ARABELLA'S POV
The next morning, I woke up when I felt someone nudging me gently. I practically jolted awake, scared of getting a hit.
But when I opened my eyes, there were three pairs of eyes staring at me: Kyson, Mason, and Noah, all of whom were looking at me with concern hidden behind their soft and sad smiles.
Kyson was still sprawled beside me, so I rolled back over and rested my head on his shoulder, while wrapping an arm around him and swinging one of my legs over, encircling his stomach, as I clinged onto him like a koala.
I was obviously going back to sleep.
I felt the surface behind me rumble, and my ears were met with soft chuckles.
But I didn't care.
I just wanted to go back to sleep, since I had finally got a peaceful sleep in years and I didn't want it to end anytime soon.
"Good morning, lady bug, Dad wants you downstairs for breakfast and then you have to go to hospital." I heard Noah say, and I just grunted in reply, not bothering to get up.
Lady bug?
Did he call me an insect?
"You have three seconds before I call Alexander, and believe me, he will drag you out of bed and take you straight to the hospital, regardless of how you look. He did it to us once when we refused to go to school, and trust me, it's not something you'd ever want to experience." Mason spoke in a forewarning tone, but his voice was filled with pain, as if he was reminiscing a painful memory.
I looked at Mason and glared at him, causing him to smirk at me daringly.
What's his problem–
I slowly yet finally got up as I swung my legs to the side, and Noah immediately came to my aid, helping me to get up.
After thanking him, I went to my bathroom to change and get ready for the day.
My once empty wardrobe was completely stuffed with heaps of bags strewn across the floor, everything that the guys had bought for me was here, waiting to be unpacked.
It's undoubtedly gonna take me hours for all the unpacking that I'd have to do.
At the same time, it didn't help me with choosing clothes, and I'm guessing with the amount of clothes I own now, it'll be a problem for a long time.
Anyway, I took out clothes at random and when I was finished, I came out to see Noah and Mason sitting on my bed, looking at their phones.
They both stood up when they saw me, and we all proceeded to walk to the kitchen.
My father and all of my brothers were already seated at the dining table. Kyson had also arrived, looking like he had just showered.
How long was I in the bathroom?
I made my way to an empty seat between Dad and Max. We all exchanged good morning's and Max placed a plate filled with food in front of me.
I was surprised to see the amount of food, which was definitely less than the last time, but everything on the plate was extremely healthy and nutritious, and it was already chopped, making it easier for me to eat with my only functioning arm.
I smiled gratefully at my brother before beginning to eat my food. Everyone was eating quietly until Dad's voice broke the silence.
"Princess, Max and I will take you to the hospital after we finish breakfast. Alexander, Elijah and Matthew have some important business to attend to. And your younger brothers are just a pain in my ass, so I've decided to not take them, not that their presence was required in the first place." Dad said jokingly, earning chuckles from around the room, except from the three brothers who scowled at us.
I nodded my head at dad in my response who then went back to eating.
"We are going." Mason and Noah said together, and Kyson nodded his head in agreement.
"Sure," Alexander replied.
And the earlier scowls on their faces became even more prominent.
They started protesting, getting ignored by the rest and I just sat there eating my food while enjoying the live morning show.
After everyone was done eating, we went our own ways.
My three brothers were still protesting, while the older ones kissed my forehead and wished me luck before departing, and this time even Matthew hugged me goodbye.
Shocking right?
Leaving the three bothered teenagers who were still protesting to our oldest brother; Dad, Max and I went outside the house, walking towards dad's car when I saw the black beauty parked on the side.
"Could we ride in Max's car please?" I asked excitedly, my gaze darting back and forth between them and the car.
Dad and Max chuckled at my reaction and nodded, as we then went to Max's car.
At least one good thing is happening from this trip.
The whole 15 minutes drive to the hospital had left me in a state of mess, the panic was slowly building up and my nerves were skyrocketed.
Even my distressed thoughts didn't help, as they reminded me of how everything could go wrong.
I don't believe any fruitful result will be yielded out from this visit, they might be able to treat my bruises and other physical injuries but what about the wounds and aches of my inner self?
Is there a hospital for damaged souls?
As we approached the hospital, THE KING'S name was written on the entrance of the building.
"Do you own this hospital?" I asked my father, completely shocked at the new found information.
Why am I even shocked
Of course they are so rich, they can afford to own a damn hospital.
Dad and Max simply chuckled at my outburst or at the fact that I was gaping with my mouth and eyes wide open.
"Yes princess, we do." Dad replied and I nodded my head still perplexed at how wealthy these people are.
After that, we went inside, and as soon as we got to the lobby, we were greeted by my doctor, Dr. Reme, and Dad informed me, he was our family doctor and he was already familiar with my situation.
I just nodded slightly embarrassed.
I was incredibly uneasy because I really didn't want people to know about my personal matters.
"Don't worry princess, he needed to know since he'll be treating you." Dad whispered to me, most likely because he saw my embarrassment.
I simply nodded my head again.
After that the whole inspection started.
