Chapter 6
The hospital kept Elena for three days.
They ran tests.
They gave her fluids and nutrients.
They checked for injuries.
Physically, she would recover.
The doctor said she was remarkably strong.
Emotionally, it would take longer.
Much longer.
I stayed by her side the entire time.
I held her hand.
I listened when she wanted to talk.
I sat in silence when she didn't.
She told me what happened.
The spray Celeste used had knocked her unconscious.
When she woke up, she was in the cabin.
Chained to the floor.
Celeste came every few days.
She brought food and water.
She talked.
Mostly about me.
About how she had always loved me.
About how Elena was in the way.
About how she would be the perfect wife.
The perfect mother.
Elena closed her eyes as she spoke.
"She told me Ilaria was forgetting me," she whispered. "That the little girl was starting to call her 'Mommy.' That I would never see either of you again."
I squeezed her hand.
"Ilaria never forgot you," I said. "She asked about you every day. She kept your picture by her bed."
Elena cried.
Tears of relief.
"I was so scared," she said. "So scared she would hurt Ilaria. That she would turn her against me."
"She tried," I said. "But Ilaria is strong. Like her mother."
On the third day, the doctor said Elena could go home.
But she needed supervision.
She needed support.
My mother moved in with us.
She helped take care of both Elena and Ilaria.
The reunion between mother and daughter was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
Ilaria walked into the hospital room.
She saw Elena sitting on the bed.
For a moment, she froze.
Then she ran.
"Mommy!"
Elena opened her arms.
Ilaria threw herself into them.
They held each other.
Crying.
Laughing through the tears.
"I missed you, Mommy," Ilaria sobbed. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too, baby," Elena said. She kissed Ilaria's face over and over. "I missed you every single day."
I stood back.
I let them have their moment.
My family.
Whole again.
But the healing was just beginning.
Elena had nightmares.
She would wake up screaming.
Thinking she was back in the cabin.
Ilaria was afraid to be alone.
She followed Elena everywhere.
Scared she would disappear again.
Celeste was in jail.
But her presence still lingered.
Like a bad smell you couldn't get rid of.
The district attorney said they had a strong case.
Kidnapping.
False imprisonment.
Child abuse.
Assault.
Attempted murder.
Celeste's lawyer tried to negotiate a plea deal.
Twenty years in exchange for a guilty plea.
The DA asked what we wanted.
Elena didn't hesitate.
"We want a trial," she said. "We want the world to know what she did."
I agreed.
May you like
Celeste needed to be held accountable.
She needed to pay for what she had done to our family.
