I was able to get all the paperwork done and she was much calmer when I had my hands busy. It just showed how little her trust in me was. She was constantly afraid I'd hurt her. I'd discovered that she felt I wouldn't hurt her if she was in my lap, clinging to me. So I let her do her thing.

Rico finally brought me the discharge papers after I finished everything up for her and her results for all her tests and scans came back. She was ok, just needed the medication that he gave me the prescriptions for. Just a few more signatures and my girl was free to come home with me and relax.

The first step was to go see the psychiatrist, he would have the power to examine her and decide whether I was a suitable caregiver. I needed his signature before all the others and hopefully some document from him that recommended me as her caregiver. That would make everything else easier.

So, I took her to the psychiatrist. She was wrapped in a hospital blanket and a hospital gown. She was so fragile, so adorable. It felt right to have her in my arms. She trembled uncontrollably, but I knew she was safe, and soon enough she'd realize that I'd make sure nothing ever hurt her.

"Shh... don't be so scared." I said to her, rubbing her back when she jumped at a beeping sound from outside of the window. We were in the waiting room of the psychiatrist's office.

She was sleepy and she was very sensitive to our surroundings, the tiniest little things made her flinch violently.

She didn't respond to me, but she tightened her grip on my shirt. I sat down and her feet touched the cold handle of the chair, making her pull them away and stuff them between my thighs. I looked down at her as she examined her toes.

"What's wrong? Are these little toes cold?" I asked her, taking her small foot in my hand. Her toes were frozen, I held them in my large, warm hands and she rubbed her cheek against my shirt, squirming in my arms slightly.

I felt a violent shiver pass through her tiny body and I couldn't help but smile. I warmed her toes up until we were called into the psychiatrist's office. The way she crushed the bunny to her chest was breaking my heart. She was so scared. I wished I could make it all go away, but I knew it wasn't that easy.

I wrapped the blankets around her tighter when I sat down on the couch in the psychiatrist's office.

"Sorry, Sir. You'll have to leave me to speak with her alone." The man said.

I got up, trying to set her down on the couch alone but she started flipping out. She clutched my shirt tighter with her frail little hands. I thought we'd been over this, that she trusted me enough to know I'd take good care of her. But I understood how horrified she was.

"It's ok. I'll be back." I said to her.

She looked up at me with wide, petrified eyes, glancing at the psychiatrist and attempting to jump off the couch in order to get away from him.

"Ok. Ok. Never mind. I think you'll need to stay." The man told me.

I nodded and sat back down. She crawled into my lap, shaking like a leaf. She lifted the blankets to hide her face from the man and she hid against my chest.

"Ok, Kiara. I know you don't like answering questions, but I'm trying to help you. If you nod and shake your head to answer my questions then this young man won't have to leave you with me alone. If you refuse to answer, then I'm afraid we're going to ask him to leave." The psychiatrist said to her.

It was an empty threat. I thought that was obvious, but it made Kiara stiffen and pay more attention.

"Ok? Will you nod and shake your head?" The psychiatrist asked her.

Tears started falling from her pretty green eyes and she nodded vigorously, pushing into my chest as if to try and dissolve into me.

"Good girl." He said to her. "Do you know how old you are?"

She nodded her head.

"Do you know how long you were with all those men?" He asked her

She shook her head.

"Are you afraid?"

She nodded her head vigorously, tears leaking from her eyes like her life depended on it.

"Ok. Is there anyone besides Vidal who is allowed to touch you?"

She jumped up in fright and shook her head vigorously.

"Do you remember what they did to you at the facility?"

She nodded her head, her body was trembling harder now with her sobs.

"Do you know why they had you there?"

She nodded her head vigorously, still in a state of absolute panic. She was pressing her body into mine, hoping she could just go through me or something.

"Alright. Were they going to sell you or were you their slave? Put up one finger for selling you and two fingers for the second option." He said to her.

She put up one finger. Her entire body was trembling. I wanted to stop him and calm her down. But he was getting information out of her that I couldn't ever get myself.

