Two Ways to Love

By Shay Clarke

Bella wanted to be accepted and loved for who she was on the inside. People only seemed to see her for how she spoke. Her mother rejected her, and her sisters treated her as if she had a disease. Bella did everything she was told and fought to be accepted by her family and to have friends. Just as she thought she had conquered her disabling shyness, she found another person wanting to knock her down, and this time it was her mother-in-law.
Sam was the younger sister, and both girls had huge hearts. Sam did not have the patience to put up with other people’s interference and made moves to rectify it. Would she find love after her divorce? Sam went on a mission to find herself, but found a lot more in her travels.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press AU
• Release date: Dec 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781504324038

Shay Clarke

I have a great imagination, but I have never put it down on paper. This book I wrote while confined to my home during Covid-19. I did not realize how much I would enjoy writing, I hope you enjoy it too.

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Copyright © 2021 Shay Clarke.

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ISBN: 978-1-5043-2394-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-2403-8 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 12/18/2020

Bella wanted to be accepted and loved for who she was on the inside. People only seemed to see her for how she spoke. Her mother rejected her, and her sisters treated her as if she had a disease. Bella did everything she was told and fought to be accepted by her family and to have friends. Just as she thought she had conquered her disabling shyness, she found another person wanting to knock her down, and this time it was her mother-in-law.

Sam was the younger sister, and both girls had huge hearts. Sam did not have the patience to put up with other people’s interference and made moves to rectify it. Would she find love after her divorce?

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Young Isabella

Chapter 2: Bella All Grown Up

Chapter 3:

Chapter 4: Samantha

Chapter 5:

Epilogue

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Chapter 1

YOUNG ISABELLA

A DELE WAS WAITING at home for Michael to return with her mother, Margaret. Adele had been having contractions for a few hours now. Margaret was going to look after their two children while Michael took Adele to the hospital. Margaret arrived, and Adele and Michael headed straight to the hospital.

Adele was taken straight to her room. Michael headed back home and waited for the doctor to call him after the baby was born. It wasn’t long after he arrived home that the hospital rang. The labour was quick, and he learned of the birth of his third daughter.

Isabella was taken away from Adele as soon as she was born. They told Adele that they needed to take her away so she could be looked over by a paediatrician and Adele could get some sleep. It was three in the morning, and an exhausted Adele did not have to be told twice. Each of her previous daughters had stayed in the nursery while she had been in the hospital.

The next morning, Michael was called into the hospital. Isabella had not been brought to Adele, not even to be fed. Michael arrived early and went straight to Adele’s room. The doctor came into the room with a concerned face. He told Adele and Michael that their little girl had a cleft palate.

Adele and Michael were devastated by the news. They both went to visit Isabella in the nursery. She had a device on her head that resembled a helmet and went into her mouth. This was an artificial palate so she wouldn’t cut of her airway. Bella had already stopped breathing during the night when her tongue got in the way.

Adele and Michael went back to Adele’s room. Adele was sobbing. How could this happen to us? she asked.

It’s all right, love; we’ll get through this, said Michael.

Michael visited Adele for the seven days that she was in the hospital. They didn’t see the baby again during that time. Adele could not believe that this could happen to them. She was concerned about what her friends and family would think.

Adele and Michael left the hospital, but Bella remained there. Michael visited Bella and checked in with the doctor once a week. Bella would not be going home until the doctors thought she was well enough. Margaret also visited her a couple of times a month in the hospital; Adele did not visit her at all.

It was 1973. Isabella was walking into the hospital with her dad. She was in the hospital for the fifth time in seven years. Bella spent the first three months of her life in the hospital, with very few visitors. Her family only had one car, and her dad needed it to go to work. And her mum was busy at home with her sisters. Bella’s first operation was when she was eighteen months old.

Bella had been born in 1966. The roof of her mouth had not joined when she was in her mother’s womb. It took five operations for her palate to be rebuilt. In the modern world of 2020, it can take as little as one operation, which is normally performed when the child is between nine to eighteen months old.

