Waking the next morning, I felt stiff joints in my body protesting against the altercation that happened the night before. James had been a man of his word. He stayed with me all night and held me until the rising sun shone through the curtains.

Unsure of how to take everything in, I slid from the bed and made my way towards the bathroom, my eyes not wanting to look into the mirror to see how awful I looked, and even though James told me it wasn’t bad, I knew ...