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This was definitely not how Ryland Grace expected his Tuesday to begin. He'd woken up with a bad gut feeling but brushed it off. Whilst he was cycling to work at Grover Cleveland Middle School, that bad feeling only deepened, despite the early morning fog normally helping to calm his mind for the day ahead.
Clicking the bike lock in place, he removed his helmet and walked into the school, greeting the lady at the front desk. She'd only started working there a few weeks ago, but he'd made a point to welcome her and remember her name. "Morning, Lisa." He smiled, giving a wave, carrying his helmet under one arm.
It always improved Ryland's mood when someone smiled back at him or looked even the slightest bit happier thanks to him. So, when Lisa sat up and smiled back, he felt that bad gut feeling melt away.
Reaching his classroom, he opened up the windows, wanting to get rid of the smell of cleaning products from the janitor yesterday. He hung his yellow coat over the back of his swivel chair and set his bike helmet down beside his desk.
Satisfied that the room was smelling less, Grace sat down at his desk and pulled his laptop out of his bag, turning it on. He pulled out a few worksheets and set them down on his desk, counting the number of copies he had. Fortunately, he had the right number.
After around fifteen minutes, the first bell rang, and his 7th-grade students filed in, most of them greeting him with a cheerful smile and "Morning, Dr Grace!" He'd always prided himself on how students never seemed to dread his class, so he was confused when one seat was left empty. Scanning each face in the room, he realised the student missing was Lily Wilson.
He couldn't help but frown when he realised this. Lily was one of his most cheerful students, even if she didn't have the best grades. She was always on time and always enthusiastic. Clearing his throat, he got the attention of his class, "Does anyone know where Lily is today?"
There were a few murmurs, but the end consensus was that no one had heard from or seen Lily since the end of school the day before. "Alright, well, I've got a few handouts today-" There was a collective groan that interrupted him before he continued, "But, once the sheets are completed, we can play Lava."
Almost immediately, the groaning ceased. He chuckled as he started passing around sheets. Once everyone had a sheet and the class were left discussing work, as well as a few other conversation topics that he pretended not to hear, Grace sat at his desk and sent an email to the attendance officer, politely asking if the carers of Lily Wilson had emailed to let the school know about her absence.
Half an hour into the lesson, the door opened, and he saw Lisa holding the door open as Lily walked in. She looked a bit paler than normal, but seemed otherwise alright, wearing a large hoodie and shorts, her brown hair tied back in a French plait. He smiled and joked, "Lily! Nice of you to join us at last." But it seemed that today wasn't the right day for jokes, as she just mumbled some half-hearted apology for being late and took her seat. The rest of the class was still talking, mostly oblivious to her arrival.
Grace frowned; it just didn't sit right with him. One of his brightest students was sitting quietly, just filling in the worksheet that he'd set out for her earlier in case she'd arrived late. After ten more minutes of working, almost everyone had finished the worksheets.
"Alright! Who wants to play... lava?!" He grinned, biting back a laugh when they all started to chant, "Lava! Lava! Lava!" Grace picked up the knitted Earth beanbag, tossing it in his hand, humming as he looked around the students in front of him before landing on a target.
"Kevin!" He tossed lava, watching Kevin catch it before he asked, "What is... the powerhouse of the cell?" The class quieted for him to answer, and he thought for a few seconds before asking, "Mitochondria?" Grace hummed, "Are you asking me or telling me?"
"Uhh..." Grace encouraged, "Quick, Kevin, your hands are burning!" Tossing the Earth between his hands, as if it were actually hot, Kevin finally answered, "Telling!"
"Bingo!" Grace exclaimed, catching lava as Kevin threw it back to him, "Let's have a round of applause for genius number 1!" The rest of the class was clapping as Grace started searching for his second target.
Lily looked a bit better now. There was more colour to her cheeks, and she seemed to be more involved in the lesson again. "Lily!" He tossed lava to her, thinking of a question: "Where does protein synthesis take place?"
Her eyes widened, and she fumbled as she caught it, stumbling over her words until she answered, "The, uh, uhm, the nucleus?" He smiled at her, "Ooh, not quite! Nearly. Does anyone else know?" Grace caught lava when she tossed it back to him. Seeing another girl's hand raise, he tossed lava to her, "Tina! Where does protein synthesis take place?"
