scars || njh

14

Niall's POV:

A nurse came into the small hospital room with a clipboard full of papers.

"Niall Horan?" she spoke blandly.

"Yea that's me" I said standing up but still holding on to Bella's hand.

"I need to ask you a few questions. Come with me" she said starting to walk out of the room.

"I'll be right back" I said turning around to look at Bella, she nodded. I followed the nurse down another long dreary hallway but this one was for doctor's offices and break rooms. She stopped in front of a door that had a gold plaque above it, it said 'Doctor E.L Smith'.

"Doctor Smith would like to ask you a few questions" she said pushing the doors open, not even looking at me before walking down the hall again. I slowly walked into the room. Nancy and the man in the black suit from earlier were already sitting down. What was he doing here?

"Mr. Horan please take a seat" a man behind the desk, who I assumed to be Doctor Smith, said while gesturing to an open chair. He was wearing a light blue button up shirt, brown slacks, and a white doctor's coat. I cautiously walked towards the chair and sat down.

"Do you know why you're here Mr. Horan?" he spoke firmly.

"Because of Bella" my voice was very rough and my throat hurt a lot. I probably looked like a huge mess too.

"Correct. I want to ask all of you some questions about Bella's home life and behavior. As you all understand she did attempt suicide and this will not be taken lightly. We will be forced to put her in a mental institution and when she has proven to be fit enough she'll be allowed to come home, but still will be expected to go to therapy at least three times a week", we all nodded.

"Okay let's begin, has Bella been showing any suicidal or self harming behaviors lately?", everyone looked at each other, waiting for the other to answer 

Questions like this went on for almost an hour before we changed to a different subject.

"Now to discuss living arrangements, Bella will not be going back to her foster house so where will she be going?" he said looking at all of us.

"Me and Charles think it's best if Bella go to live with Niall in California given this new information about her fathers whereabouts. It would be much better to get her out of the country and as far away from him as possible" Nancy spoke looking at the man in the suit who I guess must be Charles.

"Niall would that be alright?" Nancy said. Now everyone was looking at me.

"Um, yeah that's okay" I spoke unsurely.

"Of course she wouldn't actually be living in your home for about 2-3 weeks, depending on her progress. She would be staying at the institution, but maybe going with Niall to California is a good idea. There are some very good hospitals there that can help her a lot, she may be able to leave the institution in less than two weeks" Doctor Smith said while looking through a stack of papers.

"Then it's settled" Nancy spoke getting up.

"You're leaving?"

"Yes I have a house full of kids to watch. I'll have to visit her later she still needs to sign these release forms" she said throwing her purse over her shoulder and picking up her jacket.

Wow, what a heartless bitch.

"Thank you Doctor Smith, we'll go tell the arrangements to Bella right now" I said grabbing my stuff and getting up.

"Be careful how you act around her right now. I'll email you the California mental institution's website immediately" he said rolling his chair over to his computer. After I left the room I was met by my mom standing outside the door.

"Sorry, not trying to ease drop. They just wouldn't let me be inside while discussing everything" she said.

"It's fine" I spoke very monotone-ly.

We walked in silence down the hallways and past waiting rooms till we got to Bella's room. My mom lingered outside Bella's hospital door looking very overwhelmed.

"Are you okay mom?" I asked getting kind of scared since she's always been one to be so level headed in bad situations.

She took a deep breath a turned towards me.

"Niall this is all so crazy. I'm so scared for her and I just don't know what to do. I can't believe this happy little girl could grow up to do something like this", she started to cry so I pulled her into a hug. 

"You don't have to do anything mom. Everything's gonna be fine and I'll take care of Bella okay?"

"Okay Niall" she said sighing and wiping away her tears. I pushed open the door and Bella was still sitting on her hospital bed but this time she had a book in her hands. The cover said 'Flowers in the Attic by V.C Andrews' she didn't even notice that we walked in.

"Good book?" I said while sitting at the end of her bed.

"Eh, it's a little boring in the beginning but the summary was good. The nurse gave it to me" she said putting her bookmark in and setting it on the bed side table.

"How are you feeling" my mom said sitting on the other side of the bed.

"Better now that the medication is wearing off-"

"No Bella I mean how are you feeling? Mental wise?" she said resting her hand on Bella's. Bella slightly flinched.

"Mom stop" I said.

"No it's okay. I feel... not as alone I guess. I don't know. I guess I'll see what happens from here"

"I'm glad. You gave us quite a scare but hopefully you'll get even better once you're in California"

"What?" Bella said confused.

"Mom..." I really wish that she hadn't said that.

"Niall what's she talking about?" she said looking from me to my mom.