Beautifully Broken

There’s a stab of grief when I think of her dad coming to get her.

A car pulls into the parking lot, and my heart stutters with fear. My eyes are glued to the driver when she gets out and walks toward the reception area, just as Damian comes out.

“Unlock the door to number nine,” he says as he hands me the key.

I watch him lift the girl out of the car, and my mouth is bone dry as I hurry to room number nine. As I unlock the door and push it open, I hear Damian murmur, “Everything’s going to be fine, sweetheart.”

Tilting my head as I step into the room, I search my memory, but I can’t find that tone or words anywhere. Damian never spoke so kindly to me.

He’s almost cooing at her as if she’s a baby, something precious. “Let’s get you all cleaned up.”

I close the door behind us and watch as Damian gently lays the girl down on one of the beds.

‘Maybe I’m just not remembering it all,’ I start to defend him, but then that little voice that likes to cause pain pops up and sneers at me, ‘You’re nothing but a fuck-up he has to clean up.’

“Get me the towels from the bathroom. Wet one of them,” Damian orders, and I stare at him for a second before I’m able to make my legs move.

Hurt blossoms in my chest because, with this girl, he’s gentle, but when it came to me, he was like a robot.

I walk into the bathroom and grab the bath towel, throwing it over my shoulder. I hold the hand towel under the water until it runs hot, then wring it out as best I can before going back to the sleeping area.

Damian’s sitting down on the bed, with the girl’s head resting on his thigh. There’s another unwelcome stabbing sensation in my chest, but I shove it away and hand him the wet towel.

I take four steps back when he starts to wipe her face, removing the excess blood on her bottom lip and chin. She flinches away, and he pauses. Then, leaning over her as if to shield her with his body, he murmurs, “Shhh… everything’s going to be fine, sweetheart.”

I stand as if entranced and watch as he cleans her, and only when he’s done does he look up at me.

“Hand me the towel.” His eyes flit over me. “Sit down on the other bed.”

I give him the towel and move back until I feel the other bed bump against my legs. I slump down on it and scoot backward until I’m pressed tightly against the wall.

I watch Damian hold the girl while every couple of minutes, he repeats the words. Everything’s going to be fine, sweetheart. Words I now know with a desperate certainty he never said to me.

I must’ve drifted off at some point because I’m startled awake by a pounding on the door.

Although I slept in a sitting position, I still slept through the night.

My eyes lock on Damian as he peeks through the curtain before opening the door. An older man almost falls into the room, and I scramble to get to the corner. I bring my knees to my chest and try to make myself as small as I can while my heart begins to thunder against my ribs.

Damian comes to stand right in front of me. It looks like a casual move, but I can’t see the man now, and that means he can’t see me.

“My sweetheart,” the man coos at the girl.

Tears start to burn in my eyes at the emotion weighing heavy in the room.

“Daddy?” The girl’s voice sounds broken, and I press my mouth against my knees to keep from making a sound.

“Everything’s going to be fine, sweetheart,” he repeats Damian’s words to her, and she starts to cry. Huge relieved, heartfelt sobs.

Then it feels like something dies in me. I’m not sure what it is, but I feel lost without it.

Chapter 11

CARA

I don’t realize I’m rocking myself until Damian touches my shoulder. The man left with his daughter, and it’s just the two of us again.

“Cara.”

My emotions are out of control, my grief at the loss of my parents cutting through me like sharp shards of glass.

“We have to go,” Damian says as if it should matter to me.

“No one came for me,” I whimper against my knees, my breath hot on my thighs.

“Cara, look at me.” I don’t, not until Damian’s hands clamp around my shoulders and he pulls me up, and I’m flush with his body. His face is inches from mine, and his breath is hot on my skin, then his eyes seize mine. “I came for you.” His voice is filled with emotions I’ve never heard before, and it makes my breath hitch.