Chapter Sixty-Five
Franny shook her head harshly at the request, her repetitive pacing led her over to where the nurse happened to be lurking. She stood directly in front of her and peeked her eyes through the sliver of door which remained open. Though it was a challenge, when she squinted she was instantly able to make out her father's silhouette sitting in a wheelchair behind the other side of the door. The sight was repulsive to her, she swallowed uneasily and returned her stare onto the nurse. Who remained motionless in her spot, peering back with a slightly puzzled look in her eyes.
"No, that man is not allowed in this room or anywhere near my sista. Is that understood?"
Taken aback by the unexpected aggressiveness in the unfamiliar woman's tone of voice, the blonde nurse held up her hands as she cautiously backed a few feet away from her. She wasn't aware of what could be causing such a hostility between her and the father waiting in the hallway but she certainly wasn't about to do anything to encourage it. "I'm sorry, ma'am, I'm not trying to stir up an issue here. I just—Mr. Morello wanted to make sure your sister is okay, that's all. But I'll, uh, I'll just wheel him back to his room."
Scratching the back of her head, Franny felt an involuntary utterance squeal through her larynx. A breath of air forced its way out next and she shook her head spitefully. Leave it to their father to manipulate an innocent nurse into thinking he was just being a good dad checking in on his daughter, she thought with a bitter taste in her mouth. She sighed and tried her hardest to not display her distaste in front of the nurse. "Yeah, hmm, I'm sure our dad told you that. He's real good at making everyone else believe he's a caring fatha. Did he also mention he's here because he drank himself to death instead of properly taking care of Lorna? I doubt it cause' that wouldn't be good for his whole 'I'm a good daddy act'," she spoke through gritted teeth, trying to retain as much of the anger as possible.
However, once she finished speaking, she caught a glimpse of the apprehensive expression on the nurse's face and felt a bout of regret for the edginess in her voice. It wasn't as if the blonde had known anything about them, she acknowledged, this was all just a simple mistake facilitated by their master manipulator of a father. "Sure, you can just let him know his daughta is fine—no thanks to him."
"Oh—okay, I will let him know. Thank you," the skittish blonde nurse gave a nod to Franny before turning to go right back out the door she had only moments ago entered in from.
The room hadn't been left silent for much longer when the sound of Mr. Morello's shouting in the hallway pierced through the opening of the door. Not a considerable amount of time after was it that all of them witnessed a very rageful Mr. Morello pushing himself into the room and the sound of wheels squeaking against the floorboard. He wheeled himself to the edge of the bed his youngest daughter rested on and glared menacingly down at her.
"What the hell are ya doin' layin' in a public hospital bed with your dyke girlfriend? God, do ya enjoy makin' a mockery of me and our family?" He snarled, not caring that saliva fell from his mouth and landed on his daughter's arm.
Red was all Nicky saw the second her ears heard the repugnant voice of her girlfriend's father hurling taunting queries at her. Her arms tightened around Lorna's waist, pulling her closer so that her face was hidden in her chest away from the view of Mr. Morello. She lifted her face, pressing her chin gently atop the other's head, and glared daggers up at him. "She's laying here with me—not that it's any of your business but I'll humor ya—because I know how to love and protect her from sick fucks like you," she matched his ominous tone with one of her own.
Anger seethed in nearly every vein and capillary of her body. She couldn't stand being in the same room as that man for even a second. His face, alone, made her skin crawl. Her teeth clattered violently with venom. Venom that she so strongly wished she could use to kill him with. However, she refrained and used the yearning for that to pull Lorna even closer. Wanting to shield her from any and everyone who ever even had the passing thought to bring her an ounce of harm.
"Did I ask you to answer me?" His brown eyes darkened as they looked the wild-haired redhead methodically over. His rage only strengthened at her smart-aleck retortion to his questions which were meant for his daughter to answer. "You look like ya sit and snort drugs all day, huh? And now ya tryna indoctrinate my little girl to be a sick lesbian like you."
Though Nicky's hold on her was rather fierce, hearing her father's insults towards her was enough for Lorna to carefully maneuver herself out of it. However, before she made any other moves, she turned to Nicky and peered lovingly into her eyes, cupping a hand around her cheek so that she could properly peck her lips in an affectionate manner. Once she released the quick kiss, she forced herself out of the bed and steadied her balance with the pole of her IV.
