Her Guardian Angel (Fire and Snow) by Khloe Wren Page B

never hurt her, but she doesn't know that. I'll be as quick as I can here; we need to get her to the hospital as soon as possible," she whispered.
    "I'm going to need you to carry her to the car, so we need to tread carefully."
    Dominic gave her a quick nod and he went to stand off to the side out of the child's line of sight. He was so compassionate and considerate of others.
    She looked back down at the child, still a little in shock at the sight of such injuries on such a young girl. Children were precious, a blessing, gifts that should be cherished and protected--not abused to within inches of their lives. The child came awake, instinctively curling herself in a ball and whispering, "It hurts, please no more," over and over.
    Adele's maternal instincts took over, leaving her medical ones in the dust. She lay down beside the child, gently stroking her hair, coaxing her to uncurl. She murmured gently to her, nothing important just soothing words in both English and French, trying to calm the petite fille into relaxing a little. Adele sighed in relief as the child began to slowly uncurl. She heard Dominic exhale in a rush and looked up at him. It looked like her words were soothing him too. His lids were closed and his face was slowly draining of its fury. He opened his eyes, gave her a quick nod then pulled out his phone as he stepped a little further away from them.
    Adele stayed on the ground wrapped around the child, stroking her messy black curls and whispering to her until she had completely uncurled. Raising her head slightly, she found big round grey eyes observing her. Adele's breath froze in her lungs at the depth of the fear, pain and sorrow held in those young grey depths.
    "Can you tell me your name, cherie ? What do you want me to call you?" She kept her voice low, smooth so she didn't startle the child.
    "K--Kel--Kelly," the child stammered.
    "You're not hurting me? Please don't send me back to him." The poor child sounded confused at the concept that she was no longer being hurt. What hell had she escaped from?
    "Oh petit fille , I promise I will never hurt you. My name is Adele. I'm a paramedic. All I will ever do is help you, cherie ."
    ~ * ~
    As relief poured through her body, Kelly started shaking. She was safe. This lady, Adele, would look after her; she could feel it in her soul that she was a protector. Her hell was over. She started to cry at the solace of feeling safe for the first time since...well, since ever.
    "You promise you won't let him near me--please--don't let him hurt me any more," Kelly pleaded again.
    Adele stroked Kelly's hair. "Shhh, cherie, no one is going to hurt you. But we do need to move you. You're hurt and we need to get you to the hospital."
    Kelly panicked.
    "No, he'll find me there, he'll take me back."
    Kelly felt like she jumped a good meter in the air when she heard a low growl. She grabbed onto Adele in fear as she slowly turned her head toward where the sound had come and saw a massive man.
    "Shhh, calm down, it's okay, Kelly. That’s Dominic. He’s a firefighter--the captain, he's a good man, and he won't hurt you. He won't ever hurt you, Kelly. I swear it. He's just a little angry, but not at you, Cherie . He's angry at the one who has hurt you so much. Isn’t that right, Dominic?"
    "That's right, Kelly."
    The man put his hand over his heart.
    "I swear to you I will never hurt you, and I will never allow anyone else to hurt you ever again. Will you let us take you to the hospital? Adele will stay with you. I promise she won't leave you, and I promise I'll stand guard. I'll wait right outside your room and make sure no one gets in there who shouldn't. Does that sound good, Kelly? Will you let us help you and keep you safe?" Dominic's voice was so calm and soothing Kelly knew he too was a protector like Adele.
    Kelly couldn't help but trust him. His ice blue eyes flared with anger, but like Adele said, it wasn't at her. She could see the pain and sorrow for her in