Safe Haven

Chapter 7: Fractured Lives

I waited in that room by myself for what felt like hours. Then a nurse came in carrying a clipboard. He had on Burgundy scrubs and white shoes. "Hey, my name is Derrick. I'm just here totals a look at you arm before the doctor comes in." He said calmly which helped me relax. "Can you stand up for me?" He asked kindly. I stood up and held out my arm for him to see. "Well, I'm not going to lie to you, we'll have to amputate it." He said while winking. "I'm joking. But its definitely broken, so we are gonna need to operate on it. Not a big deal at all. Nothing to worry about.". I appreciated him being fully honest with me. Telling me straight up what was going to happen but also comforting me. He left soon after but left the clip board hanging on the door.

My curiosity was peaked. I pulled out the chart and started reading what they had to say about me. I read what Derrick wrote, and it said my arm was fractured in four places. The more I thought about it the more my arm hurt. I was reading on and I noticed it said something about how the treatment patient was now a ward of the state. I wanted to read on but the doctor walked in and saw me reading the report. "Ahh curious are we? I understand. You must me pretty shaken up right now." He said while gently taking the clip board from me. "What is going to happen to me?" I asked clutching my arm and starting to feel tears filling my eyes again. "Well, we are going to do a very minor surgery to-". I cut him off, "no I mean about after. Where will the three of us go?" I started to feel panicked. "Okay, they haven't updated me on anything. I promise. But I promise you that you will be okay." He said not making me feel any better. What did he know? He was just a doctor.

For the next half an hour the doctor and a few nurses poked and prodded at my arm. They told me they were going to have to put in splints to help my arm heal correctly. A nurse lead me down the hall to another room and put me under anesthesia. When I awoke, I was in a different room. One I hadn't been in yet. It had a nice bed, a tv in the corner, and people sitting around. At first I didn't recognize anyone but I slowly made out Gavin, Bernadette, Shelby, and Reece. They were all saying things to me but I couldn't understand any of it. I felt so confused and scared I started to cry again. I started talking but I didn't really know what I was saying nor did I have control of it. Finally a nurse came in and said something and everyone but Reece left. She crawled up in the bed with me. I instantly felt better and soon fell asleep.

When I woke back up no one was in the room with me and it was dark. I panicked "Help! Help!" I screamed while trying to sit up. A nurse ran in the room "You're okay! You're okay! Ma'am your safe, your just coming out of anesthesia. Your visitors are all outside, are you ready for them to come in?" She said while holding my good hand. "Yes, thank you" I said still struggling to form words. She left the room but it was only a few seconds before Bernadette and Gavin entered. "Hey love, how are you feeling?" Bernadette said rushing into the room. "Okay I guess. What's going on? What's going to happen to us?" I responded still feeling panicked. They both looked at each other and didn't answer. "Where's Charlie?" I asked. For some reason I hadn't thought of him. My heart sank as they still ignored my questions. "Where's Charlie!" I asked louder and more stern. Bernadette walked up to me and took my hand. "Charlie didn't make it." She said softly as tears ran down her face.

I lost all control. One second I was on the bed next I was on my feet screaming while nurses swarmed in to calm me down. I tried shoving people out of the way but I couldn't seem to get my arms to force them out of the way. Gavin stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me and I collapsed in his arms. I had stopped screaming and had reverted to balling and laying in his arms. We stayed like this for a few minutes. The nurses made me get back on the bed so they could check my arm. Everything was fine so they said I could get dressed. Gavin handed me a bag with some clothes and hygiene products. I asked Bernadette to stay in the room to help me get dressed. My balance was off so getting my clothes on was quite a task.

After a we got my tee shirt and sweatpants on, someone knocked on the door. It was a man and a woman. They both had clip boards and didn't look very friendly. "Excuse me ladies were from social services and we're here to talk to Haven about yesterday evening . Ma'am I'm going to have to leave." The lady said talking to Bernadette. "Can she please stay?" I asked already starting to get upset. "I'm sorry we have to talk to you alone." The guy answered abruptly. Bernadette hugged me and left the room. "Okay tell us what happened last night." The guy said not even looking up from his clipboard. "Well I got juice poured on me at school, got sent home, they called my dad to ask if everything was okay at home, he got mad and beat me and my brother." I said quickly and with an attitude.". "Has he beaten you before?" The lady asked. "I'm done talking." I said. "Okay. Your father has been taken into custody and charged with multiple counts of assault. The two of you will be moved to a group home later on tonight. You will stay there until your adopted or you age out. That's all we have for you today." And with that they walked out.

Reece walked in the room. I stood up and ran to her. "I'm so scared, Hav." Tears started to fill both of our eyes. I couldn't think of anything to say so we just stood there holding each other. We finally sat down on my bed and talked. "I just can't believe Charlie's gone. Yesterday morning we were all goofing around and carrying on. What are we supposed to do now? Where are we going to go?" Reece said through tears. We spent a while talking about Charlie and what would happen to us next.

"Did the social services people talk to you yet?" I asked. "No I've spent the day avoiding them. Why?"She asked whipping a tear of her cheek. "They just told me that we are going to a group home until we get adopted." I said not able to make eye contact. I couldn't bear to see the look on her face. "Haven, we are wards of the state. Our family is gone, we have nothing." Reece said looking horrified. I leaned over on her. "Reece, we still have each other.".