Stella inhaled sharply, and I had to swallow to keep back the tears. “Thank you for saving my baby girl,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks, her voice cracking. “None of it, not one second of it, was your fault, you need to understand that, Olivia. You have to understand that.”
I felt a tear slide down my cheek as she shook her head. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t do this. My eyes found the bottle again before finding hers.
“I don’t blame you for any of it, and I am glad, I amgladthat those people are dead.” She pressed her lips together and nodded before pushing herself to a stand. “Thank you, I will never be able to repay you for what you did. Ever.”
“Wait,” I said as she made a step for the other room.
She looked back, clearly trying her best to keep herself together, just as I was.
“Did they…” I whispered, the tears blurring the world. I clutched my hands to my chest, squeezing them together so tightly, I felt them pulse under my grip. “Did they, um…did they touch her?” it was something I had tried hard not to think about, but I still did. Every single time they hurt me, I prayed,prayed, that they never touched that poor little girl. I prayed, begged God to have at least done that much.
Horror and suchpainfilled Stella’s eyes, and I felt that black fog start to crawl over my eyes, the world dropping from around me.
“No,” she replied on a breath, shaking her head. “They didn’t touch a hair on her head.”
I closed my eyes, the world coming back, the fog slowly retreating, as a wave of relief washed over me. At least He got that right. At least He had answered one prayer.
A few seconds later, Stella’s voice sounded again, this timefrom a couple yards away. “Listen to me, okay?” she started quietly. “She is hurt in her brain, so you have to be kind, the kindest you’ve ever been, and you have to be forgiving and gracious, remember? Patience. She is tired, more tired than your mama has ever been, but this is important, and we believe that this might make her feel better, okay?”
My eyes opened, locking onto that bottle. Just a few drinks. A few good gulps before she walked in. Just a few.
But before I could reach for it, a little girl walked into view.
And she was perfectly fine.
Not a single scratch on her, not one scar, not a hair out of place.
Baily was okay. Alive and well and healthy.
She wassafe.
Tears streamed down my face, my bottom lip trembling as she slowly walked up to me, her motions a little hesitant. She was clasping her hands around a giraffe. About the size of her torso, very clearly old and well-loved.
She gave me a small smile and placed the giraffe right beside me, her eyes,myeyes, shining. “His name is Rover, mama said it’s a dog’s name, but I think it fits him.” She stepped back, inspecting him, considering her words like children did when things became a little awkward.
“He’s been there through all the times I got scared,” she explained, her eyes still trained on the animal. “When daddy yelled and thrown stuff, when the thunder got loud, or when I thought a monster might be under my bed. I didn’t have him when the mean lady took me away, but it was okay because I turned out just fine.”
Her eyes found mine, her expression turning to confusion when she saw the tears. She stepped up to me and carefully wiped my cheek, but that only made it worse. “Why are you crying, Aunty? You’re a hero, you should be proud of yourself.Mama says that’s where real pride starts, from your own heart because nobody can be as proud of you as you can be.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, my shaking hand finding my mouth. I couldn’t do this. I needed a drink. I needed the television. I neededsomething.
“Oh, um…” Baily was quiet a moment. “Oh! I know what can help,” Baily said, my eyes opening purely out of curiosity.
She started to climb onto the couch right where she had just put the giraffe, Lucy’s head lifting in curiosity. “Mama always said I got healing hugs.” And without a second of hesitation, she crawled into my lap, straddling me, and threw her arms around my neck, forcing my dog back.
That wide chasm of a crack widened then, but it wasn’t the black fog that came out this time, it was something worse. It just…itshattered, and I wrapped myself tightly around her, holding her small frame against my heart, my entire body shaking as the tears streamed relentlessly down my face.
And all I felt was one emotion. One emotion so fully, I couldn’t even think about anything else. All I could do was feel it.
Feel the pain, the sorrow, the loss. Because I had lost so much. I had lost everything.
All of it.
I had lost my sense of time, of reality, of self. I had lost Lucy and Everett and my family. I had lost my security, my innocence. I had lost all of it.
They had ripped it away from me without care, without remorse. And all they wanted was information.
They had ruined me for information that I never had.
