A tear slides down her cheek, and any other day I’d wrap my arms around her and hold her tight. But right now, I can’t even stand to be near her.
“I… I should have told you.” Her shoulders slump. “I should have done more.”
My nostrils flare as I try to get my breathing under control, and when she looks up at me, the scared look in her eyes has me stepping back.
She’s the last person I want to be frightened of me.
Those looks don’t normally bother me, not from strangers who see my height and width and automatically assume they know what I do and what I’m about. But seeing it from my mom—no matter that she kept information from me that could have stopped this from happening—has me regretting my temper.
I want to tell her I’m sorry, but I can’t. Not right now. Lily is more important. “I’m going to check on Lily.”
I step forward and she moves back, letting me past. My heart is thumping in my ears, my focus on getting to the girl whose life will never be the same again.
She’ll be running; always looking over her shoulder. I’ll do all I can to help her feel safe, but if she’s not going to report him, there’s only so much I can do.
My boots pound on the stairs, and when I get to the top, I see my old bedroom door open as well as the bathroom door.
Taking another deep breath, I try to shutter my eyes before stepping toward the door.
Halting when I get to my bedroom, I watch her sitting on the edge of the bed, a towel wrapped around her, soft cries falling from her mouth. My hands itch to comfort her, and when I take a step into the room, her head whips up.
Her eyes widen, her mouth opening slightly but I don’t move another step, not until I know she’s in the here and now.
“I’ll get you some clothes to wear,” I croak out, stepping toward the chest of drawers.
I feel her eyes on me as I pull out one of my old t-shirts and a pair of sweatpants that’ll probably be too big for her, but it’s better than nothing right now.
Placing them next to her, I move back. “I need to check your… injuries before you get dressed.”
Her throat bobs as she swallows. “It’s okay.” She pauses. “They’re just bruises.”
Crouching down in front of her, I place my hand on her cheek, hating the purple bruise that mars her skin already. “I need to make sure you’re okay, darlin’.”
“I…” Her hand grips my forearm, causing my gaze to focus on her blue eyes. “I just want to sleep right now.”
I watch her, knowing I need to check her over in case there’s anything more serious going on, but the way her sad eyes bore into mine, I know I can’t make her. I need to let her deal with it how she needs to and be there to help however I can.
The first tear slips free as I continue to keep my hand on her face, neither of us saying anything out loud, but I silently tell her it’s okay. Something breaks inside her and then the dam is broken and they’re sliding down her face so fast I can’t swipe them all away quick enough.
“It hurts,” she whispers, her voice sounding as broken as she looks.
Gripping the sides of her neck gently, I make sure she’s focusing on me bef
ore asking, “Where does it hurt, angel?”
Her hand moves to her chest, her palm resting over her— “Here… my heart hurts.”
I stare at her for a beat before leaning forward and resting my forehead against hers. “We’ll make it better. We’ll fix it together.”
LILY
My heart beats faster in my chest, my pulse galloping like a racehorse sprinting to the finish line. Only there is no finish line for me. I have to stay here, in the middle of the track with nowhere to go and nothing to move me along. I don’t have the animal on the sidelines for me to follow, I don’t have the jockey telling me to move forward. I have nothing.
My skin crawls as I open my eyes, a lump in the back of my throat and tears shining in my eyes that I won’t let free. I can’t; afraid if I do I’ll never be able to stop. He took something from me I can never get back, no matter how hard I try.
I keep my head down, my gaze connected to the dark comforter covering me, afraid of what I’ll see if I catch my face in the mirror on the back of the door.
Will there be darkness behind my eyes? Will the blue ever shine as bright as it used to?