Holding a hand carefully around the metal object, she walked the two steps towards her father and towered over him with a darkness oozing through her brown eyes. "I don't care if-if ya call me names or yell at me but-but ya don't—you don't have no right to insult my sweet girlfriend, Nicky. I love her. I love her so, so much and there ain't nothin' you can do to change that."
A taunting chuckle bounced its way from Mr. Morello's throat. He shook his head furiously and reached a hand up to grab rather harshly onto one of Lorna's shoulders. His grasp was so fierce that it automatically had the force to bring her closer therefore their faces were on eye level. He glared heatedly into her brown ones, desiring to smack his hand gruffly against her cheek but he kept the desire from playing out. He couldn't—not when there were other people around to witness it, he irritatingly thought.
"Ya think because I'm in this wheelchair that you have any right to speak me that way, young lady? I'm your fatha. And if you raise that filthy mouth a yours again—"
"What are ya gonna do? You can't do nothin' because people are watchin' you," Lorna retorted back, throwing her hands up. She mirrored his cold stare, bouncing her shoulders up in a shrug. The longer her eyes lingered on her dad's the less she cared what he tried to do her. She didn't have the energy or stamina to incessantly worry and fear the abuse much more. Her brain still felt rather fuzzy from the earlier fainting incident which she remained without memory of.
Mr. Morello dug his nails as deep as he could into the clothed shoulder his hand grappled around. Every time Lorna opened her mouth his anger and fury intensified further. His longing to smack her kept on growing. He shook his head and pondered over why his late wife couldn't have just taken a morning after pill. Lorna was never supposed to even exist, he mutely growled. They were only supposed to have their daughter and son, a third was never in the plans. He would always be bitter towards the youngest Morello for ruining those.
Having seen enough, Franny marched her way over and yanked his hands from Lorna's shoulder. She shook her head madly at her father, biting down on her lower lip, before momentarily focusing on Lorna. Eyes peered lovingly, yet sternly, into her brown ones. "Get back in bed, Lorn. Ya don't need to give dad any a your time. He shouldn't even fucking be in here," her voice grew louder by the end, and her head shook a second time. She kept her stare on the smaller brunette, watching closely until she made the short, slightly unstable, walk back to the bed.
Satisfied, she shifted her eyes back onto Mr. Morello and grumbled out a boisterous breath. "Get the hell out of this room. And don't come near Lorna again—if ya do, I'll go to the police and get a restraining order. Ya don't deserve to even look at her after the stunt ya pulled."
"I'm both your fatha—the police will laugh in your face if ya do that, Francine," he pointed out in a mocking tone and easily formed a smirk upon his face. His eldest daughter's words weren't going to make him leave the room. Not at all. He didn't abide by anyone's authority but his own. Instead of wheeling himself back through the open door, he wheeled the chair forward so it lightly bumped over Franny's foot and caused her to yelp.
A chuckle escaped and he shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe ya should keep your foot outta my way, huh? God, you and your damn sista have such attitudes. Just like your damn motha did and I'm sick of it." He snapped his head back in Lorna's direction, giving her a hardened stare. Arms folded over his chest. "And don't think I didn't see ya wobble your way to that bed—ya on drugs now, too? Like your dyke girlfriend here?"
Anger boiled beneath Lorna's skin as she settled restlessly back in her bed. She brought her hands up to her temples and rubbed at them rather violently. "Can ya just leave? Please—just get out of here, dad. I don't—I don't want ya in here. I don't want to hear anymore mean things about my girlfriend coming, coming outta your evil mouth," desperation and exasperation inflected heavily through Lorna's voice. So many emotions now whirled through her that she couldn't stop herself from allowing tears to flow down her cheeks. They didn't give her a chance to stop them.
"The only evil in this room is you, Lorna. You are evil and filthy if ya fuckin' think it's okay to be a drug addicted lesbian. And I want ya to know if ya don't give me part a your liver and I die, you'll be in for a rude awakening. Ya ain't gonna be happy when ya see who your guardian will be when I die, little girl. So ya better fucking think real hard before ya make a decision," Mr. Morello hissed before finally turning the wheelchair around and wheeling himself out of the room.
Lorna grinded down on her teeth and moved her head to stare at the three others who remained in there—all looking ready to start a brawl, she noted. A sigh puffed through her mouth followed by a few prominent sniffles. She swallowed hard to muffle them but that only encouraged more to come out of her. "Can ya all leave, please? Except for Nicky. I just—I wanna be alone. With Nicky. I can't—I just can't anymore."
The older brunette sister was the first to exit, after giving a quick hug to her.
