Her face just wouldn't leave my mind.

I was driving, focused on what I had to do, but those expressive eyes kept popping up in my mind.

What would her voice be like? What would she say first? Would I be the first to hear it?

Highly unlikely. It would probably be Gavin.

But I really wanted to be there when it happened.

... Really.

In the Bronx, where I was born and raised, I met a girl around my 18th birthday. I would meet Gavin just two years later, so I never dreamed my social circle would change so much. She was slender, proud, and very lively. She was friends with almost everyone; her enthusiasm and excitement were her calling card. Until she disappeared for a week.

When she came back, she was terribly bruised and battered. She refused to say what had happened, even to her parents and the police. And when she spoke, she spoke softly and without looking anyone in the eye. Months later, no one could stop her when she jumped from the seventh floor of the building where she lived.

Although she could have said what happened, probably having been subjected to inhumane things, she preferred to take that pain to the grave. I didn't understand why, since I myself had gone through horrible things in childhood and the perpetrators were already in jail. In my youthful naivety, it didn't make sense to protect the criminals.

But she wasn't protecting them.

She was too destroyed to even absorb what had been done.

The girl we saved on the beach seemed to be one of those cases. Maybe even worse, considering that the Bronx girl could still speak.

I feel guilty for questioning Gavin in that way, even provoking a slightly more energetic reaction. But I needed to know if he really understood the gravity of the situation. He was a good man with a big heart, but there are things in this world that cannot be healed with sweet words and daily meals.

It was absolutely necessary for a doctor to intervene, diagnose her, and then start the most effective treatment. Whether this would be under our supervision or not was another question. Because once the girl recovered, or at least gained enough strength and aptitude, she would probably leave and try to rebuild her life.

The sparkle in Gavin's eyes when talking to her was something I had seen before. But it was too early to confirm anything. I would stay silent for now.

Upon arriving home and taking a shower, I imagined what the night would be like there, and where she would sleep.

Thinking of the two of them in the same bed, something strange crossed my stomach, but I dared not acknowledge what it was and diverted my mind to other matters.