4 Days Later:
Sasha sighed as she came out of the bathroom, hairbrush in hand, frowning as she looked over at the bed where Bayley was currently lying, eyes faced toward the wall, her body unmoving.
Becky was currently sitting with her, having been the one in this room the previous night. It had been a long and crazy week for all of the girls. Bayley still wasn't doing much better, and if anything she was getting worse.
It broke Sasha's heart, it broke all of their hearts, to see the life literally drained from their once charismatic and passionate friend. She was still struggling to sleep through the night, or the day for that matter. She refused to leave the hotel room for anything, terrified of everything and everybody that wasn't already in their adjoined rooms. She hardly ate anything still. Sasha was the only one of the girls that was willing to force feed her, and even that was a struggle now given that she had caught on to it.
Most days she wasn't even moving around, opting to just stay in bed all day and watch TV. Occasionally Sasha could convince her to play a video game or two for a little while, but she struggled to focus on any one thing for very long.
"Has she said anything yet?" asked Sasha, working on brushing out her wavy purple hair. Becky shook her head, placing a kiss to Bayley's shoulder before standing up and heading towards Sasha.
"Nope. She woke up crying a few hours ago for the third time throughout the night. I don't know what we should do, Sash. She's getting worse. We need to get her help," said Becky and Sasha nodded, hating that Becky was right. They all knew it. She wasn't talking; not to them. She wasn't eating or sleeping. It was a fight to get her to take a shower some days. Becky worried that the longer they let her hole herself up in this hotel room, the worse it would get, and the worse it would be on her in the end.
"How? She won't leave this room. I don't know what we're gonna do next week when we have to go back to work. We can't just live in this room forever. Life is gonna have to start up again some day, and I don't want to leave her behind. I can't leave her behind," whispered Sasha, letting out a deep sigh as she looked over at Bayley once again.
"I know. None of us want to do that, love. We're gonna stick by her, no matter what. We just gotta figure out what to do; how to either help her ourselves or outsource it," said Becky, glancing at the door to the other room as Charlotte walked in with some breakfast.
"Ugh, my favorite time of day," muttered Sasha, sighing as she thought about once again having to force some food down Bayley.
"Is it really gonna kill her if we just don't make her eat right now? Save that battle for lunch," said Charlotte, heading over to where Bayley was lying and sitting down, running a hand down her back.
"Hey, sweet girl," whispered Charlotte, leaning down to give the quietest one in the room a kiss to the hair. Bayley made a small noise, not turning to face her blonde haired friend.
"Compared to how broken she already is? Probably not," whispered Sasha, shrugging as she glanced at the food. "I don't know. I really don't like her skipping meals entirely. She's lost so much weight this week already…." said Sasha weakly, thinking about the bags under her friends eyes, the paleness in her face, the way her clothes were getting looser and looser on her already….
Becky sighed, glancing over at Charlotte and Bayley. "Maybe we can see if there's a therapist that's willing to come here? Talk to her here?" asked Becky, but Sasha just shrugged.
"I don't want to make it worse. I don't want to force some stranger on her right now, you know? I just...maybe I can try talking to her today? See if I can get her to open up even just a tiny bit…" said Sasha, pushing the palm of her hands to her eyes as she felt the tears burning in the back of her eyeballs.
"Sash," whispered Becky, reaching out to touch her friend's shoulder. "This doesn't have to fall on you. We can find someone to talk to her, to help her…" whispered Becky, gently rubbing her friend's shoulder, not wanting her to carry such a heavy burden.
"She went through something traumatic, love. She knows we love her. She does. She's just scared and hurt and needs some time. It's only six days. She was raped six days ago," whispered Becky, Sasha cringing at the words, licking her lips which suddenly felt really dry.
"I know. I just don't want to lose her forever, you know? I want her back. I want my friend back. I want my sister back. Is that selfish, Bex? Am I just pushing her too hard….?" questioned Sasha, Becky shaking her head, pulling Sasha into her arms for a hug, rubbing her hand gently up and down her back.
"No. Not at all, love. Not at all. That's what we all want for her, okay? And someday she will be back. But right now the best thing we can do for her is give her someone to talk to. Even if she won't talk to us. Even if it has to be a professional. Okay?"