The other girl caught lava and confidently answered, "Protein synthesis takes place in ribosomes, obviously." Grace nodded with a smile, "Very good! Let's have some applause for genius number 2!" Whilst the class was clapping, he noticed Tina sending a cruel look toward Lily, sneering at her, and he frowned, "Ah, none of that, Tina. Everyone makes mistakes. Apologise, please."
Tina pouted and huffed, "Sorry, Lily." Grace was far from pleased with the tone she'd used, "Properly." But Tina just rolled her eyes before groaning, "Why? It's her fault for being so stupid." His frown deepened, and he held lava tighter in his hand. It was rare for him to get annoyed with his students, but everyone knew that when he got annoyed, he'd get really annoyed.
"Just because Lily has made one mistake today, does not excuse your behaviour towards her." There was a more irritated note in his voice now as he gestured toward Lily with one hand. The girl had her head down, a few light brown strands of hair falling over her face as she fixed her gaze on the paper in front of her, clearly not pleased with the way this had developed.
Still, Tina showed no remorse, leaning back on her chair, swinging as she crossed her arms and scoffed, "It's not like it's her first mistake. She was thirty minutes late to class. Oh, and we all know about that D she got on our last test."
"Enough." This time, the rigidity in his voice surprised her, a bit too much. She fell off her chair backwards, a few laughs and snickers scattering through the classroom. Grace wasn't sure who, but he heard someone whisper "Karma," and someone else muttered, "Serves her right."
"Tina, outside now." He ordered, no longer taking this lightly. Thoroughly embarrassed by her fall, Tina stood up, brushing off her skirt and followed him outside into the hallway. He shut the door once she stepped outside, crossing his arms sternly. "Do you mind telling me what all that was about?"
Refusing to meet his gaze, Tina mumbled, "It's not fair. She never gets things right, and when she's late, she doesn't even get in trouble. If I don't do well or I'm late, I get told off." Grace's frown lessened slightly, "So you think she's getting special treatment?"
After seeing Tina nod, he crouched down, his arms now resting on his knees as he met her height, "Tina. I understand that it can feel frustrating when you think someone's getting treated better than you, but that is no excuse for the way that you treated Lily in there, do you understand? If you have concerns about a teacher showing favouritism, you come and tell a different teacher; you don't get to be mean to the student. Is that clear?"
Reluctantly, she nodded slowly, mumbling, "Yeah... Sorry, Dr Grace." He stood up again, "Don't apologise to me, apologise to Lily." Satisfied that she knew her mistake, he opened the door and led her back inside.
The class was completely silent when they walked in, most eyes on her as she did the walk of shame back to her seat and sat down again. Since there were only five minutes left until the end of the lesson, Grace sat at his desk and just played a Cognito video about organelles.
When the bell rang, he watched his students hurry to pack up, most of them saying bye on their way out. He watched as Tina apologised to Lily, looking a bit more genuinely remorseful this time, before she left as well. Lily was slower as she packed up, and he noticed her favouring her right side.
"Lily?" Grace called out, "Could I talk to you for a moment?" He noticed that she tensed a lot, suddenly looking quite terrified. Walking over, he crouched in front of her, speaking softly, "Hey, are you alright? What's going on?"
She shook her head, muttering, "I'm not supposed to tell." Frowning, he asked cautiously, "Who said you're not supposed to tell?" Again, she shook her head. Sighing, he tried a different method, "Okay, you don't have to tell me. But, can I ask why you were late this morning?"
After hesitating for a beat, she mumbled, "My mom didn't wake up in time, so I had to walk to school." Grace nodded in understanding, "Was that a long walk?" He asked, not wanting to be pushy, but wanting to know more about the situation.
She nodded quietly, "Yeah, it took me over an hour." His eyes widened, "Oh, really? How far was your walk?" She shrugged meekly, "Maybe... five miles?" He blinked in surprise, "Wow, that's okay, no wonder you were late this morning, huh?"
Thinking that he wasn't pleased, Lily mumbled an apology for being late, though he quickly shook his head, "No, no, it's alright. I was just worried when you didn't turn up on time today," He smiled reassuringly when she shifted nervously in her seat.
As she moved slightly, he noticed her inhale sharply and frowned again. "Lily, are you hurt?" Immediately, she tensed, opening her mouth to deny it, but he cut in, "Don't lie to me, you winced. Where does it hurt?"
