The New Home ((G/T))

Chapter Twenty-One

"Alright, that should do it." The blonde nurse said with a smile, pushing some of her hair out of her face. "Little Kiana's swelling will go down sometime tomorrow, and the smaller bruises should be fading. Her eye and cuts aren't infected either, which is another good thing." 

Kiana stretched her arms out as she sat on the pillow of the hospital bed, twitching her ears happily. "Thank you Miss...um..." She trailed off as she turned her eyes up to the name badge on the nurse's uniform before looking back to her adoptive mother. "What's her name tag say?"

Lily laughed softly at the Neko, happy that she was so polite. "Melanie dear. But you don't have to call her Miss. Which brings up another thing I want to talk to you about later." She murmured, lifting the small child off of the pillow.

"Oh, well, thank you, Melanie." Her brown orbs looked back up to the nurse as she smiled. "It was very nice of you to make sure I wasn't hurt worse than I was." 

Melanie just shook her head with another warm smile as she responded. "It was my pleasure." Her silver eyes wandered over to the clock before her smile grew. "You can go to Abigail's room now. The surgery should be done, but she'll most likely still be unconscious." 

Everything else left Kiana's mind as she heard this and immediately latched onto Lily's finger. "Oh, let's go! Let's go! We need to hurry and see her!" She grinned up at her excitedly, though there was still worry and guilt behind her eyes and swelling in her chest. 

"Alright, alright dear. Let's go." Lily thanked the nurse again as she left the hospital room before heading to the one her daughter was in. When she walked in she was surprised to already find Caleb kneeling by the bedside, his hands gripping one of Abby's. 

"Caleb, I think you should try and rest," Lily said softly as she too approached the bed with Kiana. 

"I'm going to stay up Lily. I love you, but I can't sleep. What if something happens to her while we sleep?" He whispers, his thumb brushing Abigail's knuckles. 

"Nothing will happen Caleb. Because she's going to get better. She's going to come home once she recovers and she's going to wake up. She's going to go back to school and she's most certainly going to have more time to be a big sister to Kiana! And you need to stop talking like this, you and Kiana both! You're only upsetting yourselves!" 

Caleb remained silent as his wife spoke, and even a few moments after. His dark green orbs then turned to meet Kiana's small brown ones and he stood up. "You're right, I'm sorry Kiana." He said softly, his hands lifting her from Lily's. "I'm so sorry."

"D-Don't apologize Master Caleb." Her arms wrapped around a couple of his fingers. "And thank you, Miss Lily, I-"

"Let me stop you there." Lily laughs, smiling kindly down at her adoptive daughter. "This is what I wanted to talk to you about. You don't have to call us Master, Miss, Ma'am...you're our daughter now. And you can call us mom and dad." 

The Neko's black ears perked up slightly and she suddenly looked ecstatic. "I-I really can?! I've been wanting to, but I didn't want to get into trouble! I thought you might get mad at me, but then again I didn't know!" She squealed out most of the words but she was genuinely happy.

"Yes, really. I caught that earlier when she called me 'Master Caleb' and wanted to say something but I was still very angry. I hope they catch that person before I do otherwise I might have to take a knife and shove it-"

"Caleb." Lily's voice interrupted with a slight warning tone. "Not in front of both of our children, okay? I know you're furious but you can furious once we get to court."

This made a smirk cross the man's face. Because of his position as a scientist, it helps him a lot on these sorts of cases. And he's glad. He worked hard through school to get to where he is now. And he's happy. A beautiful, kind wife. And now two beautiful little girls he needs to protect. "Yes, you're right." 

"Yes, I know I am. I always am." She replied, taking a seat in one of the chairs near the bed. "Now, let's all take a deep breath and calm down. Finally." Her eyes turned to Abigail who was still lying on the bed, a hospital gown poking out over the top of the blanket, her hair pulled up into a ponytail so it didn't get in her face. Had Lily not known the truth, she would have thought she was asleep. But that most certainly wasn't the case.

Kiana nestled against Lily with a quiet sniffle, fighting back tears so she didn't worry her new mom or dad again. But her eyes remained on Abigail's 'sleeping' face, hoping for any movement. Any sign that the teen might wake up. But there was none that she could tell. Sure she doesn't know too much about humans, but she can tell when someone's about to wake up. 

That she learned back with the second man who bought her. She began to pay attention to the way eyelashes fluttered, or slight movements took place. She used these to try and hide in time at first, but he found out her plan pretty quick. And this is what scares her most. He's smart. He knows what he's doing. Because she was able to catch a glimpse of the man who had broken in. 

It was the same one who grabbed her at the store. The same one who abused her longer than any other man who had her. And little did she know of the human customs, that this would prove to be a huge help to both the police officers and her new family.