Letters to Anonymous | ✔️

the damage is done

"Did you do that to her?" Diana raged, walking into the room with an accusatory face directed at Adrian.

"What?!" Adrian and Claire screamed at the same time.

"Did he do that to you?" She asked, this time facing Claire.

Claire looked at her mom in disbelief. "No, mom. Dad did." She spat out, realizing what she said after it came out of her mouth.

Diana's eyes widened. "Your father...?" She whispered, trailing off.

Claire rolled her eyes, although she was panicking on the inside. "Don't act like you didn't know." She said. After some silence, Claire looked at her mom's nurse outfit. "You work here?" She asked.

"Uh...yes. I moved back here to stay, so I got my old job back." Her mother explained in short words because her mind was still reeling at the information revealed by her daughter.

"To stay?" Claire asked, confused.

At this, Diana broke out from her thoughts. "Yes, to stay."

"Why?"

"Because...I wanted to start seeing you more."

Claire snorted. "Okay." She said, sarcastically.

"Claire, can I please see your bruise?" She asked.

Claire's eyes widened, face expressing the incredulous feeling she felt. "Excuse me? Of course not!"

"It might need medical attention." She reasoned, but Claire just felt pure disbelief. She couldn't believe that her mom actually had the guts to talk to her about this.

"No, thank you." She gritted out. "I don't need your concern now."

"But you're hurt, Claire! You need attention and concern and—"

"No, I don't! Especially not yours!" She yelled out, feeling angry tears springing to her eyes. "Don't act like you just found out about this." She said, wiping furiously at her eyes.

"I always had a feeling. When I left, I had a small thought in my head and it only got bigger and bigger over time but my mind always came up with an excuse. I thought he'd have enough sense to not hurt his daughter, but—" Diana stopped as she wiped at her own tears. "But I should have come sooner. I didn't want t—"

"Stop it!" Claire yelled out. "It's not fair, you can't say all this to me now. The damage has been done." She said, growing more hollow by the second. "You don't even know for how long...I wished you would come back. I cried every night he hit me and more, wishing that you'd come back and take me away. Every day, mom! Every single day, I had my eyes towards the door, knowing in my heart that someday it would open, and you'd walk in, grab my hand and take me away and end my suffering. But you didn't. I lost more and more hope every day, until it all went away and I realized you weren't coming back. Dad did as much damage as he could." Claire's next words swam in her head, debating whether to say them or not. But, she wanted to. Claire wanted to see her mom react to what she had let happen. She wanted her mom to feel guilty. "He raped me, mom." She said, her voice cracking, tears flowing freely down her face.

Diana's eyes became round as both her hands flew to her face. Her knees came to the ground as she lost all power in her legs.

"I cried so much after that." Claire continued, wiping away the tears with her free hand. "I wanted you so desperately that night, but you didn't come. And after that night, I hated you... If you had listened to that voice in your head sooner, I might have been more accepting. In fact, I would have ran into your arms. But you don't need to settle back here now, because I do not want to see you. Not anymore."

Claire felt a hand grab hers, reminding her that she was still standing next to Adrian's bed. She maneuvered her fingers so they were intertwined with his.