It's Not What It Looks Like (Recently Completed)

Chapter - 13

Colette

"Do you want some choco chip cookies?", Zach asks me and I nod my head like a loon with a wide grin on my face.

You do expect that after everything I have been through, I will be in a hospital bed with afar away look and sad music playing in the background. But instead, here I am smiling like an idiot and being the most compliant patient in the history of the hospital. My euphoric behaviour has not only confused Zach, the cops and the hospital staff, even the psychiatrist who is assigned to check my mental well being.

Yesterday, I overheard her saying to Zach that everyone reacts to trauma differently and I might be having a case of complex PTSD where I am blocking away the past which is not healthy for my mental health in a long run. I don't know if I am doing that but I am definitely elated that I made it out alive. I am ecstatic that Lily is fine and has awesome parents who came from the other side of the country to meet me once they learnt who I am. The orphanage from where they adopted Lily, told them she was abandoned after birth and they didn't know who her parents were. Now, that they knew about me they wanted to meet me and even brought Lily. I couldn't contain my happiness when I finally saw her. She is so cute with round chubby cheeks, grey eyes and a brown curly mop of hair. She was afraid of me seeing all the bandages in my body and clung to her father which kind of made me happy because it meant she trusted them and they took good care of her.

When Virginia and Christopher, Lily's awkwardly asked me if I would take Lily away from them, I was so relieved and grateful that Lily was adopted by them. I had an adopted mother who hated children and turned a blind eye on everything her husband did to me. Even though Father was the evil who did all the harm, to me Mother was equally bad. She cared more about her beauty sleep than a little girl who was being abused down the hall a few feet from her bedroom. After living with such emotionless adopted parents, seeing the worry in Virginia's eyes at the thought of losing her Taylor is comforting. From the way Lily's eyes sought after her parents, I am positive that she is being treated well. Zach reassured me that he vented them out which helped me make my decision to not separate Lily from her adopted parents. She was happy and I always wanted that for her.

Virginia and Christopher were in tears when I told them Lily was theirs and promised not to sue them. Virginia thanked me profoundly and was ready to allow me constant access to Lily. But, I decided to stay away and let Lily have a happy life without knowing the truth of her birth until she was mature enough to understand the specifics. My decision shocked everyone since I had gone through everything for the little girl. But, I felt staying away from her is the right thing to do. However, Virginia felt I should have a relationship with Lily so now I am Aunt Col to Lily and I might be spending the Thanksgiving with them at the end of the year.

That is one more reason for my high spirits. For years, I had no one to turn to but now that media knew my story, I have been told that I am on every national and international news and the exposure has brought long last friends of my Mom and Dad. Linda and Steven Martins were best friends with my Mom and Dad since growing up together in the orphanage. After my parent's death, they wanted to adopt me but they were still struggling to make a life for themselves so when Father told them he was adopting me they thought it would be for the best since Father was rich and would be able to provide a better life for me. After watching the news on a local channel, they felt so guilty for not being there for me. So they came to visit me in the hospital. They brought photos of mom and Dad and told me lots of stories about them. After hearing all the stories, Mom and Dad are not figments of my imagination. I have personalities that I can now attach to their faces.