A gentle knock came at the door. Stella looked up from where she sat holding a beer, the cubs game playing quietly in the background.
Kelly held up a paper bag, "Grabbed some Chinese. You hungry?"
"Liquid diet," Stella replied raising her beer to him.
"Come on," he said, moving into the kitchen, "you have to eat something." He paused a moment as he removed the plates from the cupboard, "Where's Maya?"
"Sleepin." Stella replied, her voice seemed distant and Kelly glanced at her in concern as he dished the food onto some plates.
"Your room?" He asked as he packed up the remaining food and put it in the fridge.
"Yeah," Stella replied, "I'll stay on the couch."
Kelly offered her a plate and she reluctantly kicked her feet off the table to sit up straighter. "Eat." He instructed gently and she sighed, he watched her for another moment.
After they finished eating, Kelly cleared up while Stella sat unusually quiet. He dried his hands on a towel, "Should we get this bed made up?" he asked her and Stella took him in. "What?" he laughed a little at her prolonged stare.
"Nothing." she replied, forcing herself to stand to get the extra sheets. Her legs were wobbly and she felt exhausted from the days events as she pulled things from the closet and returned to the living room.
Kelly took the sheets from her and she didn't even protest as she watched him make the bed. "There," he said when he finished, "nice and comfy," he patted the pillow.
Stella walked towards him and he wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her forehead as she closed her eyes, "Will you stay with me awhile?" she asked, not looking at him.
"Of course," he replied cupping the base of her neck before they settled onto the couch.
There wasn't a lot of room but Stella manager to snuggle into the crock of his arm, one arm and leg draped over him as he pulled the blankets over top of them.
"I gotta take her to the hospital tomorrow." Stella whispered and Kelly looked down at her, "Someone hurt her Kelly, they hurt her real bad and I shoulda been there to protect her."
"You're here now," Kelly told her taking her hand from his chest and planting a gentle kiss on her wrist, "That's what matters. We're gonna make this right."
Stella pulled back a bit to look at him, "We?" she recoiled slightly, "Kelly, I can't ask you to get involved."
"You didn't." He tightened his hold on her, and she suppressed a sigh too exhausted to get into this right now, or what this meant. Instead, she laid her head on his bar chest and fell into a restless sleep.
Stella was woken but Kelly's movements, "What's goin on?" she asked him.
"I want to duck out before Maya wakes up," he replied as he buttoned his shirt, "I don't want to freak her out."
Stella nodded slowly, that made sense, even though every fiber of her being wanted him to stay here with her.
"I'll call you later?" he offered, sensing her hesitation. Stella nodded, and it broke his heart to see her like this. He wanted nothing more than for her to be back in his apartment, their apartment, dealing with this together, but from the sounds of it, this was something she needed to do on her own, at least, right now.
"Yeah," she replied, standing to plant a kiss on his lips, "I'll talk to you later."
Kelly nodded, "Bye."
"Bye," Stella sighed as she watched him go before looking around at the living room. She scooped up the sheets and tried to make the living room look like a living room again in an attempt to escape the day that was about to come. Stella washed dishes, she cleaned the apartment, she unpacked, and by the time she glanced at the clock it was 11am.
Maya may not want to go to the hospital, but she came here for help. She sighed as she knocked gently on the bedroom door.
"Come in," came a small voice as Stella pushed open the door to see her little sister sitting dressed on the bed.
"You been up long?" Stella asked trying to sound normal. Maya shrugged and Stella sat down beside her, "My, you know we gotta go to the hospital today right? Get you checked out?" Maya nodded but didn't match Stella's eyes, Maya was a smart girl, but she expected more of a protest than this. "They're probably going to ask you a lot of questions about how this all happened and if it's happened before." Stella explained as calmly as she could, "The police might have to get involved." Stella watched the teenager for some sort of reaction but she had none. Stella took a deep breath, "So, is there anything you want to tell me before we go?"Maya looked up at Stella, her eyes searching her older sisters for something. "Whatever it is Maya, you can tell me."
Maya sighed, "I just," she whispered, "I don't want you to be upset, or mad."
Stella's heart broke, "Hey," she pulled her sisters chin gently so she was looking at her, "you don't have to worry about me okay."
Maya sighed as she wrung her hands together, "People were always coming in and going at Uncle Marcos. He started drinking a lot, maybe, maybe doing drugs. I don't know. I tried to mostly stay at friends or be at work, I got a job to pay the electricity bills and get food for lunch, bu-but everyone started taking the food, and I ran out of money. S-so, I asked him if he could lend me some, and he said I had to do something for him first. He wanted me to bring a package to a house and drop it off, but I said no and he got angry-"
"Woah, hold up," Stella cut her off, "Uncle Marco did this to you?"
Maya shrugged, "A first he just hit me once, but then some of the other guys joined in and they-" she chocked on a sob, "they-"
"They what Maya?" Stella's voice was dangerously low, "Did they touch you? Did they-" she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.
Maya nodded as the tears began to cascade down her cheeks but Stella stood up, "We need to get you to Med, now."