He brings her over to me and it didn't even look like she was affected by the smoke.
"Mama." She says in disbelief when she realises it's me and begins to cry.
Jax had taken his suit jacket off and wrapped it around her at some point but she was freezing. Underneath his jacket, she was wearing nothing. But I wasnt about to take this moment for granted. She molds into my arms just the way she used to.
Her head instantly went into the crook of my neck and the first thing she went for was my hair.
"Thank you." I mouth to Jax and he nods and smiles.
"How is she?" Carter asks rushing over to me but Alannah flinches.
"She's going to be fine." I say and he nods.
Once everyone made it out safety we got back in the cars.
Matteo was driving the car me and Amara used earlier. Amara and Gio were also in that car. Carter and our dads were in another car then Jax is in here with us.
Alannah hasn't even moved from the position that she first got in when I took her from Jax. Now I can feel how wet my top is.
I pull back and get Alannah to look at me. She had cuts and bruises all over her face, I couldn't even imagine the pain she could be in right now. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot red and I just sighed.
"You're safe I promise no one is ever going to hurt you again." I say and wipe away one of her tears.
"Are we going home?" She asks and I nod. She puts her head back on my chest and that's where she leaves it.
We get on the plane and I take a seat with Jax next to me.
A good twenty minutes into the flight I look at Alannah again.
"Look, Jax is here. He came for your birthday." I say and she looks up to him and he smiles at her.
"Hey narna." He says and her eyes gloss over.
She leaves my arms to go and hug him. I watch them smiling softly.
Alannah comes back into my arms where I stroke her hair out her face whilst she plays with Jax's hand.
"Haverá um médico esperando para vê-la quando ela chegar em casa." dad whispers coming by my side. (there will be a doctor waiting to see her when she gets home )
"Thank you." I say and he smiles and strokes her hair but it makes her flinch.
"Tired." Alannah says and I nod.
"Go to sleep bub, I'm not going to leave your side." I say and she nods. "I love you." I say kissing her forehead.
"How are you feeling?" Jax asks.
"I should be asking you, you look worse than the others but you got out of there before them." I say and he smiles.
"She needed you." He says and I smile and thank him again.
"How do you feel, your cuts look like they hurt." He says and I shake my head for no.
"They don't I promise." I say and he nods.
"How is she?" Gio whispers as he comes to Jax's side.
"She's hurting but I'll get her help." I say then Jax holds one of my hands.
"We'll get her help." He says and I smile. We.
"Jax, I'm scared for her. I can't watch her go through all this." I say and he nods.
"We'll do it together I promise. I'll help anyway I can. No one is going through this alone." He says and I smile.
"Thank you for bringing her back to me and with protecting her with your life, literally." I say and he squeezes my hand.
"We're family now, we look out for each other. Always." He says and I smile.
"How's your mom and dad? Do they know what going?" I ask and he sighs.
"They knew I was coming to Brazil and something happened therefore I can't go back. I'm supposed to go back to Italy soon so I'll tell them then." He says and I nod.
"I'm thankful for you being by my side Jax." I say and he nods.
"Now that you have someone to help you bring up Alannah, not that you needed it because you really don't you're doing an amazing job on your own, but she'll be an even more wonderful child." He says making me smile.
Alannah didn't wake up at all for the rest of the plane journey or the car journey home.
When we got home it was extremely late it was about 1am. "Come with me." Dad says and I follow him as I carry Alannah to the living room.
I gently place her down on the sofa and let her doctor examine her. He cleans the cuts on her face and touches her arm which makes her jolt up and start crying.
I quickly pick her up to calm her down whilst hugging her.
"I'm right here. The doctor just wants to make sure you're okay." I say stroking her hair and rubbing her back.
Alannah fell back to sleep in my arms but the doctor didn't even think about touching her, just look.
"She should be okay, there is clearly a lot of bruising. Nothing seems to be broken currently but she should be fine. She's undernourished so make sure she eats properly, if you get any concerns call me." The doctor says to my dad in Portuguese.
"I'm gonna take her to bed." I say and he nods. I head upstairs and lie her down on my bed gently. I get some pyjamas out for the both of us.
I come back into the room to see Alannah waking up.
"Can I have a bath?" She asks and I nod. "Of course you can, bubbles?" I say and she smiles softly as if she still was hurting.
I carry her into the bathroom on my hip and rest her on the toilet whilst I run a bath.
Once her bath was ready I take off Jax's suit jacket he wrapped around her when he found her. I then gently place her in the bath and whilst she just sits there in silence, which breaks my heart.
She's just turned four, no one should have gone through what shes gone through already. She was a happy girl with a bright and bubbly personality and now she's hardly talking. The same thing happened the night I caught my mom hurting her. She hardly spoke to me or anyone else.
I finished washing her hair and cleaning her up so I dried her and got her dressed into pyjamas. I take her back into my room where I sit her inbetween my legs and braid her hair. I then blow dry the roots of her hair.
I quickly got changed into my pyjamas and we then washed brushed our teeth together. I then proceeded to take my makeup off and wash my face.
I take her into my room and turn some fairy lights on then turn the light off. I get into bed beside her and she lies across me with her head in my chest and fingers in my hair.
I missed having her in my arms.
You never realise what you take for granted till it gets taken away from you.
Alannah and I didn't spend as much time cuddling just before that night and I regret it all. We've always cuddled with each other always and I just didn't realised how important and part of my routine it was till it got taken away.
It was about 4am when Alannah woke up crying. She wouldn't calm down in bed so therefore I got out of bed and walked around the room with her just calming her down.
"Are you hungry?" I ask and she shakes her head for no.
"What about thirsty?" I ask and she still shakes her head for no.
Once she calmed down we got back into bed. She had her head on my chest whilst I stroked her back.
"What happened to you bub?'' I ask when she calms down.
"They hurt me, I never ate and it was cold." She says and I nod.
"I'm here for you, always. You tell me whenever you remember what happens. I believe you and I'm on your side." I encourage and she nods.
"In the morning, we're going to have pancakes and we're gonna do what ever you wanna do." I say and she nods whilst smiling.
"I love you mama." She says softly and her eyes flutter shut.
"I'll never let you go again I promise and I love you so much." I say kissing the bridge of her nose which makes her smile again.
She fell asleep on my chest, but I didn't fall asleep. It was like before when I was worried about her so didn't sleep except its ten times worse.