CONTENT WARNING: Discussion and brief description of physical abuse.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know that some of you have asked about my other fics, and I wanted to let those of you who are guests know that I've finally updated 'Babysitting the Winchester Boys'! I'm going to start having regular updates with Kate and the boys again, so keep an eye out for that. Also, I've convinced a friend to try their hand at writing fanfic- "Welcome to SPN fanfic, we have pie!" LOL!- so please check them out if you're so inclined, their pen-name is shinrin-no-ookami.
ALSO...drum roll please...late last night, there were 50,000 views of this story! I am amazed and gratified that so many people, from all over the world, are reading this and enjoying it. I love the idea that I'm connecting with people from all different walks of life in all different countries, and I love all the messages and reviews from all of you! The Supernatural fandom truly is a family, and the fanfic community is just as amazing! Love to all of you, and thanks for reading and supporting me!
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The Physical Therapy room was full of people today, and loud. Daddy wheeled me over to the corner where we usually met Imani. There were two young women standing there.
One of them had blonde hair in a braid. "Hi, is this Charlotte? I mean, Charlie?"
"Yes," Daddy said. "and you are-"
"I'm Kristin," she said, "And this is Candy, she's new here, and going to be shadowing me today." Candy had short curly brown hair.
"Where's Imani?" I asked.
Kristin looked uncomfortable. "She's off for a couple of days, for a family thing."
"Did her Grandmother pass, uh, pass away?" I asked, looking at her.
Kristin frowned slightly. "Uh, yeah, she did, so Imani's got to deal with the funeral stuff and all that."
She glanced down at the clipboard she was holding. "She left me her notes, though, so I know exactly what to do with you. Ready to have some fun?"
"Okay," I said uncertainly. Daddy walked around and locked the wheels, and then unbuckled me and helped me stand up.
"See you in a little while," he said, dropping a kiss on the top of my head.
Things went okay for most of the session. Kristin seemed a little stiff and distant, but maybe it was just because she was new. I had been spending so much time with Imani that I felt comfortable with her and like she was a friend.
Because it was busy in the room today with a lot of kids, it was noisy, and that was grating on my nerves after a while. I was getting tired too, and having to deal with the pain in my muscles, feeling tired, and the noise was getting to me.
Kristin reached out to pull me up to a standing position, and all of a sudden in a rush, I saw her cringing up against a wall while a man towered over her with clenched fists. I could feel fear and sadness and pain, and I blurted loudly, "Don't take him back, he's just going to hurt you again!"
Kristin's eyes got wide and she let go of me and stepped back. "What did you say?" she hissed.
"Don't listen to him, he's lying, he won't stop! You have to leave!" I exclaimed, feeling tears come to my eyes.
I lost my balance and fell back, landing hard on my butt. I cried out as I hit the floor. It seemed like everyone in the room had gone silent. Kristin and Candy were staring at me.
"How did you know...what..." Kristin whispered.
"I—I'm sorry-" I started to say, and then her face changed. "I don't know where you got this from, but you're lying!" she said in a loud, angry voice.
Candy glanced at her. "Kris-"
I held my hands up. "I—I need help getting up-" I said in a small voice.
Kristin stepped back again. "I'm not touching you any more!" she spat, narrowing her eyes at me. "This isn't funny, kid!"
I started to cry. "I—I wasn't trying to be funny, I-"
Kristin slapped the clipboard down on the counter, and the loud sound made me jump. "You know what, I'm done here. I don't have to listen to this-"
"Why do you let him hit you?" I asked her. "I don't understand-"
"SHUT UP!" she shouted at me, clenching her fists. She leaned over me, and I felt scared- was she going to hit me?
Then I heard Daddy's voice behind me. "What's going on here?" he asked, and his voice was that deeper pitch that meant he was angry.
"I don't know what the deal is with her, mister, she's crazy or something-" Kristin said.
Daddy was leaning down and picking me up off of the floor. I clutched at his flannel, wanting the fear I felt to go away.
"Excuse me?" he said in a steely voice. "I don't know what happened earlier, but everything I just saw, you are acting very unprofessionally. She's just a little girl-"
"It wasn't me, it was her!" Kristin said loudly.
