The Silent Girl

5.

'Luke'

Soon enough, the boys were here, all of us worried and stressing over Ells.

"Come on, sweetheart, let's get you off the floor" Noah says, us all helping her into the bed, laying on her side, her hands still holding her neck painfully.

"You can't stay here, if she comes back, she'll hurt me" She whispers, her eyes closing.

"We won't allow that" I say, stroking her hair behind her ear. "Now, we need to check the back of your head."

Noah and Micky sit by her side and keep her distracted while I move her hair around, looking for any damage.

"Does this hurt, Ells?" Really gently and carefully, I touch the spot I was worried about and she winces.

"Yes" She whispers, her eyes pinched shut.

"It is just a small cut, do you think we should take her to the hospital?" I ask Noah and Micky.

"Maybe, let's just watch her for a little bit, then if she is still in pain, we'll go" Noah suggests, I nod then let go of the hair that I was holding.

"I'm really tired" She whispers to us, her eyes softly opening and closing.

"Go sleep then Ells" Micky whispers, rubbing her now swollen cheek.

And soon enough, Ella does just that.

'Diana'

I can't believe that my own daughter, who I love and care about would tell that stupid safeguarding leader about one hit! It was one hit!

I was beyond annoyed at Estella.

I slurred into the familiar house, hearing silence.

I try and hang my coat up but I accidentally knock over the coat hanger, creating a loud noise.

'Luke'

There was a loud noise that erupted from the downstairs, waking us all up.

We had all fallen asleep about an hour ago, Ells being really tired, we followed suit. 

"What was that?" Ella whispered from her small lips, rubbing at her eyes.

"Stop rubbing your eyes" I pull her hands gently away from her face, not wanting her to irritate them.  "I'll go see what that was, stay here with Noah and Micky." I give Noah and Micky a small nod before heading downstairs.

When I get downstairs, I see Diana, Ella's mother standing in the hall. She was drunk, full on drunk.

"Diana" I say, trying not to be angry of what she has done to my Ella. She turns around, sternly. "Are you drunk?"

"Oh Mickyyyy" She slurs, walking towards me on the stairs.

"I'm Luke"  I sigh, steeping down of the last step and grab her arms to steady her so she doesn't fall over.

"Bed" She mumbles, falling into my arms. Myself struggling to hold her up. I gently guide her down to the wood floor.

I quickly leave Ella's mother at the bottom of the stairs to grab the other boys, when I go in. Ells was asleep again and Micky and Noah were sat at the end of Ella's bed, talking quietly.

"Hey" I whisper. "It's her mum, she's drunk, come help me" I say quietly, not wanting to wake my best friend up.

They immediately got off the bed, following me downstairs.

Diana was passed out on the wooden floor.

"Oh just great" Noah sighs, kneeling beside her.

It takes all three of us, to drag the unconscious women up the stairs. It was very difficult, considering that we were trying to be gentle (even though we hated the women) and most importantly we didn't want to wake Ella.

We get her into bed, and Micky runs out, going to grab water and some medicine for when she wakes.

"Ok" I sigh, looking at Diana in bed. "I'm going back to the one who deserves looking after"

They all follow me and we gather around Ella, who was blinking her eyes, showing me she'd just woken up again. 

"Are you ok?" Noah whispers, stroking her hair.

"Is everything ok?" She immediately asks, a look of worry on her face.

"Everything's ok, your mum is home, but she is drunk, we got her into bed." I pause. "More importantly, are you ok?"

"I'm fine." She looks down at her shaking leg that was covered with the blankets. "Guys" She swallows, before speaking again. "I'm sorry" She whispers.

"What for, princess?" Micky asks.

"For me, my family situation, my mum drunk" She wipes a tear that had fallen. "I'm sorry"

"Ella, you have nothing to be sorry for. Ok?" I say, rubbing her arm. "None of this is your fault and you're our princess so of course we are going to care about you and look after you" I finish, giving her a small smile.

"You guys can go home if you want, thank you for helping me and well my mum as well" She whispers quietly.

"Are we allowed to stay here?" Micky asks, holding a hand tightly. 

"Yeah of course you are" She replies, a small smile on her lips. 

"Then we are staying here" Noah lays down beside her and pulls the covers up to her neck, wanting her to stay warm and feel comfortable. 

We all get comfortable. Ella already slipping in and out of sleep. 

The next morning, we, meaning all of us boys wake up to see Ella sat at her desk, putting make-up on. 

"Ella" Noah says sternly, making her jump and turn or the chair. "Sorry" Noah whispers, seeing how scared she looked. 

"Sorry" She mumbles. 

"I didn't mean to scare you" Noah slowly gets off the bed and steps over the few metres over to Ella. He leans over her and grabs her foundation and concealer, putting it in his pocket. "Stop with the make-up ok? You're not going out anywhere so you have no reason to cover them." He says, referring to Ella's bruises on her cheeks and around her eyes. 

Micky and I, were still sleepy as we were up all night making sure that Ella was ok. 

At least it was the weekend and Ella didn't have to bother with school, however her mum was sleeping in the other room. 

'end of 5.' 

heyy everyone, i was just looking at the stats for this book and people from other countries are actually reading this!
thank you so so much! 

here is an update for you lovely people :) 

~pops x

Posted: 5.3.22