The Greatest Sacrifice

[TachelHolden]

awkkkkk so sad bless! poor tony + rachel really cant wait for the next update well written laura!

[Red Ranger 1]

Thanks for the update!Gosh, that was sad.I like how you wrote the characters:Tony abrupt and guarded but then breaking down, Leah blaming herself.Looking forward to more!

[HighwayUnicorn]

That was an emotional chapter but I loved the interaction between Jack & Tony.

& Tony was going to propose to her ... aww, that was such a lovely though but Rachel's not home

I really enjoyed that chapter & I look forward to more.

Love Carina xxx

[Zetti]

My heart is broken for Tony. Such a horrible position to be in. I feel so much for everyone. The chapter was very well written especially with the emotions. It is very believable that Leah would blame herself for letting Lucy testify and of course Tony, feeling useless and dejected because he can't see Rachel everyday but most of all my heart goes to Rachel, poor woman

I loved the way you wrote it & I look forward to the next update

xx

[Barbara]

I feel so sorry for all of them, especially Leah and Tony! (I feel sorry for Rachel too of course but she isn't in this chapter!) It isn't Leah's fault at all. SHe shouldn't blame herself! How could she know Lucy would change her mind? It's Lucy's fault and I hope she'll realise what she has done sooner rather than later.

And Tony was going to propose! It would have been an amazing way to celebrate. Too bad, it couldn't happen. Let's hope the appeal will go well and he gets another chance!

Looking forward to the next chapter!

[Sabrina]

Wow, brilliantly written chapter!

I feel so sorry for everyone in that chapter.

Aww, Tony was going to propose.

Looking forward to the next chapter.

[charmed60]

Thank you all you lovely people You're all so kind and I really appreciate the wonderful comments.

Rachel marched quickly along the corridor, a pile of folded laundry clutched tightly in her hands as she kept her head down, her eyes focused on the dirty floor and then quickly turned into her room. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief. A wave of despair hit her as she glanced around; the dirty, rusting metal bars nailed across the window, blocking any chance of sunlight. She sat down gently on her bed and winced as it creaked loudly; half of the springs had already broken and were hanging on the floor underneath. The mattress which was clearly decades old had separated in three places and left her with a constant ache in her shoulders and lower back. She even once considered sleeping on the floor however after watching two cockroaches scuttle underneath the window one night she’d decided immediately against it.

Tears caught in her throat as she imagined what Tony might be doing right now. It was Tuesday so he was probably at work, maybe on his afternoon break. She wondered what he would do for lunch; recently she’d gotten into a habit of packing one for him. But now she wasn’t there. In some ways she’d wondered if perhaps it would have been better if she was just dead. It’s not like her life had a point anymore; she couldn’t see Tony or her friends. A thought she didn’t even want to contemplate. Goodness knows what was going to happen with her job; she knew they’d have to find somebody to fill her position. It broke her heart to think she’d never get to work in the hospital again; 7 years was a long time, by the time she got out she probably would have forgotten everything. And no hospital would want to employ a murderer. And it’s not like she had friends in the prison; they’d made it very clear to her that the best way to cope was to keep to yourself and not try to make friends with any of the inmates. For the most part it had been working, they usually left her alone. However being the new girl a lot of them were trying to figure her out; trying to see how far they could push her before she cracked. So far it had been harmless, little knocks in the corridor or sticking their foot out at dinner hoping to trip her up and get her attention. Or shouting insults at her as she walked past, asking her why she was there. It was the first thing anyone asked you in here, as if your crime defined you as a person. That’s why Rachel kept herself to herself; most times she would just skip dinner to avoid confrontation with the other women. She lay down on the lumpy mattress and brought her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around herself. She imagined Tony lying next to her, holding her tightly like he always did. A tear escaped. She’d tried so hard to not think of Tony; she missed him so much that it physically hurt but it was becoming more difficult, not hearing his voice. It had been a week. She was entitled to three phone calls every seven days. So many times she’d walked to the phone station and held it in her hand, her mind running through all the things she wanted to say to him. But so far she couldn’t bring herself to call him; she was afraid that if she spoke to him she’d be confronted even more with what she was missing at home and it would make life in prison more difficult.

But she couldn’t take it anymore, her heart ached with loneliness and she needed to talk to him before she lost her mind. Pulling her puke green jumper down she jumped off of the bed and hurriedly made her way towards the phone station; her heart racing with anticipation. She just prayed that nobody was there already and she’d get the privacy she needed.

************

“Would you like anything else darl?” Irene sympathetically offered, noticing the depressed look on her friend’s face. He’d been in the diner for an hour and a half, staring into his empty cup until Jack and Martha had recently joined him. He smiled feebly at them but Irene noticed the deadness in his eyes.

“Not unless you’ve got a key to Rach’s cell” Tony muttered, turning a spoon over and over in his hands.

“How’s she doing” Irene questioned, placing her hand gently over his. It was a silly question really; she knew what it was like in there.

“I wouldn’t know” he shrugged lifelessly. “I haven’t heard from her. And seeing as I can’t call her…I just have to wait.”

“I’m sure she’s just settling in” Martha suggested, looking for reassurance from Irene.

