by Pua Ramona
Reese walks over to the girls and sits between them. He takes Megan’s and Mona’s hands and holds them. Both girls begin to cry and it fucking kills me to see this family dealing with so much. I mean, how many more times are they going to keep getting hurt? How many more times do they have to watch someone they love get hurt? They lost Micah a few days ago, then they lost a nephew, and a grandson. On top of all that, Sina’s back in the hospital because she’s been raped. Are they ever going to catch a fucking break? I hate that everything keeps happening to this family. I’m hurting for this family because I respect and love them as if they’re my own.
“I’m so sorry Miss Rita,” I say.
She shakes her head and says “No! You will not blame yourself for someone else’s doing. You didn’t know that this was going to happen, so you stop that right now.” The back of my eyes are burning, but I make sure to keep my tears at bay. Miss Rita holds my face in both hands and says, “I need to thank you for saving my daughter Eli.”
“Becca found her, not me.” I say but she cuts me off and says, “Luka and Daniel told me what you did. They told me that you were willing to stand in my daughter’s place.”
So much for holding these damn tears in. “I couldn’t let her cut herself. Every time she cut, I could feel her slipping away” I cried. “Miss Rita I know shouldn’t say that I would die for her, but I was willing to do it if it kept her alive. I would rather live for her and with her in my life because it’s how it should be.”
“You’re the one that was sent to save her from herself and from the demons that kept her away from us. You’re the one that her father and I prayed for” she says and she hugs me close. “Whatever you’re planning on doing, make sure it’s worth it.” She kisses my temple and sits down across from Reese and the girls.
“I called Marino, so he’s on his way,” Luka says. I don’t particularly want him to be here, but he’s one of her closest friends so I suck it up.
Daniel can tell that I’m getting irritated so he says, “Trust me Bro, you’re going to need him.”
“Need him for what?” I ask.
Luka moves in closer and says “You’ll need him to keep you out of prison uso.” I must’ve had a confused face on because Luka says “You can talk to him when he gets here. But E, whatever animosity you have against him set it to the side.”
I take a deep breath and say “Alright, fine.” Another two hours pass by and still nothing. Everyone tries to play it cool, but I know that they’re getting worried as time goes by without an update from anyone.
“Peterson family?” asks the doctor as he walks into the waiting area. We all stand up and move closer so we can hear what he has to say. I don’t realize that I’m holding my breath until I feel like I’m choking on my own air. None of us know what to expect so whatever the doctor tells us, we’ll deal with together.
“Hi, I’m doctor Lee and I want to thank you all for being so patient with us. It’s been a touch and go with Sina'' he says. I’m not sure if the room is getting smaller or if there just isn’t enough fucking air. “We did x-rays and ran tests on Sina. She has two broken ribs on her right side, there was a puncture wound on her left side and it looked like she landed hard on a piece of broken glass. She’s lucky that it didn’t go any deeper, but thankfully cleaning and stitches has treated it. Her face is pretty bruised, with several small cuts and her lower lip was cut open, so she needed a few facial stitches as well” he says listing her injuries. It’s too fucking much. I dread the last piece of information that he still needs to tell us. “Now, for the hard part,” he says. He takes a deep breath. “She was sexually assaulted. Whoever’s responsible for this did a number on her. She took a hard blow to the head. Either by manual force or she hit her head when she hit the ground, we aren’t sure of the specifics without speaking to her. We did an MRI scan, and it showed that Sina’s brain was swelling up, so we have had to put her in an induced coma.”
“Wait! She’s in a coma?” Megan cries.
The doctor looks at her and says, “An induced coma. It’s the only way that’ll help bring down the swelling of the brain. Her body needs to heal from the inside out, her medical records also showed that she just had a miscarriage a few days ago. That is a lot of trauma for her body to process.”
I clear my throat and ask, “How long will she be in a coma for?”
