John leaned forward in his chair, and placed his elbows on the table. "What sacrifice would that be, and why does Madison call her Angel?"
Rachel looked over at the man that had stood by and watched his wife push their daughters away and did nothing, surprised to hear him speak up. "Alex is an extremely private person, and she sacrificed a lot of that today by opening her house to you, and by sharing her story in order to give us an opportunity to become a family."
Dani squeezed Rachel's hand and looked up at her parents. "Madison calls her Angel because Alex is her guardian angel. The biggest sacrifice she's made for us was her life." A tear slowly slid down her cheek, and she ignored it as she continued the story. "She sacrificed her own life to save Madison's. In the process she was hit by a car and nearly died."
Nikki shook her head and said, "She did die, twice. I was the lead in the ER that day and she ended up on my table. When I found out it was my niece that she'd saved from being struck by the car, I fought even harder to keep her with us. It's because of her that you have an opportunity to get to know your granddaughter. You should thank her." She pushed her chair back and stood. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go see if she is okay. It looked like her injuries are really bothering her."
Rachel stood, stopping her. "I'll go. You stay here and work through this." She left without waiting for a response, walking through the kitchen and into the living room only to find it empty. She ventured upstairs and paused on the landing, listening. She heard Alex's voice coming from the left, and headed in that direction. She poked her head around the door and found her propped up on the bed, with a dozing Madison beside her, as she read a story. She leaned against the doorframe and waited for Madison to completely give in and fall asleep. Once she was sure her daughter was asleep, she walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. "I'm proud of you. I know that took a lot." Alex shrugged and set the book down, rubbing her aching thigh. "Have you taken anything for the pain yet?"
"Nothing works."
"Have you considered taking the prescription meds again, just maybe in a smaller dose?" Rachel asked. "I could cut one of the pills for you."
"That might be a good idea. I'm not sure how much more I can take without turning into the queen bitch, or going out of my mind. The bottle is still in my purse." Rachel found the bottle, shook out one tablet, and deftly snapped it in half. Alex took the medication, and settled down beside Madison. "Will you stay with me for a while?"
"Of course." She sat on the foot of the bed. "I noticed Nikki wasn't surprised by your bombshell earlier. I take it you told her?"
"Yes. I needed to know that she knew and didn't mind."
The corner of Rachel's mouth lifted slightly. "Were you afraid she would run screaming?"
"People did when I was a kid. Once I changed my name, they didn't know unless I told them, and you're the first person I've ever told."
Rachel watched as Alex began to relax, her mind occupied with something other than the pain her body was feeling. "Well, you've now told five people, and none of them ran screaming. Have you ever considered writing your memoir? I think you could help people with your story, Alex."
She looked at Rachel, her eyelids beginning to droop as the medication began to work. "No, do you really think it would help someone?"
"I do. You've already helped the four people downstairs begin to work through their petty differences to become a family again. Think about the vast number of young girls that are suffering through normal teenage difficulties, much less physical abuse. You could give them hope, and a reason to keep struggling through it another day." She watched as Alex's eyes began to drift shut and continued to provide her reasons to write, in a soothing voice, until she knew she'd fallen asleep. She watched as her daughter rolled over and snuggled into Alex, who threw a protective arm around her. She carefully climbed off the bed and quietly left the room.
Nikki looked up at Rachel as she walked out of the house to join them. "How's she doing?"
"They're both taking a nap. I would recommend keeping a close eye on her for a while though. She's in a good deal of pain, so much in fact that it didn't take much for me to convince her to take a half of a pain pill." She pulled out the chair next to Dani and sat down, reaching for her wife's hand.
Alex opened her eyes and looked up into the smiling face of Madison. "Wake up, Angel. I want to hear the rest of the story." She tried to clear the fog from her brain as she warily sat up expecting pain, and realized the throbbing in her leg had diminished considerably.
"How about we go read downstairs?" She smiled when Madison quickly climbed down, clutching the book to her chest. Together they walked down the stairs and into the living room, where she settled into the recliner with Madison on her lap, and began reading the book. When the story was finished, she looked down at her and said, "How about we go get the dessert, and take it outside?"
"Okay." Madison scrambled from her lap and waited for Alex to get up.
Alex took her hand and led her
