When You Saved Me

Chapter 6

Bruce P.O.V

It looked to me like Tony's patience was wearing thin, which isn't surprising--it's Tony after all. Which makes my mind go in circles even imagining him adopting a kid, I'm between-- he's absolutely mental and would be a terrible role model-- and --A kid would probably help that ego, and maybe he'd become less of an ass hole. 

So here I am, seated on this freezing cement floor, and I'm holding the chocolate bar out in my left hand. Tony is seated behind me, I'm glad he decided to sit down too; if this little girl can't stand she probably felt intimidated by us, so I thought getting down at her level might help. 

It's so dark down here, I can see the direction the chain leads in but she is lost in the darkness. 

I decide it's now or never, "Callie? My name is Bruce, and this is my friend Tony. We aren't here to hurt you." I keep my voice low and gentle, trying to be as soothing as possible I add, "We're here to help, please come out." 

The chain shifts ever so slightly, and slowly she emerges into the faint light that Tony and I are seated in. She is crawling, using primarily her left hand and knee, her right arm is dragging on the floor, I can see from here that it is definitely dislocated and likely broken. 

She stops just out of arms reach and looks both Tony and me up and down, the fear and distrust in her face break my heart. She is so young and has experienced more cruelty than most people face in a lifetime. She stares into my eyes and the hard wall of fear seems to melt away and is replaced with confusion; I start to get the feeling that she knows what I'm thinking, it's slightly unnerving. 

Callie seemed to decide that we are alright, and she crawls forward, wincing at the effort and sits in front of me. She reaches her hand up to the candy bar and then scowls, raising her eyes to mine and then back down to the candy and then looks back into my eyes raising an eyebrow.

"It's okay, you can take it," I say trying to reassure her. But she looks me in the eyes and shakes her head, and then lightly tugs on the wrapper. 

I hear Tony snicker and say, "she wants you to take off the wrapper." 

And her eyes break mine and shift to Tony's direction giving him a slight nod. I smile, of course, how could I expect her to open a wrapper with one good hand. I start to rip open the foil and I notice her subconsciously lick her lips as she turns her gaze back to the chocolate. 

When I've finished she tentatively reaches out her hand grasping the candy, and I have to stifle a gasp, her arms are covered in bruises and injection points. She is too busy scarfing down the treat to notice my shock, but I turn to Tony, "I think we're going to be dealing with some withdrawal, this isn't going to be a walk in the park." I whisper, and he nods sadly in agreement. 

Tony clears his throat and Callie looks up, still chomping down on chocolate, "Callie, can you talk?" I also look at the little girl, curious about her answer. 

She pauses her snacking and looks up to the left thinking, if it wasn't for her bloodied mess of a face I think she'd be pretty cute. She looks back to Tony and nods, but then motions to her throat, and that's when I notice the bruising and raw flesh lining her neck. She was clearly strangled the night before, which explains why she'd be unable to speak, but there were also scars, implying it had been done several times before. I started to feel an urgency building in my stomach, we needed to get out of here. I need to make sure she's alright. 

"Tony it's time to go."