Sasha nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Just...let me talk to her today, okay? Let me see….sometimes I can get her to open up, you know?" said Sasha and Becky nodded, brushing a strand of Sasha's hair out of her eyes, offering her friend a gentle smile.
"Of course love. But first….have fun trying to shove some eggs down that poor girl's throat," said Becky, trying to lighten the mood a little bit. Sasha rolled her eyes. "You know, it's easier now after four days of game plans."
Sasha sighed as she sat down at the edge of the bed, Bayley meeting her gaze for a quick second before turning her attention back to the TV that was currently on. She reached out quietly, her fingers gently stroking her friend's cheek as she tried to figure out how to do this.
"Hey, Baylz, can we talk?" asked Sasha, her fingers moving up to her friend's hairline, running her fingers through the strands of Bayley's tangled brown hair. She tried to remember the last time she had gotten her to shower. Maybe two days ago? She'd work on making sure she got a quick one in later tonight.
Bayley eyed her, still slightly annoyed about the fact that she'd made her eat breakfast earlier, and that she had taken to feeding her against her will for the last week.
"Please, baby?" I really want to talk to you, honey," whispered Sasha, placing a kiss to her friend's forehead, offering her hands for Bayley to hopefully come sit with her. It took her a beat, but she finally did, slowly climbing into Sasha's lap. Sasha smiled, wrapping her arms around Bayley's far too thin waist, one hand gently stroking her hair as Bayley snuggled up to Sasha's chest, resting her head right under her neck.
"You know I love you, honey, right? Always and forever, sister?" whispered Sasha, keeping her voice close to her friend's ear. Bayley nodded, reaching out to grasp Sasha's hand, gently playing with her friend's fingers.
"Bayley, honey, it's been a rough week for you. I hate seeing you like this, babe. It kills me to know you're hurting so bad on the inside, honey," whispered Sasha, Bayley glancing up to meet Sasha's concerned gaze, turning away.
"I'm sorry…." whispered Bayley, closing her eyes as she felt tears begin to well up. Sasha shook her head, placing a kiss to her friend's hair again.
"No. No, baby. You don't have anything to be sorry for. Honey, this is normal. So, so normal. You were hurt. He hurt you. You didn't deserve that, baby girl. It's okay to be upset or hurt or scared or just really sad, right now, Bay," said Sasha, her hand now rubbing circles on her friend's back.
"But I'm just really worried about you. And so is Charlotte and Becky. We miss you. We miss your smile and your laugh and your voice that we don't get to hear as much anymore…"
"I just….can't," whispered Bayley, her eyes pleading as she looked up at her best friend, Sasha using her thumb to wipe away a few stray tears.
"I know, baby. I know. You want to talk to me about it? Tell me what's going on in that head of yours? Like why it's so hard to eat? Or what's going on in those nightmares…."
Bayley shrugged, still fidgeting with Sasha's fingers. "No. I can't. I...it hurts too much," whispered Bayley, taking a shaky breath, trying not to start sobbing...again.
Sasha closed her eyes, reopening them before continuing. "Love….please, talk to me? Or talk to someone else? Maybe like a therapist or someone. It might be easier to talk to them than Becca or Charlotte or I…." offered Sasha, hating when she saw Bayley cringing at the word therapist.
"I don't want to talk to a stranger. I don't….no. I don't want to," whispered Bayley, starting to whine.
Sasha sighed. "Baylz, therapy could help you, darling. It could help you figure out what's going inside that head of yours. It could help you start to feel better...start to sleep again, or eat again, or help you get out of this depression…"
"I don't want to talk. What if they tell me I can't be fixed? What if they put me on medication? What if-
"What if you start to feel better? What if you start to sleep again without having nightmares? What if you don't have to held against your will just to get some food in you…." offered Sasha, pointing out the positives.
Bayley broke down, starting to sob. Sasha knew it was coming. She had been prepared for it. She gently tightened her grip, rocking her friend back and forth as she cried.
"Honey, you need to talk. You can talk to me or Charlotte or Becca or all three of us…..or you can talk to a therapist. But you need to talk, babe. You need to talk so you can start feeling better…."
Bayley continued to cry, wrapping her arms around Sasha's neck as she did so, her friend closing her eyes as she continued to comfort her friend. Great. Therapy. Another thing she was going to have to force Bayley to do.