Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Bubs, don't you want to heal faster? That'll only happen in you eat well." I asked Zia and put the spoon full of food near her mouth again, hoping she would take a bite.
Zia continued staring at me with her big grey eyes as tears kept falling from them, making my heart break.
I put the spoon down and pushed the plate away, opening my arms a little as Zia snuggled into my chest and just sat there without moving.
I ran my hands through her naturally platinum blonde hair and sighed.
Out of the three girls that were rescued from the Italian truck a week ago, two of the girl were back with their families. They were thankfully doing well, with minor injuries here and there but nothing major. However, nothing came up when we tried to locate Zia's family. It seems she was brought up by her father alone, who was a member of the Italian mafia and had been killed.
Zia had refused to say a single word from the day she was found, and it hurt my heart to think of what all my little five-year-old had to go through. She usually ate significantly less and preferred being in my surroundings.
While I wasn't sure, I feared that she might have been touched in the wrong way. I had a doctor check her up, but there were no signs of r*pe.
What hurt the most was that Zia was merely four. She hardly understood what was happening around her and seemed so much more mature than the other kids her age.
"Angel?" Lia called me and poked her head inside my room.
I smiled and put my arm back, indicating for Lia to join in with Zia and me.
"Hi", Lia mumbled, snuggling into me.
"Umm, Zia, do you...maybe want to paint with me? Mom said you can be my best friend since I've never had one." Lia mumbled, looking at Zia a little nervously.
Zia pulled back from my hold and looked up at me, asking for permission.
I smiled at my girls, "omg, can I join in?" I asked.
"Ahh, if Zia allows?" Lia said, looking at her new friend, hoping for a reaction, still nervous.
Zia simply looked at Lia and me, and I sighed internally.
"You...umm, mum said you don't like to talk just like I don't like to do gardening. So it's, umm, fine? Can you tell me your answer tele-telepathically?" Lia asked, closing her eyes a second later, scrunching up her eyebrows as though concentrating on something intensely.
Zia pulled her lips back a little as though holding In a smile and closed her eyes too.
