Abandoned

4

Officer Taylor decided to turn his radio off so the girl would not get further scared. He sent one of the paramedics out to tell the other officers what was going on.  It was not too long after that the social worker, April Hain arrived.

After she suited up into clothing protection she was led in to where the girl was being held. She took her time to examine the place, paying close attention to the foul smell and wrote notes down about the surrounding areas before turning towards the child.

She stared for a small while before she released a gasp.
"It's Sienna Devoe!" She exclaimed with pure joy.
At this information the woman became determined. She was determined to better the child and get praise for her work. Imagine the pay rise she thought to herself.

She put on her business face and approached the metal bars.
After a brief explanation of what they had witnessed, the officer and paramedics stepped back and allowed the woman to do her job.

"Hello sienna, I am ms Hain." The woman started. She waited for a response and soon realised that this was not the fun case she had thought when a reply never came.

She tried continuously to get the girls attention however Sienna was still guarding her protein bar. She wouldn't let them take it.

April gave up eventually and decided to just write about the girl starting with appearance.

Sienna Devoe
12 years old
Matted hair, dirty skin, torn clothing, limited use of legs, full use of arms, non verbal, lack of comprehension.

This was just the beginning of her file as she would have to get a close look at the young child in order to record any injuries. New and old.

"I need to go in." She tells the others.
"Ma'am I would not recommend that, she seems very territorial of her possessions and is very cautious." One of the paramedics start to explain.
"Nonsense, she'll be fine. She has to get used to the real world now."

Taylor did not at all agree with the woman's approach to this specific case but thought he should trust her judgement. She was the qualified professional after all.
He moves away slightly so he can radio to the other officers.

"Canden, any news on the psychologist?"
"Not since last time, shes flying in from Canada so it may be a while. She's expected to arrive tomorrow."
"Try and contact her to ask what to do in this situation. I don't want to further traumatise the poor girl."
"Will do"

Taylor could hear a commotion and stepped back around the corner towards the cage.

April had opened the door to the cage and was slowly stepping inside.
Taylor's gaze flew to sienna.
She was crouched in a defensive position and was getting ready to jump.

"Ma'am I would advise getting out of there."
"It's fine, she needs to learn the realities of life at some point."

April went closer to sienna who froze entirely before screaming at the woman.
April then made the mistake of going closer to the girl, although not too close, she didn't want to catch any germs.

Sienna again became defensive and swung at the woman. Her over grown nails scratched the skin from April's face, causing the older woman to let out a shriek of her own.

"She touched me, she touched me." The woman shouts as she makes to exit the caged room.
Officer Taylor rolls his eyes but still prepares some disinfectant for the deep scratch.

At that exact moment his radio buzzed.
"Canden? Did you speak to her,"
"Yes she's flying privately so may be here sooner."
"Okay, good. Did she say what we should do?"
"She said to wait for the social worker and didn't seem too happy when I told her about the lack of support offered from Ms Hain. She said we should keep the girl in her surroundings with everything familiar until she can get there."

A few hours later, the forensics team had left to study all evidence they had found. 3 of the 4 paramedics had also gone, there was not a need for them all to stay. All officers had stayed but had switched out who was in the house with sienna. April was still there but had made sure she was outside and as far away from the girl as possible.

Currently Taylor and Canden were sitting with the girl. Although they were not near her, they were trying to get her used to being in the presence of others.

The girl was much calmer now that no one was trying to go near her. However she was exhausted and wanted to sleep. She wouldn't sleep though. Not whilst there were people here.

She fought sleep for as long as she could before she just had to give in and hissed at the men one last time as a warning before she curled into sleep.

*************************************

Through the night each officer took turns to stay awake incase anything were to happen. April had gone home and was due to come back with clothes and food for the girl. Although the child was 12 years old, she did not look to be much older than 8. April was excited to pick out clothes for the child and thought about looks more than comfort.

It was barely 7 am when Sienna awoke. She looked to the people and found them asleep. Although Tage was awake, she was around the corner talking to the psychologist on the phone.
Sienna approached the bars of the cage and looked at the people. They didn't look bad when they were like this, they didn't look scary.

She stayed watching them until Marcus began to wake. She scurried back to her corner and sat protective of her bar from the day prior.
"Hiya sienna" Marcus called to the girl who gave no reaction. 

Tages call finished and she shared what she was told with Marcus. The psychologist was on her way and wanted to know a little bit about the girl.

April wandered through the small house, still wearing a protective suit. She reached the others and unpacked the shopping that she had bought.
They decided to eat before they even tried to offer the girl clothes.

Again sienna was slid the food which this time consisted of a cereal bar, some juice and a peeled orange. The girl slowly inspected the food. She hadnt seen any of this before. She was so intrigued by the food that she didn't notice that April had entered her small room until she felt something being thrown around her head.

In a frenzied panic the young girl screamed and kicked at April. She scratched and hit. She smacked and punched. She tried everything she could think of to make the person go away. To leave her alone.

Sienna was now wearing a fluffy pink jumper. She hated it. The feel of the material was much to scratchy for her skin. She wanted it off.

Sienna continued to scream and pull at the jumper. Meanwhile April was tending to her new wounds.

"What is going on?"
A strong gentle voice called out amongst the chaos.