Chapter Twenty Six

Dawn light spilled into the room, painting the walls in shades of peach and amber and rose. A flock of ducks flew through the sky, breaking the tranquil morning with flapping wings and honks. The rising sun caught on the tips of their wings, making them shine like gold against the pastel streaked sky.

Hope watched them go and wished she could fly away with them. Her fingers trembled against the cold glass of the window. She opened it a bare inch, letting the smell of cold air and damp vegetation into the room.

The cold sent a wave of goose bumps over her skin. She shivered, but left the window open, retreating to her chair and blanket. The scent of freshly washed cloth enveloped her as she wrapped the blanket around herself.

Her gaze fell on the bed. Raylan was sleeping flat on his back, face relaxed. A muscle jumped in his cheek as she watched. She held her breath as his face took on tension and pain.

"Raylan?" she whispered and reached out with one hand.

"Hope?" he rumbled. "What're you doing here?"

She tilted her head shyly. "I'm sorry. I couldn't sleep. The nurse said I could sit with you a while."

"She did, did she?" he muttered, sucking in a breath between his teeth as he eased upright. "How is your family doing?"

Hope bit her lip. "Fine," she said shortly. "They're just fine."

He shot her a sideways glance. "Sounds like it."

His hand trembled as he reached for the cup of water on the table next to the bed. He wrapped his fingers around it, wishing it was something stronger as he lifted it to his mouth.

She opened her mouth, closing it again without speaking. "How do you feel?"

He lifted an eyebrow at her. "I'm okay."

She raised both of hers back. "In the same way my family is okay?"

He tipped the glass in her direction, a small smile on his lips. "That's about it."

A nurse ran past in the hallway, shoes squeaking on the floor. Distant shouts drifted into the room.

"Raylan..." Hope started, then paused. "I need to tell you something..." She shot a glance at the door as something crashed onto the floor. "My parents had a threatening phone call last night. It really scared them."

Concern washed over him, sharpening his gaze. "Did you tell Art?" he asked.

She shook her head. "They said not to tell anyone or someone would come for me."

He let out a long breath, knowing the futility of arguing with someone in the face of that threat, but feeling compelled to try anyway. "You have to tell Art. We can move your parents into another hotel... put a guard on your room."

Relief filtered into her eyes. "You can do that?"

He nodded. "Of course we can."

She stood, keeping the blanked wrapped around herself and crossed back to the window. "You were dreaming when I got here," she said softly.

The sky hid brightened, muted shades turning into rich blue. She fixed her eyes on the road, watching the cars drive past.

He studied her back, wondering what she was trying to say.

"What were you dreaming about?" she asked in a whisper.

He bit his lip. "Nothing important. Just something that happened when I was a kid." He looked away, fixing his gaze on the blankets over his body.

"Did he hurt you, Raylan?" she said so softly he had to strain to hear the words. "My father hurts me." She sniffed hard, shoulders lifting. "That's why I ran away." She laughed bitterly. "Boy, that was jumping from the frying pan into the fire, wasn't it?"

The flat finality of her words robbed him of his voice for a long second.

"Hope..." He started, stopping when she turned away from the widow to face him. "You don't have to go back there." She licked her lips, wiping the tears from her face. "You learn to cry silently, so they can't hear. So they don't know how much they've hurt you. Don't you?"

He held up a hand. "Hope..."

She crumpled into a ball on her chair, raising her eyes to him. "Please tell me I'm not the only one in the world who feels like this. I love him, but I hate his fucking guts too... It's killing me inside because I don't know how to feel." Raw emotion clogged her voice, turning the plea desperate, primal.

It touched something deep inside of him, freeing words he never intended to speak aloud to anyone. The was a part of him he thought he'd buried that had hoarded those words, waiting for a moment when they could escape... could tear lose from him in a wash of cleansing pain.

He pressed his lips together. "My Daddy had problems..." A wry smile twisted his mouth at the understatement. "Some days he'd go out and get so drunk he could barely walk, then come home and start beating on my Momma." He closed his eyes, remembering the sound of a fist striking skin in the dark... remembering whimpering cries of pain he could do nothing to stop. "Soon as I got big enough, I started trying to protect her." His mouth twisted in remembered disgust. "'Course, it didn't help much. He just decided to start beating on me instead."

She stared at him silently, tears coursing down her cheeks. "That's what you were dreaming about?"

He blew out a breath. "That was part of it."

"I'm scared, Raylan. I can't live with him again. He has this belt..." she held her hands up, a few inches apart to demonstrate how wide it was. "Any time I do anything wrong, he goes and gets it." She blinked, fresh tears running down her face. "I tried to run once before this... he waited until the cops brought me home and beat me twice as bad. He'll kill me if I go back."

He grabbed the memories trembling in the edges of his mind and shoved them back into the deep, hidden box from where they'd come.

"You don't have to go back there, Hope. There are options. I'll talk to Art... he can get child serviced involved..."

"No!" she cried, eyes wide with fear. "My mother will never agree. She'll force me to go back with them."

He stared at her, knowing he was treading a dangerous path. "Do you have an Aunt, maybe? Older sister?"

She nodded. "My sister... I can live with my sister."

"Okay, that's good." He said, shifting on the bed. "Art or Rachel will be here soon. You tell them everything you just told me, okay? They won't let you get hurt anymore."

She nodded again, biting her nails. "Okay."

He smiled gently. "Good."

A nurse poked her head in the open doorway. "Ah, Hope. We've been looking for you."

Hope shifted uncomfortably on the chair. "I'm sorry. I'll go back now."

She shot Raylan a grateful look and dashed out of the door. The nurse moved to follow her.

Raylan waved his hand, beckoning her over to the bed. "Keep an eye on her." He bit his lip, wondering how blunt to be. "I'm worried she might try to kill herself."