"I can't believe this is happening."

As Dr. Olena Belikova, my mother had seen a lot.

As an everyday woman, Olena Belikova who had a survived being abused with four kids and two grandkids and also took care of her mother, trying to raise her family, she'd experienced even worse.

Everything going on with Victoria was just more of the horrors she'd seen and experienced herself happening all over again.

"Your father and I thought that moving from Russia to Montana would mean better opportunities for us. Obviously, that plan hasn't exactly been working out for us," my mother says from the other end of the phone.

I could hear the exhaustion in her voice.

I couldn't imagine being in her shoes, finding out Victoria not only is in denial about being assaulted and then takes part in ruining another girl, Rose's, life who tried to help her.

I couldn't bring myself to call my mother when I got home to my apartment yesterday after dropping Rose off. I had countless missed calls from all the women in my family-except Victoria-but I couldn't face it just yet. I couldn't face the reality that my sister had no only been attack but she was in denial and had done something so terrible instead of dealing with it.

So I checked my phone each time it rang last night and this morning. I only kept it on because I'd been waiting for Rose to call to let me know how it went when she talked to her mother. When she didn't, I hoped it was because they were trying to spend the night working and figuring things out.

On the local news, it reported that a group of unnamed students had been brought in for questioning concerning the image being sent around. I wondered if I'd eventually see the image. I wonder if it'd make this more real, make it more real to me what Victoria did.

After talking to Rose this morning and telling her I'd be right over to drive her to the doctor's appointment she made once we hung up I decided I had to talk to my own mother.

"I thought that when we moved here, we'd be one big happy family." She speaking in Russian which tells me just how emotional this has all made her. "I thought maybe your father would get better, I thought all of my children would be doing well in school while I find a successful career."

"You do have a successful career," I tell her.

"Yeah but I didn't think that one day my son would have to fight his own father to protect us, that your father would try and hurt us or kill himself, that Ivan would die so young, that my son would have to give up his dream...that something so terrible could happen to Vika..."

She crying so hard that I wish I'd gone to see her in person to comfort her.

"Mama," I try to comfort her but I don't know what to say except the say thing I've said to Rose because it's true. "It's not your fault. You couldn't have known any of this would have happened."

She doesn't say anything to the comfort I offer. "When I went down to the police station to pick Vika up after her questioning, I ask her why she would do something as terrible as to send those photos around. I tried to get her to open up about what that Ivashkov boy did to her. I know she's only acting like this because she doesn't know how to deal with what he did to her but still..."

"Did she say anything?"

"No," she sighs, disappointedly. "She hasn't said a word. Karo and Sonya tried talking to her too but she just shut herself off in her room and didn't come out until she had to go to school today. Officer Alto couldn't prove just yet where the photos came from so everyone was allowed to go to school but when he's able to trace the photos...I don't know what'll happen."

I could only imagine how all of this would turn out.

"We'll get through this. Maybe once arrests are, all of this will become more real for Vika, reality will set in and she'll open up," I offer.

I really hope that's what'll happen and I know my mother wishes the same.

"Maybe," she sighs again. "Officer Alto also told me you decided to help Rose out through this."

I'd been worried about this. I honestly wasn't sure how my family would react to me helping the girl that was reporting a crime that could get Vika in serious trouble.

"Yeah..." I didn't know what else to say.

I wasn't taking sides. I would always support my family. It just turned out that someone else needed my support too.

"I'm proud of you Dimka. We all are. She really needs you."

Her reaction surprises me a bit but at the same time it's what I'd expect from the amazing woman that is my mother.

"Is Vika mad at me for helping Rose?" This was what worried me most, the thought of losing my sister forever because of all of this.

"I don't know. Probably but hopefully later she'll understand. Hopefully we'll all come out of all of this like the big happy family we once were."

She sounds less than hopeful.

"How is Rose?"

I appreciate the shift in conversation from having to worry about what Vika might think of me, thinking I betrayed her, to Rose.