Lily hesitated again before eventually whispering, "My left side." His frown deepened, "You don't have to, but could you show me?" Knowing that someone would have to look eventually, she lifted her shirt, turning slightly to show him a nasty purple bruise on her left waist. A second bruise, just as bad, was blossoming on her back, too.
Grace couldn't stop the shock from appearing on his face, "Lily- oh my gosh- this is really bad, what happened?" She tugged her shirt back down, not meeting his gaze as she spoke, "...I fell over yesterday."
He frowned at her answer, "Lily, you wouldn't get those kinds of bruises from falling over by accident. Did someone hurt you? Were you pushed or hit?" Grace felt the bad gut feeling from this morning come back full force, filling him with dread as he waited for her answer.
But she didn't answer, she just pressed her lips together and refused to speak. Now understanding that he wouldn't get anything else out of her, he accepted it and stood back up, sighing, "Alright. But if you ever want to talk about anything at all, whether it's related to this or completely different, you can come and knock on my door. Okay?"
Silently nodding, Lily picked up her school bag again. She muttered a quick goodbye before practically running out the door.
Grace sat at his desk; he didn't have a class to teach this period, so he sat and did some marking, feeling absolutely sick. Those were bruises that didn't belong on any twelve-year-old girl.
After the final bell rang, Grace stayed another hour to finish up some marking he had. Once that was done, he left it on his desk to hand out tomorrow and put his laptop back in his bag. Shrugging on his yellow coat, he picked up his bike helmet and walked out of his classroom.
He bid farewell to any staff he passed on his way out and headed to where his bike was locked to the fence. He was about to swing his leg over, stopping when he noticed Lily sitting on the curb. He left his bike where it was and walked over, sitting on the curb beside her, "Hey, kid."
Hearing his voice, Lily glanced up briefly, her gaze returning to her lap as she mumbled, "Hi, Dr Grace." His finger tapped against his knee as he asked, "So, what're you still doing here?" She answered quietly, "My mom said she'd pick me up, but she hasn't come yet, and my phone died, so I can't message her."
"Ah. And you don't want to start walking home in case she arrives and can't find you?" Grace guessed, receiving a nod from Lily. "Do you know your mom's phone number? I could call her." He pulled his phone out as he spoke. Perking up, Lily nodded, "Yeah, it's 415--- ----"
He dialled the number and held the phone to his ear, waiting until he heard a woman's voice come through. She sounded tired and hoarse, "Hello?" He spoke into the phone, "Hi, Ms Wilson? It's Dr Grace. I'm one of Lily's teachers."
Through the phone, he heard the woman gasp, "Oh dear- I'm so sorry, it completely slipped my mind. Is Lily alright?" He bit back a comment about responsibility, "Yes, she's alright. She's here with me now."
"Could I talk to her, please?" Ms Wilson sounded genuinely distraught that she'd forgotten, so he handed his phone to Lily and stayed seated beside her whilst she mumbled into the phone, "It's okay, momma. I'm fine. Yeah, I can. I'll be home later, though; he might get angry. Promise? Okay. Bye, Momma, love you."
She handed Grace his phone and stood up with her school bag, "Thanks, Dr Grace." He stood up as well, smiling, "No problem. So, is your mom coming to pick you up?" Lily shook her head, "She can't make it, so I'm walking home."
His smile faded, "Oh. Well, why not get a bus?" She shrugged, "I don't have any money." Without hesitating, he pulled a few bills from his wallet and held them out to her. "Here." Her eyes widened as she shook her head quickly, "I can't. We can't pay you back."
Still holding out the money, he shrugged, "I don't need you to. I can live without five bucks." When she still didn't take it, he pushed it into her hand, "It's not safe for you to be walking home so late, it'll probably be dark by the time you get home. Please, just take the money and get a bus."
Finally giving in, Lily accepted the money with a quiet, "Thank you, Dr Grace." He smiled, "Any time, kid. Go on. There should be a bus in about ten minutes. Do you want me to wait with you?" She thought for a moment, considering it, before ultimately deciding against it, "I'll be okay."
"Alright then, get home safe." He smiled, walking back to his bike.
The entire ride home, he kept on thinking about Lily's side of her conversation with her mom. "he might get angry." It got him thinking more about the bruising as well, the pit of his stomach overflowing with worry for her safety.
