Learning to Be Little Again

by Meredith O'Reilly

  Boyle noticed and said, “Looking for your new daddy? He won’t find you. If you didn’t notice, there were two entrances to that bathroom. By the time your daddy realizes you’re gone, it’ll be too late,” he said, pushing me through the crowds.

  What… two doors… how hadn’t I realized that before? I’m stupid, I should have realized that when I walked in.

  As we were approaching the exit, I finally had the sense to call for help. I was about to open my mouth and scream, but then I felt something hard and cold press against my back.

  “Say one word, and you’re dead,” Boyle whispered into my ear as I realized the hard object was a gun.

  So I silently walked towards the exit, tears streaming down my face, praying that somehow my daddy would save me.

  * * *

  I was starting to get worried about Juliana. She had been in the bathroom for a long time. Just as I was about to go in there myself and check on her, the bathroom door burst open and a few women came running outside. I knew instantly that something was wrong.

  “What happened?” I asked, trying to get one of the women’s attention when I didn’t see Juliana come out with them.

  “A man just came in there with a gun and kidnapped a woman!” she cried, then ran off into the crowds.

  Juliana! I ran into the bathroom and she wasn’t there. That was when I saw the second door. Crap!

  I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Mark as I ran out the second door and headed towards the exit.

  “Hey, Robert. What’s up, man?”

  “Boyle’s got Juliana!” I shouted, as I pushed past the crowd. I had to get to Juliana, I had to!

  “What? How?”

  “We’re at the city aquarium. We were just about to leave when she said she needed to go to the bathroom. So, she went and ten minutes later, some women came out crying that Juliana had been kidnapped by Boyle. He took her and I have no idea where!” I shouted into the phone again. I was beginning to panic. I had no idea where Boyle was taking her, and if I lost her, it would be all my fault.

  “Okay. I’ll call my boss at the police station right away. We’ll set up a perimeter block twenty miles around the aquarium and we’ll issue a missing person report on the news. Don’t worry, Robert. We’re going to get this prick once and for all.”

  “Great,” I said, getting angrier as I pictured that creep with my Juliana. If Boyle harmed one hair on her, I would kill him with my bare hands.

  “Listen, man, I know that you want to be part of the action, but you can’t be. I need you to go down to the police station and tell my boss what happened so he can issue the missing person report right away.”

  “No way in hell, man. I’m going to be with you. I’m not staying in the police station while you do all the work,” I said as I finally reached the parking lot.

  “Robert…” Mark growled.

  “If it were your girl, what would you do? Wait around at the police station or go looking for her yourself?”

  He was quiet for a few seconds before he said, “Fine, but if you get in our way, I’ll arrest you myself.”

  “Alright then. Call me if you find anything else out,” I said, reaching my car and getting inside. I ended the call and tossed my cell phone on the passenger seat. My head fell against the steering wheel. I had finally found the perfect person for me and there was a chance I might lose her. I can’t lose her.

  Then something else dawned on me. I’d never told her that I loved her.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “We’re going somewhere far, far away, little girl, where I can teach you what it really means to be my little girl.”

  I closed my eyes as another wave of fear washed over me. How am I going to get out of this? I have to be brave. That’s what Mark and Robert would want from me. They would want me to tell him that I wasn’t his little girl. “I’m not your little girl,” I said in the bravest voice I had. It still came out sounding shaky.

  “Don’t you say that! You are my little girl!” Boyle shouted.

  For whatever reason, I got angry. This man was delusional. How could he think after what he put me through, I would still want to be his little girl?

  “No, I’m not! I’m Robert’s little girl!” I shot back. Before I knew what he meant to do, he punched me in the face with the butt of his gun.

  “Ahhh!” I cried out in pain as I tasted blood. I brought my hands up to protect myself if he was going to hit me again.

  “That’s what you get for talking back to me. Do it again and I’ll smack you even harder. Just wait until we get to my cabin. No one will be able to hear your screams.”

