Then next morning I awoke. Olive was still asleep in my arms. I shifted slowly as to not wake her up. I had slept in my clothes, from the previous day. Looking down on myself I realised that my shirt had dried blood on it. I silently panicked for a moment, thinking the blood was mine. Then I remembered yesterday's events. The blood must have come from one of the kidnappers. I looked disgusting. I was wearing dirty blood covered clothes, had bed head, and was in desperate need of a shower. I walked down the stairs, and turned to see Ed sipping his morning coffee. He looked at me and frowned. "So you seem a bit..." he cleared his throat, "disgruntled this morning, and I don't suppose you have had time to buy yourself new clothes." I looked at him and rubbed my arm nervously, "I know you told me to buy clothes for myself to look more professional, but in the last few days I have been a tad bit busy. I moved out from an orphanage, moved into a sad apartment with my brother, became a nanny to what seemed to be a bratty child, melted the child's heart with my styling skills, got a second job as a childrens stylist, spent a whole day trying to find my brother a job, saved my favorite kid, got arrested, was on the news, then I moved again this time into a mansion. and..." Ed started laughing. "Miss Foster I understand. I am not going to scold you like some toddler. If you and Robert will be living in my home though, you both have to look like you belong here. So take a long shower, and I will go get your things from your apartment. When you are done; change into the clothes I retrieve. Olive will be staying with us today. Yesterday was rather traumatic if you recall. Robert has already left for work. When you are done preparing yourself and Olive, we can go shopping." I began to smile, but suddenly I felt dizzy. Ed looked at me with obvious worry in his eyes. "Miss Foster are you alright?" he said with panic in his voice. I tried to say something, but before I could everything went black.
I woke up hours later in a hospital bed. "What happened?" I asked I began to sit up, but Ed put his hands on my shoulder and told me not to get up. "Miss Foster, do you remember what happened?" I responded "Yeah we were going to go shopping and I passed out." Ed closed his eyes and pinched the gap between his eyebrows. "The doctors said that you have a concussion. Probably from headbutting the kidnapper yesterday. I am so sorry I didn't notice sooner. All that I thought about was Olive's well being. You could have died in your sleep." I propped myself up. "A concussion, that's all? Well I know how to deal with those. I have had several concussions throughout my life. This is probably the second worst though." Ed looked up at me shocked "What do you mean JUST a concussion, why are you used to this?" he asked frantically. I tried comforting him, despite the fact I was the one in the hospital gown. "Ed, I haven't really had the easiest life. I was dumped in the trash as a baby, and growing up...well children can be cruel. Being all white, makes you an easy target. I have had more rocks to the head than most. No one really cared how I turned out, so I always treated myself. If there wasn't any blood the caretakers, didn't want to touch me. I didn't befriend Robert until I was eleven. Once we were close he helped some, but he isn't exactly skilled at practicing medicine. It's all okay now. I can handle myself. I have been told that I could be blue, red, or gold. I have grown up, I am not the weak bullied white freak I used to be. Yes I am still a white freak, but that doesn't matter to me. My life has gotten so much better since I met you and Olive. So this concussion is just a minor setback. They will send me home, and give you a paper with some questions to ask me daily until I am better." Ed was crying, "What did I say? Are you okay?" I asked frantically. Ed looked at me and began to speak, "You have been through so much, and I have been cold to you this whole time. Even threatening to send you back to the orphanage. I adopted you, and have forced the responsibility of becoming my daughter's nanny on you. I still know almost nothing about you, or your brother." I rubbed his head, comforting him the best way I knew how. "What are you doing?" Ed asked. I smiled "This is how Robert and I always try and cheer eachother up. You lost your wife, and the mother of your child. It has only been a year, I for one am impressed that you aren't more reclusive and protective of Olive than you already are, or possibly holed up somewhere all day drinking. I might have had a rough life, but yours isn't all sunshine and rainbows either. Nobody has a perfect life, but these battle scars of ours, they make us who we are. I lifted up the hair on the back of my head showing Ed my hairline. There was a huge scar on the bottom of my scalp." See this, this was the result of a bully throwing an old tire rim at me from behind. I had to get ten stitches, but then I was left to treat my wound on my own. This was my worst concussion. I was eleven when this happened. It was