“Danielle’s heading into her teen years along with the attitude that comes with it and she wants her independence. As for Heather, she still sees Danielle as her baby. She’s having a hard time letting go. We tried for years to have more children, but…” He trailed off for a second trying to find the right words. “It just wasn’t meant to be.”
But why her though, Ella wondered. Of all the kids they could’ve taken in, she was like the broken doll on the bottom of a clearance bin. Before she could ascertain why she was in the situation she was the “Thump Thump Thump” of heavy footfalls came down the hall.
Ella grimaced. The approaching footsteps was like the sound of hammers being struck into the ground to her over stimulated senses. She wanted to dive back under the desk.
Heather stuck her head in and beamed. “You’re up.” Ella sat up straight and let her feet dangle. They were still a good couple of feet from reaching the ground. She stared at her toes as Heather moved closer and squeezed in between her and Charlie. “How are you feeling? Any better?” Before she could respond a cool hand pressed against her forehead. Heather let out a disapproving moan. “Poor baby. Still running a fever.” If Heather was still harboring any ill will about being bitten, she didn’t show it, Ella relaxed, feeling the tension drain out of her as Heather wrapped an arm around her and held her close. At first, her instinct was to get the hell out of there, but she was too tired to fight.
Heather and Charlie talked amongst themselves as Ella slowly nursed a cold calorie shake she had been ordered to drink. She didn’t feel like pressing her luck with Heather anymore… She had been given a lot of “suggestions” the past two days, but her fluid intake Heather had pointed out before, was not one of them. When that was gone, the empty can had quickly been replaced with a bottle of water. Ella frowned at the bottle before unscrewing the lid and downing enough to make Heather return to her conversation. When she was no longer being watched, she set the half full bottle aside, closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her fluid filled tummy while occasionally shifting this way and that in order to get comfortable. She could hear the water gurgling and sloshing about as she moved.
After about thirty minutes or so, Ella couldn’t really tell, Charlie got up and left the two of them alone. They sat in silence for a moment before Heather asked if she wanted to go to bed or stay up and watch a movie with them. Ella mimed that she wanted to go to bed. She wanted this day to be over with. “We’ll get you settled in a bit.” Said Heather. Ella watched as her fingers clicked over the keys on her cellphone. “Finish your water while we wait for Danielle to finish.”
Ella inwardly groaned as she took the last few gulps of water down “like a champ” as Heather had put it. She could hear distant water running somewhere in another part of the house awakening her bladder. She tried coyly snaking her hand between her legs. She couldn’t remember peeing in the pull up earlier, but it felt damp. She couldn’t risk leaking on the couch here, and what if peeing into it made noise? She couldn’t remember if it did or not. The thought of Heather hearing her pee made her skin crawl. She was so used to doing literally EVERYTHING in front of someone. She had never had privacy before. She’s changed in front of people. She peed into cups held by other people when her hands were too unsteady to hold it without dropping it. Hell, she had even had a full conversation ( Well Rose talked, Ella listened and nodded along) while having diarrhea in a hollow bucket without blinking an eye. And not the quiet kind either! The machine gun kind! Pedro, who had been mopping in the hall at the time, yelled about having “Vietnam flashbacks” from the other side of the curtain. Whatever that meant.
Now though Ella seemed hyper aware of her actions and surroundings. Now that she was out in the real world, she had a sinking suspicion this was far from normal. That she was far from normal. She tried to think back to before she had been sick. Did she know anyone in diapers Not past the age of three. Why else would the doctor try to force her to use the toilet so much? She wanted to be normal damn it!
She gave a not so subtle squirm. The running water was really getting to her now. She decided she’d hold it until she was alone in the bedroom. She’d just pee in the pull up, clean up any leaks and change herself then. At least that was what she had planned, but Heather seemed to have zero’d in on her current state.
“Do you need to go potty?” Ella inwardly cringed. Baby talk made her agitated. It wasn’t that she was being treated younger. She didn’t mind that. She was even kind of a sucker for it in the right circumstances. Did she want a lollipop after getting a shot? Damn straight she did. A sticker? Why the hell not? A bedtime story after a really long day to soothe her to sleep? Yes please!
What she despised was being talked to like she was… slow. Just because she didn’t talk didn’t mean she didn’t understand. She found it insulting so she pretended not to have heard her.
“Or are you wet?” Heather went on. Ella chose to stare ahead, grimacing as she felt Heather pull away the sheet and check for herself. “A little damp.” Ella squirmed again, moving away. “Potty, definitely.” She stood up and offered a hand to Ella.
“It’s full!” Danielle yelled from down the hallway.
“Ok, thanks!” Heather yelled back. “Be there a minute! Just need to do something first!” Ella wrapped herself back in the sheet and allowed herself to get guided out to the hallway. The bathroom was to the right and she was getting ready to dig her heels in, but Heather guided her to the left and back into the bedroom. Once they were there Heather closed the door behind them. Ella shifted from foot to foot, no longer able to hide the effect of the copious amounts of fluids she had drank. She was ready to pee in the pull up whether Heather saw or not. She seemed to have read her mind. “I know you need to go, but hold on just a minute longer. I need to know if this will work.” Ella crossed her legs and shuffled from foot to foot as Heather bent down behind the bed.
“Ta-da!” Heather set the white bucket and seat down in the center of the room. “What you’re used to is a bit out of our price for something temporary. Until we can get to the bottom of all this, hopefully this will work for the time being?” Ella nodded her approval. She looked from it back to Heather pleading. Heather took a few steps back and sat on Danielle’s bed. “Go on, show me you can use it.”