  I tried to fight back the tears the best I could, but it was becoming increasingly harder to do. I was terrified of what he was going to do to me, and angry because he had no right to kidnap me. I slipped my right hand into my purse to squeeze my teddy bear. Why didn’t I bring my cell phone with me today, of all days to forget it? I berated myself for the millionth time.

  I was so stupid. I should have tried to fight him harder when he took me from the aquarium. I was just so in shock from seeing him that I froze. I never thought I’d see him again. The only positive thing that I could take out of this entire situation was that Robert and all the other people at the aquarium were okay. If Boyle had hurt anyone because of me, I had no idea what I would have done.

  “No!” Boyle shouted, as I saw a line of cops blocking the road.

  Cops… this is my chance to get away. He couldn’t turn the car around because there was a concrete median next to us and it was a one way road. If he did try to turn around on the shoulder, it would look suspicious to the cops. We would have to go past them.

  I sat quietly as he slowly approached the check point. Any moment, I thought. When we stopped, I would start screaming and try to jump out of the car.

  When the car in front of us drove away, Boyle floored it. We were going so fast! He’s going to get away, I panicked.

  “No!” I shouted.

  Before I could even think about what I was doing, I took the steering wheel from him and tried to shove us off the road. I was not going to let him kidnap me without a fight. I would rather die in this car then let him torture me for the rest of my life.

  “Let go!” he shouted as he tried to take control of the wheel, but I wasn’t going to let go. He would have to pry the wheel out of my hands.

  He fought me for control but I was not budging, until he smacked me with the butt of his gun again.

  “Ahhh!” I cried out in pain, letting go of the wheel. Something must be broken, I thought as my hands covered my swollen cheek.

  “Shit!” he screamed.

  I moved my hands to see what had happened, and just as I looked up, I saw a tree and then I was engulfed in darkness.

  * * *

  I had just finished giving my statement about what happened today and was walking towards my car when Mark called me.

  “Did you find her?” I asked, not even bothering to greet him.

  “Yes, Robert. I need you to come down to the hospital.”

  I froze. My baby girl was in the hospital. She was hurt. Boyle had hurt her. My vision flashed red as I made a vow that for any permanent damage done to her, I would inflict ten times the amount of pain on him.

  “How bad is it?”

  “I’m not sure yet. All I know is that when they were at the road block, Boyle sped up to seventy miles per hour and Juliana fought him for control of the wheel. They ended up hitting a tree.”

  “I’ll be there right away!” I hung up my cell phone, quickly started my car, and sped off towards the hospital. She’s going to be fine. She’s going to be fine. She has to be, I kept repeating to myself.

  * * *

  I made it to the hospital in ten minutes flat. I broke about ten different traffic rules, but I didn’t care. All that mattered to me right now was getting to my baby girl.

  When I walked into the waiting room, Mark was sitting in one of the chairs.

>   “How is she?” I asked, going up to him.

  “I still haven’t heard anything. Just sit and wait,” he said, motioning to the chair next to him.

  I sat down and couldn’t help thinking over the past few hours. Juliana had been having such a fun time at the aquarium. She was relaxed and was letting her little side out. She even ate everything on her plate I’d ordered for her at the cafe. We were all set to go home, where I had planned for her to take a nap. After she woke up, I had planned to cook her a romantic dinner and tell her I loved her. This day had been gearing up to be one of the best ones of my life, and Boyle had wrecked it.

  I just hoped that whatever Boyle did to Juliana wouldn’t have any lasting effects on her. She had just gotten her confidence back and felt comfortable letting her little side out. I didn’t know if this incident with Boyle would have her retreating back into her shell or not. I hoped it wouldn’t.

  Mark and I didn’t talk much while we waited to hear news about Juliana. We both ended up pacing a lot, waiting. I just kept picturing Juliana in the car accident. She was so small and fragile. I wished I could have been there for her, then none of this would have happened.

