The assessment of Bella took place in her room; they didn't want to move her too much because of her sawness.
Me and Renee stood against the far wall looking in on what seemed a surreal moment in time; our once happy little teen was sat motionless on her hospital bed. She hadn't responded to any of the questions and she hadn't moved her face from the expressionless mask she had placed on. She hardly blinked.
When the doctor nodded his head to the door, we walked past them and waited outside while he told Bella the assessment was over.
He came out a grim line on his face, looking at the clip board he told us to take a seat.
"Well, that session was informative, but not in the best of ways. Bella seems to be a mute, for the moment. It could be at least a few days…up to years. It's not a guarantee I can give. From the way her facial expression didn't change, I would bet on, maybe a few days, at least, to get over the shock of what's happened.
The police won't get anything out of her, and that's going to make it difficult for them to find out what's happened, and investigate more. So all I can suggest is give her all the support, love and care you can. She's delicate and fragile at the moment. I'm sorry we can't do more at the moment, but I will get in contact with a specialist I know in Seattle, he deals with people who can't talk of disabilities or are learning to talk. He may be able to help get her talking, if there's no progress with her, or at least show you some techniques on how to communicate with her." He said, we nodded our understanding, thanking him, he walked away.
I made my way into Bella's room, leaving Renee out there, she hadnt spoken a word to me yet. We knew, deep down this was our fault, my fault. I should of being able to protect her and I felt so ashamed of what I was doing instead of doing just that.
I laid down next to her on the bed, pulling her to me; she was still and rigid under my grip. I tightened my hold, and even though she didn't relax into the embrace, she started to cry and to me, that was progress. So, I just cried with her.
We had all lost something in these last couple of days; it affected everyone in this family.
Bella, her innocence and the nearly perfect childhood, she had lost it all, including her voice. Hopefully, with time, she would grow into herself again; right now she was pulling into herself. Not good, for anyone at any age, but she was so young and I was worried that if she didn't start coming back to herself now, she would miss out on some important events and great experiences.
Emmett had lost his sister, parts of her, I didn't know weather he would cope well with her pulling away from him now, and after all there lives together being do close… It would be hard on him, with her being so…cold to the world, to everyone; I don't think he'd understand.
Renee, she had lost her daughter and maybe a little of herself. She seemed to be closing herself off too, becoming, almost, bitter. It was all to be expected, but not from her, I needed her the most right now and she needed me, but I couldn't be there for her when she wouldn't let me be. I wondered if she would be the happy, adventurous women she was before, it had only being a short time since it all happened and everything had so drastically changed.
Me…I had lost my best friend, my little girl and my belief that there was something good in every one all wrapped up in one. I was so wrong, who ever did this to my little girl was cold and didn't have a good bone in there body, they deserved to rot in hell.
It made me think, what if this had never happened?
Would Bella be a normal teenager?
I mean, there was no guarantee she wouldn't be, but I highly doubted it.
If you looked at her room, even at thirteen, she wanted to do so much…she was like Renee, she wanted to travel the world, go to festivals, work with children, help people…she was so kind and I prayed to god this hadnt broke her spirit, her stride.
Her room, she had posters all over her walls, pictures. Pictures of us, as a family, her friends, animals, everything good in the world, she had and hoped to see one day and be apart of.
Bella, eventually, fell asleep. I just looked at her face, she hadnt relaxed her features from the constant wince she had set her features in when I walked into the room.
Would she ever be able to just…be?
I gently shuffled us down and under the covers, pulling it up and around us both, I settled us in.
Shutting my eyes, I let it feel like none of this had happened that I was just resting with my little girl. I felt comforted for some short hours…sadly it wouldn't last…