I couldn't quite believe it when I got the call from the hospital. All this time I had been searching for Becca and she can't have been more than 2 hours away if that was the closest hospital for them to take her to. I didn't hesitate as I caught up my car keys and headed out the door. There was no way in hell that I was letting Becca disappear again.
I recalled the first time that I had ever seen Becca. She had arrived at the foster home is recently been placed in and had looked so innocent and vulnerable. She definitely didn't belong in a place like that. I had been there less than a week and I already knew it was the kind of place for innocent kids to be. The dad was mean and I could sense it from the moment I had first seen him. Richard had a smile that didn't meet his eyes and everyone around him acted warily, as though they were used to being cautious with him. That hadn't bothered me when i had arrived, I was used to the system and I was used to being beaten and treated like shit. It hasn't bothered me right up until I caught a glimpse of Becca. Her long golden hair had been tied back fiercely and she had been dressed in jeans and a hoody that covered up her body and her expression was issuing a big fuck you to the world. Yet I could see the fear in her eyes and i could see that under the defences she was innocent. It raised a chivalrous part of me that wanted to keep her safe. I wasn't sure what that shit was, you had to look out for yourself in care. If Becca couldn't handle it then it wasn't my problem. I turned away from her and tried to avoid her yet for the new few days all I could think about was Becca and that hair spun like gold and that air of innocence.
In all the years I had known her Becca had never lost that innocence. She projected a hard exterior to the world but underneath she was a lost little girl who just wanted someone to love her. She hasn't realised that I couldn't be that person she wanted for needed me to be.
The foster home and the people in it had been strange from the start and we all lived under a dark shadow. The mom was so quiet and always had a false expression as she tried to demonstrate a normal front. It was clear that she was strained from the toll that life was taking on her and that she was afraid of her husband, not that most people looked that closely. They saw what they wanted to see and ignored the cracks in the exterior. Kimmy was sweet to me but it was clear that the abuse She had suffered in the care system had broken her and she acted out whenever she got the chance. I liked Kimmy but I had my doubts about whether she could reach the other side of the system and build a better life for herself. Alice was a strange one, there was something about her that I couldnt quite understand. She was silent and walked around like a shadow, which made me think that she was the most abused of all us kids, but there were times when i saw flashes of who she was and I didn't like what I saw. She was likely the most damaged but from what I could sense she was also ten most dangerous. Then came Becca. There was something about her that I couldn't quite put my finger on, she was damaged like the rest of us but there was something that made her different. She intrigued me from the start and it was why I knew I had to stay the hell away from her.
At first it was easy to stay away from Becca and I could pretend she didn't even exist. But then came that fateful night that changed everything. I didn't usually venture from my room on a night. I had learnt long ago that whatever happened on a night was best to be unseen and unheard. But this particular night I felt something urge me to leave the safety of my room.
I went to the bathroom and found the hallway deserted and the bathroom door shut and locked. I knocked and there was no answer. I knocked again and demanded they hurry up. However, when the door did open I was shocked to see the state of Becca as she tried to walk past me. She looked pale and wan and not like herself at all. I caught her wrist to stop her and asked what was wrong. She didn't answer and when her fearful gaze landed on the dad I realised that something must have happened to cause that fear. I knew then that I couldn't stay out of it anymore and I couldn't avoid the truth. There was no way I would let the dad do anything to birth Becca. She had practically run back to her room and I had watched her go before turning my gaze back on the dad. He smirked at me before turning and waltzing back to his own room. I wasn't sure what the hell had occurred but whatever it was I wouldn't let it happen to Becca again.
The next morning there was a strange atmosphere when I came downstairs. I had stopped at Becca's room but she hadn't been there. When I arrived downstairs I heard the sound of hushed voices and I headed in that direction. I rounded the corner in time to hear the dad offer to comfort Becca. Like hell that would ever happen. I stepped forward and saw Becca look relieved at the sight of me.
"We have that early class to get to," I said and Becca slowly stepped past the dad, though I noticed he didn't move.
We walked to school together and neither of us said a word. I figured that if she wanted to discuss it then she would but she didn't say anything. When we reached school I left her as I figured she was as safe as she was going to be.
I wasn't sure what to do to ensure that Becca stayed safe. I spent the day researching but I couldn't just call the social worker. Nobody ever believed kids like me. I headed home after school and remained deep in thought. I watched every move that the dad made. He arrived home from work and seemed to be in a mood that Becca wasn't home yet. Secretly I hoped that she wasn't coming back and that she had run away. The later it got, the more likely that seemed. Everyone seemed to be in a bad mood. The dad kept snapping at the mom who was busy making dinner and Alice kept glaring at Becca's empty chair. I stayed out of it and observed. It seemed strange to me that the mom had kept one portion of dinner separate from everyone else's.
Just as I started to believe Becca really had left, the door opened and she was there. The mom began furiously ranting and shouting about her being late home. Even though Becca said she wasn't hungry the mom forced her to eat some dinner, I noticed it was the one portion that had been kept separate. Becca didn't eat much and I saw her hide some of it in her backpack.
After Becca had eaten the mom insisted that we should go to bed and that Becca especially looked tired. She wasn't wrong. Becca looked exhausted.
