Chapter 60: Chapter 60

WRITER'S POV.

"Good morning doctor Guzman." Grace greeted the doctor before her and discreetly took in the sight of the cottages. This would be their abode from now on until Avatia was fine.

The doctor smiled at her. "Good morning Mrs. Hilton. Welcome and thank you for allowing me to help your child. Where is she by the way?"

"She's in the van. Doctor Shane recommended you. I hope you would help us out. My baby girl has been through so much. I'll go get her now." Grace was about to leave when the doctor called her again. "Is anything wrong?"

The doctor just shook his head and smiled. "I'm sorry for what happened."

Grace returned a sad smile. "Thank you, doctor." She said and walked over to the service van that had brought them from the airport. The place was nice. It had a peaceful aura and scenery. However, she hoped they would not have to stay here for long. Her baby girl had to heal fast.

By the time she reached the van, Avatia was already standing outside, looking at the sky. "Why did you bring me here?"

It broke Grace's heart to see her little girl like this. She thought Avatia was going to throw a tantrum but she was wrong.

"I love this place. What's it called?" The girl asked again, walking towards the cottages.

Grace smiled and followed her, the driver bringing in the luggage. "I'm glad you love it, honey."

Avatia stopped in front of the doctor who immediately pulled her into a friendly hug. "Hi Avatia, it's nice meeting you."

The girl furrowed her brows. "Who are you?"

The doctor expected the question. "I'm your new doctor. My name is Nathaniel Guzman. But you can call me Nathan." He told her with a sweet smile. He needed to show her so much love because that was part of her therapy. "Let's go in now, shall we? I made hot coffee. You'll be staying in the East wing and I'll be in the South wing. I hope you do not mind."

They all walked in sharing small talk, except Avatia who stayed quiet. If they thought the outer part of the house was beautiful, they'd not see anything. The inner part of the house was even nicer. It was warm and cozy. Well furnished and clean. They could get the smell of coffee and freshly baked cookies.

"Do we have a maid?" Grace asked, referring to the clean house and the heavenly

smell.

The doctor let out a sweet laugh. "No, we don't, ma'am. I baked. We do not need a lot of people around. Don't you worry, I'll be doing the cooking?" He explained.

Grace shook her head. "No, you do not have to. I can cook for us."

The doctor shrugged. "The better for us. I love cooking but I'm not so good. "

He stopped as he watched Avatia stare at the backyard through the kitchen window. She looked so lost and confused. She looked so sad and lonely. He walked over to her. "There's a small lake at the back. We could go swimming if you want." He suggested.

The girl did not answer. She just kept staring. There were a lot of unanswered questions in her mind. Who were these people? Why were they showing her so much love? Why did she wake up in a hospital? Why could she not remember a thing? Who was she? Why did her heart feel so broken? Yet she could not remember a thing.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Doctor Nathan asked cheerily. He could already sense that this was going to be one difficult case. The girl who he already liked a lot was so broken. Her mother had already explained what happened to her. He felt sorry for the young lady. So beautiful and innocent, yet so sad and broken. He'd seen her pictures but only met her in person a couple of minutes ago, yet he knew he had to make her happy. Although the only thing she had asked him was who he was, he missed her soft melodious voice. She still did not spare him a glance.

"Where is my room?" She asked all of a sudden, avoiding eye contact with any of them.

He could see her eyes watering. He had helped a lot of people with post-traumatic stress disorder and there was always a successful outcome. But looking at the girl

before him, he knew he had to do more than just help her. He looked over at her mother who was watching the show with teary eyes. "Let's go. I'll show you the rooms." He said, signaling for her mother to join him.

*****

"No, please don't do this to me, I beg of you. Let go of me. Have mercy mister, let me go!"

Grace woke up from her slumber the moment she heard her daughter screaming.

She looked at the clock. 2:54 A.M. This has been happening for the past four days now. Avatia would wake up screaming now and then. She hurried over to her room, tapping her arm slightly. In no time, doctor Nathan showed up.

