The Adopted Voight

Healing & Shopping

Adeline Rae

"If you never heal from what hurt you, you'll bleed on people who didnt cut you"

I woke up from the best sleep I've had in years. Waking up to peace and quiet rather than chaos.

The bed was so comfy compared to my hard unsteady bed I had before.

I loved this room. The grey, fluffy carpets and orchid white walls created a safe, warm feeling and the rays of sunshine peeking in through the curtains created a nice glow to the room.

I tried to sit up but quickly laid back down at the unexpected wave of pain that hit me. The numbness from the night before was gone, leaving me to feel every bit of the pain.

I was scared. Things were changing and I wasn't used to change and i couldn't help but get attached to this new safety and warmth.

I just laid in bed for the next hour. Simply thinking about everything. I was good at that. Thinking about everything until my head started to hurt.

The door opened quietly and Hank walked in cautiously.

"Good morning kiddo. How long have you been up?", Hank asked.

"Just woke up", I lied out of instinct.

I did that a lot. Even when someone asked a simple question, my first instinct was to lie because that's how I'd survived for so long.

"How are you feelin'?", Hank asked.

"Good", I replied, instinctively.

"OK, good. Erin will be here soon. Why don't you get dressed? I've grabbed some of Erin's jeans and a t-shirt , and then you can have some breakfast and take the pain meds", Hank said, to which I nodded and attempted to get out of bed again, still wincing in pain.

Hank had left now, placing the clothes on the foot of the bed.

I grabbed them and went into the attached bathroom, stopping in fright when I looked at my reflection in the mirror.

No, No, that wasn't me.

The girl's face in the mirror was bruised so bad. Her nose was swollen and her whole face was a mess of bruises and swelling.

No wonder it hurt so bad.

I stared at myself for a few minutes. Although my eyes were swollen, there was a calmness in my blue eyes that I hadn't seen in a long time.

I sighed and got in the shower, letting the warm water soothe my pain.

After wrapping a towel around my hair and body, I quickly got dressed and started rummaging through the cabinets to see if there was anything I could use to hide my bruises but found nothing.

There was a knock on the door and I answered with come in.

Hank walked in, looking at me with concern.

"Hey, how are you feeling? How's the pain?", Hank asked.

"Fine", I replied.

Hank sighed, not looking convinced but said, "OK let's get some breakfast then, Erin will be here soon", I nodded and followed him downstairs to the open kitchen and dining room.

"So what do you feel like today? There's cereal, toast, and yoghurt. I was going to make pancakes but I wasn't sure if you'd like it", Hank explained.

"Cereals fine. I like pancakes but not with butter. And I like toast too", I clarified.

"Great. I'll get you a bowl of cereal. Milk first or after? Erin always puts milk in the bowl before the cereal. That's so weird right?", Hank asked.

"No milk. I don't like milk on my cereal", I explained.