Page 56 of Embracing My Nightmare
Chuck: He didn’t touch her like that. He did . . . touch himself . . . on her . . . but she swears that was it.
Me: How is she holding up?
Chuck: The shock is beginning to wear off and they have given her a mild sedative. I’m taking her to my house but will know more tomorrow.
Me: Thank you for telling me. You didn’t have to.
Chuck: She asked me to let you know.
I felt my heart lift and I smiled, knowing we may have a rough road ahead, but my lamb would be home soon.
***
Elise
CHUCK INSISTED THATI go to the hospital and someone named Skid drove us there. I asked to be taken to the one in Pierce Bluff and the drive back was silent as my tears fell unchecked. My head was resting against his shoulder and my eyelids grew heavier the further away we got from the nightmare that had plagued me since I was a child.
The doctors at the hospital checked me out with Chuck waiting just outside the door. I was explaining to them I hadn’t been sexually assaulted when Blaire came into the room and I felt the tears start to fall faster. She held my hand and I relayed everything to them, from being taken in the parking lot to waking up in the house.
I was waiting for the police to question me, but they never showed up. They allowed me to take a shower at the hospital, gave me a clean pair of scrubs and then discharged me with a prescription for a mild sedative. I felt better after washing his touch from my skin and I left, hand in hand with my parents.
Skid was nowhere to be seen when we got into Blaire’s car and headed toward their home.
“Where are we going?” I asked them as the medication started tofog my brain.
“We’re going to take you to our house for tonight. After that, we’ll let you decide,” Blaire said from the driver’s seat and I nodded.
With my face toward the window, I asked, “Can you let Devlin know what the hospital said?”
“Sure, sweetheart,” Chuck replied and texted on his phone. I heard it chime a few times and wanted to ask what he was saying, but refrained, not sure if I was ready to hear the answers.
The passing scenery was blurring into an endless picture and I allowed sleep to take me away from the memories. I felt Chuck lift me into his arms and carry me into the only real home I had ever had. The familiar smells were a comfort as I blinked my heavy lids against the powerful medication. I didn’t want to sleep, afraid the nightmares would pull me back into the darkness. Chuck laid me on the couch, and I felt a soft blanket being placed over me.
I looked up and saw them with their arms around each other. I smiled at them and whispered, “Thank you.”
They each kissed me on the top of my head before they walked into the kitchen and left me alone on the couch. Unable to fight the intense pull, I fell into the shadowy tunnel of sleep. In the darkness, the visions of my past played like a kaleidoscope, telling the story of a little girl named Penny who no one wanted.
I remembered calling for Lynn when I was left at the church and I pushed through the pain, thinking about the times he would visit. I knew there were memories that would never return and I was glad my young age had helped to minimize the damage to my psyche. It made sense now why I was always reminding myself that I wasn’t special.
I fought the visions of my mother having sex with countless men, each more vulgar and disgusting than the last. The vision of the horrible man that had named me cockroach killing a poor woman in front of me faded into the darkness and I was carried into a dreamless sleep, far away from the real nightmares that I ran from.
I woke up and the sun was almost down in the sky, ushering in the grey hues that would soon turn to black. Blinking, I looked across the living room to find Chuck reading from his Kindle in the chair and Blaire had her laptop, fingers flying over the keys. I smiled at them and stretched, drawing both of their attention.
“Hey, sweetheart. How are you feeling?” Blaire asked, and I sat up, placing my feet on the floor.
“Like I got beat up.” I shrugged. “It’s nothing a long soak in a tub won’t cure.”
They looked at each other and back to me, worry stretched across their face as they observed me.
“I’m fine, I promise.” I smiled at them and felt the throb in my cheek.
The dream had purged it all from me, a final resolution to the demons that chased me my whole life. In my head, I had always been running from that house and I wasn’t afraid anymore.
“Are you hungry?” Chuck asked and I nodded, hearing my stomach growl loudly.
He smiled and went into the kitchen. Blaire got up and sat next to me, taking my hand into hers. She looked down the hallway and spoke low next to me. “He doesn’t blame you for Cameron and neither do I. He’s worried that you blame him for what happened.”
“Never. It wasn’t his fault.” I heard a noise over my shoulder and saw Chuck standing there with a bowl of soup in his hand, his face blanketed in guilt. I stood and walked to him, taking the soup and placing it on the end-table. I wrapped my arms around his waist, and he pulled me into a hug. “It wasn’t your fault. I’m sorry that I . . .”
