Finding Lilibeth

Darren conversed quietly with his sons sitting in the room where Lilibeth was sleeping on the hospital bed. They were interrupted by a small knock on the door. Mark Little had decided to head to the hospital once he received the message from Darren Staples informing him of Lilibeth being beaten. He wasn't sure if it was Darren and his sons that had done it.

Mark Little walked into the room seeing Darren and his sons in the room and Lilibeth looking small in the hospital bed. He hoped that Lilibeth would be awake so he could speak to her about what had happened. "Mr Staples" Mark greeted not to friendly. "Mr Little, thank you for coming. You have just missed the police officers who are working on finding the boys who hurt Lilibeth" Darren stated. He was unsure why Mark had turned up and wondered if he would be taking Lilibeth with him.

Dr Michaels returned to the room seeing Darren and Mark in an intense stare off. He cleared his throat and addressed Darren. "I have some numbers for a psychologist who will be able to assist Lilibeth. I thought you might like them" Dr Michaels told Darren who smiled and thanked the doctor for the information. "You haven't engaged someone yet?" Mark asked Darren. "No we haven't but we will be as soon as Lilibeth is cleared to come home. We will be going as a family" Darren told Mark. He wanted all his children to go and work together especially trying to try to connect to Lilibeth after how he and his children had treated her.

Mark knew Darren and his sons were hiding something he just didn't know what. "What exactly happened?" Mark asked. Lilibeth was starting to wake and heard talking in the room. "Boys tell Mr Little what happened" Darren said to Leo, Lex and Zac. Lilibeth couldn't believe it, was Mr Little was here to help her? Or was he in on the plan of selling her as well?

Zac looked at Mark and began. "We were at the park, me, Leo, Lex and Lilibeth. These guys were saying stuff but we ignored them. Next minute they were beating Lilibeth. Lex tackled the guy holding Lilibeth and she was dropped on her arm while Leo and me dealt with the others. She then passed out and Dad rushed her here" Zac stated. Lilibeth wanted to say something but she was pretending to still be asleep. She was scared of what would happen if she spoke up or if she denied what they were saying.

"Mr Little, the police have the reports from all of my sons. I have asked they not interview Lilibeth due to the trauma of everything. She is not engaging and this could be a major set back" Darren told Mark. "I agree this could be a major step back" Mark stated not sure if he should question the girl or not. The story that Zac told him matched with the injuries and Mark would get the police statements. He saw the distress on all the Staples mens face and assumed they were worried with what happened to Lilibeth. Maybe he had got it wrong and they were good for her? Mark had several other children to visit today and would be seeing Lilibeth in 10 days anyway. "Mr Staples I will be seeing you all in 10 days to make sure Lilibeth is settling in. Please call me if you need anything" Mark stated before leaving.

Lilibeth wanted to cry. She thought that Mr Little would help her but clearly he didn't want to. He left her with the people that were selling her. Maybe Me Little was in on the plan of selling her as well. "You can stop pretending to be asleep now" someone said to her, she wasn't quiet sure who and didn't want to open her eyes to see who it was either. She wanted the peace of the blackness to come back.

Darren swung around after Beau told Lilibeth to stop pretending to be asleep now. The heart monitor which Lilibeth was connected to started to beat faster indicating that her heart rate was increasing. Lilibeth had her eyes screwed shut and refused to open them. If she wasn't in pain she would of moved away from the voice that gave her away. She could feel several pairs of eyes on her and that was making her feel uneasy.

"Lilibeth" Darren spoke softly to the girl in an attempt to lure her out of the pretend sleep. "Please Lilibeth, open your eyes" Darren continued to coax the girl out of her pretend sleep getting closer to her. Lilibeth just wanted to pretend she was somewhere else so kept her eyes closed. If she didn't see them maybe they would go away. Darren moved slowly next to his daughter and reached his hand out to tuck a piece of hair behind the girls ear. When his hand came in contact with her face, Lilibeth's eyes flew open and she attempted to move away from Darren. Her eyes were wide and she let out a small whimper of pain.

Darren froze where he was. Did his daughter actually think he was going to physically hurt her? The heart monitor was beating quicker now but still Lilibeth didn't make a sound. She was struggling to catch her breath. She felt like she was getting no air in her lungs at all. "I won't hurt you Lilibeth" Darren whispered to his daughter horrified that one of his children was that scared of him. Yes he was strict but he had never harmed any one of his children. Then again Lilibeth didn't know that as no one had shown her any kindness in that house besides Miss Emma.

Beau, Zac, Leo and Lex were watching on just as shocked as Darren at the way Lilibeth had reacted to Darren touching her hair. "None of us will hurt you again" Beau spoke causing Lilibeth to jump again trying to back away from both men. Her heart rate was going crazy and her oxygen level dropped sounding an alarm which had nurses and doctors running into the room. Lilibeth's eyes were wide open and she was physically shaking. She had tears streaming down her face.

"Lilibeth, I need you to calm down for me" Dr Michaels told the girl. "Lilibeth you are safe, you are having a panic attack. I am going to put the oxygen mask on you and I want you to take some deep breaths" Dr Michaels continued to speak calmly. Lilibeth had tears running down her face and struggled to breath but she made no noise what so ever. Darren didn't take his eyes off his daughter not believing his daughter was struggling for air but made no attempted to alert anyone she needed help. The only thing that she did was move away from them and her eyes got big.

Dr Michaels slipped the oxygen mask on Lilibeth and instructed her to take deep breaths and copy his breathing. After a few minutes Lilibeth was breathing normally but still she didn't make a noise at all. She laid on the bed her eyes begging someone to notice how she was drowning in thoughts of being sold and hurt by the people who were suppose to care for her.