The Rising Star - Alexia Putellas

Part 9

"What do you mean my friend is lying?! Why would she be lying?" I looked at the doctor in total panic. Why would Ellie be lying? She knows she can tell me anything. She had never lied to me before. There were no secrets between us, at least I had thought so.

"Miss Williamson, please calm down."

"How can I calm down when you are telling me that my best friend, my sister, is lying, not only to me but to you as well! How can I calm down?! How do you even know she's lying?"

"Look I know this isn't easy to hear, but I need you to calm down so I can explain." She repeated herself in a soothing tone in hopes it would ease my mind.

I couldn't get a word out. I just nodded my head, indicating that I agreed.

"Besides an X-ray, I also ordered a CT scan. I wanted to make sure that she only had one broken rib and that there was no internal damage caused by that said fracture." The doctor calmly explained to me but to no avail.

"What? She's fine right?!" I panicked. What if she has internal damage? Isn't that what they die from in the movies?!

"She's fine, she has in fact only broken one rib and there's no signs of any internal bleeding. However, the thing with a CT scan is that not only can you see new fractures but you can also see the previous ones that are almost healed, but not completely."

"Okay, so what does that mean?" I asked her confused, having absolutely no clue where she was going with this.

"I mean that this isn't the first time that she has had a broken rib. There are signs that show us that this has happened before. More than once.  I've even checked her previous records and over the last year she has been here multiple times for minor injuries, mostly small fractures or sprains but also small wounds or lacerations."

"Last year?" I asked her, confused.

"Yes, does that mean anything to you?" The doctor looked at me, waiting for a response.

"Do you think someone is hurting her?" I asked her in a whisper.

"I'm not saying that she is being mistreated, because I don't know that with certainty. I'm only saying that you should keep an eye on her."

"I will." Was all I said.

"Here's my card, if anything happens give me a call." She handed me a card with a number on it.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome, Anything for a fellow American." She smiled at me.

I was about to reply when suddenly Ellie walked through the door, yelling at me to hurry up. I thanked the doctor one last time and then made my way to my impatient best friend. She swung her arm around me and we exited the hospital.

During the car ride, I kept a close eye on Ellie, trying to figure her out. Could she really be lying? We grew up together, I can't help but think that I would know if she'd be lying, or maybe that's just my mind forcing me to not see the scary truth. The truth, that she is in fact in an abusive relationship. The more I think about, the more I am sure of it.
What Doctor Grey said, is still resonating in my mind. I can't deny that I haven't had my suspicions about Jacob. I never liked the guy. Ellie started to change when they started dating. They were small changes, but they were there.

She and Daan were both upfront and I was in the backseat. They were joking around and singing along to the radio until she received a text. Her whole demeanor suddenly changed. She went from being happy and loud to quiet and maybe even a little sad. It made me wonder who the text was from and what it might have said.