"I'm sure that's not true," I murmured, raising my hand to stroke the skin under her eye as I willed her to give me her stare. I'd rather she rage against me for forcing the truth from her than this desolate inversion of herself. "You were just a child. Whatever happened can't change that."
"She never would have been in that river if it hadn't been for me," she whispered, her eyes finally meeting mine as she subtly shook her head.
"Tell me," I prodded, hoping that the answers would come easier now that her guilt was out there for me to see. With me already knowing the worst of it, hopefully the pieces could come together.
"There was a man," she whispered, a sob catching in her throat. "Mom was talking to a friend we bumped into on our walk, and he came up to us while we were playing. He said—" She paused, sniffling and turning her head away from mine. I forced her eyes back to mine with a stern grip on her chin, holding her steady as she drew in a deep breath. "He said there were kittens stuck in the bushes next to the water. He asked if we would help him get them out safely because there were too many for him. Odina didn't want to go. She begged me and said there was something scary about him."
"But you went with him anyway," I said, realization dawning.
She nodded. "He said that I had kind eyes, and that he knew I would help when he saw me. Odina followed us because she didn't want to leave me alone. We bent into the bushes and looked for the kittens, but we couldn't find them. When I crawled out to tell him, he grabbed my jacket with both hands."
"And he threw you in the river," I finished for her, watching as she nodded slowly. "Did he say why?"
"Not to me," Isa said. "Odina said that she screamed when she saw him throw me, and he mumbled something about the bitch not deserving two daughters before he threw her in after me."
"Does your mother have any enemies who would want to hurt you?" I asked, furrowing my brow as she shook her head. "That's why Odina hates you? Because you made a mistake as a child?"
"Partially," Isa admitted. She bit her bottom lip, closing her eyes before she continued on. "We were both in the water by the time Mom realized we weren't where she'd left us. It all happened so quickly. The current pulled me into the barbed wire," she said, her hand drifting down to absently brush against the scar on her thigh. "But it kept pulling Odina down river. We were too far apart, and she knew she wouldn't be able to get to us both in time." Isa swallowed back tears, exhaling as her eyes opened. "She had to make an impossible choice. She could only save one of us, because there just wasn't enough time."
I stared at Isa as my lips pursed together. I couldn't begin to imagine the pain of choosing which child would live and which would die. "She chose me," Isa whispered, her voice cracking with the words. "I lost consciousness before she pulled me out, but Odina said she remembers watching our mother swim for me. She remembers that moment where her own mother left her to drown, and it haunts her, Rafael."
"How did she survive?" I asked, moving to sit in the chair and drawing her into my lap. I knew she needed my assurance in the wake of her confession, but I needed all the answers first. I needed to understand.
"She stopped fighting the current apparently. She just gave up. A man pulled her out a couple of minutes after me, but she was already gone. They brought her back, but the sister I knew died that day. My parents already lost one daughter because of my bad choices, and now they've lost me too. That is why I had to go home even though I fell in love with you," she whispered, looking up at me as she said the words for the first time. "I owe them that to make up for what I did."
She curled into me, seeking the reassurance that I would still love her despite what must have felt like a horrible revelation to her. She couldn't see that she'd only been a child. That the only person who was responsible for what had happened was the man who threw her into the river in the first place.
"Did you tell the police about the man?" I asked, needing the verbal confirmation.
"Of course. If you've seen the police report, then you must have already known this," she mumbled.
"There's no mention of any of this on the report, mi reina. According to that report, you and Odina simply fell into the river when your mother wasn't looking. The man never existed," I said, cupping her face in my hand as she stared down at me, dumbfounded.
"But I told the officer about him. I don't understand."
"It would seem that the man who threw you into the river had friends in high places. I'll find him now that I know the truth. I promise he'll suffer for what he's done," I told her, leaning forward to touch my lips to hers.
She returned my kiss, sinking further into my embrace as a bittersweet smile took over. "Because that's your job as my husband?"
"Exactly," I murmured against her mouth. Soothing the wounds of her confession and the pain that came along with it.
I'd spend the rest of the day reassuring her
