CHAPTER 4
I went to the hospital later in the day to check up on Penny and thank God, she was awake but weak.
When I entered the ward, she was lying there looking so small. The hospital sheets were white, too white against her skin, and the light from the window made her look even paler. Her face was still swollen, her lip was stitched slightly, and there was a bandage on her forehead. But her eyes were open. And when she saw me, and saw Mel, those eyes filled with tears. That was the hardest part, she tried to smile.
I sat beside her as I held Mel closer to her. I brought Mel's little hand to touch her mother's cheek. Penny's hand, with a drip attached, shakily lifted to hold her daughter. She didn't have strength, but she held her.
"Alby..." her voice was barely there, a frail whisper. "Protect her... protect my daughter with all you have... never let Jim near her."
My heart broke into a million pieces hearing that. Even in that state, her first thought was her child, not herself.
"I promise," I said. I held her other hand tight. "I promise with my life, Penny. I will take care of her and always be there. I promise you, no one will touch her. Not Jim, not anyone."
She nodded weakly, tears sliding down the side of her face into her hair.
"Don't overreact please," she said with that same frail voice. And that was Penny. That was my sister. Even after being beaten to near death, even with her daughter's future at stake, she was still telling me not to overreact. She was still feeling pity for someone who never for once showed any remorse for his actions.
I could feel a lump stuck in my throat, from the words that I wanted to tell my sister but couldn't. I wanted to tell her, "Penny, he almost killed you! He left you on a balcony floor to die with your baby on you! How can you still pity him?" But I couldn't. I couldn't say that to a woman lying on a hospital bed fighting to stay awake.
I couldn't imagine even in her state she was still feeling pity for someone who never for once showed any remorse. This man hadn't even introduced her to his people. Not once. After almost two years of marriage and a child, he had never taken her to his village, never introduced...