Doctor Washington got up from her chair and started walking towards the door but stopped midway to peer back at Lorna. A compassionate, concerned, expression displayed on her face as she did so. "Please take care of yourself, Lorna. You've had a rough day, you better just rest and try to eat something later, yeah?" Her eyes averted onto Nicky, an eyebrow arching upward. "You'll make sure she eats, I'm sure, right?"
"Of course, Dr. Poussey. Lorna's in good hands here with me, I promise," Nicky firmly assured, settling herself right back beside the younger teen and wrapping a protective arm around her shoulder.
Nodding attentively, the therapist couldn't help but smile at the redhead. Lorna was truly lucky to have a girlfriend so caring and supportive as Nicky, she mentally thought. "Yes, she sure is in good hands with you. Take care of yourself, too, Nicky." She returned her stare onto the brunette and opened her mouth to say one final thing, "We have a lot to unpack at our next session. I'll drop by on Friday so we can pick back up. You might be here for a little bit, Lorna. They drew your blood earlier and some results were a bit alarming. But we will discuss that when I come Friday. You just rest now."
Once it was only the two of them left, a few minutes later with the door finally being shut again, Lorna couldn't retain the sniffles and sobs any longer. They shook through her in intensifying waves. It was as though the emotions were now in control of her body and she had no ability to stop any of them. She couldn't even move herself closer to Nicky from how much she trembled and tremored with each gut-wrenching sob that tore through her body.
Instinctively, Nicky's arms engulfed around Lorna and she pulled her against her own body. Her heart felt heavy from the disheartening sight of her girlfriend's current condition. It was understandable she'd break apart after what all went down. Especially after the unexpected—and certainly unwanted—visit from her demented father. The things he said—the fucking nerve he had to even speak to Lorna in that manner—oh did all of it infuriate Nicky to no end. Oh did it make her want to slit his throat with a knife right then and there. But, of course, she wouldn't do that. Lorna needed her more than she needed to end Mr. Morello—besides, she thought, the liver would take his life soon enough.
"Shh," she murmured, cradling Lorna's head in her hands and brushing a warm kiss against her forehead. Eyes melded into the ones below hers, she caressed her thumbs slowly, softly, around the two cheeks her hands were grasping onto. "Shh," she hushed once more, continuing the soothing motion along with giving her another tender kiss. "It's all okay, now. It's just us. I've got you, baby. I've got you. Lay your head on my chest, yeah? I'll keep ya safe and warm right here."
Lorna tried to fight the tears and the god-awful, stubborn sobs that refused to let up. She tried to force a smile to her face but it wasn't working. Her body wouldn't cooperate with her no matter how much effort she put in. She complied and allowed Nicky's gentle hands to carefully place her head atop her soothingly-beating chest. Immediately upon the new position, Lorna snaked her arms tight around the older teen's neck and sniffled involuntarily against its flesh.
"You—you're good, Nicky," she whispered between sniffles, tracing a finger softly around the skin of her sternum which was visible through the neck hole of her shirt. "You're so good, my sweet Nicky. I-I'm so, so, sorry—I'm so sorry my dad said those mean, mean, things about you. None of them are true, hon."
Resting their foreheads delicately against one another, Nicky's breath hitched the same time her eyes observed every micrometer of her lover's face. Tips of her fingers caressed warmly around the flesh, up and down, right to left—any and all ways possible. "Please, please don't apologize," the words came gently through slightly moist lips from the unexpected tears dripping out of her eyes. She traced a thumb lovingly along the length of one of Lorna's cheeks. "You aren't at fault for what your dad said, okay? He's the only one who owes an apology here. Remember what Dr. Poussey said?"
Eyes closed instinctively at the tender sensation of Nicky's thumb stroking against the skin of her cheek. Lorna sucked in a large breath to halt the sniffles from continuing to escape and carefully mirrored the other's actions by cupping her own hands around her cheeks. She let her lips lightly press onto the point of Nicky's nose. "But I gotta apologize, hon, because I know he never will. He's, he's so mean. He's really mean," her voice wailed despite her efforts of trying to hold in the emotions.
Nicky swallowed uneasily and shook her head. She pressed their foreheads even further together, moving her thumb up to the flesh of Lorna's and brushing it from one side to the other. A knot could effortlessly be felt sitting in the pit of her stomach—clearly formed from how strongly her heart and chest ached for her Lorna and every last thing she'd been put through the most recent couple of weeks. None of it was fair, she bitterly thought, absolutely none of it.
