It had been a week and Sofia had been slowly drifting in and out of consciousness, the doctors said it was normal. They said her body was trying to regain its strength, and that it was still in shock. They said that sleep was good for her, but it made everyone nervous. When she was awake, she tried to be cheerful and present, but often times she just looked lost. She was quiet, and often lost in her own thoughts. She tried to hide it, but everyone could see past it.
“You’re sister has a long road ahead of her,” the doctor said to Liam, as he stood in the hotel with Danielle and Harry, “She’s been through a very traumatic event…. Between the beating and the rapes,” Harry cringed at the words, tensing. Danielle put her hand on his forearm to calm him.
“She’s just … you have to let her do this the way she’s going to do this. She’ll come around, but…” the doctor said, his sentence drifting. He was looking at the family with sadness in his eyes, he didn’t know how to help them.
“She’s lucky to be alive,” the doctor said, “I think she’ll be able to get out of here in another two weeks or so, and with time… she should start to act normally. But, she’ll never be the same after this… that’s something you have to understand.”
“What about physically?” Liam asked, “Will she be able to get around and everything in two weeks?”
“Yes, her knees and ankles were all sprains,” the doctor said, “No broken bones, she’ll be okay. She’ll be weak, and she’ll need some help, but she should be okay as far as getting around.”
“How do we help her?” Danielle asked, “Should we talk to her about it? Should we ask her questions?”
“I wouldn’t,” the doctor said, “I would just let her come to you. She needs to deal with this in her own way, or she’ll never heal. Just be there for her, be patient with her, love her through it. I have no doubt that she’ll be okay in the end, she has an excellent support system.”
“Thank you doctor,” Liam said, shaking his hand before the 3 of them turned down the hallway to leave.
The entire group had been taking turns going to the hospital. The nurse only let about 3 people in at a time, because she didn’t want to overwhelm Sofia. Liam and Danielle would come in the morning, Danielle bringing breakfast. Then in the afternoon, Eleanor and Louis would come; soon Emily and Zayn would join them. Louis and Zayn would stay for Sofia’s physical therapy, if she was feeling strong enough, the nurse would come in and help her stretch and move her legs and arms. Zayn and Louis would help and encourage her. Niall and Ella would come at night, bringing dinner. Harry never left. He would stay all day, only going home at night because he wasn’t allowed to stay over, but he was always back first thing in the morning. He desperately wanted to help Sofia, because he saw right past her act, but he wasn’t sure how to. Often he would just sit with her, holding her hand as she drifted in and out of sleep.
***
“Hey kiddo,” Liam said, walking into the hospital room followed by Dani and Harry. Sofia was awake and staring out the window, she looked over at her brother and smiled as widely as she could.
“Hi big brother,” she said weakly.
“How’re you feeling today?” Liam asked, taking a seat next to her. Harry and Danielle also took seats.
“I think I’ll be able to stay up today,” Sofia said, “I feel a little stronger. Maybe I’ll actually be able to have conversations with people.”
“That’s great, Sof,” Dani said, smiling at her sister-in-law.
“Don’t push yourself babe,” Harry said, softly, “We all understand that you need your rest.” Sofia smiled at him.