Daddy glared at her. "I'll be reporting this to your supervisor," he snapped. He turned to leave, sliding me over onto his hip.
"Uh, she needs to be in a wheelchair-" Candy said.
"I'll come back and get it later," Daddy said over his shoulder.
I looked around, and everyone was staring. Some of the adults were standing together and talking, looking at me. I buried my face in Daddy's shirt and cried as he walked back to my room.
I heard Uncle Sam and Grandpa John's voices, both asking, "What happened? Is she hurt? Why is she crying?"
Daddy sat down on the bed with me in his lap and looked down at me. "Okay, tell me what happened," he said.
"Why—why do people hit other people?" I asked, and my chest hitched. "I don't- I don't understand!"
"Oh my God, what?" Uncle Sam came over to the bed, his face worried.
"There was a new therapist there today because Imani's grandma died, and when I touched her, I saw- I saw-" my eyes filled with tears. "She has a boyfriend who hits her and she lets him and keeps breaking up from him and then getting back together! He- he says he's sorry, but then he hits her again! He says it's her fault!" I looked up at Daddy. "She's so scared, why does she keep being with him? I don't get it! Why?" I wailed.
Daddy pulled me close and hugged me tightly. "Charlie, I'm so sorry you had to see that, baby," he said. "It's- unfortunately some people are like that, and there are people who are mean and hurt other people, and the people that they hurt have a hard time leaving."
"But why? Why? He says he loves her and then he hits her all over!" I sobbed.
"It's...complicated, sweetheart. And it's not something that you should have had to deal with. I'm so sorry." Daddy said, and I felt him rubbing my back. "Hey Sam, would you mind walking to the nurse's station and getting the number of the PT boss? I need to let them know what happened."
"Sure, but what can they do about Charlie?" Uncle Sam asked.
"Oh, it's not about Charlie. This girl was out of line- she told Charlie to shut up, and then she called her crazy! When I got there, Charlie was on the floor, and they weren't helping her up!"
"She- she let go of me, and I fell down, and she said she wasn't going to touch me again," I told him.
"Dammit," I heard Grandpa John mutter. "Get the supervisor down here ASAP, Dean, this is not good. If they give you any grief, I'll talk to them."
"I'll be right back," Uncle Sam said, and I heard his footsteps leave the room.
"You want me to find something to watch on t.v.?" Daddy started to shift me off of his lap, and I grabbed his shirt. "No, Daddy, I want to be with you!" I cried out.
"All right, shh," he said soothingly. "Dad, grab the remote, would you?" Daddy settled back on the bed with me on his lap, and turned on the t.v. "Look, here's an episode of Doctor Sexy," he told me.
"I don't care," I mumbled, leaning on him and closing my eyes. It felt like I couldn't let go of all those bad feelings I had felt when I had touched Kristin.
In a few minutes, I heard the door of the room open.
"So, what happened today?" I heard Dr. Miriam ask in her low voice.
Daddy patted my back. "Sit up, baby, you need to talk to them." he said. He turned the t.v. off.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Norrell," a tall woman said. She stepped forward and shook Daddy's hand. "I'm the supervisor of the Physical Therapy Unit."
"Well," Daddy started, "You see, Charlie-"
"I explained it to them, Dean. I told them that Charlie knows things when she touches people." Uncle Sam told him.
Daddy exhaled. "Okay. Well, when I went in to pick her up today, she was on the floor, and-"
"Who was on the floor?" Dr. Norrell said.
"Charlie was," Daddy said.
"Why don't we let Charlie tell us what happened," Dr. Miriam said smoothly.
I felt Daddy's hand on my back. "You feel up to that?" he asked.
I nodded. "Yeah," I said. I told them what had happened, what I had seen, and everything that Kristin had said to me. It was hard to talk because I was still crying, and I couldn't stop. I felt ashamed, like I had when I was little and had gotten yelled at for the things I'd said. By the time I was finished, Uncle Sam and Grandpa John looked angry. Dr. Miriam had a funny look on her face, like she was trying to hide something. Dr. Norrell's face stayed the way it was.
"Well, I'm sorry that she experienced this," Dr. Norrell said. "Rest assured that I'll be talking to those who were involved and getting to the bottom of things."
"Are you gonna- will you help her get away from that guy?" I asked timidly.
