As soon as it hit 7:30, Stevie was straight out of the door. She needed to get to her niece. She had checked in with Faith when her shift had started at 7 and was desperate to get to the girl. Faith had explained that the girl hadn't been sick throughout the night and that she had left her in her bed.
Stevie quickly arrived at Faith's house and Natalia let her in.
"I've been keeping an eye on her. I think that she is okay" Natalia explained.
"Thanks, Nat" Stevie said before running two steps at a time up to Faith's bedroom.
"I'm back, baby" Stevie said pulling the girl into her arms. She used her free hand to check the girl's temperature and noticed that she was still warm and quite clammy.
"I just want to go home" Ellie cried out. She hated feeling this bad.
"Come on then" Stevie said as she helped the girl stand up and near enough dragged her down the stairs.
"Nat, that's us leaving" Stevie called. Natalia replied and quickly before Stevie closed the door behind her.
Stevie quickly got the girl into the car, and they drove home. Once they arrived, Stevie got the girl straight to bed.
"No, you need to change your pyjamas" Stevie said. She found a pair of summer pyjamas that she had and changed the girl into them not wanting the girl sat in her own sweat.
"I'll sleep with you for just a few hours" Stevie said. This was what she normally did when she had worked nights. She knew that she needed to get back into a normal routine again. Stevie quickly changed before getting into bed with the girl. The girl was already sleeping but instantly snuggled into her aunt.
They slept for a couple of hours before Stevie's alarm woke them up.
"Come on, let's go to the living room" Stevie stated, "How do you feel?"
Ellie shrugged. She wasn't feeling so sick anymore.
"I don't think I'll be sick, but I still don't feel well" She admitted when she noticed that her aunt was waiting for a verbal answer. Stevie nodded.
They sat down on the sofa and turned the TV on. Stevie noticed a wall going up with Ellie and the girl curled her legs inwards and hide herself. Stevie decided to give the girl some time. She walked to the kitchen and started making them some lunch.
"Try to eat this" Stevie said placing down two slices of toast with butter in front of the girl. Stevie could see the hesitation on the girl's face.
"I know you are nervous but I think you should give it a shot" Stevie said and Ellie decided that she needed to trust her aunt. She bit her lip before taking a bit.
Stevie relaxed into her seat and ate her own lunch whilst keeping a close eye on the girl. She wanted to catch up with the girl but knew that she needed time first.
After lunch, Stevie quickly got on with some housework – not that she did it much – and ensured that everything from the last few days were up to date and sorted. She returned to the living room, glad that the girl hadn't been sick and snuggled up with her.
"What's going on in your head?" Stevie asked softly and Ellie shrugged.
"I'm angry at myself" Ellie admitted into the blanket that was wrapped around her.
"Why?" Stevie asked confused.
"Because I'm never sick and I've been so embarrassing the last few days" Ellie admitted.
"Not at all" Stevie explained. "Sweetie, you are a child, and you are sick. I am the adult and my job is to look after you. You haven't done anything wrong, you have absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about."
Nervously Ellie nodded before deciding that she needed to put this behind her. She knew that she was an overthinker and she needed to work on strategies to overcome this. She hoped that she would become more confident to speak about this with her aunt in the future.
Stevie put her arms around her niece and hugged her tightly. She just wanted the young girl to be a child at this point. She wanted her to have no worries and allow Stevie to do all the worrying for her.
Following week
By the next week, Ellie was back at school and feeling a lot better. Stevie had been off work over the weekend, but they had used that time to catch up on sleep and ensure that Ellie was feeling a lot better.
Ellie had finished school and Wednesday and just wanted her aunt. The last two nights, she had walked to Faith's house and spent the evening there, but she just wanted some time on her own and time with her aunt tonight. Every night, Faith and Stevie ended up speaking and it would be nearly 9 o'clock by the time they got home. She would get ready for bed and had very little time to speak. She didn't want that tonight, secretly she just wanted her aunt to herself but was unsure how to tell her without sounding selfish.
"Do you know Ellie is in the staff room?" Paige said and Stevie shook her head.
"Oh, I didn't know that. I'll go and check on her" Stevie said before leaving the cubicles to check on the girl.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Stevie asked.
"I just wanted to come here tonight" Ellie admitted. Stevie could see that the girl was nervous of something.
"Okay, well I finish at 6 so I'll be about 2 hours. Do you have homework that you can do just now?" Stevie asked softly. She didn't want the girl worrying that she knew that something was up. She knew that it would have to wait until she was finished.
As soon as Stevie's shift finished, she rushed to the staff room and gather up the girl.
"Come on sweets" Stevie said as she grabbed what she needed from her locker. Ellie smiled and followed her aunt. She loved how aware of her her aunt was. Stevie would always make sure that she got away on time if the girl messaged her to say she needed to speak or if she turned up at the hospital. She knew that her aunt always put her first.
They arrived home and all changed into their loungewear. Stevie quickly put the food in the oven before returning to the living room. She sat on the sofa next to her niece. She put her arm around her and let her lean into her. She didn't want to attack the girl but give her time.
"I came to the hospital because I wanted us to get home sharp tonight. I've missed you" Ellie said, and Stevie smiled. She squeezed the girl's shoulder's encouragingly and nodded showing her that she was listening.
