☀️She's Extraordinary ☀️

An Act Of Stealth

Mount Sinai Hospital (12:05 PM) (Bella's Perspective)
I devised a plan to get Hannah help. I don't know if it'll work but I hope it does. I can't believe we're doing this right now. I hope she can help.
"What are we going at the hospital?!" Hannah asked.
"You said you'd trust me, Hannie!"
"I do, but I'm scared. Aren't they gonna call my parents?"
"No, they won't. Don't worry." We went inside and I looked around.
"Can I help you, girls?" A woman asked.
"Yes, can you get me Dr.Montgomery-Reilly? Tell her it's important."
*************
O.R. 3 (Addison's Perspective)
"Okay, I can begin closing up." I announced. This was my fifth surgery of the day and I was feeling pretty good, but in dire need of some sleep.
"Dr.Montgomery, a girl in the lobby's asking for you. She says it's urgent." One of the interns said.
"A girl? Is she showing any symptoms?"
"No."
"Alright, then she's going to have to wait."
"She said it's important." I sighed.
"What's her name? Did you get her name?" She went running out. She didn't even get her name. These interns.
"Bella. Her name's Bella Benson."
"My god...Bella? She's like my niece. Her Mom and I were besties in college." Is she okay?
"Tell her that she could wait in my office, I'm almost done here."
^^^^^^^^^^
My Office
"Ladies, what's with the stealth call?"
"Aunt Addie, finally. Hannah this is my Aunt, Auntie this is my friend Hannah."
"Hi, Hannah. Don't you girls have school?"
"We do....but we need your help with something. Promise me you won't tell Liv."
"That's kind of hard to do, she's my best friend."
"I'm being serious."
"Tell me why you guys are here, first. Why are you guys skipping school?"
"We're not, it's lunchtime. We caught a crosstown bus and came here. That's beside the point but um, Hannah thinks...well um-" I raised my eyebrows.
"Do you want to say it, Hannah?"
"I think I'm pregnant." I could see the guilt in her eyes. Bella held her hand as she looked at the floor. I sat closer to the girls.
"Hannah, can you look at me for a moment?" She looked up.
"How old are you, sweetheart?"
"I'm 13." So young. Hannah showed me the pregnancy test and though it took some prodding, she eventually told me the full story.
"Can I ask, were you pressured-"
"No...I wanted to. But now I regret it." She started to cry.
"Please don't tell my parents." She said as I started up the ultrasound machine.
"Legally, I can't disclose such information without your consent. Sweetheart, we can't change the past...but we can learn for the future. Engaging in intercourse is an adult action, which I believe you shouldn't be doing at 13...and now you have to make some adult decisions that you shouldn't have to make."
"I get it, you don't have to keep going." She muttered. Poor girl.
"Alright, I'll stop." I applied the gel to her stomach and began the procedure. I looked around. Hannah had her eyes closed the entire time. No thirteen-year-old should have to endure this.
"How many weeks?" Bella asked.
"5 weeks." I tried to move as quickly as I could because the girls had to get back to school and Hannah was distressed. It was quiet.
"Hannah, you have a plethora of options. You could carry the baby to term and raise it, give it up for adoption, or terminate the pregnancy. I'm going to give you this pamphlet. It has tons of resources and information to help you make a choice. I want you to know that this is your choice. Up until the 24th week of pregnancy, you have the choice to do what you think is best. A lot of fine women fought for you to have that choice, so I want you to go home and think long and hard about it. This isn't easy. Here is my card. Please call me if you have any questions or need anything. Bella, if she needs to visit me you can bring her to my house or you guys can come back here. I take it that lunch is nearly over?" The girls nodded.
"I could drop you guys, is that okay?" They nodded again.
"Thank you so much, Dr.Montgomery."
"Please, call me Addison. Bella, thank you for bringing her here. You did the right thing."
"Of course. Can we go? We're gonna get in a lot of trouble if we're late."
"Yeah, they're really strict."
"Don't worry, I'll just tell them that I took you to lunch. Speaking of lunch, do you guys want any before you head back? I know a place that makes amazing pasta." They smiled.
"You're the best. Pasta sounds good!"
************
Broadway (Olivia's Perspective)
"So how was cooking club, babe?" Bella was pretty quiet. She was happy this morning so I'm assuming that she's tired from school.
"Yeah, did you guys make cookies again?" Noah asked while peeking at the tinfoil-covered plate in her hand.
"Yes, but you're not getting any because you're just going to gobble them down! It was great! Julie and I decided to pitch the idea of a bake sale to the other club members and they loved it! The money from the bake sale is going to be donated to Feeding America so that families across the city and the country can get food to eat. The kids at school get yummy treats and several families get the meals that they need to survive. It's a win-win!" 
"Oh my goodness, that is amazing! What a wonderful idea! That's such a great way to give back to the community. This is the type of greatness that I expect." She smiled.
"Yay, Bella's solving hunger!! Can I get a cookie though?!"
"Fine, but only one. Leia, Elliot, and Eli need cookies too. Plus Mom and I." She gave him a cookie and he ate it.
"I think I'm liking this cooking and baking club thing." I rolled my eyes jokingly.
"I just realized that I have my session soon."
"How have they been going? You're a month in now, I can't believe it."
"Good, I like Dr.Turner. She lets me express my emotions in the...best ways possible." I don't ask what is talked about, but I do worry.
"Are you alright honey?"
"Yeah, I'm just tired Mama."
"You know, how's Hannah doing? I haven't seen her in a while."
"Ohhh...um. She's doing great! She's good!"
"What a weird response for someone who's doing good. Bravo."
"Stop it. Stop it before you don't get any more cookies." Bella threatened. I'm just going to ignore that. Maybe they're not talking right now.
"Okay, that's good sweetheart."
"While I'm here. Can I ask about Halloween?"
"What about it?"
"Can I go out on Halloween? This is my first one in high school and all of my friends are gonna go out. I don't wanna be left out."
"I'll think about it.." She frowned.
"Look, we're here! Guess who's outside?" Dr. Turner was outside of the clinic in a light jacket and a tote bag on her shoulder.
"Wow! Are you leaving early?" Bella asked.
"No, silly! We're having your session outside today. How does a nice walk sound?"
"Awesome!"
"Come on, then! I'll text you when it's time for her to be picked up." Bella happily got out of the car and started walking with her therapist. I hope that she's genuinely happy.
****************
James Levin Playground (4:15 PM) (Bella's Perspective)
"It's so nice outside. Don't you think?"
"Yeah, I love it."
"So, how have you been feeling today? Would you like to continue with what we were talking about last week or would you like to talk about something else?"
"Something else." Dr.Turner noticed the shift in tone.
"Bella?"
"I just need a moment. I feel sick. Like not legitimately sick, theoretically sick."
"Do you know why you feel this why?"
"Because I'm a fraud. I'm a liar...I'm-"