before I befriended Robert. Most of the caretakers at the orphanage were scared of me, so no one wanted to touch me. Two days after this happened, I was going to kill myself. I was ready to slit my wrists, then light shown through the glass I was holding and cast a rainbow on my arm. I knew I couldn't give up after that. I was going to get colors no matter how hard it was or how long it took." I gave him a comforting smile, "Now if I hadn't gotten this hurt, or been that miserable, I wouldn't be where I am or who I am today. That is a literal scar that can tell my story. Not every scar can be seen so clearly sometimes it can only be seen for a moment in someone's eyes, sometimes it is a habit that they picked up. With you, your biggest scar is shown by how protective you are of your daughter. You can't lose her, and you will make sure no harm ever comes to her. All because you both lost someone so dear." I gave him a tight hug and I could feel the tears fall from his face onto my shoulder. I kept hugging him until the doctor came in. The doctor did his thing, read my chart, gave Ed and I instructions, gave me back my clothes, and gave a release paper to Ed. I changed my clothes and was put into a wheelchair to leave the hospital. I stood up at the door, and Ed and I got into his car.
Ed sat in the driver's seat not moving and turned to me and spoke. You might be all white, but obviously you were meant to be pink. No one has ever spoken to me like you spoke to me earlier. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my heart. Right now I just want to hug my daughter. I want her to know how much I love her. Can you tell her your story someday?" he said. I couldn't quite read his face, which was rare for me. Was it sorrow or relief, maybe it was love, or maybe it was grief. "Trust me Ed, I will do everything in my power to make your daughter a happy, well rounded person. Someday I can tell her the scary parts of my story, she will appreciate you all the more after that." He smiled with his unreadable face, then started the car. As we drove off he wiped a remaining tear from his cheek. "Do you know how I know you are pink?" I looked at him curiously. He continued "It's because I haven't cried since the day my wife died. Yet now I feel more relieved and at peace than I have been in over a year. All because I sat and talked with you." That was his face... it was all of his emotions trying to find their right place. "Is being pink really that hard? It seemed rather simple to me. Though you seem to think I just moved mountains." He smiled again, "Miss Foster, I have been secretly going to therapy for a whole year, one day in a hospital room with you and I know I will never need to go back. Your words resonate, they gave me peace, it felt good to be understood by someone, even though our situations are completely different. You knew to give me a hug when I needed it, you even tried to comfort me by rubbing my head. Today isn't the only time I have noticed your kindness. Yesterday at the police station, before you did anything, you made sure Olive was alright, you ignored your own pain to make sure my little girl was safe. You even slept in the same bed as her last night. You said today that you spent your entire day yesterday helping your brother find a job, you could've gone shopping and done things for yourself while you weren't working, but instead you helped him. Robert told me this morning that you used to go above and beyond for the little orphan children." I was looking down at my lap, and twiddling my thumbs. "I know it seems like I do these things from the heart, but to be honest...I do these things to increase my chances of becoming pink." I sighed. I had never thought about what it meant to truly be pink. I looked up at Ed and he was smiling. Was he happy that it was just business? "You know" Ed began to say "I have a few questions for you. When you were raising those orphans, who told you how much to do?" I responded "Well the caretakers told me what to do, but it wasn't adequate." Ed nodded "I see. And when you saved my daughter, and even made sure she was okay at the police station, and slept next to her last night; did you think about how pink you could become by doing those things?" Ed asked. "No, but anyone would have done the same." I said. Ed said once again "Hmm, I don't think so. I have one more question. When you helped your brother find a job, did you intend on becoming pink to do that?" I jumped on that question, "Ah yes I did do that for pink points!" I said. "Oh I see I see, so when Robert asked you for help, you jumped on the opportunity." Ed asked sneakily. I looked down at my lap again, embarrassed by his little trap. "Well no, that was my idea." I said. "See," said Ed, "pink through and through. You might think that you were only trying to earn pink points, but you were thoughtful and kind enough to do all of those things without anyone asking, or anyone giving you ideas." I looked at Ed for a moment. He was looking ahead driving, I wasn't sure if he could feel my gaze or not, but he smiled.
