I had missed a week of school. I had been forced to stay home for seven days at the mercy of my family. I hadn't seen the Winters in an entire week.

The day after being beaten for my brother's bruised nose, Momma called Mrs. Winters and my school and said I was terribly sick. She told them I'd be back after I felt better. Of course, if Momma was being honest, she really would have said I couldn't walk because my family beat me and she didn't want people to see how bruised I was.

Maybe I could have been back to school in a couple days had I been left alone. But because I was at home and seemed to be in everybody's way, even in my basement bedroom-a place that on most days nobody ever went-my bruises were refreshed nightly. It was as if each time they saw Gabriel's bruised face, they were reminded that I existed and needed to be sorry for it.

My chores had been tripled as if Momma found anything that could be cleaned and wrote it on my chore chart.

Because the places that I usually got food had been taken away from me, I had to do all of my chores before I could get anything to eat. As such, I only had one small meal a day and was very hungry and extremely weak, making my chores difficult to complete.

Momma kept telling me I would not be going back to school or the Winters' house until I learned my lesson. "We'll continue to beat you and you'll never go back if you can't learn." I wished to tell her truancy was a thing and before long, she'd have to go to court because of my absences. Momma had become very ugly in my opinion. I wished she'd give me to the Winters because I didn't want to love her anymore. I hated that I hadn't had a good memory with her in years.

I'd imagine if I was to be taken away from her, the only thing I'd see when I thought of her was the scrunched up, angry face and her crazy blonde hair. I had given up wishing she would love me and hold me. I, instead, wished the Winters were my home.

I missed Noah and the other Winters immensely. At some point, when the days seem to bleed together, the doorbell rang and Carl opened it to what sounded like Mr. and Mrs. Winters. The sound of their voices made me ache for their attention, for them to know I was hurting and needed their help.

I could only see Carl standing at the door from where I stood. I had been told to go to my room, but I listened from the top of the basement stairs. Mrs. Winters voice was beautiful to hear, laced with kindness and worry. I yearned to see her and wrap my arms around her waist. "We came to check on Eden. She's been sick for a while and we thought we'd bring her some schoolwork and her favorite soup."

Momma had approached and stood beside Carl. Her eyes were bloodshot and her tank top had a large unidentifiable stain on it. She crossed her arms over her chest and sneered. "Eden has pneumonia and is still very sick. We're taking good care of her and already have soup and I don't think she has a need for schoolwork." I felt my stomach growl at the thought of Mrs. Winters' soup. I thought of speaking up and saying I hadn't eaten anything but half of the sandwich Gabriella didn't finish the night before.

Mr. Winters spoke, his thunderous voice filling the room. "Well if I know Eden, I know she'd love to have her school work if only to catch up on the days she's missed. Can we see her?"

"No!" Carl exclaimed, almost panicky.

Momma butted in, trying to keep her wits. "She's terribly contagious and we'd hate for you to have to get sick with all your boys at home. And she's my daughter, I can take care of her and I don't think she'd want to have work to do while she's sick."

For a few moments, I didn't hear anything from the parents I wished to have and the ones I was stuck with. From the silence, I heard a small sigh, "Well, because we got them for her, please give these to Eden just in case. I hope she feels better soon. We miss her." Mrs. Winters voice steadily got louder as she spoke until she almost shouted as if trying to make sure I heard, "We are always at the house if she needs anything."

When Mr. and Mrs. Winters left, Carl and Momma didn't waste any time getting to the basement door. I didn't have time to move away before I was grabbed by my arm and dragged down the stairs.

They yelled at me. They accused me of finding a way to talk to the Winters and they had come to catch them in the act. They kicked my belly, saying I was a failure and needed to give up on ever leaving the house again.

I'll never know for sure if Momma did it on purpose, but before I could dodge it, the entire insulated tub of scalding hot soup was dumped onto me. Steaming broth found its way onto my head, legs, and arms, burning my skin. My scream echoed around the basement and I jumped around the room trying to alleviate the pain.

As if they were shut behind a door, I could vaguely hear Momma and Carl arguing behind the sound of my screams. Carl picked me up and ran me up the stairs and underneath the shower head, but I continued to scream, tears plummeting down my face.

"Eden, stop it! Shut up! Take off your clothes and stay in here. Hurry!" Although all I could think of was finding relief, I hesitated. I didn't want Carl to see my body. I'd noticed the long looks he gave me and he scared me. "Oh fuck, Eden, I won't fucking look, I'm trying to help. Just see if you can get them off. Don't force it, neither."

Once my clothes were off, Carl instructed me to sit on the shower floor, "Don't move."

As I sat under the frigid water, body shaking with unshed tears, I assessed my burns. My arms and legs looked an angry red. I could feel my forehead radiating pain, but knew it wasn't too bad and I had other things to worry about. My main concern was the blister that covered my leg above my knee. It was easily the size of an apple, huge for my tiny leg. It was thick, like a bubble, and wrinkly. My limb was swollen and extremely painful.

Carl returned after about fifteen minutes and dropped a towel beside the shower. "Don't touch it. Don't you dare put any ice on it, do you hear me? Put a dress on and then lay your towel on top of it. Don't fucking touch it." His hands shook and he stuck them in his pockets to hide them.

He picked up my forgotten school work and laid it on my bed. "Stay in bed and relax. Tomorrow you'll be expected to work again, but just sit here and don't touch it for now. Your mother is furious. Don't move from this spot if you don't want to be hurt again. It's up to your mom if you get food."

I was grateful for Carl's help, however little it was. I wondered why he would help me after beating me so bad the week before. I hoped he'd feel guilty. After dressing in my loosest dress in an effort to keep from brushing my burns, I shuffled to the bed and climbed into the pile of t-shirts I used for a blanket. I began to do my homework and tried to ignore the pain radiating above my knee.

❃ ❃ ❃

My pain steadily increased and the burn seemed to spread. It looked like a giant bubble, the skin around it wrinkled and discolored. It had become increasingly harder to concentrate and I fought the urge to scream at the constant pain. I had completed most of my work sent home for me and could no longer use it as a distraction. Momma and Carl returned to the basement, but I could not hide the definite anguish on my face.

"Eden, look at me," Momma's voice was calm. "I didn't mean to drop that soup on you. I mean, really, you were right underneath me, it's your fault. I won't take you to the hospital. You'll tattle."

I shook my head fast, silently begging her to take me anywhere to get some help. I'd even be grateful if she took me to the ice machine at the gas station down the street if only so I could lay my entire body on the cool surface. "I used to be a freaking doctor. I can do this."

She advanced on me and ran her finger along my forehead, a place I was fully aware a small burn nested. Then she assessed my forearm and shoulder burns before landing at the main issue. I could tell that my momma was drunk, her words were slurred and her movements were heavy. She started to poke around the protruding bubble before mashing it with her pointer finger. I jumped back and yelped, my body shaking with pain.

"Well, Carl. I think the soup burned her!" She mused for a few moments before she stood up. "I don't know what to tell you, Eden. Maybe you should stay away from things that can burn you."

Momma walked up the stairs and out of the basement without another look back or any help. I wanted to cry out. I wanted to beg her to take me to the hospital, to give me relief, to get me some help. But I knew that Momma didn't care. In fact, I would bet that she was feeling joy at the sheer amount of pain I was in.

Carl glanced up at the ceiling as if looking for answers. He, too, began to walk up the stairs. I let the tears fall freely, needing to know what I did to make everybody hate me. I was in agony, wouldn't the most indecent person provide some type of assistance? I concluded that after everyone went to bed, I had to find me some medicine and hopefully some help, too.