Broken

Chapter 6 Alex's POV: Nightmares

I followed Maria to that field and now all I can think about is the injuries she had on her arm. I don't know how she got her injuries but I know that someone did it to her due to the extent of the injuries. All I can think about is the burns and the bruises on her arm. I realize that Mrs. Lepolt knows about this and that is what she meant when she said how she felt bad.

I decided that tomorrow I am going to talk to Mrs. Lepolt about Maria and figure out the truth because I can rule out boxing due to the burn marks and lack of bruising on the face. She did have a lot of makeup on though so that wouldn't be the strongest argument.

It amazes me that she has been able to keep this secret for so long because you can tell she is the type of girl that doesn't wear makeup or at least not a lot.

She has obviously been dealing with this issue for a while now, but now I just have to figure out who it is and why. All I can think about is me finding a way to get Maria out of harm's way, but first I have to figure who and where the harm is coming from.

I finally decided that since she told me where she lives earlier I would go to the address that she told me and confront her there. I make my way back to the school so I can grab my car and head to Maria's.

I make it back to my car and jump in revving my engine and hightailing it out of the school's parking lot. I pull out my phone and type into google maps the address. 

I realize that her house is in the bad part of town which makes it even harder for me to figure out who is hurting Maria.

When I finally arrive at Maria's house I slowly pull into the driveway of an old run down house with broken windows. As I was getting out of my car I heard a scream come from the house and it felt like my heart had broken right then. It was like my brain knew that it was Maria's scream and I froze dead in my tracks.

My brain finally broke out of the trance and I sprinted towards the house and broke the door down with no problem. What I saw next, nobody could have prepared me for.

Maria was on the floor being straddled by a man who was repeatedly hitting her. I quickly tackled the guy and with one clean hit he was out cold and I could smell the alcohol on his breath.

I jumped off of him and made my way over to Maria as she went in and out of consciousness. I picked her up bridal style and made my way back to the car as carefully as I could. Once she was in the passenger seat, I made my way to the driver's side while calling my family's personal doctor.

When I arrived at the house I grabbed Maria and rushed into the house where I was met by Philip, our personal doctor. He told me to set her on the couch and as soon as I did I stepped back while Philip did his job.

When Philip stepped back and turned towards me, I looked at him expectantly waiting for the news.

"It seems that Maria has quite a few broken ribs, bruising, and scars." He begins, "But, quite a few of the scars are from different times dating back years as well as the bruising which some are fresh and others are a few weeks old. I would say that she has probably been getting abused by someone for the past few years. I'm guessing it has probably been right around 3 maybe 4 years."

As soon as he says this the table lamp is off the table and shattered in a matter of seconds. All this time, I could have done something but instead I sat back and watched from afar. I could have protected her from that man and stopped the bullying but instead I was a bystander. I saw the red flags and I still didn't do anything.[[

I heard a whimper beside me, pulling me out of my self-hatred.

I take a seat on the couch and watch as Maria slowly opens her beautiful eyes while focusing on me. She quickly sits up but starts groaning immediately. I quickly push her back down, so she relaxes and stops hurting her wounds.

"Lay down. You are at my house. You need to relax." I tell her as softly as possible.

"Why am I here?! I need to go back home." She mutters nervously to herself.

"You aren't going anywhere. You are going to stay here and relax. Let yourself heal. I have plenty of guest rooms in my house that you can stay in, and you can just stay here." I explain to her.     

"No, no, I have to go home." She starts repeating over and over again.

"Maria, hey focus on me. You are okay. Nobody is gonna hurt you because I'm not gonna let them. You will move in with me. If we need to pick stuff up we will. Okay." I say.

She begins crying which turns into an anxiety attack. I quickly lift her onto my lap and hold her against me while whispering things into her ear to calm her down. When she finally calms down her breathing evens out and I realize that she fell asleep in my lap.

I stand up and make my way up the stairs to my room where she will stay until she gets better to be by herself. When I get to my room I close the door and lay her on my bed where she immediately cuddles up to my pillow. I decide to hop in the shower while she is sleeping, so I grab a pair of clean clothes while making my way into my personal bathroom.

As I am taking my shower, I hear a murderous scream come from my room. I jump out of the shower and throw on a pair of shorts that I grabbed while running to Maria.

When I get to the room, Maria is thrashing around in the bed while crying. I realize she is having a nightmare and quickly grab her and cuddle her in the bed. As soon as I have her in my arms, she relaxes like nothing happened. I carefully climb back out of the bed and head back to the bathroom to get properly dressed. 

As soon as I am done I climb back in the bed with Maria and cuddle up against her. She immediately cuddles up to my chest and lets out a sigh. Before I know it my eyes are getting heavy and then all that is there is darkness.

Please leave comments about what you think. This is my first book. I plan to try and right as much as I can each day. Thank You for reading my story and I hope you enjoy!