Kidnapped Bride

Chapter 17

I woke up, feeling oddly refreshed. I freaked out when I realized that I wasn't in my hospital bed. I looked around, scanning the room, afraid that something had happened. I calmed down when I realized I was in James' apartment, in the room he'd given us.

Then I looked down at my sleeping daughters. Scarlett was peacefully asleep, making small snuffling noises in her sleep. Her dirty blond hair was laid out everywhere, messy from sleep. Bonnie on the other hand was clenched up in a tight ball, close to me. I watched her for a moment. She made small whimpering noises and flinched. I put an arm around her and she snuggled in closer to me. The sunglight shined on her pale skin, making her glow. Her dark locks covered her face, not as messy as Scarlett's, but still messy. 

My beautiful little babies.

I couldn't help but wondering what they would be like when they grew up. I knew Scarlett would be okay. She was pretty resilient and she knew how to handle herself. She was already bouncing back a little bit. She'd forget most of our time there, I hope, and grow up to be a beautiful woman.

It was Bonnie I was worried about. She and I had taken the worst of Jesse' abuse. It's not something that you could forget in a day. I'd never forget that. Bonnie wasn't as resilient as Scarlett, and she'd been there longer. Maybe she'd forget a lot of it, but I doubted that. All I could hope for is that Bonnie would recover and merge into society.

I thought about their future for a little while longer. It could go so many different ways, and there were so many paths they could go down. I just hoped that they'd walk down the right paths. 

Bonnie was still having her nightmares a little while later. In the middle of my thoughts, she woke up with a scream. Tears fell from her eyes like raindrops. I brought her into my lap quickly and held her.

"It's okay. It's okay baby. It's just a dream. It's all over now." I murmured softly into her ear.

Less than a minute later, I heard a knock at the door.

"Don't come in." I said.

"Is everything okay?" James asked, concerned.

"We're okay. I'll be out in a few."

"Okay." I heard his footsteps walk away from the door.

Bonnie was still crying, and the commotion had woken Scarlett up. She quickly tried to comfort Bonnie.

"Bon-bon it's okay. We safe now, like Mommy says." Scarlett said, putting her hand on Bonnie's back. Scarlett definitely knew what to do. She was smart for a little four-year-old.

We sat there for a moment, until Bonnie stopped crying.

"Are you hungry babies?" I asked.

Scarlett's stomach let out a loud rumble. "Yes Mommy."

Bonnie simply nodded.

"We have to go outside the room. Do you two want to stay in here while I get some food for us?" I knew it was a long shot, but I was still hoping.

"I wanna go with you Mommy." Scarlett said. Bonnie nodded again, agreeing with Scarlett.

"Let's go then." I got out of bed, lifting Bonnie with me. I situated her on my hip and she put her arms around my neck. She was already tensing up and we'd barely left the room.

I grabbed Scarlett's hand and we walked out of the room. I saw James sitting on the couch, with the TV on. He turned around when he heard the door open. He shot a smile at us, especially at Bonnie. She still wouldn't look at him.