Find me

Chapter 23

Henry POV

“What happened to this poor child?” my coworker mumbled as we were staring at Aria’s x-ray pictures.

I was frozen. I was completely numb.

The x-ray showed countless healed fractures, mainly on her arms and her ribs.

“Her ribs are not broken now.” my coworker mumbled.

What did my baby go through? Why did they take her from me if they just wanted to hurt her? Why did they take her from me if they obviously didn’t want her? Why would they do this to her?

Why?

I turned around and stormed out of the room.

I couldn’t look at the pictures any longer.
I needed to go see my child. I needed to hold her and promise her that nothing and no one will ever hurt her again.

I was close to her room when I heard my name being called. I turned around and saw Owen walking toward me.

I called him as soon as we arrived at the hospital. I told him what Aria told us, and I told him about her injuries. It turned out that he was just about to call me because a bruise appeared on the fucker’s wife’s face. They were suspecting domestic abuse, and he wanted to ask me to see if Aria was abused too.

The police were already here. They took pictures of Aria’s injuries for the case file and talked to Gabriel and me. I stepped outside for a minute to go check on the x-ray pictures.

“You better make sure that they are locked tight.” I said, clenching my fists and tightening my jaw. “I will fucking kill them if you let me near.”

“They are locked tight, don’t worry.” Owen said, eyeing me up and down. “How are you?”

I gulped down the lump in my throat.

“Fucking horrible.” I said, trying to stay calm. “I just saw her x-ray pictures. I couldn’t even count the healed fractures on her body. They’ve hurt my child, Owen. They’ve tortured her. How the fuck do I get past this?”

I sighed, ran my fingers through my hair, and sat down on one of the chairs in the hallway.

I was fucking exhausted. This was the longest day of my life.

Owen sat down next to me and gave me a stern look.

“You will get past this because there is a little girl that needs her dad.” he said. “Aria needs you right now, Henry. She needs her father. She needs your love and your support. You have an unlimited amount of that, my friend.”

I did. I had all of this love that was just for her, and now I could finally give it to her.

“I’ve watched you search for her all of these years.” Owen continued. “Nobody loves that girl more than you and Gabriel do. You will move past this because you love her. She will love you as well, I’m sure of it. There is so much love in that little girl, and she had nobody to give it to. She has her dad and her brother now.”

A tear fell on my cheek, and I raised my hand to wipe it away.

Owen was right. I adored her. Gabriel already adored her. We would find a way to move on from this.

“Did you call Julian?” Owen asked.

“No.” I said, shaking my hand. “I will call him soon.”

Julian was my wife’s older brother. I knew how thrilled he would be, but I wanted to give Aria some space before I told him.

“Okay.” Owen nodded, standing up. “Let’s go. I would like to talk to Aria.”

“Can’t it wait until tomorrow?” I asked, standing up and following behind him. “She is tired.”

“It won’t take long.” Owen said. “Just a few questions.”

He stopped in front of the door to her room and waited for me to open it.

I sighed and opened the door. My children both looked up at me, and I gave them a small smile.

Aria was lying in bed, wrapped up in Gabriel’s arms. She looked behind me at Owen and lowered her eyes immediately.

“What did the x-ray show?” Gabriel asked nervously.

“Her ribs are okay.” I said, gulping down the lump in my throat. “But there are a lot of old, healed fractures.”

Gabriel’s eyes widened. Aria glanced up at me and gave me a small nod.

I walked to the bed immediately, sat down next to her, and pulled her into my arms. I kissed the top of her head, and she wrapped her small arms around my waist.

My heart melted.

Gabriel pulled her back into his arms. I reached out and caressed his cheek.

“Aria, sweetie, can I ask you a few questions?” Owen asked softly, walking closer to the bed.

Aria glanced up at him and nodded.

“When did the abuse start, sweetie?” he asked her, taking out his notebook and a pen.

“I don’t remember.” Aria said quietly. “It was always like that.”

“You can look up at me, Aria.” Owen said softly.

She lifted her head slowly, and I leaned in to kiss her temple.

“How often would they hit you?” Owen asked.

She bit her lip and furrowed her eyebrows.

“I’m not sure.” she mumbled. “They hit me every day when I was a child because I had trouble learning the rules. But they would hit me to punish me every time I did something wrong, which was very often according to them.”

I could feel my blood boil and I wasn’t sure if the bars would keep them safe from me. I glanced at my son and saw a look I’d never seen before. He looked terrifying. He looked ready to rip them apart.

“What rules, Aria?” Owen asked, making me look away from Gabriel.

“Always do as you are told. Disobedience leads to punishment. Never talk back. Nobody cares about your opinion. Never look people in the eye. It's disrespectful.” she recited them quietly. “There were others as well, but these were the main ones.”

My vision reddened, and I clenched my fists.

“Did you ever try to ask for help?” Owen asked, tightening his jaw.

He looked pissed.

“No.” she said quietly. “Until I started school, I thought that it was normal. I thought that every child had the same rules as I did. Later, I was just afraid that nobody would believe me. Also, we were never long in one place, and I’ve never had anyone I could trust. I’ve never had anyone other than my parents.”

My heart shattered. She thought that it was normal?!

“They are not your parents.” Gabriel said, his voice breaking. “And you have me now. You have a dad now. You are not alone anymore.”

She looked at him and smiled.

Gabriel kissed her forehead and leaned his head on hers.

“Why did you move around a lot?” Owen continued with his questions.

“They have an alcohol problem.” Aria mumbled. “They couldn’t keep a job for long, so we had to move all the time. They would get a reputation fast, and nobody wanted to hire them.”

Owen nodded, writing something down in his notebook.

“Okay, sweetie.” Owen said as he looked up at her and gave her a small smile. “I won’t bother you anymore. You need to rest. Thank you for helping us.”

“You are welcome.” Aria said softly, leaning her head on Gabriel’s chest.

Owen looked at me and motioned for me to follow him outside.

I kissed the top of my daughter’s head and stood up.

“Do you know anything about the DNA results?” Owen asked as soon as I closed the door behind us.

“I hope I will get them tomorrow.” I sighed. “I rushed them.”

“Let me know immediately.” Owen said.

I nodded and watched as he walked away.

I opened the door and stepped back into the room.

“She is asleep.” Gabriel said quietly.

“That was fast.” I said, walking closer.

“She was exhausted.” Gabriel said, caressing her cheek.

“I know.” I mumbled as I started to pick up our stuff.

I needed to get her home and into her bed. She needed to rest and heal.

“Can you carry her to the car?” I asked my son.

He nodded, picking her up in his arms carefully.

He kissed her forehead and placed her head on his shoulder.

I smiled, and I followed him out of the room.