I'm back with a new story! I haven't given up on my old ones, so if there is a particular story you'd like to see more of, send me a message or review. Enjoy!
(I don't own Warehouse 13 or its characters. No copyright infringement intended.)
One morning shortly after 10am, Leena received a phone call from Abigail, a social worker who had signed off on her fostering license just a few weeks before.
"Hi Leena, this is Abigail. "
"Hi, good to hear from you. I assume you have a possible foster child in need of placement?"
"Yes. I've got a 14 year old girl in need of placement in the next 2 to 3 days."
"Okay. That sounds fine. The kids will be excited to meet her. Where is she right now?"
"Um, that's the thing." The woman said hesitantly. "She's… well, she's in the hospital right now."
Claudia was trying to comb her greasy hair into some semblance of order with her left hand. Her social worker, Abigail, was driving her to her new foster home, and she hadn't showered in over five days. She had been pulled quite suddenly from her former home, when someone reported the screams coming from the house. The doctor had made her stay in the hospital for five days. Apparently having a collapsed lung due to broken ribs was a pretty big deal. Or, maybe it was the fact that she had a concussion. Or, maybe it had something to do with her dislocated shoulder. She had so many injuries, it was difficult for her to determine exactly which of them made her stay in the hospital for so long. All Claudia knew was that everything hurt like hell. She was still on powerful pain meds that made her slightly nauseated, but without them, the pain was so bad she couldn't see straight. Even now, every bump on the highway made her wince.
Way too soon, Abigail's car pulled up at a nice-looking blue house.
"You ready?"
Claudia stared at her social worker.
Did she really expect her to answer?
She slowly, painfully exited the car, her ribs screaming at her. Abigail rang the doorbell, and Claudia tried to straighten her wrinkled clothing with her left hand.
"Hi, Abigail. And, you must be Claudia?"
The girl nodded.
"I'm Leena. Come on inside."
"Claudia, these are my kids, Pete and Myka."
She nodded at the two older teenagers, looking down and wishing she didn't look so weird. Her foster father had wrenched her right shoulder out of the socket, and she was now wearing a sling for that. She also had a black eye and her lip was split. Those were her visible injuries. They couldn't see how her ribs seemed to shatter with every breath or how her head pounded, or how she was so hurt and scared and angry that she felt as if she might burn up at any moment.
"Claudia, do you want something to drink?"
She just stared at the woman.
Had Abigail not told this woman that she hadn't spoken in the last 5 days? Not a sound had escaped her lips except perhaps during the nightmares that had popped out of nowhere the last night as she slept. A nurse had awakened her, and she had found herself drenched in sweat and tears.
Leena got a glass of water and handed it to her.
"Claudia, I need to go. If you need anything, you have my number," Abigail said.
The redhead nodded.
She knew her social worker felt badly about her last placement, but she didn't blame her. It wasn't Claudia's first bad home. She had been beaten or verbally abused in every foster home she had been in, however, this abuse had been far worse than ever before. She had never before wished so acutely that she could die. That feeling had somewhat passed, but the feelings of shame and depression and hopelessness lingered on. This was now her 7th home in 7 years, and she didn't know if she should even try to feel comfortable here.
The social worker had left, and Claudia was now alone with her new foster family.
"So Claudia, have you ever played Call of Duty?" Pete asked.
She shook her head.
"Huh. Well, I guess I'll have to teach you."
She nodded.
"Do you like books?" Myka piped up.
She nodded.
The brunette girl smiled.
"Claudia, do you want to sit down?" Leena asked, noticing the girl clutching her ribs with her right hand.
A nod of her head made Leena bring her into the living room, where she sat down on a firm chair. She knew if she sat down on the squishy couch, that getting up would kill her ribs.
"I'm making spaghetti for dinner," the woman said.
A week ago, she would have made a snarky comment in reply to the woman's declaration. Now, she stared steadily at the floor while she picked at a scab on her face.
As the family told her about themselves and asked her more questions, she began to feel sweaty and overwhelmed.
"You're looking a little sick," Leena said.
Claudia nodded fervently.
"Do you think you're going to throw up?"
She shook her head.
"Do you want to just go to bed?"
The girl just stared at her, breathing a bit raggedly.
"Here, I'll show you your room."
She slowly followed Leena up the stairs, wincing with every step, and finally she was in a simple, cozy room with a very comfortable looking bed piled with blankets and pillows.
"You've got a bathroom through that door, and there's towels and toiletries in the cupboard. If you need anything else, I'm just down the hall, last door on the right. We'll go over some ground rules in the morning, okay?"
Claudia tilted her head slightly and Leena finally left. She debated just going straight to bed, but decided she needed a shower. It had been five days. Carefully, she pulled the sling off her shoulder.
It took her several minutes and a significant amount of discomfort to get her shirt and bra off, but it was well worth it to get clean.
When in the shower, she accidentally moved her right arm, and had to hold a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. It hurt like nothing else, and didn't stop when she stopped moving. She shook violently for a few minutes before the pain finally started to dissipate.
Cautiously, she continued to clean herself, and by the time she was finally in her pajamas, she was exhausted. Leena had left a water bottle beside her bottle of pain pills, and the girl quickly swallowed a pill and got into bed, groaning quietly from the pain in her jostled ribs. It wasn't till the pain pill kicked in that she was able to fall asleep, and once she did, her night was plagued by one nightmare after another.
When she finally awoke the next morning, it was to go to the bathroom. As she scooted her body toward the edge of the bed, she gritted her teeth to keep from yelling at the pain in her ribs. When she was done in the bathroom, she swallowed a pain pill and made her way downstairs.
She finally made it downstairs and saw that Leena was working at the kitchen table on a laptop. She had glasses perched on the edge of her nose.
"Good morning," the woman said brightly. "There's pancakes and syrup in the fridge."
The girl turned toward the fridge, opened it, and spent a few moments finding the food she was looking for. She pulled the ziploc bag of pancakes and container of syrup out one by one with her left hand, and jumped when she turned to find Leena behind her with a plate.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just thought you might need an extra hand."
Claudia let the woman help her get her breakfast ready, and sat down at the counter to eat.
"Do you mind if I go over a few ground rules, Claudia?"
She nodded.
"Okay. First, I ask that you let me know if you want to leave the house. Second, Pete, Myka and I are going to treat you with respect and we'd like that in return. You can use the computer any time, just keep your time brief if Pete or Myka also want to use it, and they'll do the same. Do you smoke?"
She shook her head.
"Good. I don't smoke or drink, and I ask that you don't either. I have a phone for you to use as long as your staying with me," she said, handing her a phone. "If you're out and about, I want you to keep that on you so we can contact each other. You've got my number, Pete and Myka's numbers, and Abigail's number pre-programmed in. Do you have any questions?"
She shook her head.
"Okay. Claudia, I know you're not talking right now, and there is no pressure for you to do so. I know you're working through a lot right now, and I want to respect your space to do that. Buy if there is anything I can help with, or if you do want to talk to me, just let me know, okay? You could text me or write me a note, or whatever works for you."
She had to admit, the woman's sincerity was unexpected. As Leena went back to her work on the laptop, Claudia was already thinking dangerously. What if this home was different? What if this woman really, truly cared about her?