapped her fingers tightly around themselves, trying to control her breathing.

“Doctor Armstrong, please stand” the judge ordered as he took his seat in front of her and received the sheet of paper which the police officer passed over to her from the selected public members.

“Jury, have you reached your verdict” he boomed, his eyes skimming across their decision in black ink.

“We have” the lead member nodded officially, avoiding Rachel’s gaze as she felt her heart rate increase by double. Tony gripped Martha’s hand tightly and studied the expression of each and every person in the dock; willing them to end this nightmare once and all.

“We the jury find the defendant.” He paused. Rachel’s hand began shaking uncontrollably and a surge of nausea washed over her. “Guilty of manslaughter in the first degree.”

Tony screamed out in anguish, jumping to his feet as he hung over the balcony before Jack pulled him back and ordered him to be quiet. He glanced down at Rachel and noticed she’d barely moved.

“Is this the opinion of all of you?” the judge questioned; not even reacting to whether he believed the decision was right or not. “Doctor Armstrong I therefore sentence you to seven years in prison; this court is adjoined.” He slammed his gavel down on the sound block causing Rachel’s ears to start ringing as everything became fuzzy. All she could hear was the sound of her own breathing.

“What’s happening Morag” she whispered timidly; her voice shaking to such extremes that she could barely make out the words she was trying to say.

“I’m so sorry Rachel” Morag regretfully replied, “This is a complete injustice” she mocked, slamming her files down on the desk.

Rachel jumped as a male officer grabbed her arm; she hadn’t even seen him standing next to her. “Morag” she pleaded helplessly as he grabbed her wrists roughly and locked a pair of handcuffs tightly around them. He pulled her by the chain and gripped his hand tightly around her still, bruised shoulder, leading her towards a small dark staircase.

“Rachel” Tony shrieked as he ran to the other side of the balcony and looked down at her, stretching his hand out to touch her. She turned to look at him; instinctively moving her hand up to his before a painful jolt made her realise that she wasn’t able to do it. Her bottom lip trembled as she glanced back at the man she loved; stuttering as he desperately tried to sooth her with comforting words before he realised there was nothing he could say.

“I’ll come visit” he blurted out, kicking himself inside for his pointless and totally unhelpful remark. He couldn’t believe this was happening; he was frantically trying to think of what he could do, anything to stop this from happening to her but he quickly realised that he was completely and utterly helpless. He glanced down at Rachel’s frightened and shell-shocked expression; she seemed to be looking at him as if to she was waiting for him to fix the situation but he knew he was letting her down. “Rach I” he whispered before he cut his words off again as they began pulling her away.

“Tony” she choked before she was forced to look away from him and focus on the stairs in front of her. Tears began rolling down her cheeks as she silently sobbed to herself, unable to comprehend the turn her life had taken. Her cries began more violent as she heard Tony’s anguished screams calling after her. She hated that he hadn’t believed her last night; that he hadn’t let her say the words that she’d wanted to say to him. “I didn’t mean to do it” she muttered to the police officers in a last helpless chance to prove her innocence. “Please, don’t put me in there.” But they took no notice.

Preview:

How does everyone cope with what's happened?

[Red Ranger 1]

Oh gosh.I was afraid that was going to happen.(Guess there wouldn't be a story otherwise...)Hope Rachel's all right and they find a way to help her, looking forward to more of this.

[HighwayUnicorn]

Well ... at least it's very true to life .. there's never any justice in the world.

Rachel tried to protect herself from being raped & she gets the punishment. So you made it very realistic.

Another amazing chapter though, seriously fantastically written.

Poor Rachel ... & Tony ... this is really going to affect everyone, but mostly them two obviously.

I look forward to more & seeing where you take this.

Thank you for the update.

Love Carina xxx

[Sabrina]

Amazing chapter!

Oh no, I was hoping everything would work out for Rachel. I hope she's ok.

Looking forward to the next chapter.

[dee83]

Hope everyone finds a way to deal with how things have dealt with rachel was only trying help a person she thought was in trouble like any other person would

can`t wait to hear what happens next

[Barbara]

I've written the rewiew as I was reading them so I don't forget to mention something. Hopefully it isn't too confusing.

#88:

Poor Rachel! She now has to relive her rape a second time. Hopefully, Morag will manage to get her out of this mess. Lucy showing up should be a big help as well.

I can't believe Lucy is lying in court! I understand she wants to protect her children but doesn't she realise she is getting Rachel in a lot of trouble when all she did was help her? If I was Lucy, I would probably move away afterwards and try to move on. She wouldn't even have to tell her children about what their father did, she could just tell them about the (few ?) happy moments they shared. I liked how you described how Lucy was feeling as well.

I think it was nice of Martha to try to take Rachel’s mind of things but Rachel just has too much to think of at the moment and after Lucy’s testimony, things aren’t looking good for her!

“So I think I’ve finally found the bassinet I want to get” Martha beamed as she quickly swallowed her food; excited at the thought of her impending purchase. “It’s so beautiful; it’s this dark wooden oak sleigh cot which doesn’t exactly go with our bedroom furniture but it’s so gorgeous I couldn’t resist. We can just change our wardrobe and units to match” she shrugged.

“That sounds cheap” Jack exclaimed, his eyebrows raised as he stabbed his fork into a piece of pasta.

I love the way Martha thinks!

Rachel is lucky to have someone like Tony in her life.

#94:

The first few paragraphs with Rachel And Tony were very well written. I felt for them both.

Oh no! They think she is guilty! The end of the chapter was heartbreaking! Laura, you are brilliant when it comes to writing about people’s emotions!

More please!

