18 Child Protective Services (CPS)

It's been feeling like forever since I woke up. Time has been steadily moving by, and I'm almost up enough weight to leave. I've gotten stronger, and don't need a walker anymore. With Lynn's help, I've wrote Anthony countless letters, and she has been in contact with his family. Everything felt like it was falling into place for once. My family even came to visit me, about as often as they could.

As I settled into the bed to rest my body, the my favorite nurse came into visit me. He brought a police officer, and a lady in khaki pants with a blue button-up shirt tightly tucked in, with an identification tag hanging off the pant loop on her hip. The nurse said, "Little miss Rose, I brought some nice people to see you today. They have some questions to ask you, Is that okay"? I smiled awkwardly and nodded. Thinking about a million thoughts within a split second. What could I have possibly done? What could they want? Why would a cop want to talk to me? Who is this lady? I sat up, and straightened myself out.

This lady tried to sit on the end of my bed. Instead she ended up sitting on my foot, because I was too busy staring at the cop to move my leg out of her away. Winced in pain, as my ankle made a loud crack and pop noise. She and I both started to apologize to each other, and I cried like a massive baby in pain. While the nurse checked my ankle. He sighed, with how swollen and purple it became right away and my inability to move it without bawling my eyes out. "we are going to give it an x-ray, just to make sure that you aren't fractured.", he said in a very up set and frustrated tone. The lady said, "I'm sorry again Rose, after you get back we'll try and talk. I'm a CPS worker, and to my name is Luna. My partner here, his name is Robert."

Turns out after x-rays, she really did manage to accidentally break my ankle. I don't blame her though it was kind of my fault too, for getting scared and not paying attention. All casted up, Luna was waiting in the room with a devastated look on her face. She looked at my ankle and started to cry so hard while hugging me. She said, "I never meant to hurt you! I'm so so very sorry. I was only here to ask you about your childhood, and to see if you felt safe about going home with your family soon". Responding back, I told her, "I don't remember much about myself. I don't really know my family anymore. I also told her about how my gut instincts felt about Louis, but I couldn't tell her much". Drying her eyes, she wrote everything down. Luna said, "Whenever you get released, we will start weekly home visits and well checks just to insure your safety". I agreed, she hugged me goodbye and apologized again. Robert just smiled and waved as they walked out the door.

It was difficult to focus now that I was back in silence. My brain though of all the possible outcomes way in advance, I couldn't picture going home clearly yet, but I felt reassured knowing they were going to come once a week to visit with me.