Song of the South

Seeing her in person

It was a very long drive. 18 hours is quite a long time to be stuck in a vehicle. Thankfully the RV was big enough to be able to move around and stretch legs. They wanted to get to Kinsey as quickly as they could. It would be an even longer drive back with the five children too but at least they could stop for the night. Hell, they might even take the scenic route and show the kids different stuff on the way back to South Carolina.

Kellie was more worried about the young girl’s mental state. Surely she had broken down by now. If not, it was coming. The nearly-40-year-old wondered if Kinsey had talked to anyone about it since they Skyped the night before. She was worried about the effects of Kinsey being hurt by their mother would have the little ones.

Then there was the five younger children. Kellie wondered how they had taken to her state. They must have been absolutely terrified to see her all bruised and bloody. It made Kellie sad to think about it. Kinsey seemed so calm about it. Was that just for the children? Eric could tell his wife was worried about Kinsey and the children. He was too. All he wanted was to physically check her out and make sure she was ok.

It was just past 4am when they arrived. Kellie hated the idea of waking everyone up but it would be necessary. Eric parked the RV and followed his wife to the second story of the motel. Kinsey had texted Kellie the name of the motel and their room number. As they got closer to their town, she started her GPS function on her cell to get them directions to the motel. Eric knocked on the door as quietly as he could.

It took a few minutes but finally they heard the locks clicking. The door slowly opened revealing nothing but darkness. A quiet, sleepy voice whispered ‘enter’ so they did. Kinsey was still half-asleep but was a bit scared of their reactions to how she still looked. She whispered for them to stay there and that she’d get some light. It didn’t take but a minute for her to turn the bathroom light on. It gave just enough light for them to see by but hopefully wouldn’t wake the five children.

Eric couldn’t help but look at Kinsey in her sleepy state. Black cotton lounge pants that were slightly too long, a plain white tank top, and bed head. It wasn’t the time, and he knew it, but he couldn’t help but think how adorable she was all sleepy like this. Kellie went to hug Kinsey and the young woman yelped in pain. Kellie furrowed her brows, not liking what that could mean.

“Oh sweetie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Kellie apologetically said

“It’s ok. I know you didn’t mean it.” Kinsey replied, southern accent a bit thicker with sleep

“Let’s move closer to the light. It’s hard to see your injuries over here.” Eric stated

Kinsey sighed silently. This was what she had been dreading the most. Kellie walked beside her while Eric followed the pair of ladies into the bathroom. Kinsey hung her head when Kellie gasped.

“Oh my God Eric.” Kellie whispered, holding out Kinsey’s left arm for him to see

“There was only one person who did this or were there more?” Eric questioned as he delicately grabbed her arm from his ex-wife to inspect

“Just one.” Kinsey shamefully replied

“Oh sweetie, this wasn’t your fault. You didn’t ask for this. Do you have any medical supplies?” Kellie asked

“No.”

“That’s OK. We can pick some up later when the pharmacies open up. Do you have any other injuries? Besides your pretty face?” Eric asked, brushing some of her long dark hair behind her ear

They watched as she darted her eyes away from them again. It broke Kellie’s heart to see her like this.

“We just want to make sure you’re alright and doctor any injuries you’ve sustained. We’re not judging you. We only want to help you.” Kellie soothingly said

Kinsey turned so they could see the hand print on her other arm. Once again, Kellie gasped at the sight. There was absolutely no justification in that! Eric remembered how she’d yelped slightly when his ex-wife hugged her. He asked to see her sides. It confused the young woman but she did as he had asked her to.

Eric looked over to Kellie who was trying to not let Kinsey know how upset she was. There were some really nasty bruises on both her sides. She had definitely been put through the ringer. Eric reached out to run his fingers over her left side and she nearly jumped out of her skin. He apologized profusely for it. She smiled through the pain she was clearly in and told him it was ok. Eric felt really bad for hurting her but that wasn’t his intentions. Was something wrong if she was that sensitive? He was even more concerned now that he’s seen her in person.