It kept echoing in his head. Even after he'd eaten dinner and now as he lay in his bed wearing his warmest plaid pyjama set, Grace was left staring at the ceiling, wondering if the mystery "he" was the cause of the bruises. Not only that, but she'd been quite jumpy lately, too.
Eventually, he fell asleep, subconsciously fearing for his student.
The next morning, he cycled to school like every day, feeling a tad bit less cheery than normal. Grace went through the same morning routine as always, setting everything up and opening windows.
He sat at his desk, drafting an email to Lily's mother using the email on the emergency contact list, but in the end, he decided not to hit send. Just in case their attacker saw it. He was getting ahead of himself; he didn't have any real evidence that Lily was being abused. Last night, he'd considered making an anonymous call to CPS but opted out when he realised that if he was wrong, Ms Wilson could lose custody of Lily.
Sighing, he rested his forehead against his hand, lost in thought, trying to think of ways that he could help her. The ringing of the first bell pulled him free from his spiral. He sat up straighter as his first class filtered in, chatting amongst themselves and greeting him happily, oblivious to his inner turmoil. Smiling widely, he greeted all of them in return, leaning back in his chair, letting himself get distracted from his worries for now.
The lesson went smoothly, plenty of students participated, he didn't have to scold anyone, and they all enjoyed a game of lava at the end of class. Once the first period ended, he had a few minutes of peace before his next class came in, loudly laughing and messing about with each other. It was Lily's class.
Everyone took their seats as he called out the register, each of them answering with a cheerful, "Here!" When he reached Lily, her didn't hear a response. Glancing up, he scanned the room, frowning, "Does anyone know where Lily is today?"
Kevin raised his hand, "She's not in today, Mr Rogers said that he got an email from Lily's mom saying that she's sick." Grace felt a nagging in his mind, shouting that she wasn't alright, but he pushed it down, "Right, thank you, Kevin." He nodded with a clipped smile, continuing with the register.
For today's lesson, they were doing a biology practical. They'd be in small groups with a microscope, and they'd take a small, thin layer of an onion and put it on a slide to look at the cells. He demonstrated first and then left them to get on with it. They were a competent class; he had no concerns that they could do it.
Whilst they worked together in their groups, he cleaned up his equipment, wiping down the slide and tossing the rest of the onion into a bin. He was just getting sucked back into his thoughts from earlier when he heard a quiet shattering followed by a student hissing, "Ow!"
Like a meerkat, he was on full alert. He saw Larry holding his finger. He walked over to their group quickly, "What's happened?" Abby crossed her arms and huffed, "I told Larry not to mess with the slide, but he did it anyway, and it broke."
"Alright," Grace sighed, "Larry, can I look at your finger?" Embarrassed and slightly annoyed at Abby, the boy held his bleeding finger out, mumbling, "I only cut my finger because I tried to clean up. Sorry, Dr Grace." Smiling reassuringly, Grace teased, "It's alright. The school has hundreds of glass slides for microscopes. And thank you for trying to tidy it, but maybe next time, tell a teacher first? Or better yet, let's not have a next time."
Seeing that Larry looked a bit less dejected, Grace led his student over to a tap, rinsing his finger so that he could see how much it was bleeding. Realising that there was quite a steady dribble of blood, he had Larry hold a piece of tissue on it whilst he grabbed the first aid kit. He opened it up and found a good-sized plaster.
Turning back to Larry, he took the tissue away, dabbing a few drops of blood up before he stuck a plaster over the cut. "There. That'll do." Larry wiggled his finger before grinning at Grace, "Thanks, Dr Grace. Sorry about the mess."
"Ah, don't worry about that. Here, you take this slide back to your group." Grace handed the boy a new glass side, adding with a wink, "Just don't drop it this time." Larry grinned sheepishly, taking the slide and heading back to his group, Abby rolling her eyes and taking the slide from him immediately.
Grace could see the slight disappointment in the way the boy's shoulders dropped, but chose not to comment. Instead, he just walked over with a dustpan and brush, sweeping the broken pieces of glass up, making sure that none of the other students cut themselves.
Fortunately, the remainder of the lesson was uneventful, no one else was hurt, and everyone managed to see what the cells of onion skin look like. They all seemed to quite enjoy the practical too. Once they'd all filed out of class for break, he collected all of the microscopes, wiping them down and returning them to the numbered bags they belonged to.