He gently patted her shoulder, waking her up. "It's fine Ava. It's fine. We're here now." He told her as she opened her eyes. Tears started rolling down her pale cheeks as she hugged him tightly.

"I saw him. I saw him. I can't remember his name but I saw him. He was there, he was trying to take advantage of me. He was there. He's a monster. He's an animal." She cried as her hold on the young man increased.

He gently smoothened her hair as her mother walked out to get her a glass of milk. "Hush now, dear. They're gone. No one can hurt you. We're here now. Your mom and I."

This triggered her emotions and she pulled away. "But I saw him." She yelled angrily. "And you guys weren't there to help me."

The doctor stood up and walked to the window, pulling away from the curtains. "Come see this." He was trying to divert her attention and it was working a bit.

She wiped her tears. "What's there?"

He turned and smiled at her. "Wanna come see for yourself or do you want me to tell you? I could lie, you know?" He teased. She walked over to him and he pointed at the stars. "Avatia we do not need to be there. The heavens are watching over you. You see, you can't count the stars. That's just how you can't count the number of angels watching over your beautiful soul." He told her as he looked into her eyes. "All of this would pass too."

Avatia was slightly comforted. "But he was there."

The doctor put his hands on her shoulders. "And he's gone now." Then he pulled her into a hug.

Just then, her mother walked in with a glass and two antidepressant pills. "My baby, it's going to be over soon." She said, handing the milk and pills to her child. She was not affected by the doctor. She had come to realize that he was just a good man, not a pervert like some other therapist. They had been monitoring Avatia, that was why he came immediately he heard her scream.

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" Her mother asked her calmly and she shook her head. The poor girl was scared of her dreams. There was always a man who tried to force himself on her. There was also another man who always tried to help her.

She could not see their faces or remember the names. All she knew was that she was tired of all this. "We could all just watch a movie then." Grace suggested.

"I just want to be alone," Avatia told them sadly as she made her way to her bed and got into her sheets.

The doctor and Grace shared a knowing look. Avatia always wanted to be alone. Both stepped out. "She needs to stop being alone. It's not helping." Grace told the young man.

He ran his fingers through his luscious locks. "I know ma'am. I already came up with an idea to take her for a walk when the sun is up. We'll go to the lake." He proposed.

"That's a good idea. I'm begging you, Nathan, you need to help my daughter. She's not saying it but she's hurting a lot. That's why she's shutting us out." The woman said, trying hard to hold back her tears.

*****

"It's beautiful out here, right?" The always cheery and very handsome doctor asked her. He'd taken almost thirty minutes to convince her to follow him. She just looked around unfazed. "Even if you do not want to admit it, it's beautiful."

This made her give him a sad smile.

"Just like you." He added underneath his breath.

He kept speaking to her but she would just look away as if she did not hear.

The doctor groaned. "C'mon Ava, talk to me. It's boring having a conversation alone." He whined like a little kid.

The girl smiled a little. "Sorry." She then took time to read the words on his plain black shirt. ~I am a virgin~

When Nathan noticed what had caught her attention, he chuckled. "This is an old shirt." He said, wiggling his eyebrows playfully. "A very very old shirt, trust me."

This caused her to chuckle for the first time since she left the hospital. He held his breath. All this while, he'd noticed how beautiful she was, even though she only gave him sad smiles. But seeing her chuckle was a whole new thing. The girl was breathtaking. Adorable. "I could take all day looking at you. You're the best patient I've ever had. I'm sorry what happened to you happened, but maybe it was because the heavens wanted you to be with me."

She snapped her head towards him, eyes widening.

He chuckled as he raised his arms in mock surrender. "I mean as a patient. You know, I'm still your doctor."

Sorry for the short chapter....but it's still a chapter though. And on the bright side, there's a new guy. On the bad side, this girl has exams knocking at her door. Please do vote so I know you're reading this.