“It could be a few days, months, but that part will be up to Sina. This will help with the pain and her healing process initially, so when she’s ready to wake up then she’ll wake up. But right now, her body has been beaten badly so she needs all the rest and healing she can get.”
Mona and Megan are crying and my heart is struggling to keep a fucking beat. The guys are pretty quiet, but I know they’re burning on the inside with rage for whoever did this. Miss Rita has tears running down her face, but she holds her own.
Doctor Lee looks at Miss Rita and says, “Off the record, we did a rape kit for Sina, just incase she wanted to press charges. Hopefully when she does wake up, she’ll do just that.”
Miss Rita shakes his hand and says, “Thank you so much Doctor Lee.”
He looks around at all of us and says, “If it were my daughter, I would probably do the same thing. She doesn’t deserve to be in here.” He clears his throat and says “She’s being moved to her room. So when you’re ready you guys can all head over to see her.”
Before we follow him Miss Rita grabs my hand and says, “Will you stay with her Eli?”
I take a deep breath and say, “I was never leaving Miss Rita.”
“Good. Because I need to head back home so I can let everyone know that we’re going to hold off with the memorial service” she says.
“What about Auntie Lupe and the rest of them Mama?” Megan asks.
Miss Rita looks at her and says, “I don’t care what or how anyone’s going to feel. I won’t let your sister miss her own brother’s service.”
“But what if she doesn’t wake up anytime soon?” Daniel asks.
“God got us through this far, why would he stop now?” she says. “Don’t question your faith now. Your sister will wake up.” And I believe her words. Because if anyone can get through all the tough times, it’s this family.
“They have her in her room now, are you guys ready?” Doctor Lee asks.
Miss Rita smiles, getting up to follow the doctor and says “Yes, we are” leading the way for the rest of us.
Doctor Lee confirmed that she was raped, so I’m not going to stop until I find the piece of shit who did this to her.
Miss Rita says a prayer over Sina before she and the girls leave the hospital. To say that I’m hurt or bothered by how bad Sina looks would be the biggest fucking understatement of the year. It’s like someone has dug their way through my chest and ripped my broken heart out. I can't seem to keep my breathing even, alternating between short sharp pants and great sweeping inhales to fill the bottoms of my lungs when it felt like too much. Seeing her laid out on the bed hooked up to machines and covered in wires makes my soul ache. It feels like someone has just pulled the rug from underneath me, like everything is fucking falling apart and ’m not sure if I’m going to be able to put the pieces back together again.
There are so many things I wish I could’ve said to her, things that I want to tell her. I want to tell her that I love the sound of her crazy laugh, I want to tell her that the sound of her voice makes my heart go wild. I want to tell her that I’m crazy about her, I want to tell her that I want a life with her as my wife. I want her to be the mother of all eight of the children that I plan on having with her. I want to tell her that I fucking love her, and that she isn’t allowed to check out on me now. Fuck no.
I sit next to her and hold her hands, trying to find the right words. Words that she’ll hear, words that’ll help her come back to me, come back to us. Her hand is cold and I hate that it feels like she’s already gone. All the cuts on her arm are covered with bandages. I kiss her hand and then every sing
le one of her fingers. I kiss her bruised knuckles then I kiss the bruise that’s wrapped around her wrist. It makes me sick that even the inside of her wrist is bruised. It’s the one place that I kiss because it’s my way of letting her know that I love her. To kiss her pulse is the closest I can get to kissing her heart, and the motherfucker who did this tried to take that away from me.
I feel tears on my cheeks but I don’t care that the guys are in here with me. No one says anything. I mean what can anyone say when you’re dealing with something heavy like this? I kiss her hand again. “Baby, you take however long you need to heal. I’m not going anywhere, but I do need you to come back to me Sina. I need you to wake up when you’re ready.” My tears spill over onto her hand. “I’ll be waiting for you okay? And when you do, we’re going to build you your own little library and I’ll fill it up with a million books and all the love stories that it deserves. Sina, I need you to come back for Emma and for your family.” I feel a hand on my shoulder.
