Page 27 of Defended By Bam
As I relieved myself and washed my hands, I almost slipped back into the haze from the two previous days. It was a weird sensation, almost like a dream, that none of this was real. Maybe it was shock protecting me from having emotions. But once I looked up into the mirror, the unforgiving fluorescent lights slammed me back to reality.
The bruises on my face were turning different colors now–green, yellow, and of course brown. The swelling on my eye and lip had gone down tremendously, but the blood vessels in my eye were still bright red.
Sighing, I dried my hands and left the bathroom, only to be met with a wall. “Oof,” fell from my mouth before I realized the wall was Bama–shirtless Bama.
“Didn’t mean to scare you. I wanted to be sure to give you the phone to call the preschool.”
I was still trying to figure out why I wanted to just rub my face all over his chest, and even though I heard him, it didn’t registerwhat he said. Why was I acting like a silly girl with a crush? The last thing I needed was another man. Especially one who seems so good. Marshall seemed good at first, too.
That’s not fair. Bama hasn’t done anything at all to warrant being compared to that asshole.
“Brooklyn?”
“Huh?”
“The preschool? What time do they open?”
My God, how long was I drooling over him?“Oh, six.”
Bama pulled a cell phone from his pocket, typed something in, then said, “Here. It’s a burner but I still blocked the number to be safe. Don’t clear this, just type in the number, then hit send.”
I took the phone, once again brushing his hand against mine. Each time our skin touched there was a little jolt of electricity. Taking a deep breath, I dialed the number. Bama stepped away so I stood in the doorway, waiting for someone to answer.
Looking down, the phone said five thirty. They’d been open already for at least half an hour. I was pretty sure we were an hour behind.
“Sunshine Kids, Kami speaking.”
Oh thank God. “Kami, hi. It’s Brooklyn.” Shit, now what?
I must have paused too long because Kami asked, “Is there something I can help you with?”
“Uh, Sadie won’t be in for a while. I wasn’t sure what to do but figured I should let you know.”
“Hold on one second.” Her voice was perky. After hearing a click, it got much quieter on the line. “Are you safe?”
My chest tightened and I looked down the hall. The kitchen light was on, and it sounded like he was making coffee. I may have been embarrassed, but I was for sure safe. “I am. We are.”
“Good. Don’t worry about the paperwork. I’ll take care of it.”
Leaning against the wall, I asked, “Kami, can you do me a favor and see if Sadie shows up in the computer system? Like the school system?”
“Um, sure,” Kami said, confusion in her voice. After lots of clicks and a few weird murmurs from her, she said, “That’s weird. I can’t pull her up. But I have her student ID on the paper file.”
“Kami, I gotta go. I don’t want to get you into any trouble, but if that paper file disappeared, it wouldn’t be the worst thing.”
“Wait, are you sure you’re both safe? I know some people at shelters. If you need help, I can meet you later.”
Tears filled my eyes and my breaths became ragged. “I promise. We’re already far away. But if anyone asks–”
“Never heard of you.”
Swiping a stray tear from my cheek, I blew out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
After pressing the end button, I stayed there, leaning against the wall in the hallway while I gathered myself. Kami had questioned me a few times about some bruises on my arms and legs but didn’t press too much. The way she looked at me made me think she knew. But Sadie had no marks. If they thought she was abused, they were required to report it. But with no evidence on Sadie, they would likely stay out of it.
“You okay?”
Jumping at the sound of his voice, I looked over at Bama, then quickly looked away. “Yeah. Went better than I expected.”
