When Carly turned down the familiar hallway to Nelle's room she could hear the girl shrieking at the top of her lungs. Breaking into a run, she flew through the door and quickly assessed the situation. "Nina, what happened?" She spoke loudly, knowing the volume of her voice wouldn't help matters any but needing to find out what was going on and why Nelle was repeatedly hitting her head against the wall. "Get a pillow." She said and Nina complied, carefully placing it between her daughter's head and the wall. "NOOO!" She screamed, a fist coming up and hitting the side of her head and Carly jumped into action, realizing what caused this could wait. "Nelle, sweetheart. It's Carly." She said, moving into her line of sight and the girl made eye contact, lunging at her as if she was going to hit Carly. "Hey. Stop." Nina said, gently restraining the girl and pulling her away, shooting an apologetic look at Carly. "Baby. What's the matter? What did I do?" "What did I do. What did I do. What did I do." She repeated, rocking back and forth in Nina's embrace. "Late." She signed andCarly frowned. "What do you mean?" "Late." She signed pointing at Carly and she sighed, eyes filling with tears for causing this.
"I didn't leave you. I'm so sorry. Traffic was absolutely nuts on the way over here." She whispered, Nelle going over and hugging her tightly, desperate for the physical comfort only Carly could give her, the meltdown seemingly over with as quick as it began. "It's ok. You're ok, but you can't do that." She said, motioning to the girl's head. "Scared." "I know, baby, but when you stim like that or try to hit me, it's harmful." "Can't help it." "I know." She said, taking a seat on the bed and Nelle climbed into her lap, relaxing as Carly held her, the deep pressure squeezes immediately doing the trick as the girl completely relaxed in her embrace.
"We had a nice visit." Nina said after a while and Nelle nodded, a smile taking over her face. "I'm glad to hear that. Thank you for staying with her." Carly said and Nina nodded. "It was no problem. I'm glad to do it." She responded before Anne entered the room. "Hey, Nelle. Can we talk?" She questioned and the girl looked at Carly, clearly scared and nervous. "It'll be ok, baby. I'll be right here, and she just wants to help." "Nina to?"
"Yes. She wants to help to." "No. Be here." She signed and Nina walked over, taking her hand. "Yes, Nelle. I'll stay too." She responded and Carly and Anne looked at one another, clearly happy with the progress.
"I'd like to talk about your rape and what happened to you." She started and Nelle leaned more into Carly, her head coming to rest on her shoulder. "They broke in. I don't know how they got into my apartment." She started, the three women giving her time to get this out. "Dad was there. He said he knew what I wanted." "What did you want?" Anne questioned, taking notes. "Carly. I wanted to be like this with Carly, the way we are now. No fighting or anything." She whispered, shocking the other three women in the room. "Nelle?" Carly asked, not believing the girl had actually spoken. "Hi." She whispered and Carly smiled, pressing a kiss to her head. "It's so good to hear your voice again. Can you finish the story?"
"So he used what you wanted?" "Yes. When they put me in the car, I knew right then and there where I was going once they let me go or I escaped. I knew what they were going to do, and in that moment, I knew the only way I'd feel safe was to be with Carly."" She said softly, a few tears leaking from her eyes.
"It's ok, sweetie. You're safe now." Carly comforted, holding her a little tighter and rocking slowly. "They took turns. I tried to fight, but they held me down. Dad said you'd still hate me and think I deserved it." She sobbed and Carly began crying to. "Nelle. That would never happen.
Yes, you and Carly didn't get along before, but she would never think something like that." Nina spoke, seeing Carly was unable to. "She's right, baby. I-I'd never think that." She said, composing herself. "What happened once they were finished?" Anne questioned, horrified at this whole situation. "I went to see Carly." She spoke quietly, hugging her tightly, eyes beginning to close from exhaustion. "Ok. I think that's enough for now." Anne said softly, Nina nodding in agreement, watching as Carly softly began humming and rubbing the girl's back, Nelle's face finding its way into the crook of her neck. "I'll go when she's asleep." Carly whispered but Anne just waved it off. "You can stay, Carly. You know that." She said. "I'll be back in a bit." She said before exiting the room.
"I'm right here. You're safe, sweetheart." "I wanna go home with you." She confessed tearfully and Carly closed her eyes, the emotions that wanted to come pouring out at that moment would definitely not help matters. "I know, and you will." She assured her, pressing a kiss to the head tucked into her neck, Nelle beginning to sob hysterically. "Shhh. I need you to calm down and try to go to sleep, baby. I'm not leaving." She said, frowning as the girl's sobbing intensified and one of her hands found its way to her shirt. "Baby, I'm not leaving. Let's try to calm down before you make yourself sick." She urged, becoming worried as the girl began coughing from how hard she was still crying.
