Tina was awakened from her slumber by the sound of small moans and whimpers. In her first conscious thought Angelica came to mind although it had been a while since she had awakened in the middle of the night to be comforted back to sleep by Tina. Rising from the bed she grabbed the robe from the chair and slipped it on.

As she exited her bedroom to head down the hall to her baby’s room she realized the direction the sound was coming from was the living room. Flipping on the bathroom light to guide her soundless journey to the sofa she sat on the table and watched Bette’s struggle with her dreams.

Rolling from her side to her back she let out a whimpering keen shortly followed by a muffled… please no more…I won’t forget…I’ll remember.

The words reminded Tina of a pleading child who was hurt to their very core.

Moving her arms in an upward defensive motion as tears slowly moved down her cheeks Bette moaned again. As her arms continued to fight off some unknown advance Tina got a full view of her flat toned stomach as her P.J. top suddenly became midriff.

What Tina’s eyes saw shocked her like nothing else she had ever seen in all her 37 years on this earth. Cut deep into the skin of this once flawless woman was scars. Scars that formed letters, letters that formed the word DYKE!

Tina’s hand covered her mouth to ease her erratic breathing and tears quickly fell from her eyes as her mind worked feverously to form the thought…Oh God! Bette what happened to you?

Quickly collecting her emotions and wiping the tears from her face she knew Bette could not wake herself from this nightmare. Gently placing her hand on her cheek she caressed the damp hair out of her face and begins to speak in a soft calm voice as if she were comforting her child…shhh…shhh…Bette. It’s alright you are safe…I’m here Bette…I’m right here and it’s alright.

Bette began to settle and the restlessness left her body as she let out a sigh of a breath she had been holding in her sleep drifting back into a peaceful rest.