Breathe

CRASH

I jolted up in my bed in terror. That was the crashing of a plate, I was positive of it. I glanced at my alarm clock which blinked 2:45. Biting my lip, I debated whether or not I should make my way downstairs to see what was going on. I heard muffled shouting, and then my mother scream. Still, I was hesitant to run to her aid.
It killed me, of course it killed me, to hear my mother in pain. It made tears fall so fast that you'd think I was Niagara Falls. But I knew my dad, and I knew that if I went downstairs, the pain would be worse for not just my mother, but me as well. So I decided to sit upstairs and try to block out the sound.
Crying would only make my father angrier if he heard me, so I sat in my bed, huddled up at the back board, quietly sniveling.
It was hours before things finally settled down in our flat, and even then, I knew I would be getting no sleep whatsoever. My father had probably finally collapsed in a drunken heap, and my mother was probably cleaning herself up.

I tiptoed to the bathroom, making sure to be absolutely silent as I opened and shut the door.
My mom sat on the side of the bathtub, dabbing her face with a wet rag. I bit my lip, sitting down on top of the toilet.

"Mommy, are you okay?" My mom looked up, and I saw the full scale damage. She had the beginnings of a black eye, her lip was busted, and the rest of her face looked swollen. Blood dribbled down her neck and I now saw that her arm was badly bruised. I let out a gasp, wanting to hug her but also knowing that might very well pain her even more. "Mommy." My voice cracked.

I helped my mother fix herself up before we both went to my room. I sat on my bed and she held me in her arms like she had when I was little.

"Oh Aj," She murmured, stroking her fingers through my hair. "Oh baby."

"Mom, let's leave." I whispered, secretly fearing my father would hear.

"I can't baby. I wish I could. But you can. Once you turn eighteen, I need you to leave. I need you to get gone so he can't hurt you anymore. He can't hurt you if you're in you're own home."

"Mommy." I hid my face in the crook of her neck, crying. For her, for myself. I didn't want this to be a thing that was happening to my mom.

"Amelia, listen." She said, pulling away and placing her palms on my face. "We accept the love we think we deserve." I frowned, not understanding where this was coming from.

"I don't--"

"You deserve so much better baby. Go get it."

Five years later

"Can you hurry, maybe, a little bit?!" I screeched, running frantically from the passenger seat of my boyfriends truck. I felt a little bad for yelling at him, but Dustin simply wasn't hurrying fast enough. I'd gotten the call about my mother minutes ago, and we'd only just arrived at the hospital.

"AMY! AJ HOLD ON!" Dustin called behind me, but there was no hope that I was going to be slowing my pace.

"DUSTY COME ON!" I shouted again, making my way through the hospital doors. The cool hospital air hit my face and gave me goosebumps. Luckily this was one of the more high-tech hospitals, and the temperature stabilizer got me to a nice warm temperature in no time. Dustin finally caught up and grabbed hold of my hand. I dragged him to the nurses station, demanding to see my mother. Dustin stayed behind as they led me to her room.

She was on her deathbed, they'd told me so. Even with all the new technology, they still couldn't save her. He'd beaten her too badly, dad. Pushed her down stairs, stabbed her, done awful things. Tears surfaced as I sat next to her, grasping her clammy hand.

"Mommy." I whimpered, just as I had many times before.

"Aj, baby." She replied, forcing a smile. "This is it. We're here."

"Don't you dare mom. You're too young. I still need you." I snapped in a stern tone. At only twenty-one, I still very much needed my mother's guidance and support.

"Amelia, I can't change what's happening right now. Just promise me you'll be good? And don't you ever stay with someone who doesn't value you as much as I do." I let out a huge breath of air, trying to hold off the tears.

"Mommy, please don't."

"Aj, this is goodbye. Just let it happen. This is it." My mother pulled my hand to her lips, kissing the tan skin. I leaned over, hugging and kissing my mother.

"Goodbye angel. I love you."

"Bye mommy. I love you."

"Goodbye," she breathed once more, before her heart rate started dropping.

"Mom come back! Please come back! Please mommy I need you! MOM! PLEASE! NURSE HELP!" I screamed, jumping up from her bedside. She COULDN'T die. I couldn't let her. On my wrist was the last thing she ever got me. A time vortex manipulator. Instantly, the idea came and went. I knew what I was going to do. I leapt to my feet, facing the door. The clock on the wall told me it was 2:45 am. I furrowed my brow and waited for scores of nurses to rush in, but they never did.

Instead, the doctor walked into the room. Alone.

"I'm sorry, Miss..."

I took a deep breath, placing the exact time I wanted to be into my VM.

"My name," I started, looking up. Dusty was starting to make his careful entrance on this tricky situation. "Is Amelia Joy Selendor." I raised my hand up and made eye contact with Dustin. It was in that moment that I realized he knew what I was about to do.

"AMY! NO!" He shouted.

"AND I AM NOT LETTING MY MOTHER DIE!" I screamed with equal volume, slamming my hand onto the VM.

And just like that I was reborn.

As Amelia Joy

Cornish.