Stronger

Progress

The next day, I got up at 7 and after a while, made some scrambled eggs.

I was surprised Lily wasn't up yet, so I finished the eggs and went to her room to check on her.

I opened her door to find her crying in her bed. "Lily, what's wrong?" I asked, running over to her.

"Daddy I'm sorry! Please I won't do it again! Daddy no! No! Please don't take my dolly away! Pleas daddy no I don't wanna go back to you! Daddy NOOO!" She was screaming.

"Sweet pea, it's alright, it's ok." I said, placing my hand on her shoulder. Her eyes were open, but I knew she was still asleep.

I'd been warned about this, the doctors told me that this was highly likely to happen, so I did exactly what they had instructed me too.

I quickly filled a cup with water and ran back to Lily's room. I used my hand to shield her face from the water as I poured the cold water on her forehead.

She popped up and sucked in air. I stopped pouring the water and rubbed her back.

"It's ok Lily, it's just me, no one else, just me, I won't hurt you pea. It was just a dream." I cooed, stroking her back.

She finally stopped sobbing, and tears rolled down her face.

"It was a dream sweetheart, it wasn't real, alright?" I said.

She looked at me and nodded. "Sorry, ma'm" she said, tear still falling.

"Do you want to talk about it? And you don't have to call me ma'm, sweetie." I told her. Lily shook her head, her hand in mine.

I found her doll under the covers and handed it to her. She took it and hugged it with her other arm. Then I grabbed a tissue and her clean her face.

"Let's go get something to eat." I said, standing up. I would have picked her up, but she's not comfortable enough with me yet to do that.

The hospital had advised me to not ask her if she wanted to eat, and rather just feed her. This is because her father had never let her eat except for every few days, and had trained her to not ask for or accept food.

I fixed our plates and gave her a glass of chocolate milk, which is another thing the hospital told me to do, to strengthen her bones.

Lily actually finished her food, which was rare for her. I hadn't given her much though, I didn't want her to feel sick since she's not used to big portions.

I was glad she'd finished, for more reasons than one. She had to take quite a bit of medication, and I chopped it up into tiny pieces and put it in her food.

I had been wiry to do it at first, since I heard that you're not supposed to chew pills, but the doctors had assured me this medicine was fine to do it with.

"Lily, can I talk to you about something?" I said, still seated at the table. She gingerly nodded her head.

"Have you ever seen a dog before?" I asked. Lily looked up from where she's been staring at the floor.

"What's a dog?" She said. I was shocked. I knew that she had never been taught anything, but only now was I learning to what degree.

"I'll show you a picture." I said, picking up my phone and typing into google.

I showed the pictures to her.

"Oh, yes m'am i've seen those before." She said quietly.

"Well, I actually have two dogs." I pulled up a picture of Minnie and Moe.

"See? Their names are Minnie and Moe. Right now, they're with my mom. But they are going to come back to live with me and you today. Is that alright? They're very nice." I told her. I prayed she wasn't afraid of dogs, though mine were very well tempered.