"Willa," the sound of the female officer voice made the small three-year-old flinch. "I need you to try to speak to me, honey. We can't help you unless you tell us what happened."
"You know what?" the doctor began, smiling at both officers kindly as she placed her hands in her pockets. Everyone around Willa had to be female. No exceptions. "Why don't we let Willa have another days rest and then, if we can get something out of her, we'll call you back?"
"We're just worried there are others like her," the second officer explained, closing her note pad respectfully because she too knew the little girl was scared beyond belief.
"I understand. It's just that Willa has suffered a lot of trauma, and we want to work on her trust before sending her to a home. I hope that makes sense."
"Perfect sense. Just give us a call if you find out anything."
A card was handed over to the doctor with the officers' names and contact info. She smiled and pocketed it before following the women out, leaving Willa to sit with her thoughts and a nurse who was at her side a majority of the time.
"Would you like some food, Willa?" The nurse asked, brushing back some loose red hair that fell out of her own bun.
Willa shook her head 'no', and began to pull at a loose string of her hospital bed blanket.
"You know, you're safe here. Dr. Benson and Officer Clay and Jones just want to help you. There's no reason to be scared anymore."
But Willa could list a million reasons as to why she should be scared but for the life of her she couldn't voice one. So instead she nodded in agreement before curling in on herself and unsurely lifting a hand to rub her nose.
She wanted to suck her thumb. It was her habit that led to more beatings than she could count on her fingers and toes, but she somehow could comprehend that, even though she didn't feel safe, she would be safe enough to suck her thumb in the presence of this nurse.
With watchful eyes she placed her thumb between her lips and then moved it to rest behind her teeth, closing her eyes in satisfaction as she finally had the freedom to comfort her broken heart.
After a minute of her thumb sucking the feelings came in like a flood and she was crying, the nurse jumping up at this sight, which in turn sent Willa into a full panic attack.
"Shh, Willa. It's okay. I won't hurt you," the nurse said, her heart shattering as Willa shrunk back. "This world isn't as bad as you have been made to believe. You just have to trust us."
But Willa shook her head, not trusting those words as she sobbed and tried to push away the images of all those bad people. For three years old she's seen too much, and her poor little mind was too slow at keeping up.
This world isn't as bad as you have been made to believe.
No, Willa thought, It's worse.
~.~.~
Two years later...
"Willa, please dress in your nice clothes. It's adoption day and I want you to actually try to interact with the adults," Ms. Lawrence, a plump woman in fourties, said as she managed to place shoes on one of the younger boys.
"No thank you," The five-year-old whispered, her fingers fidgeting with the corner of her book as she focused on the words on the page. She had just discovered the Magic Tree House books, and to say she was consumed by them would be and understatement. The small child had spent days and nights reading and glancing at the images of the books, feelings like she had also escaped into the worlds of Jack and Annie as they ventured back in time. It was the only thing that helped her leave her "bad thoughts."
"Bad thoughts," is what Ms. Lawrence calls them because they were capable of sending Willa into fits of sadness, rage, anxiety and depression. It was also what Ms. Lawrence allowed Willa to use as her out. All the girl had to say was that she was having bad thoughts and she was free to take her break moments, which mainly consisted of reading the Magic Tree House books or another favourite: Little Bear.
Aside from the books, Willa also enjoyed taking baths. When she first arrived at the children's home at the age of three and a half – six months after being brought to the hospital – Ms. Lawrence had discovered that turning on the tap in the bathrooms helped Willa focus on something other than her thoughts. It was due to the loud sound of rainfall. This progressed into placing the little girl in warm water to help relax her overly stressed muscles that caused her pain and damage to her still healing wounds.
Now, when her anxiety got really bad she had the tendency to go into the bath herself, allowing the sink to run at the same time to once again drown out the "bad thoughts."
It was a daily struggle, but Willa was working on it. Ms. Lawrence was constantly finding little tricks to help the traumatized girl, and as Willa got older she too began to discover things that helped her come back to earth.
"That wasn't a request, smarty," Ms. Lawrence teased, sending the boy off as she stood upright and moved into the room that the girls ages five to ten shared. She noticed the shy grey eyes watch her as she moved towards the closet and moved some things around before pulling out a light blue dress and white tights. She turned and approached Willa, placing the things on the girl's bottom bunk and crouching in front of her with a smile.
"I know it's scary to see the new people but you have to give them a try. I wouldn't dare let anyone into this place if I knew they were going to hurt you or any of the other kids."
"I have bad thoughts," Willa whispered, pointing to her temple as she moved her small book off her lap.
"Baby, you can't let the bad thoughts always stop you from finding a family," Ms. Lawrence whispered, moving aside some of the light brown curls of the small girl.
"I don't need a family."
"Everyone needs a family. Even you."
"Can I just take a nap?" Willa asked, pulling at her the sleeve of her favourite sweater. It was brown and warm and made her feel safe.
Ms. Lawrence sighed at the request but knew she couldn't push it.
"How about you take a nap and then come down later. I'm sure everyone would love to meet you."
"I'll see," Willa said, nodding her as she pulled her legs up. This was a sign that she needed space. Ms. Lawrence knew she was cutting it close with the small touches and personal space intrusions.
"Okay. Have a good nap, baby," Ms. Lawrence placed a gentle kiss on the five-year-olds head before leaving, sighing when she took a moment to watch the little one glance around the room and then curl up on her pillow, using her blanket to cover herself entirely. That was one weird habit she couldn't understand. But everything with Willa was a learning process.
Ms. Lawrence crossed her fingers that someone could help her with this girl.
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So here is a new story. I wanted to finish "Wild Things," but after Camila left the group back in December I didn't know what to write so I just started up a new idea. This is a book with only the four girls. Sorry for any of those readers who want Camila, but I really don't think I'll be adding her in at all.
Hopefully, this is a good start to "Piece of My Heart." If you have any ideas of things you want to happen with the girls and Willa let me know. I can start adding them in for the future chapters (you will be credited of course). So far I have ten chapters set up to publish and I'm aiming for a solid 30+ chapter fanfic, so here goes nothing.
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Valentina
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Piece Of My Heart - Fifth Harmony Adoption
Fanfiction"This world isn't as bad as you have been made to believe." From the moment Willa was born her world was like a dark cloud. She was born into the hands of those who wanted to inflict pain. She never knew what it felt like to be loved. Maybe it wa...
