He looked down, and answered, "I guess let the girl have one more chance. If anything else goes wrong, then well kick here out, okay?"
Mrs. Irving sighed, and nodded her head. Diverting her attention back to the phone, she sighed, "Rae...? She can stay, but if anything goes wrong then she's out of here, okay?"
"Thanks Mom," Rae thanked, winking at Elissa.
Elissa smiled, and almost jumped for joy.
"Okay, I'll see you in a minute too, Mom. Okay. Love you too. Bye," Rae said, hanging up the phone.
"So, she's okay with me staying here?" Elissa reassured.
"Yeah, but she said that if anything else goes wrong then you're out of here. But I still don't see what she thinks you did wrong in the first place."
Elissa looked down and answered, "I know..."
Rae tilted his head to the side, and asked, "Then...what was she thinking?"
"She thinks it was my fault that you ended up having to go to the hospital. She's right...it was basically my fault..." Elissa sighed, still looking down at her feet.
Rae shook his head, and reasoned, "Elissa, it's not your fault. It's your dad's. It's not like you would purposely run away, just to get me hurt by your dad."
Elissa looked up at him and said, "That's true, but if I hadn't ran away in the first place, then you would have never had to go to the hospital."
"It doesn't even matter anymore, okay? I'm fine, and you're safe. That's all I need to know," Rae smiled.
Elissa smiled back up at him, and then asked, "What was wrong with your dad earlier?"
"Oh...when you were in the bathroom?" Rae asked.
Elissa nodded her head, and scooted over, so Rae could sit down next to her.
"The truth is I actually had three brothers at one time. I used to not be the youngest. I had a little brother who was murdered when he was only eight years old. I was twelve at the time, and didn't realize what exactly had happened when we went to his funeral. He would be four years younger than you right now. I really think that he was my dad's favorite, but anyway. Every time he hears about some little boy getting injured or killed or something, he always gets mad about it. I don't know what he thought he heard you say while you were in the bathroom, but he must have thought it had something to do with a little boy," Rae explained.
Elissa's eyes became wide, and she was frozen stiff.
Rae looked at her, and started waving his hand in front of her face. "Elissa...? Are you all right?"
She shook her head, and woke herself up out of her trance. "H-have you lived here your whole life?" she asked.
Rae nodded his head slightly, and answered, "Yeah, I've lived here ever since I can remember. Why did you want to know?"
Elissa's face just turned pale, and she felt like there was something caught in her throat; no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't say anything.
"Elissa...? Are you okay?!" Rae asked again, this time starting to panic.
Elissa put her hand up to her forehead, and almost fell over backwards, off of the bed.
"Elissa...!" Rae yelled, as he reached over to grab her, so she didn't fall off. He started cradling her in his arms. "What's going on with you?" he asked her when she started coming to.
"I...just...it's nothing, Rae," Elissa said, looking away from him.
"Elissa...I know youre hiding something from me. What is it?" Rae asked her.
"I told you, it's nothing for you to worry about, Rae," Elissa said, as she got up, and started to walk away from Rae.
Rae got up, and followed after her. "Elissa, it's part of your story, isn't it?"
Elissa nodded her head, and whispered, "Unfortunately..."
"Well, you told me that you would tell me your story. Why don't you continue from where you left off? And whatever it is that you don't want to tell me, might not be as bad as it seems. Not to mention, it's better to get things off your chest. Don't worry, I'm here for you," Rae smiled, and wrapped Elissa in his arms.
She looked up into his eyes, and hugged him back, saying, "Okay, but promise me...you won't get mad at me. I don't think I'd be able to take it."
"I would never get mad at you," Rae smiled, and held her hand in his own. He led her over to the bed, and sat down on it, followed by Elissa sitting back down next to him.