Was I really acting on impulse. For all of these years I thought that I was trying to accomplish something, but looking back; I only counted my pink points after doing something absentmindedly. I didn't plan on practicing being pink, other than when working with the toddlers. Apparently though, even then I did more than I had to. All of those years I called the caretakers lazy, but was I just overachieving? Even befriending Robert, was me being kind to my tormentor. Yet, I never once thought of that situation as getting pink points. Was it because I was the one who was grateful for a friend? As if reading my mind Ed spoke up again. "It isn't just things you do, you don't seem to take blessings as accomplishments or pink points, you don't seem to take them for granted. Do you think Olive considers the other person's feelings when she is given a gift? I love her, but she isn't considerate for her blessings. Whereas you continue to show your thanks even after others have forgotten about it. The police and news may say you are red or gold, and Sin might say you are blue, but I know you are pink for sure." Tears started to well up in my eyes he was sincere. He looked back to me and laughed "See you are taking a compliment straight to the heart, you really are pink." We pulled into the driveway of the house. Olive came running out of the house and hugged me tightly I hugged her back. She was crying "I..I..I thought you were dead! Daddy made me stay with the neighbor lady. I couldn't see...see...see you." She sobbed and shoved her face into my shirt. I rubbed the top of her head "Shhhhh it's okay, I am fine. I just had a bit of a bump on my head." Ed was looking down at me. "Now who told you to rub her head, or are you going for pink points?" he jested. I smiled at him and continued consoling Olive. Robert walked through the driveway and saw the scene. "Rice ball, what is going on?" Asked Robert as he continued walking towards us. "Just another concussion." I said nonchalantly. "Oh that's it?" Robert asked. Ed and the neighbor lady looked at us shocked. They couldn't believe how we spoke about having a concussion without any worry. "How many is that now? Ten?" Robert asked. "No, I think it is twelve." I responded. "You should get a punch card. I am sure you are due for a free icecream or something." We both laughed. Ed cut in "You realize this is serious, she fainted what if she had brain damage?" Ed spoke like he was trying to make us take this seriously. "Ed my friend" Robert put his hand on Ed's shoulder "If you saw how smacked around she got as a kid, and had known that she has had a dozen concussions, you would know that she is indestructible. Anyone else wouldn't even be able to read anymore with that many brain injuries, given during the developmental years. Yet this one is stronger and smarter than anyone. I would take more than a concussion to keep this one down." Ed still looked shocked. "You had more injuries than just concussions as a child?!?" Ed exclaimed. I glared at Robert, then looked back to Ed, "Like I said before, I have had a hard life, no use dwelling in the past." I said and shrugged my shoulders. "Olive sweety, us grown ups need to talk about some grown up things. Go calm down in the house. We can make cupcakes in a little while. Olive squeezed me tighter for a second than ran into the house. I looked at the neighbor lady who was obviously exhausted from taking care of Olive for only a few hours. I tried not to laugh, knowing Olive didn't like strangers. Olive was also scared, that had to of made things harder for the poor woman. "Mam" I said to her, "Thank you for taking responsibility of Olive in my stead. Ed will pay you for your time soon, we have some...um, family matters to discuss at the moment." She nodded and walked away without saying anything. I turned to Ed to begin explaining my many injuries over my childhood. He was obviously shocked and furious. "Robert go inside and bake some cupcakes with Olive, I am taking your sister back to the doctor for a well needed physical." He demanded. He took his phone out and called the private family physician with one hand, the other he grabbed my wrist and dragged me back to the car. We drove most of the way in near silence. We were nearly to the hospital before he spoke, "Why did you never call the authorities, or at least an ambulance? Why didn't your caretakers take care?" There was obvious anger in his voice. This man went from not even knowing the name of his adopted nanny, to being furious that someone had ever laid a hand on her in a matter of days. I knew