You're Not In This Alone

I wake up to the sound of a door being slammed and I slowly sit up, unsure of how long I've been asleep for, the bright light in the bathroom stinging my eyes. I slowly drag myself to stand up, my whole body feeling sticky and gross, my clothes ruined with blood stains and as I take a step towards the shower, feeling my legs burn and sting in protest the door flies open and dad freezes, taking in the scene infront of him. "Ruby, baby what happened?" He asks as he slowly steps towards me and two steps in he sees the razor laying on the floor and his eyes snap back up to my face. "No" he says and just as I bring my gaze up to meet his eyes Ryan walks in behind him. "No" I scream out and dad turns to look at him and his face turns angry. "You" he screams, charging towards Ryan. "This is your fucking fault" he says as he grabs Ryan around the neck and slams him back against the wall. I stand there, frozen for a few seconds before I rush over and try to pull dad off him. "Daddy stop, please let him go." Dad doesn't listen and Ryan is struggling for breath so I rush over and grab my razor, coming back and holding it to my wrist. "Let him go or I cut" I tell them and dad immediately let's go, Ryan slumping to the floor as he sputters for breath. "Ruby" he croaks out and I feel my eyes well with tears as I say "Get out Ryan, we're done." "No" he whines and I scream "GET OUT" and he scrambles off the floor making his way out and down the hall. Once the front door slams dad turns to me and gently cups my face in his hands. "Baby, what happened?" "He.....he fucked Liz" I choke out before I start to cry again and dad wraps me in his arms. "Oh baby, I'm so sorry" he says as he holds me and I break in his arms, slumping against him as I sob so hard I can barely breathe. "He said he loved me daddy" I sob out and he sinks to the floor, pulling me into his lap as he says "I know baby, but sometimes boys will say anything to get what they want. I'm so sorry he did this to you baby girl, I wish I could make it hurt less." "I let him in and I didn't want to but he worked his way in and I trusted him and I fell in love with him and it hurts daddy, it hurts so bad." Dad doesn't say anything else, just holds me close and gently rocks me back and forth as he presses soft kisses into my hair. We sit on the bathroom floor for a long time until I'm almost asleep in dad's lap and he gently shakes me and says "Don't fall asleep here baby, come on, hop up and into the shower." He helps me stand up and he helps me undress, helping me into the shower as I no longer care about anything, the thought of him seeing me naked not bothering me. I slump against the wall and half heartedly wash myself as dad cleans the floor, discarding my razor and leaving the room to get me pyjamas. When he comes back I turn the water off and he hands me a towel, turning around while I dry off and pull on underwear and a tshirt before he turns back and guides me to the bench where he picks me up and sits me on it, grabbing some gauze and taping it over my cuts before bandaging my legs. Once he's done he helps me back down and leaves the room while I pull on pyjama pants and I leave the bathroom, going to lay down on my bed. Dad comes to check on me ten minutes later before going to bed for the night and I lay in the dark, feeling my heart slowly being crushed as I replay what happened in my head until I can't stand it anymore and I get up, stumbling down the hall and into dad and pa's room where pa is reading in bed with the lamp on while dad is laying beside him, his eyes closed but not asleep yet. Pa looks up at me and I don't say a word, crossing the room and climbing on the bed, crawling up inbetween them and dad helps me slide under the blanket with them, wrapping his arms around my waist as I roll to have my back to him. Pa sits his book down and reaches down to gently run his fingers through my hair and I let my eyes fall closed, being comforted by the only two people in the whole world I can trust.

The next day I wake up facing dad, my face buried in his neck as he holds me against him and I slowly pull back, rolling onto my back and staring at the roof while dad and pa sleep either side of me. When we finally all get up I get changed and dad and pa tell me we're going out. I shrug and pull on shoes, not bothering to fix my hair because I don't care how I look anymore and we slowly walk down to the diner, getting food since they won't let me only order coffee and after we've eaten we walk another block down and stop outside a small building and dad says "Go inside and give the receptionist your name, Doctor Carden is expecting you in ten minutes." "What? No I'm not seeing a fucking therapist." "Ruby Way you get your fucking ass in that building right now, I'm not messing around anymore. I will not sit back and let this go on anymore." I huff out an angry breath and go inside, ready to just waste dad's money by remaining silent for however long they plan to keep me here but when I walk in there is an extremely cute guy in the waiting room and he smiles warmly at me and says "Are you Ruby?" I nod and he holds his hand out and says "I'm Doctor Carden" and I slowly take his hand and shake it before following him to his office.

Notes

Franks tough love approach to getting her help seems kinda harsh but again....part personal experience