"Ok. Do you know what an orphanage is?"

She nodded vigorously.

"Have you ever been in one?"

She nodded her head.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Do you believe me?"

She shook her head like her life depended on it.

"Alright. Do you believe that Vidal won't hurt you?"

She looked up at me and then at the psychiatrist.

"Nod if you aren't sure you trust him yet." The man said.

She nodded.

"Alright. Is there anyone you trust more than Vidal?" He asked her.

She shook her head vigorously.

"Ok. Good girl. It's ok. You're safe now. Those men are gone forever. I'm going to leave now. I'll be back in a few minutes." He said and she nodded her head like her life depended on it.

I rubbed her back, trying my best to make her feel better. It was totally by chance that she ended up trusting me so much.

I reached up and tucked some of those tangled strands of hair behind her ear. She still flinched at the feeling, but she let me do it without protest. She sobbed into my shirt and I wiped her tears away.

"Shh... I've got you. I won't let you get hurt, ok?" I asked her.

She didn't respond, she just shook in my arms.

"Alright. I'm back." The psychiatrist said, walking over to us. He kneeled down in front of me and my Kiwi started clinging to me and clawing at my shirt.

"It's ok. It's ok. Relax. I won't touch. Just let me see you open your mouth." He said to her and her eyes widened in fear. She stuffed her face directly in the centre of my chest and I understood exactly how she read the situation. My blood boiled in anger.

"Oh... I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." The man said, but he had meant it like that, he wrote a note down about her reaction to such a request.

"You don't have to open your mouth. Just don't bite down so hard, it's not good for your pretty teeth." He said to her.

I reached up, and I put my hand on her cheek despite the aggressive flinching. I stroked her cheek gently.

"Stop clenching." I said softly. She did exactly as I said.

"Do you have trouble sleeping?" The psychiatrist asked her.

She nodded softly.

"Put your thumb in your mouth, Little One." He said to her.

She sobbed very hard, but she followed his instructions.

"Suck on your thumb." He told her.

I was beginning to get confused. She looked very humiliated as she followed his instruction.

"It's a relaxing thing for any person to suck on a pacifier or their thumb. It'll help calm her down and help her sleep. Right now she probably prefers being alone or with you. But everyone else is not an option. Either she stays in isolation, which would cause her more mental damage or she stays with you, with a few hours alone every day. She'll need regular visits to a psychiatrist, whether it be me or another one, but once one is chosen it should stay consistent." He began instructing me suddenly.

"I've written up a request for you to be in charge of her care. Unfortunately, with her past and her training... she'll need to live a different kind of lifestyle. If you were to take her in now, it's a permanent kind of commitment. She would be left broken if you ever tried to pass her on to someone else's care. So ultimately it's up to you. Either you leave her now, or you never do." The man told me in a hushed voice as she slowly soothed herself to sleep by sucking her thumb.

"I'm not letting her go." I insisted.

From the second I laid eyes on her, I knew I needed her in my life. I wasn't letting her go. That was for sure.

"Alright, then take this contract. Show it to the police officers at the police station. Do you have a job?" He asked me.

"Yes." I said.

"You may have to take a break from work for her, unless there's an option of her coming with you and staying somewhere near you or alone where no one will bother her." He said.

I nodded.

"Yes. That can be arranged." I said.

He gave me the okay to go. I left with the adorable little thing in my arms. I carried her around to a few places, getting the other signatures I needed and then returning to the hospital for the final signature. She woke up on our way to the police station, but for once she seemed much more calm.

I carried her into the police station and she regressed more and more into me as we went to more crowded areas. We met with the police officer that was handling her case and then they signed off on letting me take her home.

I decided a helicopter ride was not the best thing to put her through right now, so I took her to Dad and Uncle Rico's mansion because my apartment was not fit for human beings to live there at the moment.

I took her to my room and I set her down on the bed. She was still asleep from the car ride. I went down to the kitchen and got her some food. I also got myself some food and ate it while she slept.

