as the early morning broke out, Abby could feel nothing but stiffness and what felt like a heavy blanket. opening her eyes Abby saw that she was under not one but two blankets. pushing them off, Abby tried to get up but a hot burning pain forced her back down. looking at her chest Abby saw bandage after bandage covering her body. remembering why she was like this Abby then looked up at the upper bunks to see three flippers dangling out. the guys were still asleep and from the looks of it, they would be for a while. forgetting the pain, Abby jumped up out of her bunk and waddled over to the sink. filling herself a cup of water Abby drank it happily as the cold liquid slid down her sore throat.
"well, your up and about." turning around Abby and saw Skipper sitting down at the table holding a sleeping Atticus with him. he didn't look none to happy to see her but it didn't matter to her. looking over to the sleeping chick Abby frowned. "did he see any," "of it? No, Private took him over to Marlene's last night. he wasn't here for any of it." Abby smiled, a baby of his age didn't need to see things like that. "but we need to talk. about what happened." Abby turned her gaze to the glass she held, she didn't want to talk about it. "what happened? what happened to you last night Abigal?" Abby started to twist and turn the cup on the table, she sighed. she knew she wouldn't win with the silent treatment. "it happen so quickly, i didn't even have time to know what was happening to me before they came in." Skipper looked both scared and worried about her at the same time, "go on." "after they came in, they began to torture me. Asking me things like: Why did I leave and why was I here." Skipper knew this wasn't easy for her but the more he knew the easier it would be to help her. "They somehow had poisoned me with a drug that caused momentarily paralysis. when they finally knew that i was unable to defend myself they... well you know what happened next." Skipper nodded, he had seen all too much of what happened.
"I thought I was finally safe here, but they found me anyway." Skipper nodded again, even thought he was mad at the ones who did this to her he had to keep his mind on the present affair. she needed help, that much was true, and Skipper was the only one he saw fit to do it. looking down at Atticus, Skipper saw that he was no longer asleep and he wanted down. "Abba. Abba!"Skipper knew that Atticus wanted Abigal but the way she was in, he thought best that he stay with him. "not now At, Abba isn't well enough now. maybe later." Skipper saw how Atticus struggled to get out of his grasp and how badly he wanted to be with Abigal. "it's okay Skippy, let him go." Skipper looked up at Abigal who was now standing tall, almost trying to show that she was stronger than she really was. Skipper didn't know if he should listen but with the struggle between him and Atticus he figured it would be best if he did. placing Atticus down, Skipper watched as the young chick scurried over to Abigal and hugged her around the middle. Abby gave out a little groan of pain but she ignored it. bending down, Abby lifted up Atticus who snuggled against her chest with a warm chirp. "see, I'm fine." Skipper raised an eyebrow and Abby sighed. "you know what I mean Skippy." "do I?" Skipper looked over at the three other birds who slept silently in their bunks then back at the two in front of him. "Abigal, you need help. and it's not just for your need to talk about things with us, you just can't hold them up inside you. it's not healthy." Abby was a little angry at Skipper, it wasn't his place to tell her that she needed to talk about her past. her past was her past and no one elses. "sometimes i wish i hadn't told you about my past Skipper. since I've told you it's only caused us problems from one after the other. can't we just forget about it and move on with our lives?" Skipper shook his head."then tell me this Abigal, how are you going to forget about those cuts and burns on your body? They aren't going anywhere anytime soon and are you going to forget about Atticus? things like that just can't be forgotten." Abby was speechless, she didn't know how to answer that. she didn't want to forget about Atticus and the marks on her body would most likely scar. " i couldn't forget about Atticus, you know that. he's part of my life now." Skipper nodded, "yes and what happened to you is also part of your life. Abigal, you're not alone in this. you have me and the boys and we're going to be with you every step of the way. i can promise you that." Abby smiled, knowing that they had her back was very reassuring. "thanks Skippy." Skipper smiled, and looked over at the clock. " 'bout time i wake the boys. why don't you go back to bed, you could use some more sleep." Abby shook her head. "no thanks, I'm wide awake now. besides, can't have you guys thinking that I'm going soft." Skipper rolled his eyes,even in the state she was in she was still the same girl right from the beginning. "okay then." turning around Skipper went to go wake up his men while Abby held Atticus in one flipper and her locket in the other. thinking to herself, Abby thought of what she held inside of the locket and why it meant so much to her.