"We will provide counseling and assistance, yes," Dr. Norrell told me. "I apologize for her unprofessionalism, and I'll make sure that she apologizes too."
"You don't have to do that," I said. "She was- she was upset."
"She was also nasty to you, Charlie," Daddy said. "She didn't have to treat you the way that she did."
I started to cry again. "But- but I—I shouldn't have said anything-"
"Charlie, it's not your fault," Uncle Sam said gently. "We told you that you aren't going to get into trouble any more, remember?"
I looked up him. "I don't like this!" I said. "I don't want to be like this any more!" I started to cry harder.
I saw Uncle Sam and Grandpa John glance at each other. Grandpa John pulled his phone out of his pocket and tried to dial it one handed, and then it fell out of his hand onto the bed. "Dammit," he muttered. "Can't get used to this." The day before he had gone with Uncle Sam for a check-up, and they had given him a shorter cast on his arm.
Uncle Sam picked up the phone and handed it to him.
"I'm going to call Missouri," Grandpa John said. "See what she has to say about this." He dialed the phone, and then left the room.
"Charlie, you need to try and relax," Dr. Miriam said. "You're getting more upset."
"I—I can't," I exclaimed, feeling my breathing get shallow. "I can't get the feelings out of my head!" I couldn't stop crying, and my chest and throat started to hurt.
"Charlie, Charlie, calm down," Daddy was saying to me.
"Deep breaths," I heard Uncle Sam's voice. "Come on, deep breaths."
I couldn't, though, and it seemed like the room was getting darker around the edges of my vision. I had broken out in a sweat and my ears were ringing.
I heard Dr. Miriam say loudly, "Charlie—" and I turned my head to look at her. Someone took my wrist, and then I saw a needle. I screamed and tried to jerk my arm away, and then I felt a pinch in my upper arm. All of a sudden, I got sleepy, and before I knew it, my eyes were closing.
I woke up slowly. I opened my eyes- the lights in the room were dimmed. Grandpa John was watching a baseball game with the sound on low, and Uncle Sam had his laptop open in his lap. Daddy came out of the bathroom and saw that my eyes were open.
"How ya doing, sweetheart?" he asked as he came over to the started to raise the head. "It's past dinnertime, but Uncle Sam went out and got some food for us. You want some chicken nuggets?"
"Not hungry," I said groggily. "M' thirsty."
He leaned over and picked up a cup. "Here's some lemonade," he handed it to me. I took several swallows and put the cup on the tray table.
Uncle Sam and Grandpa John came over to the bedside too.
"Stop looking at me," I grumbled.
"We're just worried about you," Uncle Sam said. "There's an extra cheeseburger too, if you want-"
"I said I'm not hungry!" I snapped.
Uncle Sam stepped forward and took my chin in his hand, making me look up at him. "Young lady, you are not going to speak to me like that any more, do you understand?" his voice was deep and serious.
"Sam-" Daddy started to say.
"Dean, she's been rude to me for the past couple of days, and I'm not putting up with it any longer," Uncle Sam glanced at Daddy and then looked down at me. "I asked you a question," he said sternly.
I frowned at him. "Yes, I understand!" I said sulkily. I tried to pull my chin out of his grasp, but he wouldn't let me go.
"You need to watch it with the sass-"
"Uncle Saaaam, let goooo," I whined.
"Sam, back off!" Daddy growled. "You're hurting her!"
Uncle Sam let go of me. "I'm not hur-"
"I don't know what's going on with you, but you need to cool it!" Daddy snapped at him. "You're being a real hardass with her, and-"
"And you're letting everything go! She still needs-"
"Don't you tell me what she needs, she's my daughter, and I know what she needs!" Daddy yelled, glaring at Uncle Sam. He stepped up to Uncle Sam and got right in his face.
Grandpa John stepped between them, putting his hands on each of their chests. "All right, Sam, take a walk. Go on, now, go get yourself a cup of caffeine. I'll be down in a minute."
Uncle Sam's jaw twitched, and he pointed at Daddy. "I don't have to listen to your bullsh-"
"That's right, you don't. You heard the man, take a walk," Daddy said meanly.
"Dean, stand down," Grandpa John said in a hard voice.