A sigh harshly expelled through her windpipe as she forced herself to bring her attention back out there instead of in her mind. It tore her up inside to hear that Lorna thought she had to bare her father's burden. That acknowledgment, alone, intensified her loathing towards the man—strengthened her yearn for his impending death. She bit down on her tongue and pecked softly at Lorna's cheek. "Can you control what your dad does, though, doll?" The query was tenderly asked, hoping if she used the tactics of her girlfriend's therapist that she could possibly get her to understand why none of what he did was her fault.
The pupils within her brown irises momentarily gazed up at the ceiling upon hearing what question Nicky had asked her. Nicky caught her there, she grudgingly thought. She swallowed thickly and shifted her eyes back onto the older girl. Lips twitched slightly before fixing themselves into a somber frown. "Uh, um, well, not exactly," she stumbled on her response, looking down after she finished.
"No, doll, not just not exactly—you can't control your dad and what evil shit he decides to do. From the wise words of your therapist, ya can't control what choices other people make and that includes your father. So, again, ya don't have any obligation to be sorry on his piece of shit behalf, you got that? It's not your fault he's an evil asshole. I don't want to hear you saying sorry for anything he's done ever again, okay? Because if ya do, I'll use Dr. Poussey's words against ya, kid. I hate that you feel ya gotta take the rap for that scum of a man."
Nicky exhaled deeply once she'd finished speaking. Her eyes retained their gaze into Lorna's and she felt another pang form within her chest to observe the slight guilt emanating from them. Fingers caressed gingerly around the flesh beneath the other's eyes. Eyes that hadn't deserved to have any amount of guilt or shame in them. Any pain or anguish.
"Hmm," Lorna hummed, too drained to argue over the issue with her.
Rather, she used her hands—which still grasped lovingly around Nicky's cheeks—to carefully inch her face closer to her own. Once their faces were mere millimeters away from each other, Lorna gently pressed her lips onto Nicky's and let them glide together in a warm kiss for several minutes until deciding on pulling apart once more. Though their lips had disconnected their foreheads remained melded into one. "I could go for a coffee right now, how about you hon?" Her voice murmured breathily overtop of Nicky's ear where her mouth affectionately nibbled on the edge of.
Goosebumps involuntarily formed on the flesh of her arms. Eyelids momentarily shut from the affection being graciously bestowed upon her by Lorna. A soft puff of air exhaled through her mouth. Nicky pecked her temple and gave an approving nod to her hinted suggestion. "Coffee sounds good to me, kid. I guess we can take a little explorative trip to find where the cafeteria is, huh?" She used her thumb to lovingly tuck a strand of brown hair behind her girlfriend's ear.
Lorna nodded her head enthusiastically, tears long having dried up and now replaced with a meek smile. She gave another quick, but tender, peck onto Nicky's lips, then pulled away from the embrace so that she could get herself out of the bed. Once she was standing on the ground a couple of feet away, she turned back to peer at the older girl. "An adventure with you to find the coffee—yeah I think that's the best thing I've heard today," she lightly chuckled and motioned with her hand for Nicky to follow suit.
Quickly mimicking her actions, the older teen jumped off the bed and came up behind Lorna. However as she made her way towards the door, her eyes caught sight of the brunette being oblivious to the fact that she was attached to an IV and she rapidly acted, frisking right back to her side to grab her hand to halt her before she ended up falling or worse.
The sensation instantly caused a small flinch out of Lorna. She looked up at Nicky with scrunched eyebrows, unsure of the reasoning behind her frantic antics. Her own hand gently covered atop the one resting on her arm, "Everything okay, hon?"
"You forgot ya got an IV in your hand, didn't you? I didn't want ya to get too far away from the pole and end up falling or anything is all, doll," Nicky calmly stated, stroking her fingertips around the skin of Lorna's arm.
A laugh came out of Lorna when she realized the answer to her query was something so simple. And so dumb of her to have forgotten, she also acknowledged with a curt shake of her head. She reached her other, free, hand onto the cold, metal, pole and started making her way to the door yet again. "I guess I did forget—coffee does that to me, hon. I love coffee," she pointed out, stopping at the entrance of her room.
"You, Lorna, love coffee? Huh, I'da never guessed it," Nicky joked in response and the two shared a warm chuckle before finally exiting through the door.
