Another week has passed like this. The doctor took the IV out this morning and we’re slowly easing her off the sedatives which he prescribed to help her sleep and get the rest she needs to heal. The damage my brother did was more mental than physical. I’m not sure that’s a good or bad thing.

Lois and I have woken her to eat what little she’ll eat. Mostly a few spoonful’s of soup. During the day she sleeps more peacefully than she does at night. We leave the curtains open, let the light in. It seems to calm her. Reassure her.

At night, though, it’s different. Like the darkness settles inside her. I wonder what hell traps her in the dreams that come during the small hours when she lashes out to fight invisible beasts.

During the day I sit in the chair beside the bed and watch over her. I work a little, although I can’t concentrate on anything but her. At every sound, no matter how slight, she draws all my attention.

As dark descends now, I wait for the cycle to begin anew. To watch as she becomes restless, lines etching the smooth skin of her forehead, her hands clenching and unclenching to fight off her demons.

Demons. She has several. Her father the first. I wonder if Santiago is one for the fact that he gave her to me. Cast her out of his home. Out of his life.

And when she came to be in my keeping, I became the third demon to torment her. My own desire became her undoing. My selfish want of her.

And there is now a fourth. My brother.

How safe have I kept her in my home? Not at all. First Miriam. And what did I do but call Mercedes a liar and punish her? Then my brother. And throughout it all, me. From the very beginning, the very first night she arrived. How safe has she been from me?

I go into the bathroom to wash my face. I look a wreck. My cheeks have hollowed out. The skin around my eyes is shadowed. The bruise along my jaw is nearly gone, the cut on my cheekbone that required stitches will leave a mark. Not that I care. Mercedes took the brunt of his rage, although, thankfully, her injuries weren’t as bad as I expected. He could have done worse. He held back. Which is the one thing that may save his life.