Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
DALILA
I remember seeing Nevio’s face. I remember the moment he lifted me in his arms.
I knew he had come to save me - but the two or three days that came after that were a blur.
This morning is the first time I remember opening my eyes and seeing my bed.
I sit up, moving too fast as pain shoots through me.
“Nev.” I scream, terrified, flashes of Malone’s face shooting through my mind.
He comes running into the room. He grabs me in his arms, and I cry out in pain again.
“Sorry. I’m sorry. What happened? Are you ok?” he blurts.
“I - I - I don’t know what happened. I don’t know how I got here.” I mumbled in shock.
“You’ve been really out of it since I brought you home. The doctor has been seeing you twice a day. We’ve just been waiting for you to wake up.”
“You found me—” I whisper, tears falling down my cheeks.
“Of course I found you. There is no way in hell that I would not find you, my baby girl.” He rocks me gently in his arms and I rest my face against his chest.
After a quiet moment, he asks. “Do you remember what happened - while you were there?”
I nod.
“You remember what he did to you?” His voice is tight.
I nod again.
“Did he - “ He can’t finish his sentence, but I know what he is worried about.
“No.” I whisper. “He - “ but now I can’t finish my sentence. My throat closes over the words I want to say.
Nevio waits, holding me.
“He beat me. He - he hurt me.”
“I know sweet, baby girl. I know. And he paid for that.”
“Is he dead?” I ask with bitter anger. I want him to be dead. I want him to have felt pain and met death in the same way he left me to suffer.
“We left him chained to the basement floor wearing nothing. He froze was dead within thirty-seven minutes. He screamed and begged for mercy, bt he found none.”
I nod, satisfied, feeling like some kind of justice was served.
Nevio leans away from me to look at my face.
“The swelling is going down nicely. Are you hungry? Do you want coffee or hot chocolate? What do you need?”
My stomach flips and growls loudly in response. I laugh. It’s a weird sound after everything I’ve been through, but it brings me comfort to still feel a smile on my face.
“Hot chocolate. And a burger and fries.” I grin. It hurts my lip.
“A burger and fries?” he asks, surprised.
I nod.
With a chuckle, Nevio gestures to the man standing just outside my door.
“Please arrange two burgers and fries and some hot chocolate.” He asks, then turns towards me. “I’m staying right here.” He lifts the covers and kicks his shoes off so that he can crawl into bed with me. I snuggle against his chest, trying not to touch my bruised side.
“What did the doctor say?” I ask, wondering how injured I really am because my body feels like I was dragged behind a truck for ten miles.
“One broken rib, fourteen stitches, and some deep bruising. He says the rib will take the longest to heal, but luckily it’s a hairline fracture. You need to rest for two weeks. You’re allowed to walk around, but mostly sleep - good food and a lot of cuddles.”
“The doctor recommended cuddles?” I giggle.
“No, I might have added that part in myself.” He pulls me closer to his body.
I feel him take a deep breath, his chest rising and falling.
“Lila - I was so scared. When I found out you were taken. I have never been that scared in my life.” He swallows. “I’m so sorry I didn’t find you sooner.”
“I knew you would find me, Nev.” I say calmly, looking up at him and seeing the pain in his eyes. “I never doubted it.”
He smiles, and the warmth of it lights his face.
I close my eyes again.
“Baby girl, your father has been around to see you every day since we found you. Yesterday he came over twice, wanting to see you. I haven’t let him in the house. I wanted you to make that choice. It isn’t mine to make.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want to see him.”
“He was there when we found you. He saw you - I think that only in that moment did he realize—”
“I don’t want to see him.” I repeat angrily.
I feel Nev’s hand brush through my hair. “I understand.” He says. “I won’t allow him into the house.”
The week that followed, I felt more like myself. I walked around the house, slept a lot, ate a lot, rested in Nevio’s arms a lot - and kept saying no every time my father came to the house.
The bruises faded to dark brownish yellow marks and eventually disappeared altogether.
At two weeks, the doctor removed my stitches and told me my rib was healing very well.
My body was getting stronger and healthy again, but my heart was still raging about what my father did.
Late one night, sitting on the sofa in the living room with a thick blanket wrapped around me as I lean against Nevio, I am thinking about my father.
The fire crackles loudly, warding off the heavy snow that is piling up on the ground outside.
“Winter is here.” Nevio says, hugging me against his body. My back is resting on his chest, his arms around my stomach.
“It’s really beautiful.” I reply, but my mind is elsewhere.
“Are you ok, Lila? I can see your skin is beautiful, your stitches are gone, you are moving with almost no pain - but your eyes are still distant.”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about my father. I think, now that I have seen with my own eyes what he traded me into, I think I hate him. I don’t want to hate him, though. It hurts me to have hate for my father.”
Nevio is quiet for a while, then he talks gently.
“You don’t hate him. You are angry with him - and you have every right to be. At the moment, it’s how you need to feel - and you should feel. Don’t stop yourself from feeling what you need to feel. When the time is right, those feelings might change. You might soften a little. Don’t feel bad for being angry with him, baby girl.”
Hearing him say that I am allowed to feel the way I feel is like someone lifting a heavy weight off my shoulders. Was beating myself up for hating my father, but he’s right. I can be angry. I have a right to feel this way.
I take a deep breath. How is it he always knows exactly how to soothe my worries and make me feel better?
I turn in his arms so that I am lying with my chin resting on his chest as I look up at him.
“Thank you.” I whisper.
And I mean it with all my heart.
“Thank you for coming to rescue me and thank you for taking care of me afterwards - and thank you - for understanding my heart.”
He cups his hand around my chin and presses his lips against mine.
“I will always be here for you, baby girl. No matter what happens.”