When You Saved Me

Chapter 17

Callie P.O.V

I wake up slowly to natural light streaming in through a window. For a moment I'm confused, I'm actually comfortable and nothing hurts, I must have died and gone to heaven because this is not my life. I turn my head to discover Daddy fast asleep beside me, his arm is stretched out under my pillow.
Maybe he is in heaven too I wonder and gently poke his cheek, he sucks in a deep breathe and mumbles something as he turns his head the other direction.
I look down at the finger that I just used to poke him and my gaze follows up my arm; there are still a million injection sites, bruises and scars.
I place my finger over a large bruise and push hard ouch, we are definitely not in heaven I decide.

I quietly pull back the covers of the bed, noticing the white quilt and the light blue sheets, as I scan the rest of the room I conclude that this is definitely what heaven will be like because I can't imagine anything more beautiful. I touch my feet to the dark, wooden floors and follow them until I reach a rug that is woven with white and charcoal fibres, on the rug is a long wooden coffee table set in front of a grey sofa. The sofa is facing a large black screen, I'm unsure what it is but it looks important. I have a strong urge to take it apart and see how it works, but I decide that I should do that later, and continue my exploration.

Behind the sofa there are a set of French doors, I cautiously open them to reveal a large room that is lined with clothing and shoes on either side with a huge mirror at the end. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and I still can't get over my own reflection, I look so different than I imagined; however one feature is actually changed from when I'd seen myself in the bathroom mirror yesterday; my eyes, then an ice cold blue, have changed into a deep stormy, blue-gray. I shrug, it's kind of weird but maybe that's normal, what do I know after all!

I turn around and exit the room for clothes and decide to try another door that is on the wall opposite the bed. I swing the door open to discover another bathroom.
It is identical to Daddy's in shape but the colouring is much brighter. This one has white tile with black dots every few inches, the walls are white panels and then there are white tiles over the tub, in the shower and above the sink.
The cupboard that the faucet rests in is a light grey with copper handles which perfectly match the copper faucet and bathtub. The towels vary, some are a soft grey that match the cupboard and then there are a few that are a light blue, these perfectly tie in the woven bathmats that are placed in front of the bathtub and the shower. To the right of the sink there is a large woven basket on the floor, it is so tall I think I could fit in it and not be seen, I assume that it must be for dirty laundry. I nod to myself in appreciation of the beauty of this bathroom, it is feminine and contrasts Daddy's masculine bathroom with its charcoal and navy blue tones perfectly.

After I've used the bathroom and washed my hands I decide to poke Daddy again to make sure he is still breathing, and to my relief he is, but he is still deep in slumber so I decide to venture out of the bedroom to see what I can find.

I quietly unlatch the door and step into the hallway. I look back and forth, I have a vague memory of Daddy carrying my down to the right in the middle of the night to Uncle Bruce, but all of that is fairly foggy. I decide to follow the hallway down to Uncle Bruce's room. I make my way up the wall to the ceiling, everything feels safer from up here; I can move silently and much more quickly. When I get to Uncle Bruce's room the door is already open, I peek my head inside and do a quick 180, making sure that it's actually empty, he must already be up. Just as I'm about to go search for him I spot 2 tiny tablets on the dresser, and suddenly I can remember a little more about the night before. The fever, the vomiting, and then being coaxed down to put one of these pills under my tongue which gave me the relief I so wanted. In the past I'd always had to just suffer through the sickness until the next morning, then another customer would arrive and we'd do it all over again.
I should take them I think to myself. I can't be sure if this will last forever, I may find myself back with mother and having a few of these would be helpful. So with that thought I swoop down, snagging the tablets and stuff them into my pocket.

As soon as I get back out into the hall a delicious aroma hits me and my stomach growls. I decide to follow the smell of food cooking, quickly moving across the ceiling and it leads me to the kitchen.

I peek around the corner and I can see Uncle Bruce at the stove, he's whistling to himself as he flips some kind of meat in a pan with one hand and stirs scrambled egg with the other. I watch as he begins serving the food onto plates. I decide I should help him bring them to the table; after all, I should be helpful if I want them to keep me. I silently drop to the floor and stand behind Bruce with my arms out, ready to receive the plate. But I suppose I should have alerted him of my presence because when he turns around he let's out a yelp and stumbles with the dish, I catch it with my already prepared hands and quickly place it on the table.

"I'm so sorry." I say quietly, worried that I've angered him.

"What? Oh no, no don't be sorry. I just didn't hear you." He assures me with a smile. "Are you feeling better? Are you hungry?"

I nod yes to both questions, I guess it was pretty bad last night; fortunately I don't remember much of it.

Uncle Bruce grabs his plate and sits at the table, beckoning me to come sit across from him, so I do and take his lead as he digs into the breakfast he prepared. It's delicious, I have no idea what it is but I could literally eat this meat forever.

"What is this?!" I exclaim, taking us both by surprise.

Uncle Bruce laughs and he tells me that the meat is bacon and the yellow squishy things are scrambled egg.

"I've never eaten anything so delicious in my life," I say aloud and I hear him chuckle. I stop what I'm doing and look him dead in the eye, "are you going to keep me?" I wasn't planning to ask but I just have to know before I let myself get too comfortable.

His face instantly drops and he looks almost pained, "yes Callie, you're not going anywhere."

Relief washes over me like a wave, I can't help but smile as I continue eating my food. Right now I don't care if this is real life or heaven, I'm not going anywhere.