UPSIDE DOWN

~ 3 ~

Sylvie 

"No, no, no, no, please mama, you're drunk, please walk away" I try to wheel myself backwards, but my wheelchair gets stuck in the carpet. Stupid wheelchair. I curse it under breath and lift my body up and try to walk a few steps trying to get away before my mama can reach me. 

"Get back here Sylvie," She slurs, a beer bottle in her right hand, she catches up to me, dropping the fruit basket off the counter when she tries to balance herself.

"You were the reason he died, I lost my family, my everything," she pauses, sneezing a couple of times. I slowly try to back away as the pain in my legs intensify with each passing second. 

"All because of you." she completes, throwing the bottle at me. it misses my body and shatters on the wall next to me, pieces of glass impaling my skin on my hand and stomach. 

I wince and take a step back, falling down next to the doorframe. 

"No, please don't hurt me mama, it's me, Sylvie, your daughter" my hands shiver and the vision in front of me blurs. "I know exactly who you are, you're a disgrace to the word daughter" I know she doesn't mean it when she says that. 

I keep reminding myself that she's drunk, I can't move anymore, all the energy in me is drained, so I just sit there and accept my fate as I watch her slap me and hit me with anything she can find within her hands reach. 

"Hey, princess, can you open your eyes for me" I hear a man's voice. "No, please no, don't hurt me please" I softly whisper with all the remaining strength in me. 

"Please open you're eyes, Bambina, it's just a dream, I promise," another voice, this can't be a dream. It feels so real. 

I peel my eyes open, wishing to escape that scene, I adjust my eyes to the dim lights and look around my room, only to find Andrea holding me like a baby and Aurelio across the bed, looking at me with concern in his eyes. 

I look around confused as I start to recall everything that happened. I look up at Andrea's eyes, he's looking at me with the most softest expression and a tinge of worry glazed around his eyes. 

He slowly lifts his hand up to wipe a tear off my face, I didn't even realize I was crying. I bring up my own hand and wipe away the remaining tears. 

"You're safe tesoro, I promise, no one will hurt you" He pulls me closer into his arms, I feel a wave of safety brush through my body, no one has ever held me like that other than my mama. 

I never want to let go of this, he senses my comfort and hold on tighter and I snuggle further into his chest. He gives off a very emotion less vibe at first, but makes me feel so safe when he's around. I could trust him blindly without a doubt in the world. 

It was just a dream, I remind myself. "I sorry, did I disturb you guys?" I ask pulling back slightly from his chest and looking over towards Aurelio. 

They probably have better work than to sit and comfort me, why am I so stupid. 

"No silly, we just came to check in on you and wake you up for dinner since you slept through lunch," my eyes furrow in confusion, how long has it been since I slept. I look over to the clock on the wall in front, it's almost 7pm, I had probably slept at around 12 pm.

"We came to wake you up for lunch, but you looked soo peaceful, we didn't want to wake you up" he finished. 

"are you hungry?" Andrea asks, arms still wrapped around my body. "Yea" I look up at him. 

"Ok lets go, I'm carrying you this time" Andrea says before lifting me up with ease and carrying me over to the kitchen, I find the others already seated on the table with the plates served in front of them.