Risen from Ashes

Act one, Part Seventeen: The First Step to Healing

The next day

Nina opened her eyes, feeling a little dizzy and light-weighted. She reached her hand to rub her eyes, getting the sleep off her eyes, and she pressed her head on her forehead, still warm. Her mind was feeling a little hazy. The last thing Nina remembers is having a mental breakdown in the lab and feeling so sick she passed out. She was trying to leave the lair, only to be brought back by Donnie, who had saved her.

Nina struggled to get up; her muscles were weak, but she managed to get info on her location. And what she thought she would be in her room, only to find herself in someone else's room. She started panicking and tried to get out of bed. But her weak muscles stopped her from moving, so she sat on the bed. She spots Bello sleeping beside a pillow; at least she has her trusted friend.

The door opened, and Donnie came, holding a glass of water and pills. He approached her, smiling a little to let her know he meant no harm. "Hey. How are you feeling?" He asked her.

"Like a plum on a hot day." She answered back. "How did I get here?"

"You passed out from crying too much, and I let you sleep here," Donnie responded, setting the pills and the water by his nightstand and grabbing a chair to sit by his bed. He took his seat and grabbed the water and pills. "Here." He handed them to her.

Nina took the pills and placed them in her mouth. Then, she grabs the water and drinks it, causing the pills to be swallowed with the water. Once she was done, she handed it back to him. She let out a sigh. She had revealed her abuse to Donnie in a state of stress, the one thing she couldn't do. Now she has to explain everything to him.

Donnie began. "Okay, Nina. You need to tell me everything. Why have you never told me about your abusive life, and you were abused?" He questioned her. "I could have helped you."

Nina sadly frowned, looking at her hands gripping the cover. Time to spill the beans. "Because my mom had threatened me. She said if I told anyone of this, she would buy a bomb and send it to one of my family members." She revealed. "So I have to stay quiet so I can protect my pamilya."

Donnie blinked in shock. "She threatened you?" He asked her.

Nina nodded, telling the truth. "In more ways than one."

Donnie was speechless. Why would her mother threaten her daughter like that? Threaten to kill anyone if she explains her abuse. It would explain why she stubbornly refuses to talk to anyone because the threat scares her badly. He cleared his throat. "You said your mother hasn't taken you to see a doctor after your father's death." He mentioned it to her. "Who was he?"

"Benjamin Luck, my Tatay." Nina frowned, thinking about her father. "He was a medicine doctor, and he and I were so close. When he died from a heart disease, my mom began to abuse me." Her hand gripped fighting on the cover. "I never got the chance to say my last goodbye to him..." Her eyes had tears in them."...and I never saw my family after that awful day."

Donnie was horrified by this. This started the day she lost her father, the most awful thing to happen to a child. "If you were abused so badly, how come you never told the police of this?" He asked her about it.

"Because if I did, I would have to be placed in foster care, and my family lives in a different country in the Philippines." Nina turned her head to look at him with sad eyes. "I didn't want to leave the city that reminds me so much of my father, and he had great friends here that are like my family. And if Mom finds out I told the police on her, she will send a bomb to them as a warning." She sniffed at the last part.

"Good lord.." he whispered in disbelief. This woman was a crazy psychopath, hurting anyone who tried to get in her way. Even going far to hurt her daughter to keep her. "I can not believe your father married her and never showed her true color till now.."