BONNIE
Bonnie felt her body start to move. What was happening? Why was she moving? She slowly cracked her eyes open and looked straight ahead.
“You’re okay,” Daddy whispered. “Everything is going to be okay.”
Everything was going to be okay? She tried to move her neck, but Daddy kept her head down.
“No moving. I don’t know what you’ve hurt,” Daddy said. “Angelo just walked into the house.”
Bonnie whimpered when the pain registered. Tears filled her eyes and the burning sensation increased on her hand.
“What’s wrong?” Daddy asked. “Where does it hurt?”
She slowly started to move her hand to hide it, but Angelo quickly grabbed her arm. She whimpered once again and tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t allow her to.
“Shit. This looks bad,” Angelo gently said. “What did you do to it?”
Bonnie shook her head and tried to pull her arm away. She didn’t want to answer the question.
“What’s wrong?” Daddy asked. “Let me see.”
She looked away as Daddy looked over her hand. She could hear him suck in a breath of air. Bonnie hadn’t seen what the end result was, but she knew it was bad.
“How did this happen?” Daddy asked.
Bonnie didn’t reply. She didn’t want to be scolded and yelled at for burning herself.
“Tell Daddy what happened so we can make it better.”
Tears slid down her face as she looked over at him. She could see how his jaw clenched, but he didn’t say anything. There was no holding back her tears right now.
“You’re okay,” Daddy said as he ran his hand through her hair. “Everything is going to be okay, but Daddy needs to know.”
“Boiling water over my hand,” she sobbed out. “I was trying to make lunch. I didn’t mean to, but it just happened!”
Daddy looked around the kitchen. “Where is the mess?”
Bonnie looked over at Angelo who inspecting her hand. He’d pulled several things out of his bag and placed them on the floor.
“Bonnie,” Daddy said.
“Answer him,” Angelo looked up.
She looked over at Daddy and for some reason she knew he wasn’t going to like her answer. But she’d cleaned it up so she wouldn’t get yelled at.
“I cleaned it up,” she whispered. Daddy took several deep breaths.
She turned her attention to Angelo when he tapped her arm.
“Did you put anything on it?” he asked.
“Cold water for several minutes. But I stopped because I didn’t want to waste the water so I sat on the kitchen floor instead,” Bonnie replied. She didn’t know why she went into detail.
“Before or after you cleaned up?” Daddy asked.
“After.”
“I’m going to put some cream on the burn and lightly bandage it so the air doesn’t hurt it a lot,” Angelo said. “I’m also going to give you some medicine so the pain isn’t as bad.” “Okay,” she whispered.
“You need to be careful for the next couple of weeks. The blisters could get worse before they get better. Don’t do anything too strenuous.”
Bonnie nodded her head and watched as he put cream on his gloved hands. She whimpered as he touched her burn.
“Dat huwts.” She tried to pull her hand back.
“I know it hurts, but I need to do this so it can get better,” Angelo said. “It’ll be over before you know it. And if you’re a good girl, I’ll give you two stickers.”
She perked up at the thought of two stickers.
“Ah, I see that little perk-up,” Angelo said.
“Be a good girl and you’ll get them,” Daddy promised.
She nodded her head and looked away from Angelo. She didn’t want to watch what he was doing. Somehow seeing it made it hurt more.
“You’re such a good girl,” Daddy whispered in her ear. “My good girl.”
Bonnie pushed her face into Daddy’s chest as she felt Angelo start to apply the cream again. She whimpered several times, but she didn’t pull her hand away. She wanted those stickers.
“You’re not cooking anymore,” Daddy said.
She wasn’t going to complain about that. While she liked cooking some things, it wasn’t her favorite and she definitely wasn’t good at it.
“How am I going to eat?” she asked through her clenched jaw.
Bonnie could feel Angelo starting to bandage her hand, and boy did it hurt so bad. The pressure of the tight gauze on top of her burns was a constant burning sensation.
“Once we get the painkillers in you, it should stop hurting so much.
You’ll need to stay on top of taking them,” Angelo instructed.
She nodded her head and looked at Daddy. “How am I going to eat?”
“I’ll have someone bring food over,” Daddy replied. “Every day they’ll bring a full day’s food for you, minimal fixing required on your part. If you think of something you want, you can let me know and I’ll make sure you get it.”
Part of Bonnie was disappointed, but she hoped she didn’t let it show. Someone else was going to drop off the food. He wasn’t. Did Daddy really want her or was he just keeping her here because he couldn’t let her leave?
“All done,” Angelo said, finishing up. “You were such a good girl.”
She looked over at him and watched as he pulled out a handful of stickers.
“I’ve got unicorns, puppies, giraffes, and smiley faces,” he said.
“No Mosasaurus?” she asked with a pout.
“I’m afraid I don’t have any of those, but I will be ordering some when I get home along with some other dinosaurs. I know they aren’t really dinosaurs, but I figured I should get some because they look cool.”
Bonnie smiled. “Okie. Uhhh, giraffe and unicorn, please.” “Here you go,” Angelo said as he handed them to her.
“Thank you.”
Daddy carefully stood up and picked her up. “Let’s go get you comfortable.”
Bonnie didn’t have a good feeling about this. Was he going to leave right after? She had a feeling he was.
Daddy gently placed her on the couch and turned on the TV. “Now, I’m going to be back later.”
Sadness filled her, even though she wasn’t at all surprised. She’d just known he was going to leave her. He didn’t really want her as his Little girl. Daddy just wanted her here so she couldn’t go back to her brother.
Maybe being in an arranged marriage would be better for her than being here and not wanted. At least in an arranged marriage she would have a little more freedom, she thought.
“I don’t want you hurting yourself. No leaving the couch unless you have to pee or get food or drink,” Daddy said. “Do you understand me?”
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Yes, Daddy.”