Natalie Manning's POV

While I was doing a little bit of reading on the foster care system. I learned a lot about how it works.

"Hey Nat, how's your patient doing?" Will asks as he walked by.

I nodded, "She should be good to go in a few days but she can't talk to DCFS without freaking out. If she doesn't talk to CPS, then she can't be removed from the home."

"Why won't she talk?" Will asked and he took a seat next to me.

I shrugged my shoulders and then shook my head. "I don't know. She won't talk to anyone. Not me, not Ethan, not Dr. Charles. You know, Dr. Charles told me that he talked to her for a whole half an hour and she didn't speak a word. Not a single one."

"What about the other kids. Does she speak to them?" Will asked.

"I don't know," I said.

I thought for a moment before standing up.

"Where are you going?" Will asked as I started to walk away.

"To find Dr. Charles and Dr. Reese!"

I found Dr. Charles in the doctor's lounge, reading a book.

"Hey, Dr. Charles, do you have a minute?" I asked as I sat down on the couch next to him.

Dr. Charles nodded and dog-eared his page before setting it down.

"What can I do for you, Dr. Manning?" He asked and faced me.

"It's regarding my patient Naia," I said, "Do you have any idea why she won't speak. Someone from DCFS came in today to try to get her to tell him what exactly happened so that all four kids can be removed from the home. She ended up having a panic attack and still didn't say anything."

Dr. Charles looked thoughtful. "In a regular case, if Naia wasn't in an abusive home but instead with a loving family, even if her foster parents were just loving, I'd say that Naia has Selective Mutism."

"Selective Mutism?" I asked. I hadn't heard of this before.

Dr. Charles explained, "It's a childhood anxiety disorder of speaking. Sometimes, a child with Selective Mutism will laugh or nod, other's won't do anything."

"So you think that Naia has Selective Mutism?" I asked.

Dr. Charles shrugged, "I would but I also think that Naia's silence is influenced by the abuse she's received. Selective Mutism isn't caused by abuse."

I was confused now, really confused. "So then what do you think she has."

"It's hard to say, she could be scared of what'll happen to her, she could be traumatized, everything happened so fast, it a lot for an 11-year-old." Dr. Charles said.

I thanked Dr. Charles for his good insight and decided to consult Dr. Reese on it as well. Three brains are better than two.

"Dr. Reese!" I found her in the cafeteria. "Dr. Reese!"

Sarah turned around and saw me so she slowed down to let me catch up.

"Do you have a moment? I have some questions regarding my patient Naia." I said.

Dr. Reese nodded sat down at a table and I took a seat across from her.

"So what's up?" She asked.

I explained how Naia wasn't talking and how I had also talked to Dr. Charles and what his thoughts were on my patient.

"It would seem like Selective Mutism would be the case," Dr. Reese said, nodding, "But I also don't think it's Selective Mutism, I think the abuse did somehow influence Naia to not speak. It would be practically impossible to find out what Naia has because we would need to find out what she was like before she entered foster care."

"And why's that impossible?" I asked.

Dr. Reese explained. "Naia has lived practically her whole life in foster care. Her parents left her with the Samuels at three weeks. Well, that's what her file says anyway. There's no way Naia was talking at three weeks old."

"Thank you, Reese," I nodded and started to stand up.

"No problem. Oh and Dr. Manning?"

I paused in my spot.

"Good luck."

My shift was over and I had put on my coat and grabbed my bag. I was heading out when I passed Naia's hospital room and debated whether I should drop in to say good night or not. She looked tired which made me want to leave her alone so she could sleep, but she also looked alone and I wanted to let her know that she wasn't.

I gave a soft knock on the door before walking in.

"I just wanted to check in on you before I left," I said as I walked over to the side of her bed.

Naia gave me a sweet but shy smile. She didn't need to say anything for me to understand that her smiling was her non-speaking way of thanking me.

"Your siblings went back," I said, my voice choking up slightly, "Back with your foster parents."

Naia didn't need to say anything, her face said it all. The disappointment, the guilt, the fear.

"And when you're better, you will too," I went on, unable to contain the emotion.

Naia nodded numbly to show that she had heard but the smile was long gone from her face.

"You'll be okay," I told her, trying to convince myself in the process, "I'll be back tomorrow morning to check in on you."

The girl gave another numb nod and I smoothed back the hair around her forehead.

I swallowed hard before walking out of the room but as I passed the final window that allowed me to see into Naia's hospital room, I saw that the girl had flopped back against the hospital bed and started crying.

This wasn't right.