They started by drawing my blood for testing, and after about 2 hours and a full body examination, they concluded that I had two cracked bones, my collar bones were disfigured, and my shoulder was now wrapped in a new cast, albeit for a few days, only to ensure that my movements were restricted. Three of my ribs were bruised, and the belt I was wearing would be there for months. My stomach burn was, after all, infected, and I was severely emaciated.
I was also supposed to attend therapy because according to them it will help me deal with my emotions better, and I'm not sure if I was ready to go and reveal my life secrets to a complete stranger.
Anyway, they prescribed a variety of medications as well as ointments for my scars and injuries on my stomach and back
We also had an appointment with a dietitian, and after much questioning and answering, he prescribed a diet for me to gain all of the required weights and proteins that my body lacked and desperately needed.
Not once did I get any looks of pity or disgust from my doctors, which was a relief of some sort, but I was still ashamed.
Right now I'm in a room waiting for a nurse who is going to ask me some 'personal' questions.
I was definitely dreading this part because I didn't want to take part in any of this. I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.
But Dad insisted, saying that this was the last part, and I also didn't want to raise questions if I resisted too much.
"Hello Ms. Arabella, I'm Cece. How are you feeling?"
I was startled out of my thoughts when the nurse called me, I hadn't even realized when she had entered the room.
"Hello, I'm feeling okay." I mumbled in reply to the nurse who nodded her head.
"Okay, so I'm going to ask you some personal questions, which I was told that you are already aware of. I understand how daunting and uncomfortable it might be, but you have nothing to be concerned about. Consider me a friend of yours. You must understand that we had to adhere to the protocol, which is important in order for us to provide you with better care. This is the last part and after that you can go home. Okay?" She asked, a small friendly smile on her face. She looked like she had been doing this for quite some time.
Again, I just nodded my head.
"Is it correct that your step-father and mother physically and emotionally mistreated and abused you?" She inquired, her voice a lot softer now.
"Yes." I said lowly, and she offered a small smile before scribbling something down in her notebook.
Why did I agree to do this?
"Is it okay if I continue?" She asked and I gave her a tiny nod in response.
Just please get it over with.
"During your stay, had your mother or step-father touched you or assaulted you sexually?" She inquired hesitantly, her eyes filled with sympathy and concern.
"No they haven't." I answered.
"Okay." She said, almost relieved.
"All right, just two more questions." She said, looking at me for permission to ask, earning yet another nod.
"Has anyone other than the two earlier mentioned people done anything to you? Sexually, physically or mentally?" She asked with the same look of concern as earlier.
Yes...
"No, nobody has." I replied, giving her my best poker face.
"Okay, you're doing good Arabella, I know you've gone through a lot, but I can tell you're quite resilient." She said, causing me to heave a sigh.
She doesn't have to lie
"Finally, have you ever self-harmed or are you currently doing so?" She enquired, her face sceptical, as if she wanted to read my facial expressions.
Thankfully, I have never.
But it was enticing, truly tempting.
To feel a different type of, momentary, pain other than the pain in your heart.
But it was just that, momentary, and despite the fact that nothing in my life was going right, I couldn't bring myself to hurt myself even any than I already went through.
And if I had hurt myself, I would've been no different than John and Cora.
I shook my head in reply.
"Okay, that's nice, but given what you have gone through, self harm becomes a very common source of outlet, which is the most traitorous and self-destructive thing you could do to yourself. So if you ever get any thoughts, or if everything gets too overwhelming, I'd want you to inform a responsible adult right away." She said and I nodded my head in understanding of what she was meaning to say.
"That's all from my end, is there anything else you'd like to share with me?" She asked and I simply shook my head in negative.
She said okay and after saying goodbye, she walked away.
Soon after, Dad and Max entered the room, asking how things went, while informing me that we were done here and ready to go home.
Finally!!!!
As we walked out of the building, we noticed the twins and Noah waiting outside, leaning on Max's car, and talking to each other.
I looked at my father and Max, who both seemed shocked by the new entries.
So they didn't know either.
"What are you three idiots doing here?" Max asked them.
The three of them jumped up surprised, and gave us a startled look, as soon as they heard Max's voice.
"SURPRISE!!" Noah suddenly exclaimed enthusiastically, causing the bypassers to give us a weirded look.
Did he forget, we were still in the hospital.
This earned Noah a smack from Mason, and he was ready to smack back but got interrupted by Dad.
"What brings the three of you here?" Dad enquired the three of them, while shaking his head in exhaustion.
"We weren't going to leave our baby sister alone." Noah said to which Kyson nodded and Mason ignored all of us.
Ah! He is back to being a jerk.
"I can't deal with them." Dad muttered to no one in particular.
"How did you get here?" Max inquired, raising an eyebrow at our brothers.
"We took a cab, we would have taken our cars if Alexander hadn't taken our keys, which is why Mason is being a total asshat." Noah replied, earning a slap from Mason again.
"Let's go home princess, they can return home the same way they got here." Dad said and we made our way to the car.
I looked back to the three of my brothers and laughed at their shocked expressions.
They all gave Dad a 'are you fucking with us' look.
With that we left them standing outside the hospital and drove our way back home.
They were still gaping at us in disbelief.
✏️Word Count: 2250
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