To Trust a Giant

Chapter 37

This was supposed to be a normal evening. Jason and Clair had decided to go out for the night, leaving Glenda and Richard to watch the boys. After getting the twins in bed, they settled down to watch the news, wondering about the whereabouts of the man who nearly beat his younger brother to death. That's when the door swung open. It sounded like a stampede was charging down the hallway.

Jason and Clair emerged into the living room. Both of them we're out of breath, panic settled in their eyes. Something must have really shaken them up.

"Something wrong?" Richard asked.

"We found Stella." Jason replied. "But something happened!"

"What?" Glenda shot up to her feet and rushed over to the young couple. She felt her heart race as she watched her daughter uncurl her hands and reveal the tiny fragile form of Stella. Her skin was pale and her face froze on an anguished expression. Then she noticed the blood that stained Clair's gloves and Glenda's maternal instincts kicked in.

"I need my first aid kit now!"

"Got it!" Jason rushed over to the kitchen sink to retrieve it.

Glenda turned to her daughter and cupped her hands together. "You need to hand her to me."

Clair didn't hesitate to gently place the human into the hands of her mother. "Will she be okay?"

"I hope so."

Jason rushed back into the living room with the big white kit in hand. "What do you need first?"

"Hand it to Richard, he'll be helping me."

Suddenly, the bedroom door opened and James and Charlie sleepily walked out in their blue striped pajamas.

"What's going on?" James yawned.

Charlie's eyes locked onto Glenda's hand. "Is that… Stella?!"

The look of fatigue wiped away from their faces as their brown eyes widened and they rushed over to see the tiny girl. But Richard blocked their path.

"Stella can't talk right now, she's hurt."
"Can we help?!" James asked.

"Grandma and I can handle this, but you two need to go to bed."

"I'm not sleeping until I know Stella is okay!" Charlie cried out.

"Richard!" Glenda called out. The living room was too crowded, she would have to be secluded from everyone if she was going to save Stella. She began to hurry over to her bedroom.

"Talk to you mom about that." Richard patted the twins on the head before he made his way to the bedroom and shut the door.

Once they were sealed away, Glenda placed the tiny girl onto the bed.

"What do you need me to do?" Richard asked, placing the first aid kid beside her.

"I'm gonna need to you to get the magnifying glass." She stared down at the tiny girl, the blood stained the left side of her hoodie. "It's been a long time since I stitched up a human, my eyesight is not as good as it used to be."

Richard nodded and scavenged through the first aid kit for it.

"I'm sorry for this, Stella." Glenda whispered. Her fingers delicately pinched her clothes and she began pulling them off as gently as she could. Glenda did decide to keep her undergarments on for the sake of preserving some of Stella's dignity. She probably didn't want to be completely exposed in front of Richard anyways.

Glenda gasped once she laid eyes on Stella's skin. She remembered briefly seeing the scars that littered her arms on Thanksgiving. They were a very light shade of pink, but compared to Stella's pale skin, they were noticeable. It made sense why Stella always wore long sleeved clothes. But Glenda never thought that Stella was trying to hide more than what was on her arms. Faded scars were scattered all around her body: her back, her chest, her legs, everywhere! But the worst part of all this, was that some of the scars were fresh. The one on her thigh was especially infected.

"Her new scars… look identical to the old ones." Richard pointed out.

He was right. Normally, humans who spent time out in the wild would have different types of scars from a variety of things; animals, accidents, or other human attacks. But here, the incisions were all too similar to be a coincidence, they were all clean cuts and they all looked like they came from the same tool. Few only varied in size depending on where it was on her body. These fresh cuts did not come from some accident out on the streets, they came from a giant.

Glenda looked over to her husband. "D… does this…  look like the work of the same person?"

"I wouldn't doubt it."

Tears threatened to pour out of Glenda's blue eyes. She knew they shouldn't have stopped looking for Stella. Her instincts told her that something was going to happen if she stayed out there for too long. And here Stella laid, bleeding out after escaping the horrors of being abused by quite possibly the same giant again! It would be a miracle if She could ever recover from all her trauma now.

It was a miracle that Stella would ever show up at their doorstep, but here she laid, completely vulnerable to the people she feared the most. Could Stella wake up even more broken then she was before? Maybe, the road to recovery is a long journey. But as long as Stella was in this house, surrounded by people who would protect her, then she will eventually find peace in her life.

Glenda wiped the tears from her eyes and grabbed the needle and suture. Now was not a time to cry, not when Stella still needs help. She had to fix a broken girl.