Uncle Sam stalked out of the room, yanking the door open hard. Daddy sighed and rubbed his hand across his face.
"Dean, you have to remember, we all want what's best for Charlie," Grandpa John said in a quiet voice.
"Well, I think some of us have a different idea of what's best!" Daddy retorted.
Grandpa John put his hand on Daddy's shoulder. "Charlie's a strong girl, she'll get through this," he said. "She's doing great, and we all need to remember that even though she's been through a lot, she's still the same little girl she was, and she still needs the same rules and boundaries."
Daddy glanced at him. "I disagree," he said. "She's not the same little girl, and right now she needs more understanding and- and compassion."
"Okay, yeah, I can see that," Grandpa John nodded. "But you still need to hold her to a standard of behavior-"
"Jesus, you too? Back off, Dad, and don't tell me how to parent my kid!" Daddy snapped. He jerked away from Grandpa John, who sighed.
"All right, Dean," he said, "Let's just see how this goes." He turned and walked out of the room.
Daddy rubbed his hand over his face again, and I started to cry. He sat down on the bed. "Baby, don't cry," he said kindly, "it's not your fault."
"Yes it is, I'm bad! I just- I get grumpy and I can't, I can't help it!" I wailed.
He pulled me into a hug. "No, you are not bad," he said firmly, "this is hard for you, give it some time."
We sat together and snuggled for a while, watching a cooking show.
"Why did Dr. Miriam give me a shot?" I asked him.
"She had to give you something to help you calm down," Daddy told me. "You were close to having a panic attack."
"Is that why I feel all fuzzy-headed now?"
"Yeah, probably," His phone buzzed, and he shifted me, and then pulled it out of his pocket and looked at it. He sighed. "They went back to the hotel." he said grimly.
Eventually, I fell asleep on Daddy's lap, with the t.v. still going.
I was finishing up breakfast when the door opened, and Grandpa John walked in, followed by Uncle Sam. Daddy stood up slowly and everyone looked at each other for a long moment.
"Uncle Sam, I'm sorry I've been mean," I said, and I started to cry. He walked over to the bed and leaned down to hug me. I put my arms around him. "I'm sorry," I sniffled.
"Thank you for apologizing, Charlie," he said. "I know you get frustrated with things, you just need to remember not to take it out on other people."
"Okay, Uncle Sam," I agreed.
"You're a good girl," he murmured, and kissed my cheek.
He stood up and looked at Daddy. "We good?" he asked, and Daddy said, "Yeah, we're good," gruffly. They hugged each other.
Grandpa John set my pink duffle on the bed. "Did you tell her, Dean?" he asked.
"No," Daddy said.
I looked at him. "Tell me what? Why do you have my bag?"
"Dr. Miriam gave us permission to take you outside today, Lisa and Ben are going to come visit, and we're going to have a picnic lunch outside on the hospital grounds." Daddy told me.
"Yaay!" I clapped my hands.
"And since you're going to go outside, you need to get dressed in regular clothes," Uncle Sam unzipped the duffle. "So I brought some of your clothes for you." He picked the bag up and set it on my lap. I rooted through it and found a Hello Kitty shirt.
"Why don't you grab a pair of shorts with elastic, it'll be easier for you to deal with in the bathroom," Daddy said.
"Good idea," Uncle Sam said. I found a pair of pink shorts that went with the shirt. Uncle Sam helped me get dressed, and Grandpa John moved the duffle over to the wardrobe that was in the corner of the room.
While we waited, Uncle Sam showed me how to use the tablet and how to access the home-schooling folders. Daddy's phone buzzed, and he looked at it.
"We ready? Lisa said they're in the lobby."
I went to the bathroom, and then Daddy helped me into the wheelchair. We took the elevator down to the lobby to meet them. Lisa had some tote bags, and Ben had a little Nerf football he was tossing in the air. Uncle Sam took two of the bags from her, and we walked out to the patio and then followed a path over to an area where there was a playground and some picnic tables. Lisa put the bags on a table and started to unpack them. Daddy parked me a few feet away, and Ben came over to me.
"Hey, Charlie, want to play catch?" he asked.
"Okay," I said. He stepped a few feet back and tossed the ball to me. I raised my hands and tried to catch it, but I couldn't. The ball bounced out of my arms and off to the side.
