Fifty Five

Embry

Something was tickling my nose. I opened my eyes and couldn't stop the smile that came on my face. Mila was in my arms. She was in my arms…really. Mila moved a little bit and my arm grabbed her tighter. Her eyes fluttered a few times before opening up.

"Good morning," she whispered.

"Good morning."

Mila smiled at me. Her eyes looked over my face before she smiled again. She stretched her arms out as she slowly sat up in the bed. I grabbed her hand and brought it up to my mouth. A jolt of electricity hit my lips when they touched her hand.

"I still can't believe you're here," I whispered to her. I didn't tell her I stayed up for practically the whole night. I was scared that if I closed my eyes she would disappear again. Mila smiled at me again before clearing her throat.

"Embry…I need to tell you some things," she said before taking her hand out of mine. I could tell she was worried about whatever it was she was going to say. Mila took a deep breath before looking down at her hands.

"Lira brought me back because Hal told her too. He's her husband. Hal was…Hal was hard to live with. He had rules that we had to follow. I didn't follow them at first," she said before reaching down to pull her shirt over her head. I kept my mouth shut not knowing what she was going to do. When she had the shirt off, she turned so her back was towards me. Bruises covered her back, some old and some fresh. I started to shake as I realized what she was she showing me. Mila turned back to me and put her hands on my arms.

"Embry I need you to calm down. I need you to listen to me. I have to get this out. I didn't listen at first and he beat me. He beat me when I didn't listen. He beat Lira when I didn't listen." Tears started to fall down her cheeks. "Eventually I started to listen. I followed his rules and did everything he said. But right before you guys found me…he wanted something else from me. I tried to fight him off Embry. I tried to fight him. But he…he…he got what he-"

I pulled her into my arms and shook my head no. I didn't need her to say anything else to me about it. I knew what she was trying to say. Mila stayed in my arms, crying, until finally she stopped. She ended up crying herself to sleep. Once I knew she was asleep, I laid her down before getting out the bed. I walked out into the hallway and shut the door. I could hear talking and smell food.

I made my way into the living room. Jake and Caleb sat on the couch watching TV. Caleb saw me and smiled at me before turning his attention back to the TV. I heard laughing and went into the small kitchen. Nessie was laughing about something as Lira took a gallon of orange juice out of a bag. Lira sat the jug on the counter and saw me standing there. She smiled at me.

"Good morning Embry. Are you hungry? Nessie and I made some food."

Lira stood smiling at me. She was smiling and acting like everything was alright. I grabbed her arm and started dragging her behind me. Nessie screamed out for Jake. I opened the first door and threw Lira inside before turning and seeing Jake and Caleb behind me.

"I just need to talk to her."

"If you hurt her Mila will never forgive you bro," Caleb told me.

"You can't hurt her Em," Jake said over him.

"I said I just want to talk to her. I'm not going to hurt her."

I didn't bother waiting for them to see I was serious before I stepped into the bedroom. I shut and locked the door behind me. Lira stood in front of me, scared and looking at the ground.

"Do you know what he did to her?" I asked her. Lira's heart was beating fast. I could smell the fear coming off her. "LOOK AT ME!" I yelled at her. Lira jumped at my voice but looked up at me. Tears were threatening to spill over her eyes. Her bottom lip quivered.

"I heard you at the hospital. You said you wanted to let her die. You said you wanted money."

"I did want her to die!" she yelled at me while jumping up. My mouth dropped as I took a small step back away from her. Lira's hands went to cover her mouth. She shook her head and sat back on the bed. She shook her head again before looking back up at me. "I wanted her to die so she wouldn't have to come back with me."

"You could have just left her here with me. I'm her im…I would have taken care of her. I was already taking care of her."

"I had to do whatever he wanted me to. If Hal knew she was alive and I left her, he would have killed me."

"Do you know what he did to her? What he made her do?"

"Everything he did to her, he did to me. I was never the motherly type you know. When you first become a parent something is supposed to click inside you. There is something that triggers this loving and longing to be with them…to protect them. You know what I mean?"

"Yes, I know that. I have a son of my own."

"Initially, I had that when I first saw her. But then once we left the hospital, things got hard. Mila was always crying and I thought she didn't like me. Her dad stepped up and I let him take over. The older she got the deeper the connection they had. Then I started drinking and everything really went on the back burner. Mila's dad told me I had to clean up my act or leave. So I left. It was the perfect opportunity to get away." Lira took a deep breath. She closed her eyes for a few minutes.

"I met Hal a year after I left. And he was…he was everything. He understood me and didn't want me to be anything more than I was. We had fun all the time. We got married, kept partying and drinking. Then one day everything changed. Hal went from being this loving caring person to a complete stranger. I tried to leave him but never could. Things were fine while I was still getting money from Mila's dad. Then he died. And that's when Hal got even worse."

Lira stood up and walked over to me. "I don't expect you to forgive me. But I am so sorry for everything. I'll leave but could I please say goodbye to Mila first?"

I didn't want her to say goodbye. I didn't want her to say anything to Mila. I didn't say anything other. I just stepped to the side and watched her walk out the door. When I stepped out into the suite, all eyes were on me. I walked past them and right out the door.

When I got back to the suite, hours had passed. I walked in and found a note that they guys and Nessie had went out. I phased earlier and ran around a state park to blow off some steam. I knew I smelled and decided to shower. I walked into the room that had been mine since we got to Arizona. I stepped in the bathroom and was surprised to see Mila in there. She was in the shower and even though the water was running, I could still smell her tears. I opened the door and she looked up at me.

"Lira is gone," she said before sniffiling a little. "She said she was sorry and that she was leaving. She's done enough damage to my life and didn't want to keep messing it up. I didn't even ask her to stay. She's my mom and I didn't try to stop her. I didn't want to stop her Embry! How messed up is that?"

"Mila," I kneeled down in front of her "It's not messed up. You aren't messed up."

"I want to go home Embry."

"We'll go home," I said before pulling her into my arms. I'm not sure how long we stayed in the shower but I was glad I was always so warm.