While Otis was becoming more comfortable with Macie, he still felt very wary about Abram. He was a kind, gentle man, but Otis had learned not to trust men especially. They could not only hit you, but could abuse you in horrible other ways.
Macie and Abram sat at the kitchen table with their coffees early in the morning, before Otis had awoken.
"I...I can't even think what could have happened to him..." Macie lamented.
Abram shook his head. "I...He's especially scared of me...It breaks my heart. I just want to be a father to him, but he's so petrified...Yesterday, when he begged me not to do something, he said...He said something like 'you can hit me but don't do that'...What in the world could he have meant?"
"Well...We could ask him, at any rate. If you really want to know. I don't know that you do, though..."
"If it's something that could mean extra medical care or something, though...I want to know so we can get him the help he needs." Abram stared into his mug. "I don't want something to be wrong with him and just neglect him and have him suffering..."
"He's suffered enough in his lifetime...You're right, Abram."
Macie traveled up the stairs and into Otis's room. The sweet little angel lay sprawled in the bed, slumbering, bear clutched to his side. His hair was shorn when they had rescued him from the evil clutches of his parents, but it was beginning to grow, snowy and soft. She hoped he didn't want to keep his head shaved. He looked so adorable with the little sprigs of white blonde. She loved how expressive his eyes were. They glittered blue and purple and crimson in the sunlight, but in dim house light, they were a beautiful poppy red. He was unique, and she loved every bit of him for it.
He whimpered, face cinching in fear as he drew the covers closer around himself.
"Ohh, sweetheart." She soothed, gently stroking his face. "It's okay."
Gasping softly, he stirred awake, shrinking into the bed.
"Good morning, sleepy." She cooed.
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, sitting up.
"You want to go downstairs and have some breakfast, love?"
He blushed lightly, clutching his bear to him once more. She knew he would still be bashful about admitting hunger.
"I think Abram is hungry. Why don't you come down and have some food, too?"
"Okay." He followed her obediently.
"Hey, there's my little pal!" Abram greeted, a little too loudly. Otis flinched when he turned in his seat to greet him; Abram's eyes dimmed in sorrow.
Macie helped Otis into a kitchen chair as she began to cook their breakfast.
"So, Otis...What've you got in that little back pack you brought?" Abram asked.
"U...Uhm..." Otis clutched his teddy bear, burying his chin in its soft fur. "S...Some clothes...p...pencils...glue...a...a...and...and m...m...my notebook..."
"Oh! A notebook, huh? You like to draw?" Abram asked, eyes lighting up once more.
"Y...Yeah...A...And I...I cut stuff out from...from the newspaper mommy and daddy u...used to read a...and I...I put it in there, too..."
"Do you write in it?" He asked.
"Mm-hm...Sometimes..." He said, avoiding eye contact with Abram; instead, he stared at the teddy bear's face.
"Do you think you could show me sometime?" He asked. "I would love to see your drawings. I bet they're wonderful!"
"Th...They're not...I...I'm not very good..."
"Oh, you're just being modest! I'm sure they're great."
Otis offered a small smile. "Maybe..."
"I love to see you smile, you know that?" Abram said, voice soft and loving.
Otis blushed brightly, burying his face in his bear.
They ate, and once Macie had cleaned up, she pulled Otis's chair over in front of Abram, joining them in a circle. Otis began to tremble, and Macie noticed him squeeze his bear, just as she had told him to do.
"Sweetie...We want to ask you about something. And we want you to know, no matter what you tell us, we won't be mad, okay?" Macie began. "But we do want you to tell us the truth. We want to know what happened so if you need help, we can get you what you need okay?"
Otis nodded, tears beginning to form in his eyes from pure fear.
"When you were upset last night when we found your food stash, and I put you on the bed, you begged me not to do something to you. You said I could hit you, which I would never, ever do- but you begged me not to do something else. What is that something else?"
Otis shook, beginning to whimper and sob. He was absolutely petrified. What if he answered and they hurt him like his daddy did? But what if they made him feel better? It was a risk he had to take. There was no feasible way out of this situation that he saw.
"A...Almost every night...D-daddy...R...really hurts me..." He began.
"And how does he do that, Otis?" Macie asked, eyebrows knit in concern.
"He...He..." Otis swallowed heavily. "He u-undresses me..."
Macie closed her eyes, swallowing a lump in her throat. She had feared this the most. She had prayed that this wouldn't be his answer.
"A-and...H-he...He...I...I don't know w...what it is, b-but...He calls it 'fucking' a-and it really h-hurts..."
Abram's face turned white. "Otis-"
"A...And I don't understand...why...but...White stuff comes out of me a...and he tells me that means I like it...I don't! I hate it! It hurts so much and it makes me feel so yucky and dirty but I don't know why and he tells me I like it!" He began to sob hysterically, clutching his bear and burying his face in it entirely. "And sometimes he puts his...his thing he hurts me with that...that I have too...I...In my mouth and he makes me suck on it and I hate it, too! And...And then warm stuff fills my mouth and he makes me swallow it!"
Despite himself, Abram began to cry with Otis. He drew the small boy in his arms, rocking him and squeezing him tightly in a warm embrace. Otis drew away in awe. He had never seen another man cry before. He was horrified, being in Abram's arms, but he felt, instinctively, that he wouldn't be harmed.
"W...W...Why are you crying?" Otis asked.
"Because a little boy like you should never have to go through that. Ever. Any of it..." Abram sobbed. "And I'm so, so sorry that it happened to you."
Macie sat, shaken by the entire situation, dumbfounded.
