Belle Stone

Part 25

The phone rang for a long time. The agonizing beep stuck in a neverending loop. Mark was starting to get annoyed by it. A loud sigh escaped him as he tapped his foot on the wooden floor.
"Why isn't she picking up? How can you treat patients like this?"
Someone picked up as soon as he said that. That action caused him to press the phone tightly to his ear. His foot stopped bouncing on its own.
"Hello, this is dr. Monica Wright's office. How may I help you?"
"Hello, can I arrange an appointment?"
"Yes, of course. Name?"
"Belle Stone. As soon as possible, please."
"Tomorrow at 1 pm is free."
"Anything sooner, like today for example? Please, it is an emergency."
"Let me check."
There were a few seconds of pause. Papers were rustling in the background.
"There is a free appointment at 5 pm today. Does that suit you?"
"I guess that is okay. Thank you. One more thing. I would like it to be a home visit. I hope that is not a problem."
"Sure, sir. Just tell me the address." "The doctor will know. It is that orphanage she came to before, 10 years ago."
"Okay then have a nice day."
"Thank you. You too."
Mark hung up. He slowly put the phone down. He stared at the distance.

What was he supposed to do until 5 o'clock? Belle hasn't eaten anything in more than 18h. She hasn't even slept. At least that is what he thought. She looked like she was in some kind of dream. If only her eyes were closed he wouldn't worry as much.
Will she be able to make it until 5 pm? She should be... Right?

He went to her room. Once again he leaned against the door frame. That same old image appeared in front of him. Her lifeless body. The motionless eyes that were stuck in that same old dot on the wall.

What if she doesn't come back? What if she doesn't feel better? What if he lost her forever? She looked like she was dead, like a plant, an object she sat there still. How could he not mourn over her? She was so full of life. He was reminiscing of all of the times she ran towards him to ask him a silly question. She couldn't stop talking about stuff. She could stop talking in general. He would even catch her talking to herself when she was alone. The more he looked at her the more it hurt. He had so many regrets. There was so much stuff he could have done to avoid this. If only he didn't tell her anything. If only he left her here. If only he stuck to his gut and told her no, she would hate him, but she would be fine. She would still talk. How could he be so stupid, so gullible to believe her, to trust a child? He couldn't help the tears running down. His eyes were now fogged but the image was still crystal clear.

Hours passed with them in that position. Neither of them moved or had any intention of doing so. The most interesting part about that is that no one asked anything. No one questioned them. They would get a few glances from other people there but that was it. That girl that told Mark about the doctor went to focus on the other kids. She had work to do but she still watched over them from afar.

5 o'clock finally came. The doorbell rang. Mark hurriedly wiped his tears with the palms of his hands and ran towards the door. When he opened it he saw an elderly woman. She looked like she was his mother's age. Her clothes were nice, clean, and neat. Her stance was professional and lady-like at the same time. She had this warm energy that radiated from her even with her serious face which made her really easy to talk to. He never saw her before but she seemed familiar. It felt like he saw a bunch of copies before he saw the original. It made sense for her to look like that from his point of view. She was a psychologist. Patients, actually people in general are more relaxed if they talk to someone that is familiar to them or at least seems that way.

He nodded at her and let her in. She started searching the area. She scoped over her surroundings. There were a few children missing from her last children, including Belle's best friend Amy. She got adopted a couple of years ago. The children are expected to be missing but there is someone that this woman was searching for that wasn't there. She was hoping to find that woman that called her here the first time. Not only was the woman not there anymore, but everyone had forgotten about her. How could they not, she was in a similar state as Belle? Dead. Well, apparently dead.