Saving Rain

by Kelsey Kingsley

“I thought I had saved you,” I whispered, knowing how stupid and pathetic it sounded now. God, what kind of idiot had I been to believe that I had somehow stopped every bad thing from happening in her life by protecting her once? Thirteen years. Thirteen fucking years had passed since that night, and while maybe my life had been a monotonous cycle of nothing much occurring for nearly ten of those years, hers hadn't. Shit had happened. Lots of it, apparently. And it had been my fault. Would things have been different if I had just stayed out of it? Would I have been able to live with myself if I'd just stood by and let it happen while I ignored her, like every other asshole there that night? “Soldier, no,” Ray said, reaching for my face with her hand, bringing my eyes back to hers. “You did save me. You were there for me that night when nobody else would even look. You were my hero. You showed me there were good guys in this world, and I never ever forgot about that. I never forgot you.” I stared into her eyes, unwilling to understand how this woman could have suffered so much hurt and still look at me with such hope. How was she not broken after all this time? And how could she continue to face that man time and time again? How could she face her son, the product of her continued torment? God, shame on me.