“Yeah, yeah of course” Irene agreed. “You just make sure when you do hear from her that you tell her we’re all thinking of her and miss her.”

“Yeah of course I will” Tony smiled gratefully, jumping as his mobile phone started vibrating on the table. He looked up at everyone hesitantly as they held their breaths whilst he looked at the number on the front.

“I don’t know who it is it’s just a number” Tony stuttered.

“Well answer it, it could be Rach” Jack encouraged, watching his Dad jump eagerly to his feet before putting the phone hesitantly to his ear as he exited the diner.

“Hello?” he breathed nervously, his palms sweating as he ran his hand through his hair and found the quietest nearby spot on the sandy beach.

Rachel swallowed hard; hearing his voice caused a barrage of tears to force their way through her throat. Crying down the phone was the last thing she wanted to do.

“Rach is, is that you?” Tony whispered, daring to hope.

“Yeah it’s me” she managed to force out, smiling to herself. Hearing him made her miss him even more; something she didn’t think was possible.

“Oh Rach you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice. I’ve been, I’ve been so worried. I was wondering when you’d phone, I turned up the volume on my phone to

maximum so that I wouldn’t miss your call when I was asleep. I’m sorry…I’m rambling” Tony stuttered, taking a deep breath. “I miss you.”

“I miss you to” she whispered, aware of the other inmates standing nearby.

“How are you? Honestly” he emphasised, wishing he could reach through the phone and hold her tightly.

“Not great” she admitted. Despite her best intentions to hide the truth from him, to protect him; she couldn’t do it. She needed someone to talk to; she needed him to tell her that everything was going to be okay. “It’s horrible in here Tony; I don’t know how I’m going to cope. It’s only been a week, I’ve got another seven years…”

“Sweetheart, I am not going to let you stay in that place for seven years do you hear me? I’ve been talking to Morag and the second we can apply for an appeal we will; we’ll get your name cleared and we’ll get you out.” Tony assured her, his heart breaking as he heard her gentle sobs.

“How?” Her voice cracked. “Lucy’s not going to change her story…”

“We’ll, we’ll figure something out” he promised her, emptily. The truth was he had no idea how they were going to do it but he was willing to do anything. “I’m not going to let you down.”

“I just miss you so much” she cried, trying desperately not to cause any noise. “Every day feels like a lifetime in here. I just want to come home.”

“Love; I want you home to, so much. You’ve just got to be strong for me for a little longer okay and I’ll get you out of there, I will. There are other people that you can talk to though right?”

“It’s not exactly that sort of environment” she laughed ironically, “although one good thing that’s come out of this is that I’ve finally found somewhere to rival my cooking for the worst food possible.”

“I miss your food” Tony immediately replied, surprised himself how much he meant it. “When can I see you, Morag said you’d have to send me an application or something?”

“Yeah I’ve got it here I just haven’t posted it yet. As much as I really want to see you, I don’t want you to have to see this place Tony. It’s so depressing” Rachel replied, her heart and mind in two different places.

“I don’t care about the colour of the walls or the bars or the prisoners Rach, I just want to see you. Will you send them, please?” he begged, his desperation to hold her increasing.

“I’ll send them tomorrow” she promised, “you know I was thinking last night about all the things I’m going to miss out on. Tony I promised Martha I’d be there for her when she has the baby and now I’ve let her down, I’m going to miss everything…”

“Martha understands love, there’s nothing you can do…”

“Will you give her a message for me?” Rachel begged, her breathing becoming rapid; “just tell her that she’s going to be great and she shouldn’t worry because everything will fall into place. Oh and that she should try and keep as mobile as she can when she goes into labour because it really helps to make things go quickly.” Tears trickled down her cheeks as she watched the seconds left on the timer decrease far quicker than she could think what she needed to say.

“Sweetheart…” Tony begun, his voice shuddering as he heard the pain she was in with every word she spoke.

“Tony, I’ve got to go, the time’s running out but just make sure you tell Martha what I said won’t you? Please…”

“Rach, please don’t go, not yet, there’s still so much I want to say” he frantically begged.

“I love you” she whispered tearily.

“I love you to Rach, so much” he replied quickly but the dialling tone was already echoing in his ear, taunting him. He cursed before throwing his phone on the floor into the sand and screaming in anger. Falling to his knees he threw his head into his hands and rocked. Never in his life had he felt so helpless, so totally and utterly useless. There was nothing he could do.

Preview:

Tony makes his way to the prison but traffic delays him

Rachel is taunted by the inmates

[HighwayUnicorn]

Aww that was such an emotional chapter.

& Rachel's in prison yet she's still giving advice to other people.

A fantastically written chapter.

I look forward to more.

Love Carina xxx

[Zetti]

My heart broke for Rachel. She is going through so much & all she wants is Tony to be there for her

I really hope the appeal goes well & she gets out.

& I adore the fact that despite the pain she is going through, she is trying to help Martha with advice even when she is going through so much herself. It is admirable & yet heartbreaking.

I really look forward to more

Well done.

[Red Ranger 1]

I loved that, the chat between Rachel and Tony and I'm glad that she's decided to send him the visiting application.This is pretty hard on both of them, looking forward to more.