I went to my room but I didn't sleep. Instead I paced the dark room and listened out for any movement. For a while there was nothing and then I heard the shuffle of steps then nothing. Just as I started to relax I heard a faint cry that was quickly muffled. If it hadn't been for last night I wouldn't have thought anything of it but instead I slipped from my room and headed to Becca's. I just wanted to make sure she was alright. When I gently eased her door open though, it was apparent that she was not alright. Becca was laid on her bed with her eyes squeezed shut while the dad was laid on top of her. He had one hand clamped over her mouth and the other touching her. Anger surged through me and I launched myself at the dad as I dragged him off her. The surprise of it meant that at first he didn't put up much of a fight. He didn't stay on the floor long though and as soon as he was back on his feet he punched me. I fought back and though I had anger on my side he was bigger and stronger than me. He beat me and blood poured from my nose. Then all of a sudden Becca slammed a lamp down on his head and the dad collapsed unconscious with Becca slumping next to him. I moved closer and hauled her to my chest as I tried to comfort her.
Then suddenly the light went on and a shriek of horror filled the room as the mom took in the scene before her.
Of course, I was the one who got the blame. It couldn't possibly be anything to do with the foster parents. I was shoved in to the back of the police car as accusations were hurled my way. I begged the social worker to get Becca out of there and she gave me a speculative look but said nothing.
I spent the next three nights at a youth centre as I was questioned and facts were determined. The dad was trying to accuse me of being the perpetrator. Luckily the social worker managed to get him to drop the charges. She met me for a chat and told me that Becca had been moved to a group home. I knew she wasn't my problem anymore and yet I needed to make sure she was safe. I was smarter than I let on and I managed to hack the system and insert myself in to the same home as her.
That was how just 4 days after the incident I wound up at the group home. I headed straight for Becca's room. I needed to see her and make sure she was alright. That's why it pissed me off to discover some guy pinning her against the wall and threatening her. I was walking over to them when the guy punched her and anger swept through me. I grasped him by the shoulder and when he turned my way I thumped him in the face. He fell to the floor with a bloody nose and glared at me.
That was the moment that I became Becca's hero and we became firm friends from then on. I looked out for her and she became the family I had always longed for. There were some secrets I couldn't share but for the most part we shared everything and I couldn't imagine my life without her.
It was as I turned eighteen that everything changed. After the age of 18 the system basically washes its hands of us and I knew that I wouldn't be able to stay in the group home. I had planned to stay nearby but that had been before I realised the truth.
Someone I loved had opted to join the army out of some misguided sense of honour and I didn't see any choice but to follow him and keep his crazy ass out of trouble. Adam had grown up with a silver spoon hanging from his mouth and had never had to experience the horrors of the world. No way could
I let him go in to the army and beg his ass blown up. So, I said goodbye to Becca and I followed him.
It had been the hardest thing I had ever had to do, saying goodbye to her. She had looked so crushed and though she didn't show it I knew she was upset I was leaving.
Becca didn't know it but she was the only thing that got me through the next few years. Even at the most bleakest I only had to think of her and it got me through. I often thought about her and imagined what she would be doing. In my imagination she would be studying hard, or dating some nice boy or creating a future for herself.
When I finally got discharged I made it my mission to discover what Becca had been up to and it wasn't anything like I had imagined. Gone was the sweet girl I had known and instead she had turned in to this gang member who was about to go down the wrong path. I couldn't let that happen.
The night of her eighteenth birthday I found her at the club she had gone to. She looked so different and for a second I didn't even recognise her. Becca had always looked sweet and innocent but tonight she was dressed in clothes that begged a man to fuck her senseless. I ignored the tightening in my groin and instead focused on the anger I felt. She was off her face on god knew what and was dancing with some guy who was all over her. When he led her out of a back door and in to the alley I followed. The guy was all over her and his hands were inching up he skirt while his trousers were round his ankles. I was furious at both him and Becca. He was some lowdown scumbag who would shag some drugged up girl in a dirty alley and she was letting him. I jerked the guy away from her and punched him for good measure. When I told the guy to fuck off he listened and that left just me and Becca in the alley.
Becca was furious with me for leaving and I didn't blame her but I couldn't tell her the real reason I had left. Instead I convinced her to come with me. I couldn't leave her here like this, I had to protect her.
I wasn't sure when the idea hit me but suddenly I found myself driving us to Vegas and organising a chapel. She was off her face and probably didn't even know what she was agreeing to. But suddenly being married to her seemed the most sensible solution. At the moment I had no rights over Becca and I couldn't protect her but once I was her husband I could provide for her and could offer her unlimited protection.
After the wedding I took her back to the honeymoon suite and it was obvious that Becca wanted sex but I couldn't take advantage of her like that. She wasn't in her right mind. Instead I left her to sleep and took a long walk along the strip, even as I wondered if I had done the right thing.
The next morning I arrived back and watched Becca sleep. She looked so peaceful and I didn't know how she would feel once I woke up her up. I regretted forcing her to marry me but I needed to protect her before she did something foolish. I woke her up at noon and took her back to mine and Adam's home. Technically that was what it was even though neither of us lived there.
I made sure Becca had her own room and I spent my days trying to avoid her. This worked for a week until she appeared in my room looking sexy as hell. I tried to stop the inevitable but she was so sexy and sweet and I was helpless to resist her pull. I took Becca's innocence without prior knowledge and felt like shit after. It had been the best sexual experience of my life and yet I had been lying to her.
Becca told me she loved me and I felt even worse. I tried to explain that I was simply trying to protect her and she seemed to understand but then we had an argument and she retreated to her room. I figured it was best to leave her to it.
The next morning she had barely even glanced at me and I figured she just needed more time. I had to go and meet someone and she assured me she would be fine. But when I got back Becca was gone.
I searched for her and I hired people to search for her but it was like she had simply disappeared. For seven years I hadn't heard a word from her until I got the call telling me she was in the hospital.
I had rushed right over and from the second I had seen her lying in that hospital bed, I vowed that I would not be letting her out of my sight.