Chapter 26 - Emma’s Memory
Emma began waking from nightmares.
She remembered the floor.
Trevor’s shouting.
Rebecca falling.
A therapist used dolls and drawings to help her speak.
In one picture, Emma drew Trevor with enormous hands.
She drew Rebecca without a mouth.
“Why doesn’t Mommy have a mouth?” the therapist asked.
Emma answered, “Daddy said no words.”
Rebecca cried after the session.
She had believed staying silent protected Emma.
But children noticed silence too.
At home, Rebecca knelt beside her daughter.
“You are allowed to tell me when you are scared.”
“Will you get hurt?”
“No one is allowed to hurt me.”
“Daddy did.”
“Yes.”
“Will he come back?”
“No.”
The certainty mattered.
Trevor’s sentence meant Emma did not need promises built on hope.
She had facts.
He could not return.
Emma drew another picture the next week.
Rebecca had a mouth.
It was open.
“What is Mommy saying?” the therapist asked.
Emma smiled.
“Open the door.”
Rebecca kept both pictures.
May you like
Not as proof of damage.
As evidence of change.