Bella had always done what she was told, even if she did not understand. She had speech therapy, but no one except her family understood her when she spoke. She had no friends. Other children teased her and picked on her; adults ignored her.

As she walked home from school one day, some kids picked on her. She cried as they taunted her for not being able to speak properly. She turned around and said, I have a cleft palate.

One of the boys asked, What’s that?

She bravely said, Are you dumb? and quickly ran home. Bella rarely stood up for herself; this must have been the first time she had. Her sisters did not walk to or from school with her, as they didn’t want to be seen with her.

Bella’s mum would sweep Bella behind her when adults tried to speak to her. Bella did not understand why her mum did this; she always let Bella’s sisters talk for themselves. Adele only talked about them, saying how talented and smart they were.

Back when Bella was four years old, she could not wait to turn five. She could then go to dance lessons with her sisters. She used to stand on the front veranda listening to the music from the hall across the road, where her sisters were at their lessons. She so much wanted to go.

When she turned five, Bella excitedly asked if she could take dance lessons. Her dad said no. They could not afford for all three of the girls to go to dance lessons, so none of them would be doing it. Bella’s sister Christina did not like dance lessons and wanted to learn the piano, so their dad said all three of them would learn to play. Christina was choosing what all three of the girls would do.

Bella entered the hospital. The ward was long, with beds on each side and dining room tables down the middle for meals. Bella was shown to her bed, where she was put into hospital pyjamas. This was when Bella first learned to tell the time. Her dad said that he would be there each day when the big hand on the large clock was on the twelve and the little hand was on the three, except for tomorrow, when she was having her operation. Then he left her. She was alone with no one but strangers and other kids crying in their hospital beds.

As tears streamed down Bella’s face, Nurse Abbey came to her bed. She said she would look after Bella, which made Bella feel safe and secure. She stayed with her for a few minutes, asking her what her teddy bear’s name was and playing with her. Bella had had Mr. Purple since she was born; her nana had given it to her. Mr. Purple was purple and white, with black paws.

Bella ate at one of the tables for dinner that night but was too shy to speak to any of the other children. She listened to the conversations some of them had about getting out soon, but Bella had no idea when she would be getting out. Bella knew that Easter was in ten days, so she was concerned that she might not get any Easter eggs. She was concerned that the Easter bunny might not find her in the hospital. Bella had no idea what was even going to happen to her. She could not remember being in the hospital before.

As she lay in her bed, she stared into space. Bella had a few books and her teddy bear but nothing else to do. She was not interested in her books. She had read them before. Nurse Abby came to wish her good night and said that she would be in tomorrow and would see her then. Nurse Abbey had a way of making Bella feel better. None of the other nurses had even spoken to her. Bella stared at the ceiling, looking at the water stains and wondering what her family was doing.

Bella woke up in the morning and was told that she could not have breakfast. They told her that she had to have a shot to relax her before she went into surgery. The nurse roughly turned her onto her stomach and stuck a needle in her backside. It hurt and made her cry. Then the nurse and a man put her onto a table while she struggled to get away. Bella was told to lie still. She did, sobbing. Bella had no idea where they were taking her.

They wheeled Bella out of the ward and towards another building. They entered the building, where there were doctors and nurses coming out in full white uniforms and masks on their faces. They waited in a waiting area until they were told to come into a room.

Bella was placed beside another table and lifted onto it. There were bright lights above her. She felt so scared. She did not know any of these people. They tried to put a black mask onto her face. It smelled bad. Bella tried to knock it off, but they held her down and put it back over her mouth and nose. Bella sobbed and screamed for help. She heard a voice calling her name gently—Bella, Bella—and looked up to see Nurse Abbey. She had one of the face masks on as well, but Bella recognized her eyes and her voice. Bella looked into her eyes and felt her warmth; she was so caring. Then they were able to hold the mask on Bella’s face until she fell asleep.

Bella woke up back in her bed in the hospital ward. Her arms were wrapped in bandages, with boards underneath the bandages. Bella started crying, and