Page 24 of The Cleaner

Tomorrow will be exciting when Tommy finds out what happened to his son. That'll be fun, and I can't wait for the fall out.

Chapter

Ten

LISA

Four Months Later

I feelthe bed dip beneath me and instantly I'm awake. For the past four months, it's been the same every single night. Devin has night terrors. They're horrendous and they're loud. The first night he had them, I thought someone was trying to murder him. I made it into his bedroom before Orna did, and what I walked into is something that's etched into my brain forever. Devin was fast asleep, tears spilling from his eyes as he tried to fight off someone. He was pleading and begging them to stop, promising whoever was hurting him that he would be a good boy, that he'd be better.

I was stuck, frozen on the spot. I know from my own experience with night terrors that waking the person up could be detrimental to them. Thankfully, Devin woke up, panting and crying. I climbed onto the edge of his bed and sat with him. I held his hand and talked to him as he calmed down from his nightmare. He had wet the bed and himself during his terror, and he was so ashamed, so embarrassed. I think he thought we'dbe upset. I promised him we weren't, that we were just glad he was safe. Orna took him and gave him a shower as I cleaned his bed and changed his sheets. Thankfully, Orna had purchased multiple protective sheets that stop bedwetting from seeping through to the mattress.

That was the first night that Devin crawled into my bed and slept. He didn't have any more nightmares while with me, but each night, he goes into his own room and tries to sleep. He's not had a huge terror like that in about a month, which is huge progress and it means that he's feeling safer with Orna and I. He also has an amazing support system around him. He has Orna and me, along with social worker, Meg, and his therapist, Gillian, who's one of the best when it comes to children. He's not alone, and I truly hope that he sees that and feels it.

"Hey, Dev," I whisper softly, not turning over.

"I'm sorry," he replies just as softly.

"What are you sorry for?" I ask, a furrow forming between my brows.

"For being here. I know I should be in my own bed."

"You're fine. I don't mind. Sometimes we need support." I turn in the bed and see that he left my bedroom door open. The light from the hallway shines in and I'm able to see the tears streaming down his face. "What's wrong?"

He buries his head against my shoulder, his fists clenching in my sleep shirt. He shakes as sobs wrack through his tiny body. "Dad," he gasps. "He wants me back."

"What?" I gasp, unsure that I've even heard that right. There's no fucking way that monster is to be anywhere near Devin. He's beaten him and landed him in hospital. There's a court order for him not to be anywhere near Dev.

"He was at my school," he says, still whispering, his body trembling with fear. "Lisa, he's going to get me."

"He won't," I promise him. I'm going to make sure that he doesn't.

"Promise?" he asks, trembling against me.

"I promise," I vow. I won’t let him down. No way. Fuck no. The fear he has seeps from him. I can feel it against me. I won't let anything happen to him.

"Gilly told me what my dad did to me was called rape," he says a little while later. Gilly is what he calls his therapist. It helps her seem friendlier to him and it really helps him settle around her and open up.

My entire body freezes at his words. They’re so small, so terrified, yet sound so fucking loud.

"I didn't know what it was. It hurt so much. I kept bleeding."

I close my eyes tight, breathing hard through my nose, trying to stop the tears from falling. Oh my God. That monster. That fucking animal.

"Gilly told me that no one had the right to do that to anyone. She was really upset when I told her what happened."

I swallow hard. I have no doubt she was. I don't know all the details nor do I want to, but I can guess that it rocked Gillian to her core, as it has done me. "She's right, baby. She's so right. No one has the right to hurt you and no one has the right to rape you. Ever. I'm so very sorry that your dad did that to you. But let me tell you something," I say low, but my voice is clear and full of conviction.

"What's that, Lisa?" he asks, his hands still clenched around my sleep shirt.

"Our families are who we choose, not who made us. We get to choose who we want to be our parents and our family. I love my ma. She was the best and she'll always be my ma. I don't have a dad, not anymore. Ben doesn't deserve to be called that. So I call him Ben. If you want and you're ready, you don't have to call the man who hurt you your dad."

He looks up from my chest, his eyes bright and soaked with tears. "Really?"

I nod. "Really. Our family doesn't hurt us, Dev. They shouldn't. And we finally have the power now that we're free of them to make that decision for ourselves. It hurts knowing that we don't have them anymore, but when you're ready to make that decision, let me know and we'll think of a name to call him, yeah?"

I have a lot of names that spring to mind, but Dev's so young, so sweet, and so fucking caring. His father hurt him. God, he hurt him in ways no one should ever be hurt, especially at such a young and vulnerable age; an age when kids love their parents unconditionally and will do anything to please them. That fucker hurt Dev so damn much.

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