"She's good. I'm waiting for her outside her house right now. I'm suppose to give her a ride to the hospital for an examination."

"That's good." My mother sounds sincere but I can tell there's something else she wants to say. It sounds like she just doesn't know how. "Just...be careful. Okay Dimka?"

I'm confused. "Of what?"

"With everything going on and all that Rose has to deal with, emotions are running high and I've heard cases of victims becoming attached to the people that help them."

I'd experienced attack victims becoming attached to me and my other instructors after so many meetings of training sessions. It happened when I was a cop too. I couldn't see that happening with Rose though. That's probably the furthest thing from Rose's mind right now. She just needs a friend to talk to and right now that person just happens to be me.

I could understand my mother's concerns though.

It just made me love her more, having her still concerned about me at the age of twenty-four.

"Dimka? I didn't mean to upset you or make things weird for you around Rose. I just wanted you-"

"I know, Mama. I understand. I'm good though, so don't worry. Just take care of Vika."

I can feel her smiling through the phone. "I raised a good son. Take care, Dimka. Of both you and Rose."

We exchange our I love you's, promises to not let any of this keep up us from talking, and say goodbye just as Rose is climbing into my car.

"You should've called for me. I would've helped you to the car," I say to her as she adjusts her bad ankle into the car and closes the door.

"I'm alright. I saw you were on the phone."

I see that she has clothes wrapped neatly in a paper beg that she sets by her feet. She tries to offer a friendly smile of hello but it doesn't really reach her eyes. She fellows my gaze to where I'm looking at the bag of clothes.

"Are those the clothes..."

She's nodding before my words start to trail off.

"It's the clothes I was wearing during both of the...both times I was attacked," she explains clearing her throat. "I was going to throw them away, burn them but...I don't know. The first time when Adrian attacked me while we were dating, I wanted to forget about it, pretend it didn't happen so I just shoved the clothes in the back of my closet. I did the same thing with the clothes I was wearing the night...that night."

She sat silently, staring down at the clothes by her feet as if they held all the memories she'd been trying to shove away. After we spent the day yesterday talking, exchanging stories, I noticed it help Rose a little. So I decided to offer up another one of my own stories.

"I was wearing my uniform the day my father shot me."

She finally tore her eyes away from the bag of clothes and looked at me, interested.

"It was the usual cop uniform. Young cops wear the uniform unless they've been promoted to detective. It still looked like new even after a couple of years and I had just had it washed. After I was shot it was covered in my blood and in Ivan's. There're holes from the bullets. Everyone tried to tell me to get rid of it, that the uniform was just memories of what happened. That's kind of why I kept it. It's still covered in blood and holes covered in plastic in the back of my closet so that I won't forget."

"Do you look at it often?" she asked, her voice low.

I shook my head. "No. But I know it's there every time I go into my closet. There isn't a day that goes by that I forget."

She seems to take this in, probably wondering if she'd remember her attacks every day for the rest of her life.

"I want to forget," she finally says, staring out the windshield at nothing in particular. "I'm not going to though, am I?"

I hate being the one to tell her that no, she'll never forget. "It doesn't feel like it now but later on, the memories of all of this will only make you stronger. You'll look back and see how far you've come."

After a moment, she smiles at the comforting thought. She leans back against the headrest and sighs.

"Do you really think this will all eventually end?"

"Of course," my answer is automatic.

It doesn't seem like she really believes me. She wants to but for now she cant. I realize we've been sitting in the parked car this entire time still in front of Rose's house.

She tugs her hair back over one shoulder and tugs on the t-shirt and sweater she's wearing.

"Are you ready to go?"

She runs a hand down her face and closes her eyes for a second. Mentally, her answer is probably no. She isn't ready for any of this. She didn't ask for any of this to happen. She's trying though.

And that's what so amazing.

I know what her answer is going to be before she even opens her mouth.

"Yeah. Let's go."