“MAX! GO!” Christina tried to scream. Her voice was strained in the back of her throat from Matt’s strangulation. Her voice was horse and barely anything came out. Her salty tears mixed in with the flesh wound that stretched across the cheek where Matt had just slapped her. It stung. But nothing hurt more than the fear she felt for Max’s safety.
“MAX!” Matt yelled. Max had started to cry, quickly trying to back away and go up the stairs into his room, but there was no luck. Christina struggled on the floor, trying with every part of her body, to get up and save her son, but nothing could help her. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t see, her body serving as one big definition of abuse. There was only one man who could change everything: Adam. And so he did.
“MOMMY!” Max screamed, hugging onto the banister of the staircase. She couldn’t do a thing. Nothing could be done. She lay on her knees, watching her terrified son cry for help. Her heart broke into two pieces. Watching Max cry out of fear was the worst feeling that she had to endure. No. It wasn’t the slapping, it wasn’t the choking, it wasn’t the abuse in general. It was the pain of bearing a child into the world but not being able to protect them. The heavens seemed to have been closed off. No amount of love or safety, serenity and peace surrounded them. All that was left was hell. Everything evil, sinister, cold, and downright heartless was found in that very household once Matt put his hand on Max.
The scared girl in the corner shut her eyes. Nothing in the world could ever compare to the mental pictures she imagined. What’s worse? Hearing something and not knowing what’s happening? Or hearing something, but seeing it happen? Can you choose?
Cries. Hearts beating. Screams. Christina’s ears begged for something pleasant. They begged not to hear such horrific sounds anymore. “Please stop…”
Christina’s ears were greeted with silence. She didn’t hear crying. She didn’t hear her heartbeat. She didn’t hear words.
**The sound that filled Christina’s ears**
A crash.
Her eyes shot open.
**A list of what a pair of blue eyes came across**
A little boy.
A man hugging a little boy.
A little boy crying violently into the man’s shoulder.
Broken glass.
A body.
Adam picked Max up into his arms and brought him over to Christina, who embraced the two of them fully. Their tears stained the tile floor, along with their shirts and faces that never seemed to be dry. She held Max in her arms, no matter how much it hurt her spine, back, and arms. The feeling of holding her son made up for every amount of pain that shot through Christina’s body. Adam was on his knees, hugging the mother and son. The heavens re-opened as safety found its way in through Christina’s front door. Goodness was found amidst of the body that stuck to the floor. As long as Max was in Christina’s arms, nothing was wrong.
**A note for the future**
Christina is missing someone in her arms.
After crying for what felt like eternities, Christina and Max finally clamed down and sought refuge through Adam. “Christina,” Adam said, “I’m so sorry…” Christina nodded her head from left to right and took off the scarf to reveal her bruised neck on both sides. “I can’t speak,” Christina mouthed with her lips along with pointing to her neck. The scene was cold. A shiver was sent up a spine. Colors of black and blue mixed together and surrounded Christina’s neck, not letting go. The marks of fingers encircled her, as Adam looked for the right words to say. “Oh my god…Christina, we have to get that looked at.” She turned to Max and made a gesture with her hands for him to get her something to write on. Max obeyed, trying to avoid contact with the body that hugged the tile floor in the middle of the foyer.
As Max was gone, Adam held Christina and asked to see the rest of her scars. Before showing him, she looked around to see if Max was coming, and to her pleasure, he wasn’t. Quickly, she lifted her shirt to unfold the madness within. Adam’s eyes begged not to look anymore, but couldn’t be helped. The bruises spread from her ribcage along with the bruise on her back and left arm. A grand total of four bruises and one 4 inch long cut on her cheek. Oh, morphine, if you could only find Christina.
She pulled down her shirt quickly as she heard Max’s footsteps run into the room. With a post it and pen, Christina wrote down everything she had to say. “Adam, can we please stay over at your house for tonight?” she wrote and passed it along to Adam. “Of course, Christina, without a doubt! I’ll give you a ride,” he responded. “Thank you so much,” she wrote and kissed him on the cheek, leaving a mixture of blood and red lipstick. “Max, please pack up some things to bring over to Adam’s.” Max nodded and gave Adam a hug that lasted for all eternity before running up the stairs.
As he left the room, Christina wrote, “Please don’t make me go to the hospital, Adam! The press, family, media, it’s all too much! My life is complicated as it is! Is it okay if you call the police? I’d do it myself, but I can’t speak. I’m so sorry!” Adam read on the post-it. “Of course, I’ll do it for you! I’d do anything for you, but I want you to stay with me? Okay? I don’t want to let you out of my sight. I can’t afford it.” He said. He gave her one last hug and helped her stand up and leaned her onto the wall. He took her hand and leaned his forehead onto hers.
**The soothing words that lit up Christina’s sky**
“You’re too precious to me. I can’t lose you.”
Christina’s eyes re-emerged back into the beautiful shade of blue that they’ve always been. The cloudiness faded away as the abuse turned into a new form of love. Adam’s hazel eyes watched as Christina’s blue ones filled with tears and he carefully wiped them away. He gave her one last hug, and led her up to her room to pack.
As Christina was filling her bag up with her necessities, she could hear Adam’s forceful tone as he was on the phone with the police. “Hi, I’d like to request an ambulance here…yes, I believe he’s unconscious…well, you see….” Christina smiled as she folded a pair of pants into her bag. She felt…something weird…. Something she hasn’t been introduced to in a long time.
**A familiar but distant emotion**
Love
Having been abused for so long, Christina’s heart grew with immense passion as she felt someone care for her. Every feeling of loneliness, abandonment, horror, depression and confusion never came in contact with Christina’s mind. She was thankful. Someone was finally there to tell her that everything was going to be okay. Someone was there to care for her, to hold her, to keep her safe. Everyone deserves someone like this in their life, and Christina had finally found it.
