......able to thank them enough

Bella’s POVThey checked me three times because Raymond would not stop asking. Other than the marks on my neck, I was fine. Rex’s hand had left a clear sign there, like he wrapped his fingers around my throat and decided to leave proof. My wrist had a dark blue mark too, from how hard Raymond had held me. I did not mind that one. My shoulder had been pushed out and forced back in, and it hurt like fuck. My ribs and back were covered in marks from the rope I had tied around myself. There was glass in my hands and legs. Still, I was alive. The baby was fine.The boys were not the same. Thomas had no marks on his body, but his mind was broken in ways no scan could show. Jemson had a head injury and his forehead was torn open. What hurt them inside was far worse than what showed on the outside.I was cleared to go home. They were not. They were admitted, and Raymond and I agreed to stay the night with them.Hospitals used to feel safe to me. They used to feel like shelter. Whenever life b

could I really blame her?

Author’s povColleen's legs gave out. She dropped to the floor, a raw, broken sound tearing from her throat as she started to cry. Lee Ann, startled and confused, rushed to her side. One moment they were watching the news, and the next, Colleen was on her knees, her eyes locked on the images of her son flashing across the screen. She had actually stepped closer to the television, as if she could not believe what her own eyes were showing her.Lee Ann crouched down and wrapped her arms around Colleen, holding her close, rocking her gently. But Colleen's weeping was a loud, desperate alarm. It brought the guards running. They flooded into the cell, pushing Lee Ann aside and crowding around Colleen, checking her for injuries. One guard grabbed Lee Ann, pulling her arms behind her back and holding her there.They thought she was the cause. They thought she had done something to make Colleen fall apart. Lee Ann tried to tell them, to explain about the news broadcast, but they did not liste

We are not clean. We are not perfect. But we are together.

BellaThe room for visitors never changed. It smelled like old coffee and the sour cleaner they used on the floors. It smelled like giving up. But right now, the air felt different. It felt heavy with what Colleen had just told me.“I can not walk out of here knowing he is still breathing.”Her hands held mine. They were rough now, from all the work she did for the other women. But they were shaking. She was holding so much anger inside, it was leaking out through her fingers. It scared me more than if she had screamed.“I will take care of them, Colleen,” I said. My voice was quiet. The promise made my stomach feel hard. “For as long as you need me to.”When I said it, her whole face changed. The tough look she wore in here just fell away. She was just a mom again. A mom who was so afraid of her own feelings. She let my hands go and rubbed her eyes with the back of her wrist. “Thank you. You and Raymond… you are giving me a kindness I did not earn.”“This is not about earning,” I tol

Wetting The Bed Of My Best Friend's Brother のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 131 - チャプター 133

......able to thank them enough

could I really blame her?

We are not clean. We are not perfect. But we are together.