  Finally, after three hours, twenty-one minutes, and seventeen seconds of waiting, a doctor came out, calling for Juliana’s family.

  “How is she?” I asked, immediately going to him.

  “She got very lucky. With how fast the car was traveling and hitting the tree, it could have been fatal. She broke her tibia in her left leg in three places. Her humerus and radius bones in her right arm are broken as well. Her body is scattered with bruises. Thankfully, she had no internal bleeding and at the moment, she does not need surgery. As a precaution, though, we will be keeping her overnight.”

  “Thank gosh,” Mark and I said at the same time.

  I sank into one of the chairs, my head falling into my hands. She’s okay. My baby girl is okay. I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

  “Would you like to see her?”

  “Yes.”

  “Alright. Follow me then, please.”

  I got up and followed the doctor through a set of double doors, down a hallway, and then turning right into a patient’s room. The doctor stopped in front of the door and motioned for me to go in.

  Before I walked in, Mark said, “I’ll wait outside for a few minutes.”

  I nodded and walked inside. I just wanted to see Juliana. When I saw my baby girl, I froze. She looked so small in that gigantic hospital bed, and she had so many cords around her. The green hospital gown covered most of her, but her face was starting to swell up and I could see the pink plaster cast starting at her right hand and almost touching her shoulder. The rest of her body was covered by a blanket. I assumed that left leg had a pink cast to match the one on her arm.

  “Hi,” she said, her head turning towards me.

  “Oh, baby girl. I’m so sorry,” I said, walking towards her and planting the softest of kisses on her swollen lips.

  “It’s not your fault, Robert.”

  “Yes, it is. I should have been watching, I should have gone into the bathroom sooner, when I noticed that you were taking longer than normal.”

  “No. Then Boyle would have shot you. I couldn’t have lived with that,” she said, shaking her head as if that would prove her point even more.

  I decided to change the subject, knowing that we’d never agree on that one. “How are you feeling?” I asked, pulling up a chair and taking her left hand in mine.

  “Sore, but from what I’ve been told, this could have been a lot worse.”

  “That’s good. I just want you to relax right now. The doctor said they want to keep you overnight. I’ll stay with you and then I can take you home tomorrow.” I’d already started planning extra stuff I would have to buy to make sure that Juliana was taken care of while staying with me.

  “I’d like that,” she smiled and gave my hand another squeeze.

  “Do you need anything from the house? I’ll stop by it in an hour or so to get a change of clothes for myself.”

  “I’ll need one of those too. If you could bring maybe my toothbrush and hairbrush, I think that’s it. I have my teddy under the covers with me,” she said quietly, lifting the covers so I could see her teddy bear.

  Despite everything that happened today, I found myself laughing. Thank gosh this incident with Boyle didn’t have any adverse effects on her desire to act little.

  “I’ll bring all the stuff you suggested.”

  “Thank you. Oh, I’m going to have to call my boss and tell him what happened. I don’t want him to worry. Plus, I’m going to need a couple weeks off work until I’m in a walking cast,” she said, her nose wrinkling as she began to worry.

  “Don’t worry about that, sweetie. I’ll take care of it,” I said, letting go of her hand and softly running my hand over her swollen cheek. I was going to make sure that for the next few weeks she would have absolutely nothing to worry about.

  “Hey, sweetie, how are you feeling?” Mark asked, coming into the room.

  “Sore, but alive,” she chuckled.

  “I’m glad to hear it. It sounds like you did some serious butt kicking out there. I heard from one of the doctors that Boyle is still in surgery. Apparently, he’s a lot worse off than you.”

  “He shouldn’t have tried to kidnap me then.”

  “You’re right. But, from now on, leave the butt kicking to Robert and I,” he said, giving her a little fist bop on her shoulder.

  “Alright,” she said, pretending to sound upset. It didn’t work too well, because seconds later, she yawned.

