The Eye of a Hurricane

Lin

Pippa had taken her ordeal harder than I'd initially thought.  She was a strong, independent woman but anyone would be shaken by what had happened. It crushed me to see my sweet Pippa struggling so much.  She was absolutely panicked when we passed the alley where she'd been attacked.

After the girls had gone to bed, we laid on the couch together to watch a movie.  She wanted to be held a lot, which was perfectly fine with me.  It was one of my favorite things to do.  I tried to distract her from her thoughts the best I could, but it seemed all-consuming.  I'd catch her staring off into space, thinking, and her face would turn into a frown.  I'd know she was remembering what had happened.

"I should've been carrying mace or something," she blurted out mid-movie.  It was a romantic comedy; something light-hearted, but it still couldn't distract her.

I propped myself up on my elbow and looked down at her.  "What do you mean?"

"If I'd had mace in my purse I could have sprayed him," she said, turning onto her back.  "That was so stupid of me."

"Pip," I protested.  "He grabbed you and you would've had no time to get your mace.  This is all on him.  You can't blame yourself."

"I should take self defense classes," she went on, staring at the ceiling as I let my hand rest on her belly.

"That would be a good idea," I agreed.  "Might help you feel safer."

"Maybe I could take Isabel too," she said, looking up at me.  "That would be good for her, right?"

"Yeah," I said, letting my finger gently stroke at her cheek.  I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to hurt this precious thing.

We heard a scream from the bedroom.  I was up immediately, rushing to the girls' bedroom.  Luna was sitting up in bed crying, and Isabel was groggily picking her head up from the pillow.  I sat on Luna's bed and brought her into my lap.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?  Did you have a nightmare?" I asked her.

"Uh-huh," she admitted, crying softly.

"Was it about the hurricane?" I asked gently.

"Yeah," her little voice sounded so scared.  She'd been having recurring nightmares now, multiple times a week.  Luna would dream that they were stuck in the house and their dad couldn't get to them.  She would wake up screaming and crying.  Usually if I held her for a few minutes she would calm down and drift off to sleep.  Lately, she'd started climbing into bed with me and Pippa.

Pippa walked in with a glass of water, which Luna drank after she'd gotten herself together a bit.  We both sat with her, talking to her gently.

"I wanna see Daddy," she told us tearfully.  We looked at each other.  Miguel hadn't called in over a week now, and I knew that upset the girls.  Though he'd caused them hurt and anguish, they still loved him because he was their father.

"I know, sweet pea," I told her, kissing her head.  "Puerto Rico's still not safe though.  We have to wait a little longer."

"How long?"

Pippa gently played with her hair.  "We don't know yet, sweetheart.  We just have to wait.  I know waiting is hard."

She sighed and rested her head against my chest.  Pippa stood up and tucked the covers around Isabel more while I held Luna.  A few minutes later she was asleep.  I gently eased her back onto the mattress and covered her up.  Hopefully she would make it through the night with no more nightmares.

___

The next day when I went to pick up the girls from school Luna's teacher waved me down again.