Sisterhood

"How is she?" I ask Paloma as I walk through her front door.

"She's…getting there," Paloma responds with empathy.

Paloma sent me a text message during my session with Dr. Juanes, concerned about Tia's recent change in behavior. It's like she's going backward in the healing process.

I nod, and walk down the hall toward Tia's room. When I notice her door ajar, I peek between the gap and push the door open. Tia is nowhere in sight.

"Tia?" I walk further into the room to her bathroom, but it's empty.

I hear a whimper coming from the closet. Sliding the doors open, I find Tia in the corner of the closet, rocking back and forth with her earbuds in.

"Tia," I whisper.

She looks up at me with tears cascading down her face. I slant my head, giving her a sympathetic smile.

She breaks down.

I sit beside her and wrap my arms around her, pulling her closer until her head rests on my shoulder.

"It's okay to cry. We'll get through this," I reassure her.

Sitting here brings back memories we tried to lock up in the back of our minds. Days and nights when Tia needed to escape reality.

After a while, Tia's cries settle, and she relaxes.

"I have nightmares," she whispers, looking away from me.

I close my eyes and hug her tighter.

"Are you ready to talk about it?" I ask softly.

Since the attack, Tia hasn't spoken about what happened to her over those two weeks. I know she was sexually assaulted, but I do not know the details of what took place. The sounds of her screams will permanently be tattooed in my mind.

"He didn't rape me." She steadies her breath, and relief courses through my body.

Tia pulls away from my side and throws her head back with a sigh. "He touched me—he—he used—" Tia sucks in a big breath.

"It's okay, Tia. You don't have to talk about it if—"

"He used something and—" she interrupts me.

Oh, my God.

"Tia." I can feel the color drain from my face.

"I couldn't fight back. I tried, Sadie, I tried, but I—I—" Tia grabs her knees and pulls them into her chest, her body trembling.

I wrap Tia in my arms and rock her back and forth.

"It's going to be okay. I promise, Tia. We'll get through this like we always had." I soothe, allowing the tears to fall freely from my eyes.