He wiped down the tables, too, making sure there wasn't any sticky onion residue left. By the time he finished, period three was about to start.
The rest of his week went pretty much the same way, making sure his classes were enjoyed by the students and that they all got good notes about the content he was teaching, too. However, he made it to the end of Friday, back at home now, and Lily still hadn't returned to school. He'd last seen her on Tuesday when he'd given her money for the bus.
Although her mom had told the school that Lily was staying home because she was sick, Grace was concerned. So he phoned her mom. He still had her number in his phone from when Lily had used it to call her on Tuesday.
He sat on the edge of his bed, dialling the number again, listening to it ring. Finally, the ringing stopped, and a shaky, "Hello?" came through from the other end. Sitting up straighter, Grace held the phone to his ear, "Ms Wilson? Hi, it's Dr Grace again." He paused. When he didn't get a reply, he added, "Lily's teacher from Grover Cleveland Middle School."
"O-Oh, right, of course. What, uhm, what do you need?" She spoke very quietly, and she sounded like she was trembling, too. Taking a deep breath to steel himself, he finally asked bluntly, "Are you and Lily safe?"
When he didn't hear an answer, he quickly explained, "I'm just worried because I overheard her mention a 'he' who could be angry with her, and she had some bad bruising on her left waist." After a few beats of silence, he heard her hesitantly whisper, "No. He... He kidnapped us, and I was too scared to try to call for help. I'm so sorry-"
Realising that his gut feeling had been right the entire time, he stood up quickly, grabbed a jacket, and headed to his front door. "Do you know where you are?" Whilst he tied his shoes quickly, he heard movement on her end, followed by another whisper, "I think it's a third-floor apartment, I-I can see a sign that says... I think it says Irving Street."
He snatched up his keys and ran out of his apartment, locking the door before running down the stairs. Fortunately, he was only around the corner from a police station. Still on the phone with Ms Wilson, he ran toward the police station. "Okay, that's great, I'm almost at the police station, and then we'll come and get you and Lily, Ms Wilson."
"Nora," He heard her whisper into the phone, "Okay, Nora." He arrived at the police station and burst in, heading straight to the front desk. "I have the location of a kidnapped mother and daughter," Grace wasn't the fittest person, despite cycling to work, which left him breathless as he rambled, "She thinks she's in a third-floor apartment on Irving Street."
Grace watched, feeling helpless as several police officers geared up and headed to squad cars, one of them leading him to one of the undercover police vehicles, a black Audi. He climbed into the passenger seat as instructed, still on the phone with Nora, speaking softly, "It's okay, Nora, we're on the way. You and Lily are going to be just fine."
After twenty minutes of trying to keep Nora calm on the phone, the police cars pulled up, officers searching windows until one found the right building. They stormed in, finding Nora locked in a bedroom, still on the phone to Grace. The call ended, and he stood outside waiting, watching as the police helped Nora outside. The first thing he noticed was that she was naked aside from the blanket wrapped around her.
His heart dropped when he saw the bruises that littered her legs and neck, the rest of her covered up. He watched as officers helped her to a nearby ambulance, turning back to the building, waiting, even more worried for Lily now that he'd seen the state of her mom.
Finally, a paramedic and an officer walked out, leading Lily by the hand. She was wearing a pair of light blue plaid pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt, barefoot and terrified, but seemingly unharmed. The paramedic had checked her over inside and found that she was alright; the only injury she had was the bruising from earlier in the week.
Grace felt a rush of pure relief when he saw that she wasn't naked like her mom had been. When she saw him, her eyes widened, and she quietly mumbled, "Dr Grace?" He managed a small smile, "Hey, kid." As she walked over to him with an officer, he crouched down. Anxiously, she asked, "Where's my mom?"
His relieved smile faltered for a second, but he tried to be reassuring, "She's in an ambulance, they're taking her to the hospital." As soon as the words left his mouth, Lily started looking around. When she spotted the ambulance, beginning to drive off with its lights on, she ran toward it.
Her bare feet pattered along the tarmac as she ran down the road. A police officer saw and managed to catch her with one arm banded around her middle tightly. She kicked and screamed, fighting against the officer, wanting to get to her mother.
Grace hurried over with a few other police officers. He knelt in front of her, "Lily, Lily, look at me. She's in great hands, okay?" Slowly, she stopped fighting, just crying now. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she sobbed quietly.