“Take your time Sis, we’ll all be here waiting for you. Just don’t take too long yeah?” Luka says around the lump in his throat. He kisses her on her head and he walks out of the room.
Daniel is next, he kisses the same spot that Luka did and says, “It’s not your time yet Sis, so quit playing around and wake up.” He wipes away his tears. “Love you Sis.” He takes a deep breath and follows after Luka.
I know Reese is struggling the most, because he has a special bond with Sina. They don’t have to have a full blown conversation for them to understand each other. Reese is basically one of the Peterson brothers, so I don’t question why this is affecting him just as badly, we all love Sina. He sits on the other side of the bed and takes her free hand. “Sina, I may not show it or even say it, but you mean something special to Leila and I. So I need you to wake up because we all need you. Leila needs you Sina. I need you.” He kisses her hand and says, “We’ll make sure we have your favorite cupcakes ready, so you better wake up before everyone else eats them.” He chuckles with tears in his eyes and kisses her hand again before he leaves.
It's just the two of us left. I don’t want to leave her, but I can’t just sit here and do nothing. I hold her little hand in both of mine, and I pray.
“Lord, I know I haven’t been good with this whole praying thing, but I’m asking you to please, please bring her back to us. Let her know that she has so much to live for. Emma needs her, we all need her. Lord, I know you don’t owe me anything, but I’m praying with my heart that you please bring her back to us. Amen.” I kiss her hand and say, “Alright baby, I’ll be here when you wake up.” I stand up and kiss her on her forehead. “I love you Sina” I whisper and I walk out of her room.
I’m leaving her, fuck no. But something had to be done and I was going to make sure it happened. I walk out of the room and Nurse Annie is standing outside the door. Annie was the only one that Sina was comfortable with when we lost baby Eli, so I asked her for a favor and she came through for me.
“How are you holding up?” she asks.
I shrug my shoulders and admit, “I’m not doing too good Annie”
She nods her head and says, “I’ll call you if there’s any changes, just make sure that you bring your ass back here before she wakes up.”
“Thanks for watching over her for me Annie” I say.
She smiles, “Be safe.”
“Don’t leave her alone, please” I say.
“I got this Eli, now go before I change my mind”, she says.
I give her a hug and say “I’ll be back.”
I knew Sina was safe with Annie. I walk out of the hospital and the guys are waiting for me, including Marino and Michael. They both have ties to her, so I don’t blame them for being here. At least I know that they still care for her. I should be with Sina right now, but my heart is telling me that I need to find out who is responsible for this. Which is why we’re standing out in the parking lot getting ready to go hunting. I don’t give a fuck that we don’t know who we’re looking for, because I’m not going to stop until I find the piece of shit that decided to use my heart as a fucking punching bag.
Chapter Sixty
Sina
Luka, Daniel, Reese, and my Eli. I heard them, but I couldn’t get myself to open my eyes or say anything. I couldn’t even move. I could tell that they were hurting by the tone of their voices. My heart ached for them. I knew that they were trying to be brave, but I also knew that they were scared. I hated that I didn’t fight harder, I hated that Jackson was the reason why we were all here. I could feel Eli’s tears on my hand. I felt his kisses, I felt how much he loved me. I heard his words. There was no way I wasn’t going to fight my way back to them. I could hear them, but I could also see a bright warm light in front of me, and it was calling me ,unless I’m just hearing things now too? I am in my head and not someone else's, right? I felt torn between waking up and staying here, because here I felt safe. I could hear Eli crying and it broke my heart. I wanted him to know that I was still here, I needed him to know that I loved him too. Something kept pulling me to the light. And the closer I drifted to the light ; the farther Eli’s voice was getting. No, no I can’t let him go. I need to get back to him, to all of them.
“Sina.” I look everywhere and I don’t see anyone.
