The Unordinary

Be Ok-74

Taliah's Pov

I pick Crys up and place her on the ground to help her get off the bed. I hold her elbow to try and gently guide her into the hallway to the bathroom. When we enter the room I close the door behind us. I sit Crys down on the toilet lid.

"Stay there. Ok?" Say and kiss her forehead. She nods and shows a weak smile. I turn the hot and cold tap on at the same rate. I hum the same tune from earlier whilst I wait for the tub to fill half-way up with water. When it gets to the right hight. I stir the water around I feel its a bit to warm so I turn the cold tap on a bit longer. When I feel it's the right temperature for my sweet Crystal. I make sure both the taps are securely off and turn back to Crys who stayed exactly where I told her to. I pick her up and bring her closer to the bath. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah..." She mutters through her hand. I take her top off and get reminded with all the scars and cuts on her back.

"If these start to hurt tell me." I don't want Crys to get hurt anymore. "Okay?"

"Okay." She still seems so sad. I hug her tight and kiss her forehead. "I love you, Taliah." I smile

"I love you too." I take the rest of her clothes off and pick her up to put her in the bath slowly. "Is the temperature ok?"

"Mmhmm." She says when her toes touched the water. I slowly place her down in the bath so her feet are touching the bottom of the bath. The water only reaches to the top of her thigh. I get a small towel from the shelf nearby and wait for her, in her own time, to sit down in the bath. When she has sat down I dip the towel in the bath and carefully rub the blood off her back.

"What did she exactly do to you, Crys?" I say in a gentle whisper. "What excuse did she use to do this to you?" Nothing could forgive this behaviour from a mother to a daughter.

Crys doesn't seem to want to answer that question. It was a headache to listen to mum and dad argue but at least that didn't end up with Crys being injured. Well, as far as I'm aware. When I start to put shampoo in her hair I find bits of it stuck together with what I can only assume is dried blood. I sigh internally. I try to wash it out but just to make sure I put another bit of shampoo in and washed that out. I thought, she's having a bath she may as well also wash her hair, now I realize if I hadn't she would have blood in her hair. I put the conditioner in her hair. Then I grabbed a brush to detangle all the knots she had, which probably formed from the blood sticking her hair together. I left Crys in the bath so I could grab a towel and some nice, new, clean clothes. I grabbed her towel which is one of her favourite colours, pastel pink. I throw it down next to the bathroom door. Then I went to her room. It was unusually dark.

--Flashback--

"Shhh...Everything will be fine." Tears fell down little Crys' face. I heard them arguing in the background.

--End Flashback--

"That was in the past Taliah. Dad no longer lives here so they can no longer argue." Why did I say that aloud? I guess flashbacks you really don't want to remember leave you a bit disorientated. I open her draw trying to forget all the moments I've had to hold Crys in this room to try and get our parents arguing inaudible for her. I grab a pastel green top with love hearts all over it, knickers, a light blue pair of shorts and my old hoodie which she stole but I don't really want back. My hoodie is probably too big for her but it looks nice on her. I can't remember how old I was when I tie-dyed it but it was meant for my mum. It was gonna be a gift but a few days before mother's day she said she wouldn't be caught dead in tie-dye so I kept it and just got her flowers. It was much too big for me. Now Crys can drown in the hoodie instead of me.

I walk out her room, pick up the towel I left outside the bathroom and enter to see Crys still sat in the same position she was in when I left.

"Come on Crys!" She looked at me and smiled. I smiled back at her infectious smile. You have to be really stone-faced not to smile at her smile.

"Did you get me different clothes?" She says tilting her head to the side.

"Yes, I did," I say reaching over her to get the shower head to wash the conditioner out off her hair.

"What if mum notices?"

"Didn't you change clothes by yourself between when you saw me and what happened with mum?" I answer almost instantly. I turn the showerhead on and make sure it's a good temperature.

"Oh, Why do you say that?"

"There wasn't any blood on your top, yet quite a bit on your back." She was silent at that "That's why I had the urge to tidy you up!" I washed all the conditioner out of her hair. Whilst I wash it out I give her a miny head message which she giggles at. "Do you want to pull the plug out the bath?" No matter what happens that is the most important question ever.

"Mmhmm!" She nods immediately perking up. I laugh. These moments with Crys are the best. Without Crys, I don't know what I would do. I feel like protecting her is my only meaning and worth in life.

I pick her up under her shoulders and onto a mat. I pick her towel up and wrap her in it. She shakes her head getting water everywhere.

"Crys!" I say whilst laughing at her messing around. Using the towel I rub her head to try and dry it quicker. "Haha!" She giggles. When I think her body is dry enough. I put on her top. When I put it over her and pulled it down from her face I saw Crys pull a silly face with her tongue stuck out and her eyes in every direction. I crack up laughing at her ridiculous face. "Crys!" I rub her cheek with my hand. "Your just...your just something different, aren't you?"

"Yeah!" she says with the biggest grin I had seen for a while on her face. She puts on her own knickers and shorts. Whilst I wait with the hoodie. I pull it over and I guess I was right. The hood covers a lot more than half her face, her hands are long gone and the hoodie goes to a bit above her knees.

"Are you ok in there?" She laughs at my sarcastic comment and I laugh with her. I think maybe. Maybe we will both be ok. Well, I know we will both be ok as long as we have each other.