A temporary home
She wakes up confused, her head feels fuzzy, and she finds herself in a hospital bed. Her surroundings alien to her. The smell of antiseptic is strong and overwhelmed her. "Hello little miss, are you awake?" She heard a husky voice say. Her eyes focus through the haze up towards an elderly man with a very wrinkly face, you could tell he was way past the retirement age. "Where am I?" She questioned, trying her best to stay calm. The Doctor had a slight frown, clearly not falling for her facade.
"You’re at Saint Mary's Hospital, you were found on the streets with peculiar clothing which didn't fit you" The disoriented girl tried to reach into her memories, deeply worried when not a single thing came up. Her eyes glanced towards a long and thin tube embedded in her arm and looked at the ancient man with an arched eyebrow. The doctor noticed where she was looking and with a look of uncertainty explained to her "when you were taken to the hospital, we found you were severely dehydrated and starved. “
The girl let that information enter her mind and when it did it left her with more questions than answers. Why was she on the streets? Where was her family? She was quick to question where they were and the doctor let out a sharp breath "we were hoping you could tell us that, young miss" She looked downwards, nervous about the unbelievable confession she was about to make "I can't remember, I can't remember anything”
The doctor shined a light into her eyes and to her surprise, the doctor agreed. "You are showing signs of a concussion as well; amnesia was not out of the realm of possibility." The man said, looking to have aged 10 years since she woke up. She hated the pity he was sending with his brown eyes but was too tired to do anything about it. "How long have I been here?" "You have been here for two days; we were hoping for you to wake up soon"
The girl took into consideration the fact she had been asleep for two days and asked "how will you find my family? They must be looking for me?" The doctor gave her a sympathetic smile and responded, "You can rest assure that the authorities will help you." His words gave the hope he intended them to, he gave a gentle squeeze of her hand and said "don't worry, you will reunite with your family soon" she gave him back her first smile since she awoke.
2 weeks later a family claimed her as their own. She was polite to the staff at first, them having saved her, but her boredom and frustration had to be solved somehow. The number of devious pranks she got up to more than managed to get several staff looking for her family to take her back. It took 2 weeks for luck to be on her side but when she heard a family has said she was theirs and wanted to take her back home she was overjoyed. There surname was Dursley and apparently, she was Marjorie Dursley’s niece.
A brown-haired women entered her hospital room; she had bright red lipstick on and looked extremely pleased with herself. Behind her was a scrawny little boy who she would have mistaken to be a lot younger than he is if she wasn't informed of his age, but it’s not like I could talk since Marjorie claimed I was Harry's twin and that would mean I don’t look my age either. They sat down beside my bed while Doctor Smith, who had been by her side since the beginning, stood nearby. “Do you recognise these two, young miss?” She felt no familiarity with Marjorie, but her heart was telling her she knew Harry. “I think I do, Doctor” A smile graced Smiths face as the long mystery seemed to come to an end. Her aunt let out a sigh of relief and seemed to brace herself for what she was about to say.
“Bella, I took in your brother after your parent's deaths, and I would have taken in you as well If you didn't go missing. I recognised you the moment I looked at the newspaper” Marjorie said, seemingly teary-eyed, it was everything the girl- Bella had been yearning to hear the last two weeks. A family who cared about her. Harry shifted Uncomfortably in his seat, seeming troubled in mind, did he never know he had a sister? “Thank you, Marjorie” “dear, please just call me Auntie” A large smile spread across her face as she replied cheerfully “okay, Auntie.” She didn’t see the guilty look Harry sent her way, too caught up in her joy.
Doctor Smith and Marjorie left the room to talk about her health and needed documentation, she looked towards Harry and said, “how does it feel to have a sister?” “great” he muttered sarcastically. She didn’t understand why his mood was so low, shouldn't he be happy he has a sister? The rest of the time they spent together went in awkward silence, it seemed whatever connection she felt towards him wasn’t there on his side of things.
Marjorie and Doctor Smith reinterred the room and informed Bella and Harry she would be staying another night. After saying goodbye, she thought more about this situation she's found myself In. A flicker of doubt entered her mind of if these people really are her family “I don’t look like I could be related to them and I felt no recognition towards my ‘aunt’ “Bella thought. The name Bella also felt wrong to her, it felt more like a nickname more than anything else. Marjorie did say she went missing, though, so it could feel like that because of a lack of using the name. The next day went rather slowly, with her trepidation and excitedness overwhelming her throughout the day.
After Marjorie arrived back at the hospital with Harry, she guided us to her car and encouraged us to put our seatbelts on. It was an utter shock to me that on the ride home she completely ignored my attempts to converse with her and even told me to quiet down. Where was this attitude towards her at the hospital? She wondered. She quickly found the answer when they arrived at the Dursley’s house and entered the living room. Inside was a short chubby boy with food running down his mouth who she was told was her cousin Dudley and a man who shared many characteristics with Dudley that was her uncle Vernon.
She shared a look with her brother Harry and It was then she realised that this seemingly loving family was anything but. No wonder Harry had seemed so off at the hospital, he probably wasn't allowed to speak about how our family truly is. Her image was further shattered when Marjorie settled onto the couch and exclaimed “they bought it! The reward money is ours!” oh. That makes a lot of sense. This family was not hers at all and she had been tricked! This would be a very long day, and she wished her paranoia hadn't been correct.
“Reward money?” Bella questioned, unease oozing off her. Vernon glanced coldly in her direction and replied “yes, the reason we claimed you as ours is because of the benefits” He smirked as Marjorie revealed a large sum of money out of her purse. Dudley looked greedily towards the money, clearly imagining all the things he could buy with it. Bella crossed her arms “what's stopping me from going back to the hospital and telling them I was wrong?” To her surprise it was Dudley who answered her question “mummy and dad told me nobody wanted you and that's the reason there was reward money out to take you in!”
Her heart broke, had her real family not wanted her? She tried to calm herself down but found it was futile, she couldn't remember how to. Suddenly, she found herself brought into a warm embrace by none other than the distant boy Harry. He whispered to her that it would be alright, and she found herself whisked away as the Dursleys celebrated their stolen money. She clung to Harry like her life depended on it, despite not knowing him, she couldn't help but feel closely connected to him. Harry opened a door to a compact room with little to no space. It was a miracle they both managed to get inside.
She untangled herself from Harrys arms and looked at him with tears in her eyes. He gave a knowing look; she was quick to realise after her panic had subsided that Harry was covered in a multiple of bruises, and she felt like a fool for not seeing them earlier. It was then that she realised he must know exactly what she is going through. If someone were to know what being stuck with a cruel family was like, harry would, which gave her a feeling of hope that she would have someone by her side through this horrible experience. Maybe, just maybe, she won't have to face this alone.