MARVEL One Shots

I Feel Loved (M. Hill)

Word Count: 1020 words

How do you feel?

"I feel loved," I say with a smile on my lips as I hold my adoptive mother's hand. Correction, she holds mine despite my subtle attempts to separate them. She keeps a firm grip on my hand, nonetheless. The woman who is seated across from us, Maria, doesn't pick up on the situation hidden behind our smiles. Or at least it feels like she never does, but she continues to do her monthly check-ins. Lucky for me, this was towards the end of our little session. After Maria leaves, I get to go to school just in time for my second-period class. English with Ms. Maximoff and Ms. Romanoff.

Or, at least, I thought so.

Maria requested to see my bedroom, which she had never done before, but I looked at my adoptive mother. She was squeezing my hand so hard that I was close to whimpering in pain. She looked down at me and dropped my hand, keeping her smile. She looked back over to Maria "I am sorry, but it is currently being renovated." Maria closed her spiral notebook and placed it down on the coffee table, along with her multicolor pen. A pretty, cool pen. "I would love to see it anyway, to, you know, see the progress. Even if there is none." Maria insisted.

My adoptive mother stood up, as I did too after. She was about to lead Maria and I to the bedroom, that would not be mine. "Uh-uh," Maria stopped her and looked down at me. "You show me the way." My smile disappeared from my lips. I looked at the basement door before looking at the stairs leading to the second floor. "I don't know," I mumbled. My adoptive mother was standing behind me, directly behind me. She must have heard me because she tugged slightly on my hair. It hurt, but I was used to it. Show no pain, I kept thinking repeatedly.

Maria crouched down to meet my level, even though I was not much shorter. I stood at about her chest, almost her shoulders. "Where do you sleep?" She asked, taking my hand into hers. She kept her focus on me, glancing at my adoptive mother when I did not respond. "It is okay," she assured me. I took a deep breath before leading her into the basement, to the corner behind the stairs. Maria held onto my shoulders as she stood behind me. I guess that she didn't want me to look at my adoptive mother. If I did, I might have come up with a lie. I might have said that this was temporary and we were only in the planning stages of design.

I don't remember what happened next, genuinely. It is like I didn't hear what went on after Maria saw the basement. She didn't let go of my hand or let my adoptive mother be within arm's distance of me as we returned to the living room. This is when she used her phone to make a call and officers began to enter the house. I remember seeing my adoptive mother trying to break away from an officer's hold and then trying to run to me. Or jump towards me.

Maria continued to block her, elbowing her in the nose.

I have never been one for lip reading. I don't even think I get it correctly often, but I watched Maria's lips as she combed through my hair gently. You are safe now, is what I think she said.

It is going to be okay, I think she followed it with.

The next thing I know, I am being placed in the back of a police car by myself. Until Maria stopped the car before they drove off with me. She came into the back seat with me and offered for me to lay my head in her lap. I took her up on that offer as my eyelids became heavy. It was like I was finally relaxed. I was not afraid to sleep. I kicked off my sneakers, brought my legs onto the chair then placed my head on her lap, closing my eyes.

When I opened them, I was in a bedroom I did not recognize. Maybe this was my imagination. It looked so luxurious that I felt as though it had to be a dream. It even had a flat-screen TV. A couple minutes after I woke up, Maria walked in. In a less professional attire, a loose white T-shirt with light blue jeans. She smiled at me, but I held my look of confusion. "Am I dead?" I asked in a loud whisper. She shook her head, walked over to the bed, and got comfortable under the covers. "We have been keeping tabs on you and we finally found substantial proof to arrest Paula..." She wrapped around me, pulling me in closer so I could lay my head on her chest. Again, she ran her fingers through my hair. "I am so sorry it took so long... " She said softly.

I didn't answer her.

At least not without crying.

"What is going to happen to me?" I ask trying to keep calm, but my voice cracks. A tear rolls out from the corner of my eye. I could feel Maria lift herself a bit to try and see my face, but I turned my head more to her stomach.

"We found you a family..." She paused. "In Florida. They seem like a nice couple, on paper. I have officers looking into them more deeply though, just in case." She continued, exhaling. Maria reached for the remote with her other hand and turned the TV on. She figured I would not be in a talking mood, and she was right. Another reason might have been the tears rolling across my face and onto her shirt. She scrolled through the guide until she found a rerun of Friends. "How do you feel now?" She asked and started to braid a section of my hair.

"I feel- ... I Feel Loved" I whispered ever so quietly. I reached for her hand and held onto it for an entire episode before falling asleep.