My Therapy

Chapter 4

June 12th, 2022

Ella's POV

Today was long, hard and emotional for Madison and her family.

The second we stepped into that court room she lost the spark in her eyes, one of the most perfect things about her being is that it never fades, never leaves.

Only one other time had it faded around me, and that was when she was saying goodbye to me.

So many important people walked in, like lawyers and attornies and police officers. I just sat down next to Madison, and Georgia sat next to me.

"We're not gonna do that," Alessia said, squeezing inbetween Georgia and I.

"Good idea," Daly said giving Less a high five.

If I'm being honest, the rest of it was just a blur. Madison talked, her sister talked, Daly talked, Lucy talked and loads of people talked. I just sat there holding Madison's hand.

Before she went up to talk again, I tapped her heart tattoo and she smiled at me.

Then it was intense, honestly I just blocked everything out that happened because it just got all too much. I just remember wiping my tears away at Madison's speech.

I feel like a bad person for not making her feel comfortable to tell me all this stuff that has been clearly eating her up inside.

The judge sentenced her sister to 2 years in prison, and said a bunch of other things I didn't understand, but Madi did becuase she took a law class in uni.

Her eyes were red, and all the other girls were standing around awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Madison just walked over and broke down in my arms. Nobody really knew what to do because no one has seen her like this. 

"Seeing Madison cry is like seeing your parents cry. It breaks you into a million pieces and it just feels like something you were never meant to see and never want to see. It hurts, seeing the strongest person you know so broken over something she acted like never hurt her," Alessia whispered.

Her tears soaked the shoulder of my shirt as I just kept my arms tightly wrapped around her.

Her parents had left because they had other things to take care of so it was just us left.

A police officer came over to us and she wanted a word with Madison, so she pulled herself together best she could and went with them. I started following, but Lucy grabbed my arm to stop me.

"She's strong," She said.

"She'll be okay," Daly said.

I put my hands on my head, feeling like I just had the wind knocked out of me.

"What do you want us to do, Ella?" Alessia asked.

"No idea. I have no idea what to do," I replied.

"About what? You can't just make today go away like it never happened. You also can't just fix everything like you want to," Stanway said.

"I think you just have to sit back and be her shoulder to cry on. Which you're already doing a good job of," Rachel said.

"You're right. I have to be her rock like she is for me," I said wiping my tears.

"Nothing you can do except be there. This is a personal battle," Lucy added.

"But I don't want her to be alone," I replied.

"Like we said just be her shoulder to lean on," Stanway said as Madison came walking back in.

Her eyes were red, as were her tear striken face. 

"You ready to go?" I asked.

"Never been more ready in my life," She said taking a deep breathe.