AN: so still no chapter names yet! still rated T but darker chapters will be happening soon.
There was a long, deep silence before Cheri spoke and broke it. "Sir, what do you mean? There's been more than one animal attack in her life?"
Bella carefully cracked open her eye, wanting to see the officer's facial expressions. Confusion was on Gordon's face, and his lips were thin. In contrast Cheri's face was blank, giving Bella no indication as to what they were feeling. Bella quickly clenched her eyes shut as she saw Gordon's head turning towards her.
He sighed deeply, which seemed to cover up Bella's panicked breathing; suggesting she most certainly was not asleep. "I think it's best that we speak in my office."
There was a combination of footsteps and shuffling, bodies moving before finally Bella's door closed and clicked. Bella continued to stay still for the moment, just in case anyone had stayed behind. She carefully cracked her eye open again and saw that she was alone. She quickly sat up, breathing hard.
They thought she was some kind of murderer, didn't they? They thought this was all her fault and that everything that had ever happened to her was her fault too. They weren't going to help her find Lisa, or find them a new home. They were just going to lock her up, and separate her from the one person in the world she loved.
She couldn't have that. She had to take matters in to her own hands; she couldn't sit around and wait for them to lock her up. With sweat dripping from Bella's forehead, she gripped the first tube in her arm. Her body was pulsating at the sudden movements she was putting it under and her heart was racing. Carefully but at a hurried pace, Bella began to pull.
"Shit! Fuck, fuck," she whimpered.
Clear liquid sprayed from the removed tube, soaking the sheet she was on and dripping on to the floor where she dropped the disconnected tube. Grabbing the other, still connected tube, Bella pulled that one out too, hissing along with the sharp sting. Taking a deep breath, Bella prepared herself for the onslaught of pain she was about to bring on herself.
She wiggled back on the wet sheet before forcing her bruised and bandaged legs over the edge of the hospital bed and placed her stitched feet down as gently as she could on the cold floor. Bella gasped and tears blurred her vision. It only really occurred to her in that moment how damaged the soles of her feet were and she'd have to be careful to not rip her stitches.
Bella gripped tight on to the bed, trying to keep herself stable, and balanced. She took a deep breath before releasing the post she had been gripping and slowly put one foot in front of the other. The pain was horrendous, sending spikes deep in her gut and traveling down her swollen legs and to the soles of her feet.
Her eyes were on the door, trying to formulate a plan: find some clothes and shoes, get out of the hospital, find information on Lisa and then find Lisa herself. Along the way she would need some money so she could travel. She wouldn't be walking no more; her body couldn't handle it. Bella felt the wetness too late. She slipped in the puddle, and crumpled to the floor.
When Bella's eyes opened again, rather groggily, she was surprised to find herself back in bed. Only this time, she was in a different room to the one she had tried to escape. She couldn't believe she'd slipped on her IV fluid. How did she have any hope of finding Lisa if she couldn't even escape a measly hospital room?
Bella looked around her, trying to assess her new surroundings. There were no curtains around her bed, like there had been on her previous one and there were two doors in her room: one to the left, and one to the right. There was a small T.V on the wall, and a window beside her bed, underneath a single chair.
Bella gasped in surprise when she caught sight of Officer Cheri, who was sat in the single chair. "Careful, you might end up hurting yourself," she said somewhat sarcastically.
"I didn't see you there," Bella mumbled, embarrassed.
Cheri smiled and immediately pulled a small notepad out of her pocket, without preamble. Her face turned serious as she looked at Bella with deep blue eyes. "I understand you just woke up, but it's very important that I ask you these questions; it will help with our investigation. Please, take your time: I know that you're in pain. After the questioning, we can get you some more pain medication."
Bella stared at Cheri for a moment, glancing over her ombre hair and pale skin. Her hair was pinned up but Bella could see where the dark brown at the roots blended into caramel blonde. With a small sigh, Bella looked away from Cheri's probing stare and instead looked to the T.V on the wall.
