Secret prey

Gathered round the hospital bed, the family waited for Terry's final moment. His five children had been told to try to hold it together by their grandma, Terry's mother, but they were all too upset to prevent the tears.

Debbie, his wife, stood stoically behind her quintet of offspring, eyes closed, hands clasped together, praying.

She prayed for the little ones.
She prayed for his mother.
She prayed for the end of the secret physical and mental abuse he'd inflicted upon her.
She prayed for her other secret, the life insurance.
She prayed for him... to get on and die.