Realizing words were having no effect, she slowly began to sway gently back and forth with the girl in her arms, humming the familiar tune and rubbing her back beneath her t-shirt, hoping skin on skin would help.
"Carly?" Nina whispered as she reentered the room an hour later with a bag in her hand and Carly looked at her but didn't verbally respond for fear of waking the girl in her arms. "I brought you some food, and some for her too." She said in a low voice and Carly nodded her thanks. "Upset." She mouthed and Nina frowned. "What happened?" "She wants to go home." "Have you spoken to Anne about that?" "No, but I'm wondering if she is strong enough to start doing out patient therapy a few times a week." Carly responded and Nina rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"Carly. Nina told me what was going on." Anne said as she entered the room. "Yeah. She wants to go home, but I know she's not completely ready, not yet anyways." Carly explained quietly. "You're right, she's not. Not yet, but we can try letting her go home with you a few times a week and see how that goes." Anne responded and both Carly and Nina smiled. "Really?" "Yes, but if anything happens I need you to bring her back here." Anne explained and both Carly and Nina nodded. "You have my word." Carly said and Anne smiled. "Ok then. Tonight when you go home, take her with you."
Carly carefully pulled the car into the driveway and looked over at the girl in the passenger seat. "Hey, baby. Look. We are home now." She whispered lovingly, Nelle lighting up and reaching for her, clearly wanting to be held. "Hold on. Let's get inside." She said as she exited the car. "What are we watching?" Carly questioned as she reentered the room from putting their bags away. "The bachelor." The girl whispered and Carly rolled her eyes, smiling none the less. "Why do you like this?" She questioned during a commercial and Nelle finally looked at her, having been completely intranced by the program. "The drama." She said immediately and Carly just shook her head. "You can't watch something like grey's anatomy?" "Nope. I also have this crazy habbit of watching shows in a different language. They aren't bad. You just have to know how to read the subtitles and focus on the program at the same time. Sonny would actually watch them with me after I was first released from the hospital and before he moved out." She said and Carly just raised an eyebrow.
"Ok. That does it. I'm officially rethinking this living arrangement." She said, bursting into laughter and Nelle followed suit and Carly smiled, happy to finally begin seeing the real Nelle Benson. All joking aside though, I would've gotten up with you." She said and the girl muted the television, becoming serious. "I already kept you awake with my nightmares. It was the least I could do, letting you sleep. Plus, Sonny and I discussed some things and he told me he forgives me for what I did to you." She said, beginning to cry and Carly took her in her arms, wrapping a blanket around her and pressing a kiss to her head, pressing play on the remote. "Shhhh. Just relax. Let's just watch some tv. I don't want you getting upset. I'll tell you as many times as I need to I forgive you, baby." She whispered and the girl let out a shaky breath, pressing her face into her neck. "I wish I could take it back." She said tearfully and Carly just held her closer. "I know, sweetheart. I know you do, but you can't. The only thing we can do now is move forward."
"I wanna take it back." She suddenly screamed, a fist beginning to hit the side of her head. "Nelle. Hey.I need you to stop hitting. I'm not mad at you, and everything is ok."Carly soothed, reaching for her hand and the girl's free hand went into her mouth where she immediately began biting. "Baby. No. I need you to stop." She reiterated, sighing in relief when she found one of the girl's chew necklaces. "Here. Bite on this." She whispered and Nelle began biting and sucking on the item, moving back towards Carly who took her back into her arms, Nelle beginning to trace Carly's arm with her finger, over and over.
"Good girl. You're ok, and I love you, so much." She said softly as she stroked soothingly through her hair. "Love you too." She said and Carly relaxed back into the sofa.
"How was it getting to go home?" Anne questioned 2 days later and Nelle smiled but didn't speak. "Not in a talking mood?" She asked and the girl shook her head, beginning to run her finger up and down Carly's arm, getting lost in the skin on skin contact. "I'm sorry." She whispered to the therapist who shrugged. "It's no problem. Did she have another meltdown?" "Yeah. When Nina brought her a shirt to wear she apparently got overstimulated because the fabric isn't something she wears." Carly explained as Anne continued writing. "It wasn't anyones fault though. Nina is still learning about her and what is and isn't ok to do." Carly said and Anne nodded. "It's an adjustment for all of you." She explained. "How are her nightmares?"