"Bella, I want to know, before we start, why were you out of bed? Were you trying to run away?"
Bella stayed silent. She couldn't trust these people. They thought she was a murderer. "Bella, it's okay. You can trust me. Please, I just want to help you."
Bella looked back at Officer Cheri, keeping her face blank. "How long have I been in here?"
The question seemed to throw the officer off guard. She flicked through her pages and quickly scribbled something down on the paper before answering. "You've been in this room for two days, but overall you've been here a week."
Bella's heart kicked sharply. A week. "Have you found Lisa?"
"Not yet."
One week. Lisa had been missing for seven whole days… or was it more? She'd been here for a week, but she'd been stumbling through the forest for a day at least, hadn't she? Eight days, nearly nine? Oh God. She could be hurt, or… Dead? No. Lisa was strong, and brave. Where ever she was, Bella had to believe she was okay.
Bella nodded finally and looked to Officer Cheri. She was surprised to find that something in the officer's face looked tense and… off. She seemed to sense that Bella was on to her, and sat up in her chair with a soft smile. "You know; you remind me of myself; when I was your age. I was always getting hurt: falling over, bumping into things and bruising my skin." She paused for a moment and swallowed softly. "Bella, I need to ask you something."
Playing with her hands, Bella mumbled, "go for it."
Officer Cheri nodded before she began to flick through the pages of her notepad. She paused a moment to write something on to a page before she looked up at Bella again. "Bella-"
The door opened, cutting off Officer Cheri from whatever she was going to ask next. Gordon and a doctor walked in and over to Bella's bed. The doctor started to check Bella's machines and vitals while Gordon stood next to Officer Cheri, still sat in the chair.
Gordon smiled calmly at Bella but addressed his question to the doctor at her side. "Well doc, everything good?"
The doctor smiled as he checked Bella's pulse which seemed to have gotten quicker since Gordon's entry. "Yes, nothing too dangerous."
Gordon quickly bobbed his head in a nod. "Good. Not to be rude, doctor, but can I kindly ask you to give myself, Bella and the officer an hour to do some questioning?"
The doctor looked down at Bella before nodding. "She's been through a lot, but she should be fine. I'll be back in an hour, as I have some tests to run."
With that the doctor left the room, leaving just the three of them staring at one another. "Bella, how are you feeling?" Gordon asked, clasping his hands together.
"I feel ok," she replied.
Gordon moved closer to her bed. "I know this is going to be difficult to hear but, I have to bring it up."
Bella swallowed, knowing what he was going to say. "Your whole life has been… sad and… difficult. You've been through one hell, and then sent straight to another. But there's something that sticks out on your record."
Bella looked straight in to his eyes, waiting to hear what she already knew he was going to say.
Letting out a small cough, he spoke calmly and slowly, letting his voice fill the room. "Bella, there have been tragic accidents that have happened all around you, your entire life, and well… going over your records, myself and my fellow police officers have agreed that it's suspicious."
Tilting her head, Bella's face was completely void of any emotion. "What are you insinuating?" Her voice was hard and cold, without Bella's conscious decision for it to be.
"Well, what I'm saying is: these accidents, they've been reported as animal attacks, due to the grizzly nature... well, look, that doesn't matter. What's important here is: we feel there might be something more to this."
Bella struggled to understand what the man was saying. Her eyes clouded over and tears began to fall. She was terrified that they were going to lock her up, and stop her from finding Lisa. "I can't help it if the devil follows me everywhere!" She screeched and her voice broke, which seemed to prompt Officer Cheri to lean forward and grab her hand.
"I'm very sorry Bella. It's just that we've looked over all the cases and while I can say that some were... vile, others just didn't make sense." He took a deep breath, racketing up Bella's nerves. "We believe someone is after you; someone who wants to cause you pain. We think they –whoever they are- have deliberately cut you off from all ties, and now that everyone you have cared about is gone, or in Lisa's case: missing, they could be coming for you –their intended target from the beginning- next."
