💫She's Different💫

Olivia's Talk With Bella

Therapy
"So you can sit here and be quiet, you can talk to me, or we could just play a game okay? You seem sad."
"I am sad." I wiped a tear from my eye and took out some play dough.
"Do you wanna play and talk?"
"Sure, I guess." I rolled the play dough into a circle and put it on the table.
"Why are you sad?"
"Because, I hurt myself." I showed her my arm that was blue and she made a shocked face.
"What happened?"
"I had an accident!" I put my head down and cried. She went and called my mommy. I could tell because I heard the phone ringing.
"Why are you telling her? It was an accident! I only had an accident."
*******
My Office (Olivia's Perspective)
"She has a bruise?!"
"She claims she had an accident. I was wondering if you knew anything."
"Unfortunately, I know nothing about this accident. The last time I was home with her she was moody but she wasn't hurt in any way. I check her for cuts and things like that as often as I can."
"She was moody?"
"Mhmm. She got angry a lot this past weekend. She told me that it was about her dad. That is most likely the truth. Bella wouldn't lie about that."
"Bella isn't a liar, she just is the kind of person to not say what's going on. She keeps it all in until she eventually explodes and the thing that's tough about her is that she only lets out pieces of the issue so you can leave her alone."
"I've come to realize that about her. I always stress talking to me if somethings wrong or if she's feeling sad but she rarely does it. Where's Bella?"
"She's back inside the room. I gave her a couple of minutes to herself so she could calm down. She's playing again so she must've calmed down."
"Is it okay if I speak to her?"
"Yes, Of course. Bella, mommy wants to speak with you."
"Hi mommy." She said sadly. My baby.
"Are you feeling better?"
"No, I want you."
"I'll be home for dinner today, I promise. And then you could talk to me. How does that sound?"
"It's okay."
"Alright. Finish up your session, I'll see you soon okay?"
"Okay mommy."
"I love you."
"Love you too." Amanda was looking at me with a sense of worry.
"Sorry about that."
"No, it's okay. What's wrong with Bella?"
"She has mysteriously acquired a bruise and she says it's an accident."
"Oh no. Who hurt her?"
"I don't know. I'm leaving early so I can set this straight. No wonder she's been so moody. Some one was probably hurting her."
"If It doesn't work I'd talk to her for you."
"Aww, Thanks. You know she wants to have a sleepover with you."
"She does? Jesse would love that."
*****
Home (Bella's Perspective)
"Thank you Lucy." I ate my pasta quietly and sadly.
"You okay Bella?"
"Not really."
"Good evening." My mom came in with some bags and stuff and took her shoes off.
"Good evening mommy!" Noah said.
"Hey Olivia!"
"Hi guys!" She came over and gave Noah a kiss and she played with my curls.
"Should we braid this hair missy?"
"Yeah, I guess." She gave me a kiss on the forehead and ran her fingers through my hair.
"How has Bella been today?"
"She's been good. Just super quiet."
"I see."
"Mommy, I wanna hug." I said. She picked me up and gave me a hug.
"I really need to talk to Bella. We need to talk don't we?"
"Yeah."
"Is there anything I could do?"
"No, it's okay I can handle it. You should start heading home, it's dark. Would you like a ride?"
"No, it's okay Liv. Good Night guys. Be good okay?"
"Okay."
"Okay Lucy." She left and Noah went into his room and mommy stayed with me.
"Hi Baby."
"Hi." I pulled down my sleeve more and looked at mommy.
"Why are you stretching your sleeve like that?" I didn't answer because I didn't want to lie to her.
"Is that your bruise?" I nodded.
"Let's go get ready for bed. You can show me it when we get ready to shower."
"No." I said quietly.
"You have to show me the bruise so I can help you."
"No. I don't wanna. I'm not going to shower." I stepped back scared.
"I'm not going to hurt you sweetie. You have to take a shower tonight."
"But please."
"But please what?!" I looked at her sadly and sucked my thumb.
"What is it Bella? You can tell me." I ran into my room and locked the door.
"Hey, unlock this door. We don't lock doors here."
"You gonna be mean to me."
"What are you talking about? Unlock the door." I opened it and ran behind my beanbag.
"Bella, mommy won't ever hurt you."
*******
Bath time (Olivia's Perspective)
I took her top off slowly and it revealed two bruises.
"Owie."
"Sorry."
"Where did these come from?"
"Accident." I took off her pants and she had another on her thigh.
"Looks like we have to have this talk after bath time."
"We don't have to. I only had an accident." Why is she still insisting that this is an accident?
"Let's just take a bath."
"Gentle mommy."
"Sorry honey."
*****
When Bella was all lotioned and had her hair braided we started to have a conversation.
"How was school?"
"It was okay."
"How come? Usually you have a spectacular day."
"Because of the accident. It was an okay day."
"Can you tell me about the accident?"
"I was playing a game and I got hurt."
"What kind of game?"
"Tag."
"Tag....okay. So who did you play it with?"
"Some of my friends. Mommy, I'm okay."
"Bella, if you were okay you wouldn't  have these bruises, and you wouldn't be giving me these short answers."
"I really am fine. I just hurt myself that's all."
"If that was all, then you'd usually tell me. Did something happen?" I looked at her and she didn't reply.
"What happened when you were playing tag? Trust me it'll all feel better when you let it out."
"I'm okay." She looked at her thigh and touched it softly.
"If you're okay, can you at least tell me what happened here?"
"You're gonna get angry with me."
"Maybe. Or maybe not. At this point sweet pea, I just want to know what happened. We can deal with that other stuff later."
"O-oh, Okay."
"Take a deep breath and start from the beginning."