Truth only reveals itself when one gives up all preconceived ideas. ~Shoseki
The next day Harry pulled up outside Mayflower adolescent unit trying to ignore the pounding in his head. He'd spent the evening with Nikki and a bottle of wine and as usual they'd drunk a little too much. He smiled at the memory of the cheerful evening and wondered how Nikki was coping having to face Leo with a hangover. As he climbed out of his car he was met by Martin Smith who gave him a tired looking smile as they greeted each other.
"How is she?" Harry asked, since he met her, he'd hardly been able to shift thoughts of Isabelle out of his head
"Still distressed" Martin sighed as they made their way inside "Last night we had a slight incident with her"
"What kind of incident?" Harry said looking worried
"When one of our nurses went to check on her, they'd found she'd cut herself" Martin frowned
"What with?" Harry asked
"The casing of a ball point pen which she'd snapped in half" Martin grimaced "She's spent the night in the infirmary so I'm not sure what state she'll be in"
"I'll try to help the best I can" Harry told the doctor and Martin nodded gratefully
"I know this is rather unorthodox but she seems to open up more around you than anyone else around here. We need to know the truth before she falls at the hands of the police and PC Davis"
Harry nodded and the two of the walked in silence to the door of the infirmary where they were met by Jack, the nurse that Harry had met on his first visit to the unit with Leo
The men greeted each other and Martin turned to Jack to get an update on Isabelle "How is she?" he asked
"She's okay…" Jack replied slowly "She woke up about forty-five minutes ago; I don't think she had much sleep though. When I took over from the night staff, one of the nurses told me it took them about three hours to calm her down last night after they'd found her"
"Has she had her medication this morning?" Martin asked
"Not yet, I was just about to give it to her now" he said motioning to the small packet of pills in his hand
Martin turned to Harry "I'll be back in a few minutes, I just need to pick up her file but Jack's here if you need anything" Harry nodded in response and Martin left them and hurried down the corridor out of sight
As Harry and Jack made their way into the infirmary, the nurse turned to Harry
"Thank you" he said quietly
"For what?" the pathologists asked
"For not giving up on her and not judging her" Jack smiled "She's a good kid, she's just had a rough time of it recently"
"Haven't we all" Harry said and Jack let out a small chuckle as he led Harry over to Isabelle.
The young girl was sitting up in the bed with her arms wrapped around her knees and her head tucked firmly out of sight. She was making small whimpering noises as she rocked a little, back and forwards. Harry could see her wrists were covered in a layer of bandages and he remembered what Martin had told him about how Isabelle ended up in the infirmary
"Belle" Jack called to the young girl, using a shortened version of her name which Harry agreed much suited her
The girl made a small whimpering sound much like that of a puppy and Jack perched on her bed to try and coax her into taking her medication
"Belle, you've got to take your meds." He said gently but she gave no response "I know you don't like it but the sooner you take it the sooner it will be over"
Suddenly Isabelle seemed aware of another presence in the room and she looked up and fixed her gaze on Harry
"Hi" he said and the girl cocked her head on one side, clearly deep in thought
"Harry's come to see you" Jack told the young girl "He wants to talk to you"
Isabelle rubbed her forehead with her hand and groaned slightly
"Are they talking to you again Belle?" Jack asked gently and she nodded "If you take these pills then they'll stop for a bit"
"They never stop" Isabelle said in a husky voice, slightly croaky from disuse "They're always there not matter how many pills you stuff into my system"
"Belle, please take your medication. It'll make you feel miles better"
Isabelle ran a hand over her forehead again and winced as if she was in pain
"Harry's come to help you Belle" Jack told her and Isabelle looked up with a startled expression on her face
She looked to Harry who gave a nod and a small smile to confirm this. Her gaze travelled to Jack who was pouring out water into a small plastic cup. Still slightly in shock from the revelation she accepted the cup with shaking hands and Jack pushed a colourful array of pills into her hands. She gulped down a sip of water and under the watchful eye of Jack she took the pills
"Swallow" Jack prompted as he saw Isabelle start to gag slightly
She spluttered a little bit of water down her front but the medication had entered her system without too much of a struggle.
Isabelle looked up at Harry and sadly proclaimed "See, the system always gets you in the end"
