Picture this: a bright blue sky without a cloud in sight, the sun inching up the edge, and birds chirping to welcome the new day.
It was all downhill from there.
This particular day happened to be a Sunday, so Lucy knew Kevin would be late coming over because his mother took him to church every week. The further the sun creeped across the sky however, the more she began to worry.
This was what lead to her climbing down the fire escape to his window. It was cracked to let in the spring breeze, allowing Lucy to not only see but also hear the horrors within.
"Kevin Wendell Crumb." A woman who could only be her friend's mother said, kneeling by the side of her son's bed with her back to the window. "You made a mess. Get out here."
Lucy frowned. Was Kevin under the bed? She had always gotten the impression his home life wasn't the best, but she'd never had the need to hide from her father. Granted her old room didn't have an under the bed.
"Kevin Wendell Crumb! You made a mess! Get out here!" the woman suddenly shouted, slashing what looked to be a broken wire coat hanger under the bed.
"No! Mom pleath!" the boy screamed as his mother caught his ankle and dragged him out from under the bed.
It took about five seconds of Mrs. Crumb swinging the hanger for Lucy to jump into action. Throwing the window the rest of the way open, she lunged at the woman, landing on her back.
"Leave him alone!"
"What the -?" Mrs. Crumb exclaimed in confusion, trying to throw the girl off her back.
"Lucy!" Kevin exclaimed.
The small, undernourished child was by no means strong enough to keep her hold forever, especially with Mrs. Crumb swinging the wire hanger at her behind her back. Lucy cried out in pain as the sharp end of the hanger hit her and left a nasty cut on her cheek. She toppled to the floor, a few feet away from Kevin.
"So, this must be the little tramp you've been running off with at all hours of the day. I always knew you were nothing but trouble!"
"Don't you ever say that!" Lucy shouted, despite the pain in her cheek that only increased from talking. "Kevin's worth ten thousand of you! They all are!"
"Why you little –" Mrs. Crumb went at her with the hanger again, only to be tackled into the wall by her son.
"Lucy!" Dennis' deep accent exclaimed as he knelt by the girl. The impact of her head against the wall had rendered Mrs. Crumb unconscious for the time being, something he knew he'd pay dearly for later but at the moment he couldn't bring himself to care. "Lucy, look at me!"
"Your mom's mean…" Lucy mumbled, her blood loss starting to get to her.
"Luce, I need you to stay awake." Dennis said, the worry in his voice clear. "Pleath, thtay with me, please…"
Lucy woke up to the sound of a beeping heart monitor and the smell of nail polish. She looked down to see the culprit painting her nails a sunset orange; her favorite color.
"Hey Trisha."
Patricia looked up in surprise, her face softening into a relieved smile. "Good morning thleepyhead. You gave us all quite the thcare, you know."
"That makes five of us." Lucy remarked. "Why didn't you tell me?" Patricia looked down, avoiding her eyes. "Trisha I'm your best friend. I'm supposed to take care of you."
"…It's a thhameful thing, Lucy. We didn't want you to think leth of us."
"Why would I? You didn't think less of me when…." Lucy shook her head, quickly changing the subject. "Trisha, I'm going to be your friend for the rest of your lives. There is nothing, any of you could ever do to change that. Especially not something that isn't even your fault."
If Patricia had a response to that, she never got to say it as the doctor entered the room just then.
"Ah, you're awake." He smiled good naturedly at her. "How're you feeling?"
"This thing is itchy." Lucy said, pulling at her hospital gown.
The Doctor chuckled. "Well at least we know your sense of touch is still in order. Let's take a look at the others." He stepped up to the side of the bed Patricia was not sitting at and frowned at her. "I'm afraid you'll have to leave young man; we have a strict immediate family only policy."
Lucy could have sworn she saw the disappoint of all four of them in those blue eyes as the body they all inhabited stood. "No!" she caught her friend's hand before they could take another step. "You're staying with me. You're my family."
A shy smile spread across Patricia's face, but it was clear she was holding back her elation. Taking her place back in her seat, she squeezed Lucy's hand, her other one going to fiddle with the necklace around her neck.
"Alright then." The doctor smiled softly before he got down to business. "Look here." He held a finger up and moved it slowly, Lucy's eyes following it. "Can you tell me your name, the date, and where we are?"
"My name's Lucy Collins." She informed. "It's Sunday, May 13th, and we're in Pueblo Colorado."