“Sina.” I hear my name again. The voice sounds familiar. “Come back to me.” A different voice says. That one is Eli’s - I’d know it anywhere.
“Masina.” The mystery voice whispers.
It couldn’t be. “Daddy?” I call out. But nobody answers. If this is the end, then I need to tell Eli that I love him. “I love you” I whispered to him whilst closing my eyes, “I love you Eli, forever.”
“Masina.” I open my eyes and see Daddy standing there smiling at me.
“Daddy, is that you?” I ask. I don’t know what is real, if I’m still in my mind, or if I’m slowly dying and this is my reward for the evils that I have suffered at the hands of others. My chest starts tightening and my breathing is uneven as I begin to panic.
“Don’t be afraid, Sina,” Daddy says. I close my eyes, drawing a breath and trying to calm myself.
“This is not real; this is not real” I repeat. I open my eyes and Daddy is still there. “Am I dying? I’m not ready to die Daddy” I cry.
He smiles at me with his hand out and says, “Come take a walk with me.” I look over my shoulder and wait for Eli to call for me, but I can’t hear him anymore.
I look back at Daddy and say, “I don’t want to go Daddy, I can’t.” He reaches for my hand and I can’t hold it in anymore, I cry. I haven’t held my Daddy’s hand in such a long time. Feeling those big hands fold around my little one make the pain a little less excruciating. In Daddy’s hands was always a safe place to be.
“Shh, don’t cry” he says. I wait for Eli to talk to me again, but he doesn’t. So I take a deep breath and lace my fingers through Daddy’s and we walk. I don’t know where we’re going, but I know I’m safe. Whether this is all in my head, or not I don’t know, but I’m not going to question it anymore.
“Don’t be afraid Sina, you’re going to be okay” Daddy says.
I hold his hand tighter and say, “I know Daddy.” I look over my shoulder one last time and I know I’m not going to hear Eli anymore. “I love you forever Emma.” I blow a kiss in the breeze, hoping that they’ll feel it and know that it’s me. I take a deep breath and walk into the light without looking back. I know that everything is going to be okay because I have Daddy by my side.
Chapter Sixty-One
Eli
“Sorry about Sina, man” Marino says as shake his hand.
Michael steps forward. “Emma’s with Rita. I came here after she told me what happened. Anything you need man” he says with sadness in his eyes.
I clear my throat and say, “I appreciate you guys coming out.”
“She’s family,” Marino says. All the reasons I have for hating him don't exist anymore. I can’t hate a man for
loving her, so I accept it, thankful for another pair of eyes to watch over her.
“I need to go back to the lake, I had Daniel drive my truck here. Do you know where it’s been parked” I say turning to Reese.
“Yeah man, it's in the next lot over by Luka’s SUV. Her purse and phone were still in the truck when the police were finished going over it for evidence,” Reese says as he hands me my keys.
“The cops were at the lake looking for more evidence. The rain made it hard for them to do their job but they took what they found” Marino says. “I’ve got one of my guys keeping his eyes and ears out, so he’ll let us know if he finds anything.”
“Thanks man,” I say as I spin the keys on my finger trying to work out what to do when I get to the lake.
“No thanks needed” he says.
I need to collect myself before we start looking for the son of a bitch who did this to Sina.
“Are you sure you want to do this Uso?” Luka asks standing next to me.
“I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life, man. She shouldn’t be lying in that fucking bed like that. She didn’t fucking deserve this'' I growl. They all agree. I grab Sina’s purse to see if there’s anything in there that can somehow help us. I will never understand why women have so much shit in their big purses, but I won’t complain either. This girl has everything in here, including condoms. What the fuck? I look over at Marino, holding them in my hand and ask “You and her never, right?”
Marino rolls his eyes and says, “Not if she was going to think about your ugly ass while we're doing it.” I chuckle and mentally give myself a high five.
“Uso, did you really just ask if my sister was having sex?” Luka asks, shaking his head.