She woke up while I was setting my plate down and she sat up, looking around in confusion.

"Hey." I said ever so softly, trying not to startle her.

She looked over at me and she looked around for her bunny. I passed the little stuffed animal to her and she hugged it tightly. I was surprised she hadn't jumped right into my lap again, but I chose not to comment on that.

"Do you want to go get washed up and changed? I'll bring you some clothes." I said softly.

She started shaking, regressing into the blankets.

"Ok. You don't have to. But eat some food." I said to her, offering her the plate of food that she'd need to eat.

She didn't make a move to take it although she really did look hungry.

"How about you try to nod and shake your head for me. I just want to make you comfortable, I can't do that if I don't know what you need from me." I said to her.

She looked up into my eyes, tears falling from hers.

"Is it hard for you to eat?" I asked her.

She nodded.

"But you want to be a good girl, right? You want to be strong and healthy, you don't want to get sick. You need to eat if you want to be all those things." I said to her.

She looked so conflicted.

"It's ok. I'll take the first bite. See?" I said softly, taking a bite of a cheese bite. "Mmm... it's very delicious."

She looked down at another cheese bite and I put it in her hand for her.

"Your turn." I said to her.

She took a tiny bite, barely a nibble. But I smiled at her, hoping some praise would be encouraging.

"Wow. Such a good girl! I'm so proud of you." I said to her. I didn't know if treating her this way would help or make her hate me, but I was willing to try anything.

She brought the cheese bite to her mouth again and nibbled on it again.

"Tastes good, doesn't it?" I asked her.

She nodded very, very softly. If I hadn't been watching intently, I would've missed it.

"Let's try some soup." I said, bringing a spoonful of soup to her mouth.

She accepted it and I praised her again, trying to encourage her to eat as much as I could.

"Good job. See, Kiara, you're such a good girl." I told her.

She smiled, but it was barely visible.

"How about you and I go buy you a pretty dress and some shoes." I said softly, knowing that she probably wasn't going to be happy walking around in the hospital gown or my clothes.

She didn't respond, she just looked down at the soup. I fed her spoonful after spoonful and made sure to fill her up. She ate like a starving little girl and it broke my heart.

"Ok. Let's go shopping, ok?" I asked her.

She was too afraid to say no and if I'm honest, I had to do it whether she was comfortable or not, because I knew when Arabella and Micah arrived, she'd be startled and I couldn't leave her alone to go shopping. In reality I just needed her medication.

"Ok. I just want to tell you the truth. There's some people coming here to stay the night, so I think you probably want to come with me instead of staying here alone and being alone when they come." I said to her.

She crawled into my lap and started nodding vigorously.

"Ok. Let's go." I said, taking her to the closet that had some of my clothes in it.

I put a sweater over the hospital gown she was wearing and then I undid the hospital gown, letting it fall to the floor at her feet. I helped her get her put on a pair of my sweatpants because I was well aware she was naked beneath the hospital gown. The clothes were huge on her, but she was really cute in them.

"Wow. Look at you. So beautiful." I praised her.

I had never been this way with anyone. Somehow she was safe to show my emotions to. Of all the people I met, she was someone I could be open with. She looked so shocked when I told her she was beautiful.

I pet her head, watching her flinch when I first reached out.

"Do you want to walk or for me to carry you?" I asked her.

She took a step closer to me, pretty much confirming that she wanted me to carry her. I picked her up, being very gentle. I wasn't a gentle person, but with her, I could do nothing but be gentle.

"Ok, let's go." I said, taking her down to my car. She wouldn't let me go, but eventually, when I showed her I was coming to sit beside her, she calmed down a little.

When I turned the car on, she got spooked by the sound of the engine and the vibrations that ran through my car.

"It's ok. It won't hurt us. It helps us get places faster." I told her.

She nodded and relaxed in the chair. I get like we were building lots of trust. She didn't object to things as much and she listened to me more often.