4.

Leia heard a beeping sound before she opened her eyes. It was too loud. She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt heavy. After a few tries, with all the strength she could muster, she opened up her eyes.

The light almost blinded her. She flinched due to the harshness. She tried to relax before opening her eyes again. She saw the white ceiling. She gazed at it for a while as though she couldn't comprehend what was going on. The beeping noise to her right grounded her to reality. She turned around to see a heart monitor.

She looked at the line that went up and down for a while until reality hit her full force.

She didn't die.

She tried to kill herself, but she didn't die.

The beeping noise from the heart monitor picked up its pace. It grew louder and quicker at an alarming rate. Leia felt the whole world closing in on her. She couldn't breathe. She wanted to cry out, but only a few incoherent mumble came out from her throat.

She didn't notice when someone barged into the room but she felt the hand pinning her down to the bed. She felt the needle piercing through her skin before everything turned dark.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

There was someone in the room the next time Leia opened her eyes.

Everything was white, she noted. The smell of antiseptic overwhelmed her senses. Leia just wanted to close her eyes and sleep everything away.

"You're awake," a gentle voice said with a tone of disbelief. "Let me call the doctor!"

She heard the sound of footsteps leaving the room. She tried to move but felt a splitting pain in her body.

The door opened.

"Leia?"

Leia turned to the source of the voice. She saw her mother standing by the door, as if afraid to walk in. Tears were flowing down her mother's cheek.

"Leia!" Her mother ran towards her hospital bed. She crouched on the ground as her hands held Leia's hand.

"I thought you wouldn't wake up… the past 8 days… I keep calling you but you won't wake up... baby… my baby…" her mother continued to cry.

8 days? So she had been asleep for 8 days. It was no wonder her mother was in near hysteria.

Leia wanted to say something to comfort her. But she found herself unable to say anything. Her throat felt too hoarse. She stared at her mother's crying figure. How long had it been since she last saw her mother cry? She always thought of her mother as invincible. Even when her father passed away, her mother never once showed a moment of vulnerability. She picked herself up, got a job, and worked hard to provide for the family. Yet here she was, looking so helpless as she cried just at the prospect of losing her daughter. Leia's thought drifted to her suicide attempt. If she was successful, if she had died, what would become of her?

Just the thought prompted tears.

The world was scary and full of terrible things. Leia was unfortunate to see the ugly side of the world. But at that moment, as her mother held her hand, she felt protected. She felt wanted, she felt loved.

The two of them stayed like that for a while until Leia's mother's teary voice ceased.

"Water..." Leia whispered.

"Oh yes! I will give you some water." Her mother immediately stood up and moved towards a bedside table that stood on the other side of Leia's bed, further from the door. As her mother walked towards the bedside table, the door opened and a group of a doctor and nurses walked in.

"Dr. Jones!" Leia's mother greeted the doctor that was leading the group.

"Hi, Mrs. Walker. I am here to check up on Leia."

"Yes, please come in." Leia's mother said as she passed Leia a glass of water.

They ran a bunch of tests before deciding that aside from external injuries, she was alright.

"There is something that I want to clarify with you," Dr. Jones looked at Leia. "Mrs. Walker, is it okay if you leave the room for a while?"

Mother looked hesitant before eventually leaving after seeing that Dr. Jones was not willing to speak with her around. After Mother left, Dr. Jones proceeded to speak to Leia.

"A lot of your external injuries are not caused by the accident. There are also injuries that looked like they were healing," Dr. Jones took a deep breath. "Have you been… abused?"

Leia's eyes widened. Her lips tightened as she clenched her blanket.

"Is it your mother?" Dr. Jones hesitantly asked.

"No!" Leia shouted. "It's not my mother. She… she doesn't know."

"Can you tell me?"

Leia hesitated. She had never told anyone about what she went through before. Furthermore, how can she be sure that she can trust him? A mere stranger?

"Is it school?" Dr. Jones finally said, seeing that Leia refused to speak. The moment she heard the word school, Leia froze. That was enough information for Dr. Jones.

"So it is school. I'm guessing your mother doesn't know?"

Leia paused before shaking her head.

"She deserves to know. You need to tell her. No, we need to tell her."

"But…"

"I will call your mother in, and we can tell her together. How about that?" Dr. Jones suggested.

"I… I really can't." Leia said. "My mother… she will blame herself for not noticing. I don't want that."

"I can't force you." Dr. Jones sighed. "But I need you to know that it is my duty to report this. And furthermore, she will question where you get your injuries from."

"Just… just give me more time." Leia said finally.

"I will give you three days. That's as much time as I can buy for you." Dr. Jones replied.

"Thank you."