Falling With Grace

Jorge was a friend. He’d told me stories of his sister he wished to see one day.

The guards were off limits, here and at Andrés’.

Except for Miguel.

Miguel would treat me as if I were something special—an object, but a special object.

He and Andrés would argue about my treatment, but in the end, nothing changed.

Biting my inner lip, I laid down, throwing the covers up to my chin, and willed my heart to stop pounding, the stabbing in my chest to reside.

I want to go home.

I want to be free.

My eyelids burned, and my vision blurred with tears left unshed.

I swiped across my face with the comforter, clearing my eyes before closing them.

Stars danced behind my eyelids as I squeezed them, picturing myself flying through galaxies far away from here—far away from anyone who could ever hurt me again—far away from this…

18

Grace

Birds chirped, and faint murmurings from the outside wafted to my window.

Throwing back the covers, I stretched, my body stiff after a hard sleep. Dogs barked in the far-off distance. I turned my head toward the clock.

Nine A.M.

My eyes widened.

Nine A.M.?

I jumped out of bed, my feet slipping on the smooth floor, the hard surface rushing to meet me.

Sharp blades skidded across my palms as they collided with the unforgiving marble. My elbows followed suit, and the whoosh of expelled air from my lungs flattened them against the cold floor. A sharp crackling resonance sent a lightning bolt of pain radiating through my skull upon impact. My chin hit the ground, teeth jarring together as if a three-hundred-pound linebacker had plowed into me.

The bigger you are…

Rolling to the side, a groan escaped me, and my jaw clenched. My arm remained pinned to my body, and sharp tidbits of agony sparked across my rib cage and side.

I rocked through the pain, my body swaying side-to-side like a boat on high seas.

A warm, wet dribble traced down the underside of my chin and throat, pooling in the hollow.

My fingers dipped into the liquid, returning stained with a vivid shade of red.

Blood?

Sarah’s mangled face flashed before me, her twisted body conforming to the rocks beneath her.

Oh God.

I squeezed my eyes shut, but her image remained burned into my retinas.

Taking a deep breath, I rolled to my side and stood, using the bed as support. My hand pressed into my side as I doubled over, the sharp stabbing akin to a runner’s stitch.