Savior

Warm Hugs and Old Friends

I wake to something heavy on my stomach. I look over and notice that its Ethans arm. I let my eyes trail over his body and admire him. From the scare on his forehead, down to the stumble growing on his chin. I start to smell something bad and I notice that it's me. Ive never noticed the way I smell. After about 6 months being in here I kinda got used to the fact that we only showered once a week. I haven't taken my shower for this week. 

I grab Ethans arm and lightly move it off my body. I get out of bed and walk to the bathroom. There's a basket on the counter with a card labelled Rose. I grab the basket and open it. Inside is a sundress with a pair of underwear. There's a bottle of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash with a washcloth. There's a razor in the basket as well. They quit giving me razors when I used to try to kill myself with them. I undress out of my tacky clothes that have holes in them and step into the shower soaking up the hot water. I haven't showered with hot water in 3 years. They only gave us cold showers and half used bars of soap. 

I shave my whole body and notice scars. On my legs, on my arms, and a few on my belly. I finish my shower and get out. I walked up to the basket and grabbed the toothbrush and toothpaste and began brushing my teeth. As I finish I look up into the mirror. 3 years. Thats how long it's been since I've looked at myself in the mirror. 

I look over my face and notice I'm crying. My eyes dart all over my body and to my face. There's scars on my cheeks. Every now and then I'd get a married man that didn't like the way I was looking at him. That earned me a slap. I didn't think it would scar though. Everything goes black and I hear screaming. I look at the mirror and it's me. I'm the one screaming. 

"Whats going on?" Ethan hollers running into the bathroom. He looks at me and grabs me. "Shhh it's okay. It's okay. You're fine," he says soothing out my hair. He grabs my naked body and pulls it closer to him and pulls me down on the ground. "Breathe princess, breathe. Copy me," he says and starts taking deep breaths in and out. I mimic his breath and soon I start to calm down. 

"Thank you," I mutter, not wanting to look at him. I put on the underwear and sundress. I used to be shy showing my body, but over the years I've learned that it's nothing special. My body used to be my temple. Now I can't stand to look at it. 

I walk out of the bathroom in a hurry and sit on the bed. Ethan walks to me and sits next to me, so close that our legs are touching. My breathing catches in my throat. He puts his hand on my leg and I flinch. 

"I'm not going to hurt you," he says trying to calm me down. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's just, 3 years is a long time to be doing this. They won't let me go, they won't kill me and they won't let me kill myself. I just want to die. Even if I do make it out of this, no one is going to want me, I'm covered in hideous scars." I say. I started crying again. This time it's silent tears. I wouldn't have even noticed I was crying if it wasn't for Ethan wiping away my tears. 

"Hey, that is not true. You're beautiful. Scars and all. I have scars covering my back. When I was a kid my mother married a man that used to abuse me. He would take his cigarettes and put them out of my back. When I did something wrong, he'd beat me with the metal end of the belt. I found out years later he was hooked on drugs. So was my mother. They ended up selling me to the mafia to pay off their debt. The mafia boss and The Boss here are apparently friends. So when he told my boss he needed someone to watch over a special person and be able to protect them, they recommended me. That's when I ended up here taking care of you. You have to be something special if The Boss wants that bad to keep you alive." he says looking at me. He brushed my hair behind my ear and smiled lightly. 

"Thank you. For making me feel better," I said smiling. It was rare for me to find a friend here. I had a friend once. Her name was Sara, she was in the room next to mine. We'd talk and it was what got me through most of my time here. But about 6 weeks ago, she went away and never came back. I just assumed they killed her. That brought me into a depression. It was downhill from there. Someone else moved into her room but we never talked. I was not making a friend again just to have that taken away from me.