In Another Life

Chapter Eight: Vicy

I'm shooed out the the hospital room when they knock Minnie back out. I walk back into the hallway to see her parents. Mr and Mrs Kingsley look an insane amount like their daughter. All three of them have rust coloured hair, Mia has her mom's grey eyes. Her mom looks like she's going through withdrawal from her drugs and alcohol. Her dad looks like he always does, mad. He has a thin white scar under his eye where Mia's blade caught him the last times they fought. Mia has a far worse scar on her arm, her father turned her own blade on her and it sunk into her arm. I took her to the hospital after that. I decided in the moment that she wasn't going to live there anymore. I watch her parents.

"I'm her guardian and I'm saying that you're not aloud in there." I state and her mother looks at me.

"I am her mother!" She snaps.

"Some mother! You were more worried about how you were going to pay your dealer rather than getting Mia food! She's so small because of years of malnutrition!" I nearly yell.

Mia is about 5'8 but doesn't break a hundred pounds, she's on a bunch a different medications to help with it. Being 5'8 and growing up malnourished, she would've broke six foot if she ate right.

"And you." I turn to her father. "You slapped her around so much she flinches when someone walks up beside her! You two screwed her up so insanely bad! I'm trying to make sure she gets a good education and gets to do what she loves. You know she's seventeen and still in tenth grade! That's not normal! Even if she goes to summer school she'll still be nineteen when she graduates. Some fucking parents!"

"You can't talk to us like that!" Her father says.

"I'm so glad that the judge awarded me custody of Mia. Now maybe she'll have half a fucking chance!" I snap and I turn to the doctor. "I'm Mia's legal guardian, can you assort these people out?"

The doctor calls for security and Mr and Mrs Kingsley are walked away from Mia's room. I sit down beside Bruce and sigh.

"I didn't know you adopted, Mia." He says quietly.

"I had to. I mean you heard what I said about her parents, they treated her like shit." I say and he half smiles.

"I like the Soviet Union heard you." Bruce says and I smile. "You love Minnie?"

"Like she's my own." I admit and he nods.

"Yeah, me to. Both of you. I don't know how I'm going to leave." Bruce says.

"You're going off to bigger and better things though, right?" I ask and he nods.

"I'm only a phone call away." He says. "Can we go see Minnie Mouse?"

We go into the room and her grey eyes are open again.

"You think my English teacher will give me an extension on that book report?" Mia smirks and we laugh. "How was the date?"

"Fun." I smile at Bruce.

"Yeah, loads of it." He smiles. "Until we started to worry about you, Minnie Mouse. Don't do something like that again, you scared the shit out of us."

Mia frowns and drops her gaze, she starts to play with her fingers on the casted hand and I glare at Bruce. I can almost see Mia building those walls back up a mile high. Letting new people in has always been hard for her and now that Bruce did this, I'm not sure she'll ever let a new person in again.

"Minnie, I didn't mean it like that. You just scared the hell out of us that's all." Bruce tries to save but Mia keeps looking down.

Mia is strong, sometimes so strong that we forget what she's gone through. The fact that everything in her house growing up was her fault. We forget that somewhere deep in her soul is the little girl crying. Mia refuses to cry, she punches holes in drywall or breaks girl's faces. I could tell that Bruce's comment brought up that part of Mia that she pretends doesn't exist, the part where she is that little girl who wants to cry. Mia doesn't cry. When these two girls clash inside her, it's a war that she can't win.

"Hey Minnie Mouse? Can I sigh your cast?" Bruce asks after a long silence.

Mia doesn't make eye contact with him but hands him a marker and holds her right wrist out to him. Bruce signs it Big Bro Bruce. Mia doesn't react to it.

The doctor comes back in and tells us that Minnie needs rest. We get back to the hallway and I look at him.

"What the hell was that?" I ask and he frowns.

"I know, I know." Bruce says and throws his hands up. "What do I do? She hates me now? How do I even make it up to her? With me leaving so soon she's never going to forgive me."

Bruce paces for a second then lights up. He runs down the hall and I watch him confused. Ten minutes later he returns with a teddy bear that's dressed in a Yankees uniform and the biggest bag of sour keys I have ever seen. Mia's favourite team and her favourite candy.

When she wakes back up, we go in to see her. Minnie still doesn't make eye contact with Bruce and sits in the bed quietly. Bruce sits down on the bed beside her and she scoots away, he just moves closer. When Mia gets to the edge of the bed she crosses her arms and looks the opposite direction. I smile at how stubborn she is.

"Minnie Mouse, I've got you something." Bruce says and she glances over slightly. "I figured baseball and candy would cheer you up."

Minnie Mouse cracks a smile and hugs Bruce.

Yep, his little sister.