"She still has them, mostly about being at Ferncliff but sometimes it's about her rape and being in Ferncliff at the same time. Other times she dreams I've left her. Those are usually the hardest to calm her down from." "Nelle? Are you afraid Carly will leave you?" Anne asked and the girl looked from Carly to her therapist before nodding. "I'm scared." She said quietly and Anne nodded, Carly moving closer and hugging her. "I don't want you to leave like you did before." She shrieked, becoming more hysterical by the moment and Carly sighed, Anne shooting her a questioning look. "Baby. You know I didn't leave. I mean yes, I did leave." She said, sighing in frustration before continuing. "He lied to you. He never asked me to stay." She reiterated before glancing at Anne. "What did he lie about?" "Everything. I came there looking for money and he told me, after sending her into the other room that he didn't have any and he never wanted to adopt me and he didn't consider me his daughter. He never asked me to stay. He only started calling me after I moved to Port Charles and he realized I did have money." She explained, Nelle still sobbing into her neck, on the verge of hyperventilating if she didn't calm down. "You left me." She shrieked and Carly hugged her, none to surprised when she felt fists hitting her back as the girl struggled in her arms. "Is she hurting you?" "No. I've got it. Baby. Stop hitting me. You know I didn't leave you. He's a lier and I need you to understand that. Where is this coming from, sweetheart?" She questioned, doing her best to avoid the flailing fists.
"Before he died he told me." She screamed once more, Carly letting her go and the girl immediately began to pace. "Told you what Nelle?" Anne questioned, very concerned with her patient's mental state. "T-that he asked her to stay. Showed me a recording." "What?" Carly blurted, staring in shock and looking to Anne for help. "Where is this recording, Nelle?" "At the house in my nightstand drawer. "I'll call Sonny." Carly said before abruptly leaving the room, surprising Anne since Carly never left her patient like this, Nelle's crying becoming more prominant the moment Carly rose to her feet. Deep down, she didn't want Carly to leave dispite the situation but Carly just needed a moment. "I've got it." Anne whispered.
"Nelle, it's ok. I'm here." Anne said softly. "But she promised." She wailed and the therapist sighed, having no idea what to do at this point. "Ok. Hold on. I'll be right back." She said before leaving the room and heading in the direction Carly had just gone.
"Carly?" "What." She asked turning around. "She's upset and I don't know what to do." "Well I can't go backin there right now. I can't be-"
"Carly!" Turning around, she barely had time to brace herself before she stumbled back from the force of the girl throwing herself at her. "Come back." She pleated through sobs, a hand gripping her shirt and Carly sighed. "I-I can't." She whispered and the girl's cries only got louder. "Nelle? I'm going to give you some medicine to help you sleep." Anne explained as she returned with the sleep meds and the girl shook her head, holding more tightly to Carly. "N-no. I don't want that. Just want Carly. Please. I'll be good. I'm sorryyy. "I-I love you." She sobbed"You have to do something or I'm going to have to medicate her. Look. I know you're upset with her, but she needs you right now so put the whole thing with the recording aside."
"Ok. I'm not mad at her. He abused her physically and sexually for years as well as lied to her." She said before attempting to calm her down.
"Shhh. I'll stay." She whispered, stroking soothingly through the girl's hair. "Hold me, please. Hold me until I fall asleep. I don't want the medicine. I just want you." She pleated through tears and Carly sighed before nodding. "Ok. Just until you go to sleep and then I'm going to leave." "No. Stay." "Nelle." Carly said warningly and Anne just hoped this whole ordeal didn't set everything completely back to square one for them.
"I'm right here." Carly whispered. "Will you get under the blankets with me?" She questioned and Carly sighed, knowing emotionally she shouldn't, not until she had had a chance to talk to Sonny, hear the recording and calm down. "No. Lay back down." She said when the girl tried to crawl into her lap. "Please. I need you." "Really? Earlier you were accusing me of leaving you." She snapped and the girl began crying once more. "I-I didn't mean it. Please. I-I need you. You keep the monsters away." She whispered and that did it for Carly. She wasn't even mad at Nelle. How could she be? After all, it was Frank who had lied.
"Move over, baby." She said before crawling in next to her, Nelle immediately placing her head on Carly's chest, a leg being tossed over Carly's at a 90 degree angle and an arm wrapping around her waste. "Go to sleep." She whispered, beginning to hum softly and the girl completely relaxed.
"What the hell?" Nina yelled, Carly opening her eyes before letting out a sigh. She always sleeps like this." "No. She's almost desperate. She's holding on to you like you'll leave her. What did you do?" Nina hissed and Carly sighed.
"I got mad at her." "Yeah. Sonny showed me the recording, and you're a fool. He was manipulating her the whole time." "She clearly believes him and that I truly did leave." Carly snapped and Nina sighed. "I know she does, but she loves you and I think you love her too." Nina said and Carly sighed, rubbing a hand over her face. "I do love her. Believe me. I know longer hate her, but it always goes back to the same thing with us. She'll always believe I'll leave her." She said as she wondered where they go next.