Growing Up |TAYVIN (Sequel To AWRFT) *discontinued*

23. Bruises

*Taylor's POV*

Oh. My. Gosh.

I put a hand over my mouth when I see the bruises, and let out a muffled scream, as I feel tears welling up in my eyes.

"Ellie, I need to take your shirt off", I whisper, putting my face in my hands and taking a deep breath, before composing myself and looking at Ellie again.

"No, Mommy. I'm okay", she says, starting to cry, as her lips quiver and her eyebrows furrow, and she pulls her shirt back down with shakey hands.

"El, I really need to see everything", I say, as calmly as possible, as I eventually manage to persuade her to lift up her arms, and I pull her pyjama shirt and her vest over her head.

The sight before me is heartbreaking.

My little girl's torso is covered in bruises, and what look like little scratch marks, travelling from her stomach all the way up to above her chest.

I had been wondering why she had been taking her showers without my help lately, but I just assumed that it was because she was getting older and wanted to be more independent.

Somebody had been hurting my baby, and I hadn't even known about it.

I should have known.

Did I not pay enough attention to her?

My beautiful little girl, who wouldn't hurt a fly, had been hurt so badly that her naked body looked like a human punching bag.

I look into her scared eyes, and for the first time in a long time, I see the same little girl that I saw in Central Park.

The images from when we first got Ellie popped into my head.

That first night that we had her is still the most vivid memory I possess.

That broken little baby that we adopted.

I can still remember the bath tub incident, and the crying, and rocking her to sleep for the first time.

I would never be able to forget the condition she was in that first night.

Bruises and cuts covered her whole body, and Adam and I had sworn, almost four and a half years ago, that we would never let that happen again.

"Ellie, who did this to you?", I ask quietly, looking into her teary eyes with my now, very blurry vision.

"Nobody", she says, shaking her head quickly, as she tries to climb off of my lap.

I inhale slowly, and wrap my arms around her, so that she can't leave.

She flinches at my touch, and I realise it's because my fingers are pressing hard against the bruises on her stomach, so I loosen my grip a little.

"Ellie, please. You really need to tell Mommy. This is important", I say, my voice breaking.

I felt nothing but anger now, at whoever had done this to her, but also at myself.

How could I have let this go unnoticed?

"I fell", Ellie says, and her left eye twitches.

Whenever she lied, which was seldom, her left eye would twitch, so I could tell that she wasn't telling the truth.