The policewoman who was still holding Lily in place turned to Grace, asking quietly, "Are you Dr Grace?" Slightly confused and concerned, Grace nodded, "Yeah, I am. Why?" The policewoman rubbed the back of her neck with one hand. "Her mother said that they don't have any family to take Lily in, and she asked if you would. We've seen you were approved to be a respite foster carer on the system, hence you're suitable to take care of the girl for now."
Grace's eyes widened in surprise, "Me?" When the officer nodded, he sat back on his heels, still kneeling. He nodded back, "Alright, yeah." The police woman let go of Lily slowly, stepping back to discuss something with her colleagues.
Still kneeling in front of his distraught student, Grace opened his arms slightly, a silent offer of comfort without pushing her to accept anything. Almost immediately, she moved into his arms, curling into his chest, on his lap, crying against his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, rubbing her back, trying to transfer his warmth to her when he felt just how cold she was.
If anyone asked, he had no idea how long he sat there holding her. But he didn't care how long it was; he just cared that she felt safe enough to hold onto him like a lifeline. He loosened his hold on her, shrugging off his jacket, wrapping it around her.
Grace made sure that every movement he made was slow and predictable so that she wouldn't feel the need to flinch from him. And she didn't. Her grip on him didn't relax once, even when her tears slowed.
Finally breaking the emotional quiet, Grace suggested, "What do you say to having a sleepover tonight and tomorrow I can take you to check up on your mom?" Slowly, almost reluctant to move, Lily lifted her head and nodded silently, wiping her cheeks dry.
Carefully, he lifted her off his lap and stood up, steadying her when she wobbled slightly. Seeing they'd moved, the police woman from earlier wandered over, "Are you ready to go with Dr Grace, sweetheart?" Lily didn't say a word, just silently took hold of his hand with one nod.
The lady led them to a police car and drove them back to Grace's apartment building. He helped Lily out, thanking the officer, before she took his hand again whilst he headed inside. Speaking with a smile, he chuckled, "I'm afraid the elevator doesn't work, so there are a lot of stairs." As he spoke, Grace cast a glance down at Lily, seeing the exhaustion in his eyes.
She'd had one hell of a night, and he doubted she'd been sleeping the last few days while she wasn't safe.
As the realisation set in, he paused, trying to catch her darting gaze by crouching as he asked, "Would you rather have a piggyback? Or I can carry you normally?" Lily thought for a moment before quietly mumbling, "Carry."
Smiling reassuringly, Grace nodded once, "Carry it is." He kept his movement slow like earlier, wrapping one arm around her back and the other around the back of her thighs, standing up with her secure in his arms. Standing up, he hoisted her into his embrace, feeling her small arms loop around his neck and her head rest against his shoulder.
Grace started climbing the many stairs to get to his floor, mindful not to jostle Lily too much. When he reached his floor, he shifted her to be better supported with one arm, juggling his keys as he unlocked the door and stepped inside.
"I'll go change the bedding, and then you can sleep there tonight, sound good?" He smiled, shutting the door with a soft click. When he didn't get a response, he tried to tilt his head to see her face, realising her eyes had slipped shut, and her breathing had evened out.
Carrying her to the living room, he gently laid her on his sofa temporarily. He disappeared into his bedroom, removing the bed sheets, pillow cases, and the duvet cover, throwing them into a washing basket nearby.
Grace quickly put on clean sheets and covers before heading back to Lily, who was fast asleep and still wearing the clothes she'd been taken in three days ago. Tossing options in his mind, Grace darted out, hurriedly jogging upstairs to the apartment above his.
He'd always kept in good contact with his neighbours, even befriending most of the residents in his apartment building. Stopping in front of the door, he raised his fist to knock, cursing when he caught a glimpse of the time on his watch, already 11 pm. Praying they'd understand, he knocked gently, keeping in mind that they had a teenager in this apartment.
After a few minutes of rocking on his feet, the door opened, and a tired woman stood there in pyjamas, slippers, and a fluffy dressing gown. "Ryland? What could you possibly need at this hour?" Sighing quietly, feeling guilty now that it was obvious he'd woken her up, he apologised, "I'm so sorry, I was wondering if you had any of Mia's old clothes, from when she was 12 or 13?"