There was a silence as Bella cried softly to herself. "W-what?" She gaped, shocked. "You think someone killed my parents? My friends? My… my..." Closing her eyes, Bella began to shake her head from side to side.
"Bella, again, I am very sorry. I didn't mean to bring up the past like this, but it's best you understand the full picture. What I need to know is: during the… animal attacks, did you ever hear anything? Anything at all?"
Wiping her eyes, Bella looked at Cheri who still held her hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze. "No, nothing. Ever."
Gordon's face seemed to grow sour. "That's all I needed to hear. I've decided that you will be going into protective custody," he announced suddenly, startling her.
Bella let go of Cheri's hand in surprise. "What? I am not going into protective custody! I don't need to. There's nothing to protect me from, and I need to find Lisa!" Bella panicked and began to sit up, before gasping in pain and going still.
"Bella, please don't move. You've been through a lot: physically, emotionally and mentally. I promise you that this is only temporary, and we will find Lisa."
"Will you!? I can't go into protective custody while she's still out there!" Bella clenched her fists, anger boiling its way through her skin, trying to chase out the fear.
"I understand that this is difficult for you, but please just take it easy. We will find your sister. You have my word on that. This is for your own protection, as much as hers. Please just let us help you."
Bella sat in silence for a few moments, debating the pros and cons of agreeing to the protective custody. She was just about to answer when Officer Cheri's radio blazed to life. "Officer Cheri, this is Officer Dara. I can't seem to reach the Captain. We've found something that we think may belong to the missing girl: Lisa, in green woods. Over."
The instant Lisa was mentioned Bella sat up straight and stared at Cheri. "They found something?"
Bella's gut was tight. If they found something that belonged to her, that meant that she had lost it. In a struggle? Please, God, please let her be okay.
"Copy that, Dara. The Captain is here, and we're on our way over."
There was a few seconds silence before the radio crackled again. "Negative; it's already on its way to you. We need the girl to identify it. Over."
Fear began to pull at Bella harder and panic rose in her stomach, making her feel sick and dizzy. Tears began to fall down her face. "Is… I- is it her?"
Cheri picked up the radio again, her gaze sympathetic. "Officer Dara, can you confirm: is it a body? Over."
The reply was instant. "Not a body, Officer. A jumper. Over."
The panic, fear and breaking of her heart began to slow down and disappear only to be turned into hope. "If it's her top, does that mean she's nearby?" Bella asked, staring at the two officers.
A loud knock startled her. "Captain," an officer greeted as he stepped through the door. He held in his hand a plastic, clear see-through bag.
Bella gasped. "That's hers! That's Lisa's! Have you found anything else?" Bella asked desperately.
The officer shook his head. "No ma'am, we haven't. But we now have a positive ID on the jumper. We're on the right track."
Gordon put his hand on the officer's shoulder. "Good work, Officer." He looked towards Bella and smiled softly. "Bella, this is good news. We're close: close to finding her." He then turned back to the officer holding Lisa's jumper. "All right, we need to double our team."
He suddenly turned to Bella again. She was going to get whiplash if she kept following his head movements. "Bella, I still feel it's for the best, just in the meantime, for you to go into protective custody."
Bella bit into her lip, worrying it between her teeth before she finally sighed in resignation. "Okay, just find my sister. Please."
Gordon nodded his head. "We will: you have my word, Bella. So here's the arrangements: you'll be staying here for the weekend, so the doctor can do some more tests and ensure that you're healing, and will continue to do so. Then on Monday morning, we'll be moving you to a small town in Juneau, Alaska. From there you will be under the secretive supervision of Sherriff Kate Denali."
AN: Short and not very much going on more or less a kind of filler so to speak.
Thanks to LeighJ11 for being my amazing beta as always!