By the time they made it to the cafeteria—after having asked a random nurse in one of the hallways they turned through for direction—and sat down with two steaming coffees along with two small cups of yogurt that Nicky sternly encouraged for Lorna to grab, an entire forty-five minutes had passed. Nicky placed one of the yogurts in front of Lorna right beside her coffee and gestured a firm hand at it. She made a promise to Dr. Washington she'd make sure Lorna ate and, damn it, she was going to keep to that promise.
"It's strawberry, Lorna, ya like that flavor, yeah? I've seen ya eat it at ma's house. If you don't like the flavor tell me, babe, and I'll get ya one ya like," her husky voice softly informed her, hand still pointing in its direction. She had her other hand gripped around her own cup of coffee and lifted it up to her mouth for a long sip, eyes not once faltering from Lorna's.
Heart bursting through her chest, Lorna swore she could feel it growing in size from the loving gesture her girlfriend had made for her. Despite having deep-rooted reservations about consuming the yogurt, she couldn't resist the smile that molded upon her face. Nicky didn't have to go through all that trouble just for her, she told herself, but she was always willing to and Lorna wasn't about to disappoint her. She couldn't. Nicky deserved all the good the world had to offer.
After starting with a sip of her sweetened coffee, Lorna focused her eyes down on the small foam cup of pink-colored yogurt. It didn't look bad at all. Her stomach certainly craved a bite of it, she sensed when a very faint grumble came from it. She swallowed nervously and looked back across at her girlfriend. Lips remained pursed in a smile. "I do like strawberry yogurt, hon, thank you. It looks pretty good for hospital food, huh? What kind did ya get yourself?" She asked while eyeing the foam cup sitting in front of Nicky.
A strong wave of relief came to the surface to hear such a comment escape through the younger girl's mouth. Nicky returned Lorna's smile with one of her own and copied her movements by cautiously removing the lid off the cup of yogurt sitting on the surface directly ahead of herself. She reached a hand across the table and framed it delicately around one of the other's cheeks. "I got strawberry too and I figured yogurt is one a those things ya can't really get wrong, ya know? Or I hope so anyway otherwise we'll be both be sorry," she shrugged her shoulders along with a warm laugh.
The same warm laugh innately escaped from Lorna's windpipe a second later. "If they got the yogurt wrong, then we probably shouldn't trust any a the food here, should we?" She still had yet to pick the plastic spoon up but her eyes peered into the little foam bowl. Took in the pale pink of the dairy product within its constraints. Darker shades of pink mixed in which likely were the little pieces of real strawberry, she presumed. She shakily picked up the cup and lifted it towards her nose, sniffing it precisely. An intense strawberry scent wafted through her nostrils and she gave a small bob of her head.
"Ya make a valid point there, kid," Nicky agreed.
She kept a watchful eye on the girl and her smile soon morphed into a frown to see how much anxiety such a simple task was giving her. It reignited the ache in her chest to observe the sight. Something she couldn't comprehend being so apprehensive towards food that it caused physical symptoms of actual fear—nervousness, terror. Just the thought—hell, just seeing Lorna's suffering was enough to temporarily take her breath away. How had she not noticed any of this until recently? How had they all not seen the signs of Lorna's eating habits, or lack thereof? Her mind whirled with questions. Questions she had no real answers for. Questions that might be better off being saved for Lorna's therapist, she concluded.
"Go ahead and have a bite, Lorna. It's good for ya—it'll keep ya from feeling too cold," she softly encouraged after watching her stare at it for over two silent minutes. A soothing hand reached across to cover atop Lorna's free one that rested on the surface of the table. Head tilted slightly as she peered attentively at the brunette's face. "Ya wanna talk about it, doll?"
Lorna swallowed a lump and bit into the side of her mouth. She felt pathetic for how shaky and afraid she was over a simple little cup of yogurt. Fucking yogurt. Who the hell was afraid of eating yogurt for Christ's sake? Eyes squeezed shut as she worked to build her stamina for the task. She sucked in a few deep breaths and then reopened her eyes. Her hand grabbed for the plastic spoon and she placed it inside the thick cream of pale pink yogurt.
After a slow exhalation, she moved the spoon around in the cup while fixing her eyes back onto Nicky. "Am I dumb for being kinda scared of eating this, Nicky? I mean it's just strawberry yogurt…it's fine, there's no way a hospital would give out poisonous yogurt, right?" She forced a laugh out, despite her question really only serving as a distraction from the inevitable.
Running her thumb tenderly back and forth over each one of the knuckles on Lorna's hand, Nicky frowned and shook her head fervently. "No, baby, you're not dumb at all," her voice lovingly reassured the other. She continued the tender sensation while using her other hand to frame around one of Lorna's cheeks. "You're scared because ya think they put poison in it?"