"Very good. It seems you haven't suffered any long-term damage. Though I'm afraid that cut on your face will leave a scar." Lucy hesitantly raised a hand to her cheek, fingertips tracing over the bumps of the stitches there. "We'll keep you overnight for observation, just to be safe, and then a parent or guardian can sign you out in the morning." Both children went pale, sharing a worried glance that the doctor quickly picked up on. "You do have someone who takes care of you, right?"
Lucy silently looked over to Dennis, who she could tell had taken the light by his worried furrowed brow. She wanted to say that he took care of her, but she doubted the doctor would take that as an acceptable answer. The man sighed, straightening his coat and leaving the room.
"I'm thorry…." Dennis said in a cracked voice. "I never meant for thomething like this to happen, I thhould have protected you."
"You did." Lucy insisted. "If you hadn't knocked her out, who knows what would have happened." He looked down, hiding the tears gathering in his eyes. "Dennis…"
"You thhouldn't have done what you did."
"She was hurting you!"
"Thhe only does it when thhe's mad." He muttered. "It's not tho bad."
"She shouldn't be hurting you at all! Any of you!" she tried to remove her hand from his, intending to lift his chin to make him look at her, but he held on tightly.
"Pleath don't…." he whispered, misinterpreting her action as pulling herself away from him.
"Dennis, look at me." Lucy said quietly. Blue eyes met green, and the girl's heart broke a little. She could see all the sadness in the world in those eyes, but at the same time they were filled with love and adoration, directed at her. Once again Lucy felt humble and extremely special. "You've always protected everyone. Me, Kevin, Hedwig, Patricia….just this once, just for the hell of it, let me protect you."
Tears pricked at the corner of Dennis' eyes before he threw his arms around his friend. Lucy held him as close as possible, allowing him to soak the shoulder of her hospital gown.
"I love you Lucy…." He said, his voice muffled in tears.
"I love you too." Lucy traced soothing patterns on his back. "I always will."
Lucy's friends refused to leave her side all night long. Whether it was Hedwig asking to share her jello, Patricia putting the second coat of nail polish on her fingers, or Dennis worrying over her every move, not wanting her to hurt herself further.
Kevin even made an appearance, though it was not until late at night after she had fallen asleep. Lucy was woken when he shifted next to her; Hedwig had crawled into the hospital bed with her before he'd fallen asleep.
"Lucy? Are you awake?" a voice that was distinctly his whispered. Lucy kept silent however, and Kevin sighed, twisting her hair between his fingers. "….Mr. Dennis thays mom is wrong about a lot of things. I think thhe got one thing right though. Thhe'd talk about angels, how'd they'd take care of uth if we were worthy. Thhe always said I never wath. Mr. Dennis doesn't even think they're real. But I do. I think you're my angel, Lucy. I know I'm not worthy of you….but I'm gonna be. I promith. I juth hope I get to keep you long enough."
When morning came, the doctor returned to check on Lucy. After giving her a clean bill of health, he smiled at her and told her she was free to go. Hedwig giggled and covered his eyes while she exchanged her hospital gown for her old clothes. They walked out of the room hand in hand, but paused when they saw Lucy's doctor talking to a woman at the reception desk. Something about their expressions made Lucy's stomach turn; tightening her grip on Hedwig's hand.
The doctor pointed the pair out to the woman who stepped forward and knelt down to their height in front of Lucy.
"Hi Lucy." She said in an overly sweet voice. "My name's Mary Harris."
"So?" Lucy frowned, the bad feeling in her stomach increasing.
"So, I'm a social worker. Your doctor was very worried about you, coming in all by yourself."
"I'm not by myself." She said, pulling Hedwig closer to her. The poor boy, ever innocent, looked between the woman and his friend in confusion.
"Coming in without an adult." Mary corrected. "Lucy, have you got anyone that looks after you?" Lucy glanced at her friend, wanting to say Dennis took care of her, but she had promised to keep the existence of the alters a secret. Besides, she doubted it would go over well with the woman. Taking her silence as a no, Mary sighed, a pitying expression on her face. "Come with me dear, I'll find a nice family to take you in."
"No!" Lucy and Hedwig exclaimed at the same time, clinging to each other.
"It'll be alright, I'm sure you'll still get to see your friend." Mary took Lucy's free hand. Lucy dug her heels into the tile and fought against her as she attempted to lead her away.
The room was a muffled mix of people shouting and reprimanding. All Lucy could hear were the alarm bells going off in her head.
"No!" she fought against the social worker. "Dennis! Dennis don't let her take me! Dennis please!"
The last thing she saw were heartbroken blue eyes behind an automatic sliding door as she banged her fists against the back window of Mary's car.