When she gave him a puzzled look, he apologised again and quickly explained that he had a young girl staying with him, but it was very last-minute, and she had no clothes to change into. Taking all of this in, she turned and headed back inside. After a while longer, she returned with a cardboard box. "I couldn't find anything younger than when she was 14, so they might be a bit big."
Eternally grateful, Grace took the box, thanking her repeatedly. He ran back down a flight of stairs, almost tripping over his own feet as he re-entered his apartment and headed over to where Lily was still fast asleep.
His knees protested as he knelt in front of her, gently rubbing her shoulder to rouse her from sleep, "Lily? Hey-" Almost immediately, she started panicking, scrambling to get away from him. Her foot connected with his jaw painfully, and he winced sharply before snapping back to focus, "Lily! Lily, hey, kid. Hey- hey, it's me, it's just me, it's Dr Grace. Remember? You're safe now, I promise. You're safe."
Breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling with each short breath, Lily slowly glanced around, gradually relaxing more and more as the night's events returned to her. Eventually, she slumped, mumbling an apology, which earned her a small smile, "That's alright. I get it. I got some clothes that you can try on. These should be alright for tonight." He held up a set of pyjamas, shorts and a t-shirt that looked a little bit big for Lily.
She quietly accepted the clothes, her thumb rubbing over the fabric. Grace led her through his bedroom to the bathroom, one hand hovering just behind her back, not touching, just guiding. "I'll wait out here, just give me a shout if you need anything."
He watched her go into the bathroom, sitting on the edge of his bed, digging through his drawers. He found an old starry nightlight, plugging it in to test if it still worked, whilst he waited for her to finish changing.
After a minute or two, the door creaked open. Lily stood quietly, barefoot, wearing the grey t-shirt which hung off her shoulders in a way that was almost comical, and some shorts that, fortunately, had a drawstring so she'd pulled them tight. In her arms were her dirty clothes, bundled up messily.
"Here, I'll take those for you." He took the clothes from her arms, setting them in the washing basket, "A bit big, huh?" He chuckled, earning himself a silent nod. "Well- uh- it's late. You're definitely tired, so get some rest, okay?"
He tugged the covers back to try to make the bed seem more inviting. Hesitantly, almost reluctantly, she slipped into his bed, settling down as he draped the covers over her. "How's that? All okay?" She nodded silently again. "Good. Is there anything I can do for you?" She shook her head silently.
The silence was disheartening, but he understood that she'd been through a traumatic event, even if she'd been talking a bit earlier; the fear had clearly tired her out as the adrenaline faded, leaving her too drained to bother with talking.
Trying to force a reassuring smile, he added, "If you need anything during the night, I'll be in the living room. Just wake me up, okay?" Unsurprisingly, she nodded silently. Grace flicked the light off, watching the soft glow of the night light project stars across the ceiling as he stepped out and pulled the door nearly shut, leaving it open a crack so that he could listen out for anything bad going on with her during the night.
Wandering back to the living room, he wrapped a blanket around himself and face planted the cushions. Originally, he'd planned to stay awake for a while in case she needed him. But as soon as his body hit the plush seat, he was out like a light, dead to the world.
Grace woke up at around seven the next morning, the early morning light filtering in through his blinds had woken him. Groaning, he pushed himself to his feet, stretching, feeling the satisfying release as his back popped.
Slowly plodding to the kitchen, he reached down a mug and put the kettle on. Whilst he waited for the water to boil, Grace dug through his fridge and found a box of eggs hidden behind a tub of butter.
He pulled a frying pan out of a cupboard, trying not to make too much noise. Once the water boiled, he tossed a teabag into his mug and poured the water over it, leaving it to stew whilst he sprayed some oil onto the pan and set it on his stove on medium heat. After letting it heat up, he cracked two eggs straight into the pan, watching them sizzle as he stirred the tea.
Squeezing the teabag against the side of his mug, he tossed it into the bin, adding a splash of milk and a teaspoon of sugar before taking a sip. Still waking up, he watched the eggs fry for another minute before flipping them, making sure they were fully cooked.
He'd only ever fostered one other kid, a little boy called Tommy, last year. That kid had been the sweetest boy he'd ever met. He'd only been four years old, but always said please and thank you. When he first started living with Ryland, he'd called him "Mister Doctor Ryan." Grace never had the heart to tell Tommy that his name wasn't Ryan; the boy had been through too much at the time.