[charmed60]

Thank you so much again Red Ranger, Carina, Sabrina, dee and Barbara. Your comments and time taken to let me know your thoughts are so much appreciated! And Barbara it made perfect sense, I loved reading your thought processes hehe! The next chapter is a bit of a short one sorry; life has been so hectic lately but I wanted to get something written for you guys so here it is!

The groaning sound of the engine filled the car as Tony, Jack, Martha and Leah sat in silence; unable to muster any words between them. Leaving the court knowing that they wouldn’t be bringing Rachel home had proved almost impossible, particularly for Tony who had to be dragged to the car by Jack. He couldn’t comprehend what had happened, couldn’t understand how the court could side with that monster over his caring, loving girlfriend. As headlights speedily passed their car that Jack was driving Tony heard Leah’s soft cries beside him. But he couldn’t bring himself to comfort her as much as he wanted to because he was afraid that if he began to talk then he would lose all control.

“Oh Leah” Martha sighed as she turned herself around from the front seat and reached over to hold her friend’s hand.

“I’m sorry” she sobbed as Martha’s comfort brought a barrage of fresh tears to her eyes which she struggled to control despite wiping them frantically with a crumpled tissue.

“You don’t have to apologise” Martha soothed, “this is hard on all of us. It’s okay to cry.”

“I’m not crying because of what’s happened, I’m crying because this is all my fault” Leah sobbed.

“Of course it isn’t” Martha insisted.

“It is, I should never have spoken to Lucy and made her speak in court” Leah replied, her hand in front of her face. “If Lucy hadn’t have lied then the jury wouldn’t have felt sorry for her and Rach would probably be in the car with us right now coming home.”

“You don’t know that” Jack interjected, looking at her sympathetically through his rear view mirror. He glanced over at his Dad and noticed that he wasn’t even flinching, his gaze intently focused out of the window.

“I do” Leah choked, as the car pulled up on the driveway. “She’s not going to cope in there Jack, she doesn’t belong with those people. I’m scared about what they will do to her; you hear stories all the time…”

“Thanks for driving” Tony interrupted before flinging the car door open and slamming it behind him.

“Dad” Jack called out after him helplessly but he didn’t respond.

“He shouldn’t be on his own tonight” Martha advised, running her hand protectively over her stomach. “Maybe you should go, I’ll drop Leah home. I think I can just about still fit behind the steering wheel.”

“Yeah I think I will, thanks” Jack smiled sadly, “let me know when you’re home safe. See you later Leah.” As he closed the door gently and strode towards his father’s home he tried to understand how he would be able to help him through this. They’d all been so sure that Rachel would be found not guilty and that the nightmare was going to be over that knowing it had actually only just begun made the whole thing difficult to cope with. He knocked cautiously on the door out of courtesy but finding that it was ajar and after no reply; he let himself in.

“Jack I don’t want to talk” Tony murmured as he clenched his fists tightly around the worktop by the sink, breathing slowly to control the emotions gradually building up

inside of his chest.

“I think you need to” Jack replied, resting himself down on the arm of the couch; aware of giving his Dad space.

“There is nothing to talk about” Tony wavered, his mind filled with a hundred thoughts that he couldn’t process.

“It’s okay to be angry” Jack began…

“Angry?” Tony snapped, spinning around to face his son. “I don’t even think angry even comes close to describing how I feel right now Jack. I am furious and disgusted and frightened and I’ve got so much rage in my body right now that I don’t know what to do with it.” Tony breathed deeply as his face flushed red and he ran his shaking hands through his hair. “Jack I’m scared. Leah is right; Rach is never going to survive in that place. She’s going to be so afraid and I’m not there to protect her. They’re treating her like some sort of animal when she did nothing wrong. They’re punishing her for something she didn’t even do, for defending herself against that bastard. How can his wife defend him like that, how can she let Rachel go down when she risked her own life to try and help her and her kids escape from him.” The rage that had been slowly building up in Tony suddenly erupted as he threw his hands along the mantelpiece, smashing every photo frame, every ornament violently against the opposite wall and to the floor. “She doesn’t deserve this Jack, she did nothing wrong and they’re hurting her and I’m not there.” Sobs racked his body as he fell to the floor and brought his arms to his face, pressing his wrists into his aching, throbbing forehead.

Jack hesitated, his eyes wide with fear. Seeing his Dad fall apart in front of him scared him so much; he’d always been so strong even when his Mum died. Although Jack would hear him crying through the thin walls of his bedroom he never once saw him upset; he figured he’d tried to protect them from his pain.

“It’s going to be okay Dad” he whispered as he knelt down next to him and squeezed his shoulder.

“How? How is it going to be okay?” he screamed, rocking back and forth. “I was going to propose to her Jack. I bought her a ring and I was going to ask her to marry me when we got home tonight; but she didn’t come home. We could be planning our lives together…if she’d have said yes” he laughed gently, “but instead she’s….I don’t even know. I don’t even know where she is right now.”

“She would have jumped at the chance to marry you” Jack smiled sadly, “she loves you so much, she’s always telling Martha how happy she is. And that’s what will get her through this; knowing she has you right behind her. All of us in fact. We’re not going to give up on her; we’ve still got the appeal.”

“But we have to wait three months before we can even submit an appeal. Three months will be like a lifetime to her in there” Tony mumbled lifelessly.

“You’ve got phone calls and visits to her; it’ll go by quickly and that time will allow us to get together a really good case and hopefully overturn the verdict” Jack soothed.

“I can only visit her once a fortnight. It’s not enough, I’m so used to spending every day with her…”

“I know” Jack agreed; “but you’ve got to be strong for her. She’s relying on you.”

“I’ll try Jack, I really will son it’s just so hard.” Tony buried his face in his hands again as Jack wrapped his arms around his father; like he’d done for him so many times before.

Preview:

How is Rachel coping?

Tony receives a phonecall