บท 231: Nightmare
In the middle of the night, Leah was cold sweating in her sleep. Her eyebrows were furrowed and eyes closed tightly. In her dream, she was back in her home with the Macy family. Her adoptive father, Mark, had asked for her to grab a bear for him. As she made her way over, the old man was angry at how long it took her to fetch a beer to him. He walked up and snatched the can out of Leah's hand as he pushed her out of the way.
"You wastrel! What did we raise you up for?" The old man shouted at the little girl as he pulled out the belt which he was wearing along his waist. "I see that you had the guts to run away from home, eh? It seems like you are asking for another beating!"
As the belt came down towards Leah's leg, the little girl woke up from shock. Her head was covered in sweat as she panted loudly. Tears started to roll down from her face. Crying was her way of solace. Whenever she was in pain, she would cry as it was the only way of expressing herself. However, unlike children her age, Leah never cried out loud. In her house, if any of her family heard her cry, they would get annoyed and it would incur more beatings on her. As a result, Leah cried silently. She cried in her own comfort.
Coming back to reality, Leah realized that she had already made the daring move of leaving the place she had called home for as long as she could remember. There was no going back as that would only spell beating, just like her dream. Her eyes were red as she opened the door and walked out into the hallway. It was around three in the morning and there was one light source that was still on at that timing. Sato's door was closed, but the light for the room was still seen from the cracks under the door.
The little girl recognized that the big brother that had taken her in was still awake. Yet, she did not open the door and go in. Rather, she did not want to disturb him, for she was scared that Sato would find her annoying. It wasn't true that Sato would ever feel this way, but the girl did not know better. Instead, she headed downstairs to the living room and towards the front door. She wanted to see the fishes in the pond. Such an activity was calming for her.
Before she made it to the door, due to the dim lighting of the home, Leah had accidentally bumped into a table top.
"Thud. Clang!" There was a glass vase sitting atop the table. It came crashing down onto the floor as the vase broke into smithereens. The noise had woken up the entire house. In a state of panic, Leah moved backwards and her feet had stepped onto the glass shards. The first one to arrive at the first floor was Sato.
With the lights on, he saw a little girl standing amongst the shattered glass. There was a small pool of red on the floor and Leah's face was pale white. Instinctively, he called out, "Don't move, Leah."
The little girl listened to the man's words. Sato was wearing house slippers and so, he easily made it across the floor of glass and lifted the girl out of the precarious predicament. With the helpers and Madel waking up, Sato instructed Madel to find the first aid kit for him. Gwen was instructed to bring a small pail of water, while Beth cleaned up the mess on the ground. Leah sat on the sofa, dazed and guilty over what she had done. Sato could tell what was going through her head and did what he thought was best.
Seeing that the bleeding was still continuing, he quickly grabbed some tissue from the living room table and applied pressure on the wound. He waited for Madel and Gwen to come over with the required items and when ready, he helped to wash the wound. Thankfully, Madel knew basic first aid skills and could tell that the two cuts on her feet did not require stitches. She applied disinfectant and bandaged up the injury with quick efficiency.
Throughout the process, Leah was still out of it and did not react much to the pain. With the feet treated, Sato moved closer as he gave the little girl a warm hug. With that, Leah had awoken from her still state. Sato spoke in a worried tone, "It's okay, Leah. It's okay. I am here for you."
"Big brother, sorry. Sorry." Leah repeatedly apologized.
Sato shook his head even whilst hugging her. "It is not your fault. You did nothing wrong."
"Leah broke vase. Sorry, sorry. I am wastrel." Leah repeated what her father would normally call her. Her eyes started to produce tears as it rolled down her face.
"No, you are not a wastrel," Sato looked at the little girl crying. Using his skinny hands, he wiped away the tears for Leah. He spoke his thoughts, hoping the girl would calm down. "I am more worried if you get injured. The vase means nothing to me. Does it hurt a lot? Is that why you are crying?"
"Not pain." Leah replied. Cuts were very common to the seven-year-old.
"Then there is no need to cry. Big brother is not angry at you." Sato smiled warmly.
Dismissing everyone to bed, he lifted the little girl in his arm as he carried her upstairs.
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