  “Why don’t you take a little nap, sweetie?” I suggested, pulling the blanket up underneath her chin.

  “I don’t wanna.” She yawned again.

  “You may not want to, but your body thinks you should. You can take just a half an hour nap.” I tried to compromise with her, knowing that once she fell asleep, she would probably be out for hours.

  “No.”

  “Juliana, I would have no problem turning you down on my knee and spanking that bottom of yours until it glows right now, but I won’t since you were just in a car accident.”

  The instant smile on her face told me she thought she was about to win this argument. Oh, how wrong my baby girl was.

  “However, if you keep this disobedience up, I’ll remember it and the second that you’re better, I’ll redden that bottom of yours,” I said, giving her a look that said I meant business as her smile disappeared.

  “I would listen to him, Juliana. He even scares me when his palm gets twitchy,” Mark joked.

  “Fine. Promise you’ll be here when I wake up?”

  “I promise. Now close your eyes and go to dreamland.”

  “Okay.” She yawned again, and within three minutes her breathing evened out.

  Mark gestured for me to follow him out into the hall. Placing a kiss on Juliana’s head, I followed him outside.

  “Do you want me to go to your house and pick up a change of clothes for the both of you and some other stuff? That way you don’t have to leave her,” he suggested.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. I don’t mind. If it was my girl in there, I wouldn’t want to leave her side for a second.”

  “Okay, thanks. I owe you one,” I said, giving him my keys.

  “It’s no problem. I’m sure you’d do the same for me if the roles were reversed.”

  I nodded. We hugged each other and then he left to go pick up those items as I walked back into Juliana’s room.

  I sat down in the chair and just stared at her. I had almost lost her today. My worst fears almost came to life. I didn’t know what I would have done if that had happened. All I knew right now was that I was going to do everything in my power to protect her.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Alright, Juliana, you are set to go home,” Dr. Grey said to me as he signed my discharge papers.

  I sighed, so happy that I co
uld go home and be in my own space again. “Thank you so much, Dr. Grey.”

  “I’ll see you in a couple of weeks when it’s time to take those casts off. Take good care of her, Robert,” Dr. Grey said, giving Robert’s shoulder a light pat as he left the room.

  Earlier Robert had helped me dress and had given me my purse with my teddy bear tucked inside. I was all ready to go. Except I had to wait for someone to escort me out of the hospital in a wheelchair. Stupid hospital policies.

  Carefully, I swung my legs over the side of the bed. Robert was by my side in an instant. “Be careful, sweetie. You shouldn’t be moving around by yourself.”

  “I’m fine. Don’t worry. I only broke a couple of bones,” I chuckled, but stopped when I saw the look on his face. He looked almost angry. I was about to ask him why when a nurse came with a wheelchair.

  “Ready to go, Juliana?”

  “Yes.”

  Before the nurse could help me out of bed, Robert had me in his arms and placed me down in the wheelchair.

  “Thank you, sir. That makes my job much easier.” The nurse chuckled and together we left the room.

  * * *

  When we got to Robert’s house, he once again carried me upstairs and surprisingly into my little girl’s room. I thought he would have brought me into his bedroom, where I normally slept.

  “What are we doing in here?” I asked, as he laid me down on something soft on top of the dresser that hadn’t been there before.

  “I’m taking care of my baby girl, silly,” he said, and then plopped a pacifier from out of nowhere into my mouth.

  What the heck is going on? I never used pacifiers. I was going to spit it out to ask him if he had lost his mind, but he put his finger to the pacifier and said, “If you spit that out, young lady, I will send you to bed early. Don’t worry about anything. Daddy is here to take care of you.”

  He removed his finger and for the time being, I didn’t spit out the pacifier. I closed my eyes, trying to suck on it, while I heard him move around. I still felt very sore from the accident, but as long as I didn’t move too quickly, I was fine.