Little Shelby Girl

Part 10. Strong

Tommy's POV

I literally can't stand seeing her like this, passing out constantly as the pain takes over her small, fragile body.

"She out, you have to give her the stitches she needs now before she wakes up." John's looking over at Vive concerned.

Pol nods while she's already busy observing the different cuts to see which of 'em need stitches. She starts concentrating on the needle and the thread as she enters the first wound. Vive's still unconscious, thank God.

My eyes are focussed on Vive's, hoping she won't wake up just now. Her little hand still resting in mine.

"Tom, look at this." Polly says while her eyes locked on the back of Vive. I stand up, walking around the table to see what she's looking at. Polly points at the white marks, hidden behind the fresh cuts she was just taking care of. I think I can count 25 if there aren't more, spread over from the bottom to the top.

"This wasn't the first time he's gotten to her like this. These are old scars". Polly's words immediately make Arthur bald his fists, not knowing how to respond to this.

I clench my jaws, turning away from the whole scene and I lean my hands to the kitchen counter closing my eyes for a second. While we were busy fighting for the King, our sister got molested by our own father and we never noticed. I shake my head in disbelief. Polly already continued her work on the rest of the wounds.

"He's gonna pay for this, I'll make sure of that." She says while she hold a part of the thread between her teeth, sticking the needle through the flesh.

"Arthur already took care of that Pol." John responds. She looks up at him. "He's dead?"

John looks with a straight face. "It was him or her" nodding at Vive. "The man's dead."

Polly gives Arthur a quick look and sights in relieve.

"Arghh.." Vive moans, she regained consciousness again. I immediately go to her. Polly freezes while having the thread half way through the last wound, not wanting to hurt her while she's awake.

"Shhh, shh I'm here" I sit down next to her again taking her hand and giving Pol a look "how far are you?". "Two more" she responds.

I sigh "alright just go on" I gesture to her. She gives me an unsure look but continues on the last two stitches. "Hold her" I gesture to the boys as I take her hand and laying one hand on the side of her head softly to keep her still.

The sharp pain makes her wanting to flinch and she narrows her eyes. She let out a loud scream while she starts sobbing again. "Try to stay still love, almost done". I look her in the eyes, trying to comfort her. I know this is easier said than done. Stitches without painkillers hurts like hell, especially for a 13 year old.

"That's it, you done" Polly bends back and lets out a deep sigh. "She's a strong Shelby, that's for sure" She says giving me a satisfied smile. Vive's whole body is shivering like crazy and her eyes are still closed.

"You think she can sit up?" She continues. "Then I can look at her head and we need to check if she really broke a rib."

I try to make eye contact with Vive, who's somewhere between life and death I think, all dizzy from the pain. "Can you sit up?" No reaction. She's way to weak, but we'll help her.

"We're helping you alright?" I say as I pull her arms careful, Arthur moving her legs the right direction and John supports her shoulders. She lets out a moan, but she's up now. Her head's too heavy for her to hold upright so I let it rest on my shoulder. I don't really want to touch her but I try to find the unharmed spots on her body so I can hold her. Holding her like this, makes me never want to let go of her. My little sister. I bend my head a bit and give her a small kiss on her neck, the poor thing...

"It's alright love" I whisper in her ear. I can't look at the bruise on her side because of her leaning on me so Polly stands besides me, kneeling a bit and observing the wound, not touching it.

"Vive" Polly looks up at her. "Can you breath in for me as deep as you can and hold it for three seconds?" Her head's still on my shoulder and she doesn't really respond to the question other then moving her head a bit more into my neck. Polly gives me a look.

"Eh" I say to her softly "come'on, let's try to do what Polly says okay? Just breath in as deep as you can." Not moving her position, she now takes a deep breath. "Good, hold it, hold it" Polly says. "Alright, you can let go" she says and Vive exhales. It doesn't seem to hurt her, luckily.

Polly shakes her head. "It's not broken." She stands up switching her attention to the back of her head. I now smile out of relieve. "Hear that eh?" I say quietly as her face is so close to mine, rubbing the back of her neck with my thumb carefully so I won't hurt her.

Polly tries to pull away the dried hair from the cut, takes the iodine and puts it on the wound. It makes Vive shiver and moan again. She presses her face a bit harder in my neck as I try to comfort her. "This one will recover by itself I think". Polly says, giving the cut a critical look.

At last Polly picks a washcloth and warm water and tries to undo Vive from all the dried up blood on her arms, legs and side. I think she fell asleep on my shoulder as I hear her breathing calming down finally.

Arthur and John took her bed from upstairs and put it in front of the fireplace in the living room, making her a nice and warm place to sleep. I carry her to the fireplace and put her in the bed carefully, turning her on her stomach, laying her head to she side of the warmth. Polly lays some kind of a cooling, thin blanket on her back to counteract the swelling of the wounds.

"Okay, let her rest now. I'll stay with her tonight." Polly says and she gives us a reassuring nod. Meaning we can leave the room now. I give Vive a last glance before making my way outside, together with Arthur and John.

We all pick a cigaret out of our pockets, blowing the smoke in the cold of the night. It is now around 1 a.m. What I night. None of us knows what to say. We just stand there, in front of the house taking in everything that has happened the last four hours.

"I'll sleep at the Garrisson tonight." Arthur says as he slowly walks away from us. I sigh, looking at him.

"Arthur wait." I follow him, raising my pace to get to him. I stand in front of him. He avoids making eye contact with me. "Arthur, eh?" He now looks at me. "She'll be fine, really."

He shakes his head to the ground. "How could we have missed all of this? We're her brothers, we fucking failed. This is all on us."

I nod to him. "Yes, we did. We failed alright, but she is not dead. We already lost one of ours and now we need to make sure we're not losing her either."

He looks at me and nods. "I'll see you tomorrow." He passes me, walking towards the Garrisson. I let out a sigh, looking up at the dark sky. I hate this fucking life.

John's looking at me from a distance. I gesture him to go inside of the house. Before I make my way to my bedroom, I look through the crack of the living room. Polly's still sitting next to the Vive's bed, stroking the side of her head while looking at her. I'll close the door and go to my room.