Sneaking into the hospital, she ran into the toilet. She needed to sort herself out before going any further. She splashed some water on her face and practiced the breathing that her aunt had taught her for times she felt anxious. In for the count of 7 and out to 11. She did it a couple of times before looking at herself in the mirror. She tightened her grip on the sink before feeling ready to return.
She know she needed to be sly. She didn't want to be caught. She didn't have an excuse ready. It was still lunchtime at school so she knew she had a while before her aunt would be alerted that she wasn't there. She'd have an excuse by then.
She noticed them in the waiting room. He had tissues and gauze held over his nose. It looked like it was still bleeding.
"Aidan Harrison" Rida called and the young boy stood up. 2 other boys and 3 girls stood up with him.
"I don't think all of you need to come with him just now" Rida said and the girls agreed sitting back down.
"Right, I'm going to get a doctor to come through and take a look at this" Rida said after assessing the young boy. He nodded.
Rida quickly called on Stevie, who was at the nurse's station.
"Can you come and look at this young boy's nose? It's had a good whack" Rida said and Stevie nodded.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Nash. Im just going to have a little look at your nose" Stevie said going to move the gauze.
"Wait you aren't a relation of Ellie Nash, are you?" One of the boys next to their friend butted in.
"Yes" Stevie said, "Is that a problem?"
The boys all glanced at each others, unsure if it was a good idea to say.
"It was her who did this" one of them admitted.
"Ellie did this?" Stevie asked surprised and the boys nodded. Stevie raised her eye brow slightly. She knew her niece and this definitely wasn't something she would do.
"Okay, well I think we'll order an X-ray to be sure. It's definitely broken but I want to see exactly where" Stevie explained and the boys nodded.
Walking away from the boys, Stevie quickly grabbed her phone and messaged her niece. She was worried about her but didn't want the girl to be scared to come to her.
You okay? X
She hoped that it would be enough to show her niece that she was aware and not mad at her. Stevie had a quick look around the waiting area. She knew her niece and knew the girl would be in a state if she had done this.
Suddenly Stevie spotted someone in the far corner towards the door. The person wasn't looking at her instead in the other direction. She might be able to get to her before she noticed.
But it was too late when Stevie was about 20 feet away from the girl she noticed. Stevie noticed the girl's eyes running between her and the door - trying to decide what to do. Fight or flight.
"Come to me" Stevie whispered. "I've got you. I'm not mad, not even in the slightest."
Ellie hesitated again. This was a new thing to do the mix. What was it now? Fight, flight or comfort? Comfort won and she went flying into the arms of her aunt.
"I've got you" Stevie mumbled into the girl's head as she shook in her arms. Stevie was surprised that the girl hadn't start crying but the fear and worry on the girl's face was worse.
"Come and talk to me" Stevie encouraged guiding the girl to the staff room. Instantly Ellie starting shaking her head.
"No, no I can't" she begged.
"Hey it's okay. We don't need to worry about it now" Stevie said instantly trying to calm the clearly anxious and triggered girl down. This wasn't normal, clearly something had severely triggered Ellie to get a reaction like this.
"Stevie, that young boy's parents are here. They are asking to speak to you" Rida said.
"Em, I can't treat him. Conflict of interest, I'll go and see Dylan. He'll need to be transferred to Paige or Rash" Stevie explained. There was no way she was going to treat him especially with Ellie this way. It wasn't because she was angry at him, it was to keep them all safe and do what is best for all of them. Rida nodded and walked away.
"Listen, I really need to get back to work but I'm near. If you need me or anyone just call. Get up and get me or text/call me" Stevie said as she sat Ellie down. The girl didn't even acknowledge her aunt.
"Ellie" Stevie said a bit louder, "Did you hear me?"
Ellie gave a gently nod and Stevie rubbed the girl's shoulder before leaving.
She quickly explained the situation to Dylan who agreed she had made the right call. Not really a Doctor Nash move, but definitely the right call.
Stevie continued the rest of her shift but ensured that she regularly checked on Ellie and closely watched the treatment of the boy. It was a broken nose and Rash was going to manipulate it back into position.
Stevie felt attention on herself. She turned around and noticed the young boys and his friends pointing her out to his parents.
"Excuse me" the older man said who appeared to be in his late 40s, early 50s.
"Is it true that it was your daughter who did this?" He asked walking over to Stevie. Stevie noticed how instantly his stance changed and he projected his chest forward to look taller.
"I haven't had a chance to speak to her" Stevie said firmly choosing to ignore the assumption that Ellie was her daughter, she was good enough to.
"Though I know that it isn't something she's ever done. I can assure you that she would only ever do that if it was the last resort" Stevie explained.
"Well I suggest you get your daughter under control. We will be going to not just the school but also the police about this" he said. This worried Stevie but she couldn't let it show. What if they deemed her unfit to look after Ellie.
"Have you asked your son what happened?" Stevie asked and instantly that put him in his place.
"Em, eh no but I know he wouldn't do anything" he said.
"Well perhaps we should both find out the story and then collaborate to ensure we have the same one" Stevie explained. The gentleman nodded. Stevie was very proud of herself for how to handle this situation. She had managed to not rise and gained the man's approval.
"I'm on my lunch so I will go and speak to Ellie and find out what happened" Stevie explained and the man nodded heading off to his son.
Stevie took herself to the staff room and instantly snuggled into the young girl.
"I'm away to get lunch. What do you want?" Stevie asked. Ellie shook her head.
"Oi, that wasn't one of the options. Come on, let's head down" Stevie said taking the girl to the cafe.
She quickly ordered herself a coffee and a hot chocolate for the girl. She got two different panini which she thought they could share. She returned to the table and sat down.