"That's okay," Ben ran over and picked it up. "Try again."
He tossed the ball more gently, and I was able to catch it this time.
"Good job!" he said enthusiastically. I threw the ball back to him, but I was better at catching it. He stepped back a couple of steps and threw it a little harder. I tried to throw it back hard too. It went off to the right and he laughed.
"What was that?" he joked. "I'm over here, ya know!" He ran and got it and then threw it to me, stepping back again.
"Oof!" I said as I reached up and caught it. "Hey look!" I raised the ball up. "I caught it out of the air!"
Ben laughed.
Daddy came over to us. "Hey, Ben, not so hard."
"Dean, she's okay, I've been watching them," Grandpa John said. "Ben's doing a good job tossing it to her, just right," he smiled at Ben.
"I don't want her to get hurt," Daddy put his hand on my shoulder.
"I won't, Daddy," I said, "This is fun."
"I won't let her get hurt, Dean," Ben said. "Mom talked to me about being careful."
"All right, who wants to eat?" Lisa called. She had put all the food out. Daddy brought me over to the end of the table.
"What do you want?" he asked me. He made me a sandwich and put it on a plate with potato chips and carrot sticks.
"You got this?" he asked, setting the plate on my lap.
"Yes, Daddy," I said, rolling my eyes. It was a lot easier for me to feed myself by holding whatever I was eating instead of using a utensil.
"Playing catch is probably good for Charlie's muscles," Uncle Sam said. "That was a great idea to bring your ball, Ben."
"He always has some kind of ball with him," Lisa chuckled, "He wanted to bring a baseball, but I was worried that would be too hard."
"We play catch with a big beach ball in PT sometimes," I said. "Imani said it's for gross motor skills. Why are they gross? It's not like you can see the muscles looking yucky or anything."
Everyone chuckled.
"Gross also means large," Uncle Sam explained. "Catching and throwing a ball exercises the larger muscles in your arms."
"Sam is Mr. Dictionary," Daddy told Lisa. "Even when we don't want to know something, he's got to tell us."
"Nothing wrong with sharing knowledge," Uncle Sam said.
After we ate, Daddy and Uncle Sam joined Ben and me playing catch again, and then Daddy and Uncle Sam grabbed the ball and ran away with it, throwing it really high in the air and far away, and then Daddy tackled Uncle Sam, which made us laugh. Then Daddy unbuckled me and helped me out of the chair, and we walked over to the swings. I sat on a swing, holding tightly to the chains, and Daddy pushed me gently. Sitting up like that for so long made my stomach muscles hurt, though, so I told him I wanted to stop.
"We should probably go back to the room now, don't want to tire Charlie out too much," Daddy said as he buckled me back into the wheelchair.
"Can I push her?" Ben asked, looking up at Daddy.
Daddy paused. "Uhh, okay," he said uncertainly.
Ben took the handles of the wheelchair and started to push me on the paved path, ahead of everyone else.
"Hey, wanna go fast?" he leaned down over my shoulder. "I'll run and push you and we can see how fast we can go."
I glanced back at him. "Okay," I agreed.
He grunted a little as he pushed me harder, and the wheelchair started to go faster. It was kinda fun, and I felt a breeze blowing my hair back from my face.
Ben said, "Go, Speed Racer, go!" and laughed, and I laughed with him.
"Ben!" I heard someone call from behind us. "Slow down!"
"Speeeeed Racerrrrrrr!" Ben yelled, and I laughed again as we went faster.
"STOP!" I heard a bellow from behind us, and then all of a sudden, Daddy and Uncle Sam were standing in front of us, their faces red and their chests heaving.
"Benjamin Isaac Braeden!" Lisa scolded as she hurried up to us. "What were you doing?" she put her hands on her hips. "Did you hear Dean calling you?"
"Uh, we were just...having fun," Ben said slowly, staring at the ground and toeing a rock that was on the ground with the tip of his shoe.
"What did I tell you before we came here? Huh?" Lisa asked in a stern voice.
Ben glanced up at her, then at me, then looked down again. "To, uh, be careful and gentle with Charlie."
"And do you think that racing down the sidewalk with her in a wheelchair is being careful?"