A few days later, they drove Otis to the doctor's office again. He seemed content, knowing that he hadn't been harmed before, and had no fear that he would this time.
The doctor gently peeled his shirt off, examining the bruises and welts that he had seen before.
"These seem to be looking much better." He praised. "And proper rest and food is doing wonders for him, it seems. I see a little nurturing love hasn't hurt, either." He smiled softly at Otis, who was still wary, but calm.
"Doctor..." Macie spoke. "A few days ago, he told us about...Some of the abuse he's been through...It...seems as though his father sexually abused him...Repeatedly..."
"What...?" The physician murmured, stunned. He turned to Otis. "When was the last time your father did this to you, son?"
"Uhm...Th...The day they picked me up..."
"And how often did it happen?" He asked.
"A...Almost every day...S...Sometimes a few times in a day..." Otis seemed confused. Why was this important?
"Okay...Macie, Abram, I'm going to need you to keep him calm. I'll have a nurse hold him down if need be. But I need to do an exam..."
"Alright..." Macie answered hesitantly. She and Abram approached the exam table, handing Otis his bear. "Here, sweetie. You just hold onto this, okay?"
"W...What's happening?" Otis asked.
"It's okay, sweetheart. Don't be scared."
"W...What're you going to do to me? W...What did I do wrong?"
"Shhhh, baby no. You didn't do anything wrong." Macie stroked his face. "The doctor is just going to take a look at you where your Daddy hurt you, okay?"
"W...What?"
"It's okay. We'll be right here. They won't hurt you like he did, they're just taking a look to see if everything is okay."
The doctor pulled off Otis's pants and underwear, placing a white paper sheet underneath him. Suddenly bashful, Otis tried to pull his shirt down to hide himself.
"Here, buddy." The doctor draped a blue paper sheet over Otis's lap, fastening it around his waist. "Now lay down for me, okay? On your back."
Relief washed over Otis. Macie and Abram were right. He wasn't going to do what his father had done. He obeyed, looking at his new parents for reassurance as he clutched his bear. Two nurses came into the room, one at Otis's feet, the other at his head.
"Just relax, sweetheart." Macie soothed, stroking his face. Otis nodded. He felt the blue paper being flipped onto his stomach and ventured a look down. The nurse at his head pulled the blue sheet up to hide what was occurring.
"This will be a little uncomfortable. Just bear with me, okay?" The doctor called from behind the sheet.
Otis felt him touching him where he had been touched so many times unpleasantly. He whimpered, squirming. He squeezed his bear, looking at Macie. She stroked his face, trying to soothe him. "I know, baby. I'm sorry."
"He doesn't have the appearance of any STD's..." The doctor muttered. "Now, I'm going to adjust him so he's in a better position for me. But he's probably going to be very alarmed. So please, make sure he stays still."
Otis felt him grab his ankles and place them so that his feet were flat on the table. He felt too exposed as the doctor spread his legs farther. "H...Help me..." He pleaded.
"You're okay, sweetheart. You're okay. It's okay." Macie cooed.
The nurse at his feet grabbed his ankles then, holding him still. The nurse at his head put a hand on his chest.
"Okay. Now just relax, young man. The more still you stay, the quicker this will be over."
And then Otis felt it: that white hot pain he had felt so many times before, that always ended in humiliation.
"Noooooo..." He whimpered, squeezing his bear with all his might, tears rolling down his face.
"I know sweetheart...I know...It's okay..." Macie cooed again.
Otis screamed as the doctor probed more. "STOP! IT HURTS! PLEASE!" He sobbed, desperately trying to struggle. "PLEASE STOP! PLEASE!"
Macie began to sob, her tears falling on Otis's face. "Baby, it's okay. I know you're scared but it's okay...They're not trying to hurt you they're trying to make sure you're okay..."
Abram was silent, head down in shame as he watched the ordeal. He knew it was for the best, but it didn't make the pain in his heart for this little boy vanish.
Otis shrieked. "IT HURTS! STOP! STOP!"
Finally, the doctor wheeled away, snapping his gloves into the trashcan. Macie collected Otis as quickly as she could, holding him tightly to her chest as he sobbed frantically, trembling uncontrollably.
"Shhhh, baby. Shhhh. You're okay. You're fine. It's okay. Shhhhh..." She stroked his hair and his back, bouncing him in her arms as if he were a baby. He wrapped one arm around her neck, the other clinging to his bear for dear life. He buried his head in the crook of her neck, quickly soaking it with tears. "It's okay, baby. It's okay..."
"There...does appear to be some damage...But it should heal with the absence of abuse, now. You can take him home and let him rest. He's had a rough day..."
"Yes...thank you." Abram muttered. They redressed Otis, battling him through his trembling and sobbing, desperately trying to recoil into Macie, who could only push him away, in tears herself, as they tried to dress him to go home.
Once they had him dressed, they paced the hallways of the hospital with him, trying to get him to calm himself down. He sobbed brokenheartedly, clinging to her desperately; his one source of comfort besides his bear.
"Shhh, baby boy. It's okay, Otis..." Once he had quieted, out of actual calm or sheer exhaustion, they weren't sure, they loaded him into the car and drove home. His screams of terror and sobs were replaced with a deadly silence.
Upon arriving home, Macie and Abram sat closely together on the couch, holding Otis between them, wrapped tightly in a blanket with his bear. They sat, holding him together for hours. He was silent and still, except for a few instances where he would shudder, and Macie would sooth him, pressing a sweet kiss to his forehead. He stared straight ahead, eyes wide in terror, until he couldn't hold them open anymore, and drifted to sleep.