CHAPTER 2

He immediately picked her up into his strong, loving arms and carried her into the house. He went straight to the couch, upon which he softly placed her. Her eyes fluttered open. He sighed, closed his eyes and silently thanked god that his baby girl was alright.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded.

"Baby Girl, what where you doing outside in the rain?"

God, I really don't want to tell him. I wish mom was here. I would tell her, I want to tell her, I want to tell someone, anyone." She thought. Except, the man who was asking, her father.

So instead of telling him what had happened to her she simply sighed and replied: "Dad, I'm really tired and cold. Can I go take a shower first?"

She looked up at him and he felt his heart melt. "Off course you can, Baby Girl." He leaned toward her, and pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Her entire body tensed and she flinched slightly. It was very subtle. But he still picked up on it. He pulled back a little to look into her eyes and asked her again.

" Are you sure you're okay?"

She quickly nodded and got up, pulling the bath robe tight against her body. " I'm gonna take that shower now." She turned around and left. Leaving her father worried and anxious to find out what exactly was wrong with his Baby Girl.

She went upstairs. When she reached the bathroom, she started crying. She wanted to tell him so badly. She wanted to feel his arms around her. She wanted to hear him tell her that everything was going to be okay. But she couldn't, she couldn't tell him, she could barely look her father in the eye.

She sighed, took off the bath robe and watched herself in the mirror. There were scratches all over her arms, her back and her belly. She had bruises on her breasts and on her inner thighs. Her wrists, still showed the place where he had grabbed her to pin her to his bed. Slowly tearing her look away from the mirror, she stepped into the shower, welcoming the hot water that was slowly starting to warm her up again.

After Ruth went upstairs, Bo went into the kitchen. He started making her cocoa. He knew how much she liked that.

Besides, god only knows how long she had been sitting out there in the rain before I found her.

He remembered vividly how cold her wet skin had felt in his arms when he had carried her inside. After she collapsed in the yard. He shrugged when another memory pushed this one out of the way. She had flinched when he had given her a kiss on her forehead. That worried him even more than her cold skin. She had never pulled away from him before, besides, that kiss was something strictly between them. He never kissed any of his other children like that. He didn't even kiss Hope like that. The way he kissed her forehead was a way of saying that he loved her and that she was safe.

Why did she flinch?

After she came out the shower, she suddenly realized that she had nothing to put on. Her pajama was in her bedroom and the only piece of clothing in the bathroom, the bath robe, was soaked. She bit her lip. She didn't have a choice, she would have to ask her father to get her something she could put on. She opened the bathroom door to call him, when she froze.

I can't ask him to go get anything in my room.

Her torn and bloody clothes were still lying on her bed.

I can't risk him finding them.

She closed the bathroom door again and thought. Suddenly she got a brilliant idea. When she would get sick as a little girl, she could always sleep in one of his shirts, that used to calm her down. Her mom would make her some hot cocoa and she could spent the night sleeping in between her mom and dad. The memory made her smile. She opened the door and called him.

"Daddy?"

He turned his head when he heard her voice call him. She sounded weak and tired. So he went upstairs. When he got to the bathroom the door was closed.

"Yes, Baby Girl? I' m here, what's the matter?"

Her heart broke when she heard his voice. He sounded so worried. She almost wanted to tell him the truth. Almost.

Instead she replied: "Dad I forgot my pajama. I don't have anything to wear, I thought that you could…"

"Say no more, I'll go get them for you." Relieved that he could finally do something for his Baby Girl.

"No Dad, wait!" She sounded so scared that he froze and turned to the bathroom door.

"What is it Baby Girl? I thought you wanted me to go get your pajama? " He asked.

"I'm not feeling that well… so I thought that maybe… I could… borrow one of yours… like I used to… remember?"

He smiled, off course he remembered. It was the main reason he was making cocoa. Hope wasn't here and he knew how much his daughter missed her. " I'll be right back." He said walking to his bedroom. A couple of minutes later he reached the bathroom again. " If you open the door, I can give you my pajama."

She froze in terror.

He can't see me. Not when I look like this.

"Baby, Girl? Are you okay?"

She realized she eventually would have to answer him.

"Yeah… could you leave them there? I'll be down in a minute." She replied hoping he wouldn't ask her why she didn't just open the door and accept them.

Luckily for her the only thing he said was: "Okay, I'll see you in a minute."

She heard him drop something and sighed when she heard his fading footsteps.

She quickly opened the door, picked up the pajama he left for her, closed the door, put them on and left the bathroom. A few minutes later she was downstairs on the couch.

Her dad walked in. She smiled faintly when she realized what he had brought with him.

A cup of hot cocoa.