Chapter 6 - Aunt Rebecca Arrives
Rebecca Hale entered the hospital carrying no flowers, balloons, or gifts.
She carried two overnight bags filled with comfortable clothes.
The moment Chloe saw her, she began crying.
Rebecca stopped beside the beds.
“I’m here,” she said. “I should have come sooner.”
Faye looked away.
“We stopped answering you.”
“I know why.”
“Mom said you hated Edric.”
“I did.”
Chloe almost smiled.
Rebecca pulled a chair between the beds.
“Your mother told me you needed space. Edric sent messages from her phone saying I was upsetting you. I believed the messages came from her, but I never believed you were safe.”
“Why didn’t you call the police?” Faye asked.
Rebecca did not hide from the question.
“I did once. Your mother denied everything, and no one found enough evidence. After that, Edric threatened to accuse me of harassment if I contacted you again. I should have kept trying.”
The girls were quiet.
Rebecca did not ask for forgiveness.
She simply stayed.
She helped Chloe wash her hair without pulling at the medical tape near her shoulder. She found Faye’s favorite lemon crackers in the hospital vending area. She spoke to nurses, signed temporary caregiver forms, and listened whenever either twin wanted to talk.
Marissa was allowed one supervised visit that afternoon.
She entered slowly, escorted by Naomi.
Faye immediately became tense.
Chloe stared at the wall.
Marissa stopped several feet from the beds.
“I am not asking you to forgive me,” she said.
Neither girl responded.
“I told myself I stayed because I was protecting you. The truth is that I was afraid. I let my fear become your danger.”
Chloe turned toward her.
“You told the doctor we fell.”
“Yes.”
“You knew we didn’t.”
“Yes.”
“Then why should we ever trust you again?”
Marissa’s face tightened with pain.
“You shouldn’t. Not because I ask you to.”
Faye finally looked at her.
“What happens now?”
“I am giving the police everything. Every account, every name, every recording I know about. I signed permission for you to stay with Rebecca. I will not fight it.”
“You always told us family stays together,” Faye said.
“I was wrong. Safe families stay together. Unsafe ones need distance.”
The visit lasted seven minutes.
When Marissa left, she did not try to touch them.
Chloe watched the door close.
“She sounded different.”
Rebecca placed a hand on the chair, not on Chloe.
May you like
“Words are easy. Let her prove it with time.”
For once, no one asked the girls to comfort the adult who had failed them.