"Well, erm, I don't know—I told ya it's dumb or I'm dumb. I just—I guess I worry what is in the food I eat, I don't want it to hurt me is all."
Eyebrows curved rather puzzlingly over two matching puzzled brown eyes. "You're not dumb and neither is anything you're afraid of, ya hear me?" The words were spoken slowly and sternly to Lorna. It wasn't until she received a nod in acknowledgement that she proceeded to go on. Her hand which still rested upon the flesh of Lorna's cheek was used, palm-side down, to gently stroke small circles around the area. "What exactly about what's in the food are ya worried about, babe? It's okay to feel worried and scared but I promise you eating this yogurt is not gonna hurt ya. It'll help you; it'll help you a lot, my sweet Lorna."
An exasperated breath huffed through her throat. Lorna recoiled her shoulders and averted her eyes into the dish of yogurt once again. "I'm fine, hon, I'm not really hungry right now. Is it okay if I save this for later?" She removed the spoon from it and tapped it on the side of the cup to get the excess liquid off of it. The lid was replaced on the foam bowl as she retracted her hands down to rest on her abdomen.
Nicky swallowed down the frustration and gave a nod to the other even though she loathed the idea. She tried to remind herself that forcing Lorna to do anything she wasn't in the mindset to do would only influence her to further go down the self-destructive path she already happened to be on. "Sure, doll, we can sit here for a while and enjoy our coffees first." Her eyes followed where Lorna's hand went and a lump formed in the back of her throat to see it laying atop her gut. "Is there something wrong with your stomach, kid? Why are ya holding it like that? Are ya in pain?"
"It just is a little upset, hon, nothin' to worry about. That's why I can't eat right now, it'll just worsen the feeling," Lorna defeatedly admitted. She swallowed uncomfortably and cradled both of her hands around the coffee cup instead. Disappointment overcame her in that moment. Nicky had been beyond sweet to specifically pick her out the strawberry yogurt and here she was—as usual—not able to even have a small spoonful. No wonder her father always referred to her as un ungrateful shit; she was exactly that.
Nodding automatically, Nicky curved her head to the side so that she could get a better view of Lorna's entire figure. Moments went on while she copiously studied the smaller girl. She chewed, out of habit, on the side of her mouth and lifted a hand across to place soothingly atop Lorna's shoulder. "Babe, do ya think maybe the reason your stomach is upset might be because ya haven't eaten yet today? And this is your third cuppa coffee, you should probably slow down a little with all the caffeine," Nicky carefully approached the topic, eyes softly gazing into her girlfriend's.
Squinting her eyes, Lorna returned the gaze with one of her own. Looking at the other as if she had three heads for making such a comment towards her. To halt the rising irritation from expressing itself on her face, she lifted her cup of lukewarm liquid and brought it to her lips for a slow, savoring, sip. "I haven't eaten today because my stomach's been upset since I woke up. And, ya ain't got much room to judge me for the coffee—ya had four cups, Nicky," she pointed out with a pursed smile.
"Lorna, doll, your stomach is probably upset because ya don't eat enough. Why not just try one small little spoon of the yogurt, yeah? Please? I want you to be okay and ya gotta eat to be okay, kid."
Brown eyes fell onto the foam bowl, slightly peeking into it. She swallowed a thick bout of saliva which coated her mouth and felt a heaping sigh push through her lungs. Exhaustion heavily coursed through her; she didn't want to waste her energy getting upset and angry with Nicky when Nicky was truly only wanting to help and support her with everything. Nicky didn't deserve to experience her anger, she reminded herself.
Bobbing her head up and down in a gradual motion, Lorna took the lid back off of the bowl and stared inside of it for a few seconds. Once she felt confident enough, she grabbed for the spoon that she cautiously set in the entrapment of yogurt. A small amount of it was scooped up and nervously brought forth to her mouth. With her eyes tightly shut, she placed the spoon in her mouth and sucked down on the sweet dairy product.
Nicky watched with soft eyes, stroking her thumb soothingly around the shoulder she still rested her hand atop of. Seeing her slowly take a bite of the yogurt—albeit it being of a shaky nature—she felt hopeful that this was the first of many steps in the right direction. That this right here right now was a turning point for the both of them. She swallowed a buildup of saliva and gave Lorna's shoulder a loving squeeze. Hopefully, she thought to herself, this was a true step forward.