"I suppose I kind of wanted to speak to you about something to, I guess" Ellie admitted nervously, and Stevie nodded.
"Whenever you are ready" Stevie said softly before allowing them to relax into a soft silence until the girl caught her thoughts.
"Well, this is kind of weird I suppose, but well I don't really know why it's happening or if I'm doing something wrong but my pants have had like gooey stuff on them. But it's not pee" Ellie tried to explain as she played with the ring on her aunt's finger. Stevie nodded.
"That's discharge, it's perfectly normal. It's basically your vagina cleaning itself" Stevie explained.
"Why has it just started recently?" Ellie asked.
"It's just another way of saying that your period will start soon. Now it's started, it'll basically not stop" Stevie explained "You can put a pantyliner on if you think it's really bad. I never but it's up to you."
"It doesn't really bother me, I just didn't know what it was. I was kind of a bit worried, but I felt that I could ask you and I knew that you would answer it for me" Ellie explained, and Stevie smiled. She was glad that the girl was relaxing around her.
"I'm glad you felt that you could tell me" Stevie said as she pressed the girl closer to her and kissed the top of her head.
"I suppose because I've always been on my own, sometimes things come to me, and I just feel like you would know the answer" Ellie stated and Stevie nodded.
"No worries, please don't feel it's a big deal when you need to ask me something. You can always ask me anything" Stevie explained, and Ellie nodded.
"I love you" Ellie said, and Stevie smiled.
"I love you too, more than you realise." Stevie said kissing the girl on the top of the head.
"I wondered what it felt like to love someone. I've never loved anyone and no one has loved me. For a while, I wondered if the first person I loved would become my husband but then I realised that no one would ever love me," Ellie admitted.
"You are such a loving little girl and I promise you that more and more people will love you" Stevie said.
"Do you think I'll be weird when I'm older because no one loved me as a child" Ellie asked as she slipped down to rest her head on Stevie's chest, and Stevie thought for a minute trying to understand what she asked.
"Well, you know what love feels like now so that will help. You might have some struggles because well this is a bit complicated, but I don't think you formed an attachment with anyone as a baby which can make things harder as you get older. But attachment issues at birth affect people in different ways so it's harder to identify. I promise that I will always be there for you and make sure that you get the help needed" Stevie said kissing the top of the girl's head again and Ellie nodded. She trusted her aunt and enjoyed having these conversations with her.
"Is it weird that sometimes I want to have these moments with you? That sometimes I get excited about talking about like growing up with you because I know you'll be there" Ellie asked.
"Not at all. You aren't used to these feelings and they are positive. Of course, you are going to want to have that feeling again" Stevie explained.
"I want to hold onto these moments forever because I'm sure there will become a time when you are cheeky with me and fall out with me. But when that happens, I want you to always remember these moments" Stevie said, and Ellie nodded. She couldn't imagine falling out with her auntie but she knew that it would happen at some point.
"I better go and sort dinner. I can't have you going to bed starving, can I?" Stevie said and Ellie smiled. She moved slightly allowing her aunt to get up. Stevie quickly sorted dinner before bringing it through to the girl.
They tucked into dinner and watched the TV at the same time.
"Right, bath time" Stevie said as she cleaned up the dishes. Ellie rolled her eyes.
"I just want this stupid cast off so I can have a shower" Ellie complained.
"Well hopefully it won't be too much longer" Stevie reasoned, and Ellie rolled her eyes before dragging herself off the sofa.
"You are meant to be a doctor; can't you just magically fix it" Ellie muttered as she walked off to the living room.
"Oh I wish I could" Stevie said laughing. The girl could be so dramatic at time. Ellie returned out of the bathroom over 30 minutes later and was towel drying her hair.
"Would you dry my hair?" Ellie asked softly and Stevie nodded. They wondered into Stevie's room and the girl sat in between her aunt's legs whilst she dried her hair.
"Do you think I'd suit curls in my hair?" Ellie asked nervously.
"Yeah, I think you would, like what I sometimes do?" Stevie asked and Ellie nodded.
"Would you like me to do it now?" Stevie asked and Ellie nodded.
"I've never had anything done to my hair" Ellie admitted.
"Well, I'm not expert but I can teach you a few things" Stevie said, and Ellie smiled. She would love that!
Stevie put some soft curls in the girl's hair.
"If you want, I'm off tomorrow so I can go over it again in the morning" Stevie suggested, and Ellie nodded.
"Well, you show me how to put some of my make up on too? Just a little bit, you know to cover the spots" Ellie admitted, and Stevie nodded.
"Of course, your mum wasn't spotty as a teenager so I doubt you will but if you do I'll take you to the doctors to get cream if it's bothering you" Stevie explained as she put her hand over the girl's face. The girl's skin didn't feel too oily so Stevie didn't think she'd get many spots but knew how self-conscious girls could.
"Thank you" Ellie said before snuggling into her aunt.
"I'm tired now, I'm going to go to bed" Ellie admitted.
"Good girl, you get settled and I'll join you very shortly" Stevie said kissing the girl on the head and leaving her in the room.
Hope this is okay :) This is set before Faith's flashback episode. I'm not completely sure how I'll factor in that episode or Faith taking the drugs. Let me know if you have any ideas :)