Flashback
"You're inconsistent, Bella!" Mom said while unloading the dishwasher.
"No, I'm not! I swear, I'm telling you the truth! I'm not hiding anything."
"I want to believe you sweetheart, but you're coming home from school and you're running straight your room, locking yourself in there, refusing to eat, crying. You're able to be open and honest to me for a little while, but eventually we end up right back where we started. And it makes it harder and harder to believe you, because then the truth comes out and it's something big o-or dangerous and I have to stop you getting hurt any further. You're inconsistent, so I can't always take your word." I wanted to yell and tell her that she's wrong, but she's right. I always close myself back up after a while. I'm so ridiculous. Not even my own Mother has faith in me anymore.

"I'm inconsistent! I'm such a nuisance and I make things so much harder on my Mom and she already has so much on her plate."
"Bella...from what your Mother has told me, you are anything but a nuisance. Nor are you inconsistent. This past month you've been constantly journaling, communicating what's bothering you-"
"But I was horrible to her, we yelled."
"Bella, you're holding yourself to a standard that's just unreasonable. Everyone has bad days and slips up. You're not always going to communicate in the calmest of ways, you're still growing and learning. Have you made an effort to fix what went wrong in that moment?"
"Yeah, we talked about it and I was honest about how I felt."
"Then you're not inconsistent. You recognized where you went wrong and you're learning from it."
"I still lied to my Mom after I promised I'd tell her everything."
"Bella, there has to be a boundary. You know how I say that whatever we talk about stays here unless you are being hurt or thinking or hurting yourself or someone else?"
"Yeah. That's the boundary."
"Right. How do I explain this in the best way...the same thing applies to you and your Mom. You don't have to tell your Mom 'Hey today I completely embarrassed myself doing an oral report today' because that could be kept private unless you feel comfortable telling her that. On the other hand, if you sense that you're in danger or in a problem that you can't get yourself out of, it's better that you tell her that."
"What if it involves my friends? Like what if it's something kind of serious that I lied about?"
"How serious? Is your friend in a problem that requires help from an adult of any kind?" I nodded.
"But I took her to an adult, and they're going to help her if that makes sense. Like it's um, being taken care of. I'm there for moral support and stuff."
"Then you don't have to tell her." For a lot of my life, I've had adults tell me that I need to tell my Mother things. This is the first time someone has told me that I don't need to tell her everything. I feel weirdly...powerful. Like I have more control over my life.
"T-Thanks for saying that. No one has told me that before."
*****************
Chick-Fil-A (West 69th Street) (Thursday, Oct. 21st) (Clara's Perspective)
"Hey guys, I had to call a super important meeting." Hannah was here. I don't like her. She made Bella bawl her eyes out on FaceTime with me for 3 hours. I was there comforting her when she was at her lowest and to see Bella being so kind to her now irks me. Bella's too freaking kind.
"Hey." We all said.
"Okay, I'll get to the point. Hannah and I are okay now, she's apologized for all of the things she's said about us, and um...while what she's going to say doesn't excuse her behavior or anything. We agreed that she owes you guys an apology and an explanation." Hannah apologized for talking crap about us and explained that the girls that she used to talk to were only using her for information on us. They were actually pretty toxic. She also said that right now she's going through something really serious that only Bella knows about.
"I accept your apology, but I'm still hurt." Paisley said.
"Same." Leah and Sapphire said.
"Clara, what do you have to say?" Bella asked. Part of me wanted to flat out say no, but I also didn't want to upset Bella and the other girls. They've been friends since middle school and if they accept it, they have a good reason.
"I accept. What are we eating?" I asked with a smile. We all got on line to order and Bella stayed back with me.
"Thanks for being so good about it."
"Don't mention it." Bella's the only person that's made me happy these last couple of weeks. So whatever makes her happy goes.