"I… Ummm…" I said hesitantly looking down at my hands. Slowly I lifted my head to look at Dr. Cullen who had a reassuring smile on his face. "Ummm… Ok."
"So, I'm going to go ahead and give you a gown and have a nurse show you to one of the rooms." Carlisle said as he opened a cabinet behind his desk. He handed me the gown then pressed a button on the phone. "Susan, can you come show Miss Swan to exam room 1?"
"Right away doctor," Replied the voice over the intercom. Not even two minutes later a middle aged woman with long rich brown hair knocked then entered the office. "Miss Swan?" the nurse asked looking at me. I nodded and she continued. "If you will follow me, I will show you to the exam room."
I followed her down the hall that was lined with doors. There were plaques on the walls next to each door, telling you what room they were; like any standard hospital. "Here we are," Said Susan. "Go ahead and change into the gown. Dr. Cullen will be in shortly." She instructed as she opened the exam room for me. She then left, closing the door behind her.
I quickly changed, leaving my pants on. I knew he would probably want them off, but at the moment, I felt more comfortable. There was a light knock on the door as I hopped up onto the exam table. The door opened a few seconds later and Carlisle walked in.
"So, I got a better and more accurate copy of your medical history. I would like to do a full exam to make sure everything healed properly."
"I, um, is that really necessary?" I asked nervously.
"It is Bella, I'm sorry. I will tell you everything that we have to do, and you can tell me where you want to start, and then we can go from there, OK?" he asked looking me in the eye.
"Oh… OK." I stuttered out, looking away from him.
"OK Bella. So, you have had quite a few broken bones, so I want to go ahead and take x-rays of all those bones to make sure they are correctly in place. So, both arms, your left leg, both sides for the ribs, as well as your left shoulder." He paused taking in my reactions. I cringed at the mention of all my broken bones. When he saw that I was still calm, he continued.
"I would also like to take a look at all of your scars. That includes the ones that are not charted on your records Bella. OK?" he said ordering more so than asking me.
"Yes sir." I said reverting back to my more cooperative and scared personality.
"There is nothing to be afraid of Bella, I just want to make sure you are healthy and get you better.
"Now, there is one last test that I believe will be very pertinent to this exam. If you feel more comfortable, I can get another doctor to do the exam, bit I find that I must ask you to allow us to do a pelvic exam and a rape kit."
"WHAT? WHY?" I nearly screamed. Why would he want that? Why would he need it done?
"Bella, please calm down. It is necessary and you know it. Please don't deny it. Make it easier on yourself."
"I… I think I would prefer you to do the exam." I said looking up at him. "I, I mean if that is alright with you?"
"Of course it is Bella. Now, we should start. These are just a base test, so if I find something out of the ordinary, I may want to do some more tests, okay?" I nodded. "Now where would you like to start?"
"I think that I would like to start with the rape kit and pelvic exam first. Get it done and over with." I said shyly, avoiding his gaze yet again.
"Of course Bella. I will go get the kit and a nurse. Can you please take off the rest of your clothes and get up on the table. I will be right back." He said before leaving the room.
I slowly shed the rest of my clothes and folded them neatly, setting them on the chair with the rest of my clothes. When I finished, I sat down on the edge of the table. There was a knock a few minutes later and Carlisle walked back in with Susan in tow.
As I watched Carlisle walk back in with the kit, the fear came back. What would they think? How would they react?
"Bella, it's ok. We're not going to hurt you. We, in no way, will think any less of you. Shhh, honey it's ok." Susan said as she took my hand. She wiped the tears away; tears that I hadn't realized had escaped.
"Bella, I will walk you through this step by step. I will let you know what I'm going to do before I do it ok?"
I nodded my head, wishing it was over already. "Ok Bella, we're going to begin. Susan is going to come and stand behind me. Go ahead and put your feet up in the stirrups and just relax."
I lifted my legs and set my heels in the stirrups. My knees were together trying to keep my privacy.
"Bella, honey, you need to open your legs for me, the sooner you do, the sooner it will be over. " Susan said as she rested a hand on my knee.
I slowly relaxed my legs and let them open. As soon as they were open, I heard a gasp. The tears started rolling down my cheeks as the memories came back.
"Oh Bella, are you in any pain?" I heard Carlisle ask.
"No." I sniffed.
"Ok Bella. Now, I'm going to take a swab and take a sample from the inside of your vagina. You shouldn't fell a thing ok sweetie. Now just relax."
I heard a little bit of rustling and then felt a slight pressure at my entrance. I stiffened. "It's ok Bella. It's just a swab. There's not going to be any pain. That's it sweetie. Just relax." Susan said as I started to relax again. She squeezed my knee and I focused on that. Not even five minutes later they were done with the pelvic exam and rape kit.
"There you go Bella. All done." Carlisle said pulling the sheet back over my legs. "Go ahead and put your panties back on and have Susan tie your gown, then we will finish with your x-rays, okay sweetie?"
"K…" I said weakly, unsure.
Carlisle left the room, leaving Susan and I alone in the small exam room. I slowly got down from the exam table, walking over to my clothes and grabbing my underwear. I pulled them on, trying to ignore Susan. My back was to her when I heard yet another gasp. I suddenly felt a very warm hand moving across my back.
"Oh Bella, what happened to you?"
"I already told Carlisle. I am accident prone. I fell down the stairs." I said defensively, trying to close the back of the gown, only to drop my arms and gasp in pain.
"Bella, there is now way that all of these bruises, and the scars all over your back were caused by a fall down the stairs." Susan said as she tied the back of the gown. "It's not your fault that this happened to you. There are people out there who are willing to help you, to help protect you."
"No one can help me. No one ever believed me to begin with. It was my own fault anyways." I replied looking down at the floor. I turned around, avoiding her gaze, and asked, "Can we please finish the testing?"
"Of course Bella. Follow me." She said leading me out the door and to the x-ray room. "Here we are. Go ahead and have a seat there," she said pointing to a chair, "and Carlisle will be in shortly."
I sat in the chair for a few minutes waiting for Carlisle to come in. I jumped when I heard a knock on the door. My head whipped around to look at the door, panic in my eyes. When I saw Carlisle walk in, I tried to calm down, to no avail.
Carlisle saw the panic in my eyes and slowly approached me. "It's ok Bella. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help you. I want to help you Bella, nothing more." As he talked calmly, I felt my body begin to relax. "There you go. That's it. Now, I will explain what needs to be done with the x-rays.
"Susan told me about the bruises and scars on your back. Can I please see them?" He asked softly, kindly.
I slowly nodded my head, stood up and turned my back towards him. He gently untied the gown and let it fall open. "Oh Bella. Who did this to you?" He whispered. "Please Bella, let us help you."
"You can't. It's not in your government's jurisdiction. And anyways, why would you believe me? No one else did. They would just laugh at me and say it was impossible, that he was the chief of police and that there was no way he would do that to his own…" I stopped gasping, realizing what I was about to say.
"His what Bella! His wife? No you're too young. His girlfriend?" The Carlisle gasped understanding. "Oh God Bella. It wasn't… it was your father wasn't it?"
"No, no, no! Please Stop! Please, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Don't hurt me PLEASE!" I screamed as the black started to close in around me, taking me to my happy place.