Chapter 14: Embrace

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Ravi carried me into the villa. Maria cried out when she saw my face, then immediately went to find the first aid kit.

Ravi carried me into my room and gently laid me on the bed. He took off the jacket that was draped over me and saw my torn clothes. There were quite a few bleeding scratches on my exposed skin.

It was late autumn and the sky had darkened. I could see my face reflected in the glass. My hair was disheveled, and I could still vaguely feel the pain of my hair being yanked. My T-shirt was torn, and one of my sleeves was torn off to reveal my shoulders. The collar of my shirt was torn, and one of the buttons was down to my chest, revealing half of my underwear. There was also a burning palm print on my face. This was what I looked like.

I finally understood that men hit women to vent their frustration, while women hit women to humiliate them. I had been beaten countless times, but this was the first time I had been humiliated like this. Not wanting to move, I sat there in a daze.

Ravi carefully helped me take off my torn T-shirt and used a cotton swab to disinfect and apply medicine to me. The back of my neck, my shoulder, my arm, and my hand—almost all of my exposed skin—were scratched. As Ravi applied medicine to me, he blew on the wound gently, as if he were tending to an injured puppy. Maria brought over an ice pack and gently pressed it to my face to help me relieve the swelling. After applying the medicine, Ravi nodded to Maria to let her out, then took the ice pack and placed it on the bedside table.

He touched my beaten left cheek gently with his fingers and looked at me carefully.

“Where else does it hurt?” His voice was gentle.

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to say anything. I just sat there in a daze while staring out the window.

Ravi placed his hand on the zipper of my jeans and carefully pulled it open. “I need to check the wound on your leg,” he explained to me softly. I knew he had no other intentions. What could he possibly want in the face of a girl who was covered in wounds and dirt? I cooperated and took off the top part of my pants. Then, he lifted my legs and molted my pants.

“Does it hurt here? What about here?” He pressed my right leg inch by inch. “The skin will show bruises in a day or two,” he said as he checked.

Almost every inch of my legs hurted. Ravi had applied medicine on my legs. I remembered that back when I was squatting on the ground while hugging my head, the girls had been kicking me hard with their feet.

I sat on the edge of the bed in my underwear and with painful wounds all over me. Ravi stood up and turned to go to my walk-in closet. I guessed he wanted to find some clothes for me to wear. I got up and went to my desk. I found a pair of scissors in the drawer.

When Ravi saw me with the scissors, he walked over nervously and snatched it away.

“What are you doing?” He tried hard to keep his voice down.

“It’s not what you think.” My eyes were emotionless as I held out my hand and waited for him to return the scissors to me.

He placed the scissors in my hand hesitantly. I brought the scissors into the bathroom and cut off the tangled hair one by one.

Ravi walked up behind me and put my pajamas on for me from behind. His arm went around my waist and he fastened my belt. He looked at me in the mirror and reached out to touch my hair, which was of different lengths. He hugged me gently from behind and met my eyes in the mirror.

“I swear they’ll pay for it.”

This was the first time I’d heard something like that. I’d been beaten and scolded by Raul at home countless times in the past. No one had ever helped me out, let alone avenged me.

Two tears rolled down my cheeks, then I started bawling. The tears landed on the front of my pajamas, then turned into dots that soaked my clothes.

Ravi stood to my left and turned me around to face him. He placed his hands on my tear-stained face and kissed my wet eyes gently. I looked up at Ravi with tears in my eyes. His eyes were shining. He pulled me into his arms and let my tears wet his shirt. His embrace was broad and warm. His arms were wrapped around my back while he patted my shoulder gently, as if he was coaxing a crying baby.

Ravi picked me up horizontally and walked out of the bathroom to the bed. He placed me on the bed gently and covered me with the blanket. He sat on the edge of the bed and ran his fingers through my hair while his eyes were filled with pity. He pressed his lips to my forehead and whispered “good night” before turning off the light. He didn’t leave. Instead, he held my hand and continued to sit on the edge of the bed..