This week cannot possibly get any worse.

I had a class this morning, so I took the day off. My mom called while I was on my way home and asked me to call her when I got there. That can't be good, right?

When I called she tells me she needs to talk to me about my sister. My first thought? I bet you can guess - I thought she must be pregnant and my mom is breaking the news to me. No, that isn't it, but now I wish it was.

I'm going to back up for a moment... My sister, for as long as I can remember, has always been anxious and emotional. Afraid of tests, confrontation, for the longest time she wouldn't even call and order pizza. She's been much more emotional lately and my mom finally sat her down and said enough - out with it.

This is the hard part... my mom learned that my baby sister has been abused. I am not really prepared to talk about more of the details right now, but I will say it was not by an adult, and it was not someone in my family. My mom is obviously devastated and other than getting my sister into counseling (which she starts today thankfully), isn't sure what to do. She just wanted me to know.

What can I possibly do? She doesn't even know that I know. I feel awful that I couldn't protect her. This one event has shaped her whole life. My sister is 20 and still has not graduated from high school. She was too anxious to take tests in high school or even ask for help. She ended up in an alternative high school completion course where she did very well, but couldn't get herself to take the final exam and get her diploma. Would things have been different in her life had this not happened to her? There are no guarantees of course, but I'm confident that it would have been.

My heart is broken and I don't know what to do. Do I reach out to her? Do I let her come to me? I'm scared for her, but grateful she is getting the help she needs. I cannot imagine what she is going through. Mostly I wish I could go back in time and save her from all of this.

Those few that I know IRL that may read this, please don't say a thing. It may seem obvious, but I just wanted to get that out there. Thank you