I couldn't calm him down with answers right now, in fact they would probably make it worse. It was time to use the blue that Sin said I had and the pink that Ed said I had. "Ed, remember what I said about scars at the hospital before. I just have a lot of them for someone my age, that's all; and thanks to you and Robert, it doesn't look like I will be getting anymore anytime soon. Those scars are making me stronger. You saw the video of me on the news, you know I can handle myself now. I am not weak anymore." I said calmly. "Tell that to the doctor who treated you for your concussion." Ed said, obviously still mad at the world. "Yeah well this concussion is self inflicted, it doesnt count. When we get to the doctor stay calm at least. Can you promise me at least that?" I asked him. "Fine." He huffed. Somehow I didn't believe him. After we got to the doctor Ed had to fill out a lot of paperwork, then the doctor brought me back to the exam room. I left Ed waiting in the waiting area. "Okay Doc, listen. You are going to see a lot of bad stuff when you do X-rays. I want you to know, Ed had nothing to do with any of it. He has only been my guardian for a few days. If you watched the news yesterday you will see my current concussion was because I headbutted a criminal." I explained. The doctor looked intrigued. "Why do you think I would suspect Ed of doing anything to you?" He asked. "Look at me. I am fifteen, I am entirely white I graduated high school at thirteen, and all I want to do is prove myself to others. I am not exactly normal. So I have read more medical forums and child care protocol instructions than most doctors. I know when a Doctor sees history of past untreated and unreported trauma, you immediately assume the parents are abusive. This is not the case. Ed found out about my...um physically complicated childhood... and was angry at the world upon learning about it. He was fuming in the car and had no one to blame." I explained." Ed was right you really are pink. You know you keep calling him gaurdian, but when Ed was talking about you he called you his daughter." He smiled at me. The doctor didn't need to know that I was his conditional dependent, and not a sweet adopted daughter.
After running a lot of tests. Ed and the doctor came into the examination room where I was already sitting. The doctor was holding a few X-ray sheets and several pieces of paper. He put the X-ray sheets up to a light and pointed out the six ribs that I had broken over the years that had all healed. Then two X-ray sheets, one of each arm. Which showed several remodeled hairline fractures on the radius of both my arms, and several broken carpals in my left hand, all of which remodeled crooked. He continued to point out other broken and hurt areas that had obviously healed over time with no medical intervention. "You know it might not seem like it, but you are very lucky. You could have died from having this many injuries, the pain alone could have killed a small child like you were." said the doctor. I looked at Ed and I thought he might explode. "Remember you promised to stay calm." I reminded him. He looked at me his eyes went from angry to sad, "How did you do it? Why didn't anyone take care of you. You said yourself when taking care of Olive 'Anybody would have done the same.', why did nobody help you?" I smiled softly. I got off of the counter and sat next to Ed. I rubbed his head. "Being different can be hard. So once I decided to find my colors, I was there for myself. I was there to help myself, by the time I was thirteen, nobody would even dare give me so much as a dirty look. I was still neglected, but after I met Robert, he was all the family I needed. I was alone, scared, and hurt for a long time, but that is all over now. I have scars to tell the story, and I have Olive, and Robert, and you, and Sin, even Julia. You people give me a happy ending." Both Ed and the doctor started to well up with tears. I had to lighten the mood. I had made things so sappy. "Okay Doc, now talk to Ed about how healthy I am now. Show him my muscle to fat ratio, or the fact that my blood has perfect levels of everything." The doctor smiled. "The girl is right Ed, she has plenty of scars, but she is as fit as a fiddle, unless you count her concussion. You know kid you really should be pink. You have overcome so much, and you are still comforting others." said the doctor. "I'm pink huh? I think I have heard that somewhere." I said smiling at Ed. He smiled back. Shortly after we were on our way home. Home... that is a good thing for a pink person to have.