Grace only looked after Tommy for a month, but that was one of the best months of his life. Even though he had to stay up almost every night with Tommy, holding him through nightmares, he felt like he had a family. It had hurt when Tommy was taken and put into foster care properly. It hadn't helped that the poor boy had kicked and screamed whilst the social worker carried him out of Grace's apartment.
He'd been tempted to adopt Tommy right then and there. But he knew that wasn't his job here.
As he served the eggs onto a plate nearby, he hummed to himself, grabbing a knife and fork from the cutlery drawer. Leaving his tea on the counter, he carried the plate and cutlery to his bedroom, pushing the door open with his foot quietly.
He could see Lily curled up beneath the thick duvet, her arms tightly wrapped around the pillow her face was pressed into. Setting the breakfast on the bedside table, he sat on the edge of the bed, feeling the mattress dip under his weight as he spoke quietly, "Lily, time to wake up, kid."
Slowly, she unravelled from where she was clinging to the pillow, rolling onto her back to sit up. Her hair was a mess: brown locks falling over her shoulders, frizzy and tangled. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she saw him sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling at her.
"Good morning. I made eggs. Don't feel like you have to eat them if you don't want to. I can always make something else." Grace spoke leisurely, not wanting to overwhelm her first thing in the morning after her first night with him.
Nodding, she accepted the plate of eggs, eating quietly. The duvet was pulled over her lap, keeping her legs warm as she ate. Once she was done, Grace took the plate from her, "I was thinking that we could go to the hospital and visit your mom if you like."
Immediately, Lily perked up, "Really? You'd take me?" Smiling, Grace nodded, "Of course. There's still some clothes over there," He gestured to the box from his neighbour, "Get dressed, and then we can go."
He left the room, taking the plate and cutlery to the kitchen. Placing them in the sink, he started washing up whilst Lily got ready. He set the now clean plate and cutlery on the drying rack and dried his hands on a tea towel.
With perfect timing, Lily appeared with her hair brushed, wearing a white t-shirt with a cat on the front and some dark blue shorts. She also had a pair of blue shoes on that had been in the box. "Can we go now, Dr Grace?" She asked keenly, twisting her fingers.
"Of course." He smiled, slipping his own shoes on and grabbing his phone, wallet, and keys, putting them into his pockets. "And you can just call me Ryland. Or Grace, if you prefer." He winked, opening the door for her. He shut and locked it as they left, leading the way downstairs, where they got a bus to the hospital.
The entire bus journey, Lily could barely sit still, her hands fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt constantly with worry. Noticing, Grace leaned down, "Hey, it's okay. Your mom's gonna be alright." Hearing his reassuring words, Lily glanced up at her teacher before quietly leaning against his side, seeking support.
Without hesitating, Grace wrapped an arm around her shoulders, wanting to make sure she felt safe with him. When the bus arrived outside the hospital, he kept an arm around her as they disembarked, thanking the driver on their way off.
Heading into the hospital, he asked the receptionist which room and floor Nora Wilson could be found in. Once they had an answer, he thanked her and led Lily down the hall to the elevators, where they rode up to the third floor before stepping out and walking to room 316.
Inside, he could see Nora hooked up to several monitors, wearing a hospital gown. She had an IV in her right arm and a tube for oxygen in her nose. Slowly, he opened the door. At the sound of the door creaking, Nora opened her eyes slightly, seeing him standing there with Lily. The poor girl was trembling, gripping the edge of his shirt tight as she saw the state of her mother.
Smiling through the exhaustion, Nora shifted to open her arms, whispering, "Hi, baby girl." Grace watched as Lily ran over, climbing onto the bed, hesitating before gently hugging her mom. He stepped outside, closing the door to give them a chance to talk things over in private.
He stayed leaning against the wall, waiting for about an hour before Lily came out, wiping her eyes. Glancing over, he opened his arm, tugging her into a side hug when she leaned into him. "You want to talk about it?" Grace offered, knowing that she might need to get more off her chest. She nodded quietly.
Walking out of the hospital, he led her over to a quiet park. He sat down on one swing, watching her do the same, offering his hand. She took it quietly, the swings creaking from the buildup of rust as they both swung back and forth slightly.
Grace stayed patient, waiting for her to begin, giving her the option to talk if she wanted. Eventually, she steeled herself with a deep breath before beginning to tell him what had happened.
For several hours, they sat there together, talking on a rusty swingset.