bruises // heathers

twenty one // hospital

"Mama?" Elle groaned. "Daddy?"

"She's awake!" JD yelled out the door for the doctors.

"Hey, Ellie girl." Veronica said gently.

"Where am I?" Elle asked.

"Baby, you're in the hospital. You- you cut yourself again and we couldn't stop the bleeding. You passed out from blood loss." Veronica explained.

"For how long?" Elle asked.

"Three days." JD answered. "They were the scariest three days of my life."

"Mama, why do you have a little bruise?" Elle asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. Doesn't matter. You matter, Ellie, you." Veronica lied to protect JD.

Two Days Earlier

JD paced around the room he shared with Veronica at Camille and Thomas's room. "This is all your fault. You and your stupid diary!" He shouted.

"I didn't know it would all do this." Veronica said softly, her head down as he pushed her backwards against the wall.

"God, you drive me crazy." He growled at her, biting her neck.

"Stop it," Veronica whined, trying to ignore how much she liked his attack on her neck.

But quickly he chuckled into the crook of her neck and shoulder. His hand wrapped around her neck and squeezed. Veronica liked it at first, thinking he was just being sexually rough. But then it became truly angry as his grip tightened. His hand pressed Veronica by her neck to the wall as she began to cough.

"I- can't- breathe-!" Veronica gasped. All he did was squeeze his hand more. It was only when her face began to turn as blue as her pajama top that he let her go. "You-" Veronica cried. But she couldn't finish speaking as she couldn't stop coughing from the lack of air. When she looked in the mirror there was already the start of bruises in the shape of his fingers. She cried and once he heard her, he apologized.

Today

A woman older than Veronica and JD came into the room after the doctors checked Elle and established she was okay. "Hi, I'm Dr. Olivia Small. I'm a children's psychiatrist."

"I'm Jason Dean, this is my wife Veronica and our daughter Giselle." JD introduced his family with pride.

"Yes, I'm here to talk to Giselle. Alone." Dr. Small said, sitting in the empty plastic chair next to Elle's bed after Veronica and JD left to go get some food for the three of them.

"Hi," Elle smiled at Dr. Small. "I'm Giselle, but you can call me Elle or even Ellie." She added.

"Okay, Ellie, how old are you?"

"I just turned eight in November." Elle said.

"Alright, and do you understand what you did to yourself?" Dr. Small asked.

"Yes."

"Have you ever done anything like this before?" Dr. Small questioned. Elle nodded in response, her face small and sad. "Okay, can you tell me why you did this?"

"No." Elle answered quickly. She looked terrified at the prospect of sharing this with someone who was very clearly engaged to the idea that she was crazy.

"Nothing bad will happen if you tell me. You can trust me. I just want to make sure you're safe." Dr. Small reassured Elle.

"I am safe!" Elle cried out loudly, causing her parents, who were watching through the window, to come back into the room.

"That's enough." JD told Dr. Small who only pressed her lips into a thin line while Veronica took her place next to Elle in her bed.

"Mr. and Mrs. Dean, I have to get this information from your daughter." Dr. Small replied. "If you're in here, maybe she'll be more open to sharing. How about it Elle?"

"No. You'll think I'm crazy." Elle proclaimed loudly.

"Ellie, you need to tell Dr. Small what she needs to know. Daddy and I want to know why you did it again too." Veronica rubbed Elle's back and reassured her that it was okay to share just this once.

"Heather told me to." Elle said. "She's my imaginary friend." Elle added, this part a lie.

"Mr. and Mrs. Dean will you please step outside with me into the hallway?" Dr. Small asked and Veronica and JD followed her. "Now, what I'm about to say is just speculation but I think your daughter might suffer from schizophrenia."

"She doesn't." JD replied quickly.

"We know she doesn't." Veronica added.

"How?" Dr. Small asked.

"Because Heather isn't imaginary. We see her too sometimes. She's a ghost." JD answered angrily.

"Mr. Dean, relax. Schizophrenia doesn't lead to shock therapy and such anymore. It leads to medication. You don't have to lie for Giselle." Dr. Small told JD. He only got angrier.

"I'm not lying for her. She's not schizophrenic! She might have something like bipolar disorder but she doesn't have schizophrenia." JD spoke strongly. He was confident.

"We see no evidence of bipolar disorder in Giselle." Dr. Small said.

"But we do, we've done research on it. Her previous doctor was preparing to diagnose her with bipolar disorder. We had to leave that town after a family emergency." Veronica told Dr. Small.

"And that emergency was?" Dr. Small asked, raising her eyebrow and folding her arms.

"My husband's grandparents are in declining health." Veronica answered; though this was true, it wasn't the reason that the Deans left Sherwood, Ohio.

"What was Giselle's previous therapist's name?" Dr. Small asked.

"Dr. Catherine Beer. In Sherwood, Ohio." Veronica answered.

"Well I'll call her and we can get Giselle diagnosed if she backs up your little tale." Dr. Small said. She didn't believe a single word of Veronica and JD's story.

Veronica and JD went back into their daughter's hospital room. Within the two days before her discharge, Elle was diagnosed as bipolar.