"Uh...I guess not," Ben gave a little half-shrug.
"You guess not. Well, I guess that you and I are going to have to have a discussion when we get home about you listening and obeying," Lisa gave him a look.
Ben's face got red, and he gulped nervously.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" she asked.
"It's okay, Lisa, I didn't get hurt," I said.
"Not the point, Charlie," Daddy said sternly. "Did you tell him to stop?"
"Uh...no," I said.
"I heard you laughing," Uncle Sam said, "Did he tell you he was going to do that?"
"Um, yeah," I looked down at my hands in my lap.
"And you just went along with it?" Daddy asked.
"Uh...yeah," I whispered.
"You didn't think to tell him not to push you fast, because it's not safe?" Daddy sounded annoyed now.
"But- I'm strapped in, I won't fall out, and it was okay! How could I get hurt?"
Daddy sighed angrily. "There's lots of ways! You could have fallen over, Ben could have tripped and fallen, he could have fallen and knocked into you and you both fall, someone else could have gotten in the way-"
"Ben, what do you say?" Lisa prompted.
"Uh, I'm sorry," Ben said. "I'm sorry that I wasn't careful with Charlie, an' that I didn't listen to you, Dean." He stared at the ground again.
"You need to be more mindful about being careful too, little miss," Uncle Sam said to me.
"Uh, okay, Uncle Sam," I said.
Daddy walked around behind me. "I'll push her the rest of the way," he said. Lisa and Uncle Sam had to walk back and get the bags of food because they had just dropped everything and run to us when Ben started to push me fast.
In the lobby, they said goodbye to us. Lisa leaned down to hug me, and Ben hugged Daddy's waist. Then Ben leaned down to hug me, and as he stood up, he whispered, "Go, Speed Racer," in my ear. I stifled a giggle, and grinned up at him. He grinned back at me.
"I'm going to go find some coffee, I'll meet you in the room," Grandpa John told us.
"All right, time for you to take a nap," Daddy said to me when we got back. He was helping me walk from the bathroom to the bed.
"But I'm not tired," I said. "I want to watch t.v."
"Nope, nap in the afternoon, remember?"
I folded my arms in front of me, getting annoyed. "I didn't even do anything today except go on a picnic!"
"You tossed a ball around, that's exercise, and you also did some walking," Uncle Sam said.
Anger surged in me. "I'm not gonna take a freakin' nap!" I yelled.
"Charlotte Anne," Daddy said sternly, "Watch your language."
"Freakin' is not a cuss, so I can say it!" I said stubbornly.
"It's close enough, young lady, so I suggest you not say it, unless you want to be in trouble," Uncle Sam frowned at me.
"It's not a cuss," I insisted. "Damn and hell are cusswords-"
"CHARLOTTE ANNE!" Both Daddy and Uncle Sam yelled at the same time.
Daddy leaned down to me. "You really want to get up close and personal with a bar of soap?" he asked tightly. "Because that is right where you're headed."
"With the way she's been acting recently, I think it might be good for her to have her mouth washed out, maybe you can wash some of the sass out too," Uncle Sam said, putting his hands on his hips.
I looked at him and then at Daddy, and my stomach twisted nervously. "You- you can't-"
"Now you're telling us what we can and can't do?" Uncle Sam crossed his arms over his chest like Daddy did when he got angry.
I burst into tears. "It's not faaaaair!" I wailed. "I don't want to take a nap like a baby, I feel like a baby all the time!"
"What do you mean?" Daddy asked, sitting down on the bed.
"You've had to feed me and, and wash me like I'm a baby, and carry me around, and I can't sit up like a little baby, or walk good, and now I have to take naps!"
"Well, remember, you're getting over an illness, sweetheart," Daddy said, "The doctor said the naps are helping you heal too. Once you're better, you won't have to take them any more."
"Dean-" Uncle Sam said. We both looked at him, and he raised his eyebrows.
"She's upset, Sam," Daddy rubbed my back. "Didn't you get on my case once, about scolding Charlie when she was already upset about something?"
Uncle Sam sighed, and I looked up at him again. He was watching me, shaking his head, and I dropped my eyes and leaned into Daddy's chest. I did feel tired, so I closed my eyes and rested. I fell asleep, listening to his heartbeat.