Ellie was fidgeting with her fingers. Stevie grabbed them and replaced them with her own hands squeezing the girl's hands tightly.
"I can see something has really upset you and I want to help" Stevie explained. "Please tell me what happened?"
Ellie took a deep breath. She knew she needed to tell her aunt.
"It was the start of lunch. We were waiting on the boys coming so we could go to the shops. I was chatting with my friends and we were all looking at my new nails. He came at me from behind. He put his hands on my hips and I screamed. I didn't know he was there. He was trying to scare me but then it just reminded me. The girls had let go of my hand and I just flung backwards and elbowed him in the nose" Ellie admitted. She still had her eyes closed scared of her aunt's reaction.
"I completely understand why you reacted that way, especially given what you have been through. Boys should not touch you like that without asking first. I hope he's learnt his lesson now" Stevie said.
"But they all took his side. They said I was being a drama queen. That it was such a big reaction for something so small" Ellie said opening her eyes once she realised her aunt wasn't mad at her.
"They don't know your pass and they need to realise that it's not okay. You don't need to tell them what happened but it's important to say you don't know what I've been through, that's not an okay thing for anyone to do to someone" Stevie said and Ellie nodded. That made her feel so much better.
"I know it's hard but you need to tell with it" Stevie said "And I'll be here every step of the way".
Ellie nodded. She took a deep breath and finished the panini with her aunt. She quietly drank her hot chocolate. Stevie kept a close eye on her but was aware that the girl needed some time to think.
"Shall we head up" Stevie asked and Ellie nodded. She could do this.
Stevie walked Ellie over to the cubicle. It was open as Rash had just finished manipulating the nose.
"Hello, have you had a chance to speak to Aidan about what happened?" Stevie asked and they shook their heads.
"Sorry, the doctor has just left" the man explained.
"Ellie, I think you should tell them what happened. Let's see if Aidan agrees" Stevie suggested and they were all in agreement.
"I was standing with my friends and we were chatting waiting for the boys. Then Aidan came up behind me and I wasn't expecting him to be there. He put his hands kind of tight on my hips and I got a fright. I turned around and elbowed him in the nose" Ellie admitted.
"You touched her hips without her permission" the father asked and Aidan nodded looking down. That made it sound worse.
"Boys, that's not an okay thing to do especially when she doesn't know you are there. It could have been anyone" the man said instantly taking Ellie's side. That made her feel so much better.
"You don't know everyone's past and what you did can be very triggering for someone. Please think about that next time" Stevie butted in. They nodded and apologised.
"I hope you pass this onto the others who were there. I will be very upset and angry if I hear you are all being unkind to Ellie tomorrow" Stevie added and the boys nodded.
"I will too" said Aidan's dad and the mother agreed.
Stevie put her arms around Ellie and walked away.
"Doctor Nash" Stevie heard shouted behind her. She turned around.
"I am very sorry and please accept myself and my son's apology. He will write a letter to your daughter explaining why what he did was not okay" he said. He then turned to address Ellie.
"I am very sorry for my son's actions" he said and Ellie nodded.
"Thank you" she replied nervously. Stevie nodded and smiled and the gentleman returned to his son.
"Are you okay now?" Stevie asked and Ellie nodded.
They returned to the staff room and Stevie continued with her shift.
"What are you doing here?" Faith asked when she entered at 6:45 ready for her 7:00 shift.
"Eh, it's a long story" Ellie admitted running her hand through her hair.
"I have time" Faith said sitting down next to the girl "if you want to share"
Ellie nodded.
"You won't tell me aunt this bit until I'm ready, right?" Ellie asked nervously.
"Unless you or someone else is at harm, anything you tell me is in complete confidence, just between you and me" Faith explained and Ellie nodded.
"I've been chatting to this boy. He's in my year and I think I kind of like like him" Ellie said and Faith smiled. First preteen love was adorable.
"We've all been hanging out. And today, he snuck up behind me and put his hands on my hips. I got a fright and it triggered me. I elbowed him in the nose and he had to come here and get it manipulated back into place" Ellie explained.
"Eck that must have hurt. You have a right hook on you, very like your aunt" Faith said and Ellie laughed.
"But I'm sorry it was a trigger for you" Faith said "Why don't you want to speak to Stevie?"
"I told my auntie what happened. I was like in a trance but I told her afterwards and she helped me get out of it. I just haven't told her I've been speaking to Aidan and he asked me to be his girlfriend" Ellie admitted and Faith smiled. She knew Stevie would be absolutely fine with it. They were only 12 and 13 years old, it wasn't serious.
"Your auntie will be totally fine with it. What are you scared of?" Faith asked softly.
"That she'll say not to because of Jack" Ellie admitted and Faith shook her head.
"She'll probably try to speak to you about it to make sure you are okay but it's to help you" Faith explained and Ellie nodded. She decided that she would tell her aunt. She just wanted to wait for things to settle with Aidan first. She needed to find out where they stood.
"Have you kissed him yet?" Faith asked.
"What? Of course not!" Ellie said and Faith giggled. It was definitely preteen romance. Faith smiled glad to see the girl acting her own age. She couldn't believe how much the girl had changed for the better since living with Stevie. She remembered the girl going off and snogging a random boy not long after she started living with Stevie and now look at her. Finally acting 12 years old.
"Right, I need to work but text me if you need anything" Faith explained and Ellie nodded.
"Time to go" Stevie said entering the room half an hour later.
"We definitely need some TV chill time now" Stevie said as they walked to her car. What a long day it had been!
Hope this is okay! I came up with it on the plane. I played on the idea of Ellie having a boyfriend and came up with this! Hope it's okay! I love hearing your ideas and try my best to use them! Please give me some more!