Observation (Patreon)

"Don't worry," the doctor told Elizabeth gently. "It's just a sprain."

"Oh." It should have been - and was - a relief, although Elizabeth couldn't help but feel a bit silly. She'd been so certain it was something more severe than that... It had certainly hurt more than she could remember a sprained ankle feeling, but, to be fair, it had been a very long time since she'd done that, so her memory hadn't been all that clear. 

It seemed like the sort of thing she should have been able to tell herself, and maybe even take care of on her own, rather than having to sit and wait all that time, first in the waiting room, then here, waiting again for the doctor to show up and examine her. She'd at least expected to be taken to have an x-ray, but, apparently, the doctor didn't even need that.

Not that she was disappointed... The last thing she'd wanted to do was strip down and have to get into a hospital gown, especially after so long of a wait. She squirmed on the exam table, feeling the now cold, clammy sensation of her Goodnites squishing beneath her, just imagining - as she had been for a while now - how humiliating it would have been to have the nurses come to take her to have her x-ray taken with those sticking out of the back of the gown. 

She usually didn't need them that much, just enough that it was usually a good idea to wear them, just in case. She had a few, small accidents here and there, and having a bit of protection was better than finding herself at work in a pair of wet pants. It was, really, something else she likely needed to bring up to the doctor, but it had been a long night, and all she wanted to do now was get out of here. Besides, she knew it was nothing more serious than a weak bladder, which she was pretty certain he didn't have a cure for.

"I'm sure it was very painful," he reassured her, trying to make her feel a little better for having come in. "Don't worry, the nurses will take care of you. You should feel much better in the morning, after some rest, but if you need it, some basic ibuprofen should be plenty to alleviate your pain."

"Thank you," Lizzie blushed, watching him bustle off to his next patient, as the nurses moved the ice pack away from her ankle and began to wrap it tightly in a bandage. She could hear them giving her advice, like how often she should put ice on it, and keeping it elevated, but, by now, she was mainly only concerned with getting home, and to bed.

It was only when they stopped talking that she began to pay attention... Or, rather, when they stopped talking to her. They were clearly still speaking, but their volumes had dropped, and when she glanced up, she could see they'd moved closer to one another, eyeing her suspiciously until they saw her look at them. Lizzie's heartrate began to pick up. What was wrong? Had they found something the doctor had missed? Was it more than just a sprain after all?

Finally, one of them spoke up. "Could you tell me what you're wearing, sweetie?" she asked.

That was not at all what Elizabeth had expected to hear; it took her by surprise, forcing her to glance down at herself to check. "Umm, a blouse and some jeans?"

"Yes," the woman agreed, before pushing on. "But what are you wearing under those?"

Elizabeth's face turned bright red, that damp padding suddenly feeling extra thick, extra wet, under her bottom. "N-Nothing," she lied, her fingers playing anxiously with the hem of her shirt.

The nurses looked at one another, then the one who had been speaking moved over to the phone hanging on the room's wall, while the other took over, her tone far more stern. "Elizabeth, are you lying to us?"

Clearly, they knew the truth, although that didn't make it seem any less embarrassing, or invasive. "What does it matter?" she whined. "Can you just finish up with my ankle and..?"

"Elizabeth, are you wearing a diaper?" the nurse snapped, cutting her off.

"No!" Lizzie shook her head automatically, cheeks darkening more and more.

"Elizabeth..." the woman glared at her, making her wiggle backwards on the table. "I need you to tell me the truth."

"I am!" Elizabeth insisted.

"All right, then," the nurse shrugged, then, before Lizzie could react, reaching out with her latex-gloved hand and grabbed the front of her jeans. Elizabeth gasped, trying to squirm away, which only made it easier for the woman to tug the pants down, once she had the button undone. There, in all their shameful glory, were Lizzie's wet Goodnites, on display. "And what are these?" 

Elizabeth's hands shot to her crotch, but it was clearly too late. "They're not diapers!" she hissed. "They're..." The truth wasn't much better, to be honest.

"And they're clearly soaked, too," the nurse said, though when Lizzie looked up at her, she saw the woman wasn't speaking to her, but her companion on the phone.

"They're not that bad!" Lizzie protested, despite knowing that they were, in fact, quite wet. "What does it matter anyway? Can I just..?" The nurse pushed her hands away as she tried to re-fasten her jeans, pushing her back into place when she tried to climb off the table indignantly.

"We're going to have to keep her here for observation, just in case," the nurse on the phone said. Elizabeth was too freaked out by then to be able to tell if she was speaking into the receiver, or to her companion; either way, she didn't like it.

"What for?!" she demanded. "I'm not staying here, it's just a sprained ankle, I..." She tried, again, to get off the exam table, but this time, the nurse pushed her harder, surprising Lizzie with her strength. Before she knew it, the girl was flat on her back on the table, feeling something wrap around her wrist... By the time she tried to pull it away, it was already fastened, holding her arm straight out. "Let me go!"

She'd never really stood a chance against the nurse, anyway - she was much smaller than the woman - but once her first limb had been restrained, it was all over. Elizabeth tried to twist, to grab for the restraint with her free hand, only to have the nurse take ahold of her other hand, easily pulling it to the other side of the table and lock it away, too, leaving the girl barely even able to sit up as the other nurse walked up to her, giving her a sad smile. "Don't worry, it's only for forty-eight hours, just to be safe. We don't want to take any chances with this."

"Forty-eight hours?!" Elizabeth pulled futilely on the wrist cuffs. That was her whole weekend, gone! "What can't you take any chances with?! Tell me what's going on!" She could feel frustrated tears welling up in her eyes; the nurses seemed to notice it as well, giving each other a knowing look while one of them picked up her chart and made a note.

The other nurse walked out of sight, returning a moment later with a syringe. "G-Get away from me with that!" Lizzie struggled, pulling as hard as she could, making no headway at all with the straps around her wrists. She tried kicking her feet, forgetting, for a second, the reason she was here in the first place, until her injured ankle smacked against the table, making her yelp, more tears cascading down her face.

"See?" the nurse shook her head. "That's exactly why you need this, to help you calm down..."

"I don't need to calm down, I need you to tell me what's going on!" Lizzie yelled, her words getting louder and more frantic as the other nurse pushed her arm against the table, holding it perfectly still for her partner to slip the needle into her vein, injecting whatever was in it into Elizabeth.

"Shh, it's okay," the nice nurse cooed, brushing Elizabeth's hair out of her face as she sniffled, the other nurse beginning to slide the girl's pants down. "It's going to be okay..." Lizzie could feel the strength draining out of her already, the adrenaline wearing off as she realized there wasn't anything she could do to fight them. Her eyelids began to feel very heavy, and not even the appearance of two large orderlies, while the nurses pulled something big, thick, and crinkly from one of the cabinets was enough to keep her from falling into a deep sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The diaper was the first thing Elizabeth noticed when she woke. It was hard to ignore it, after all, lifting her backside well off the bed, especially since it was, quite clearly, wet. It had been a long time since she'd had to resort to full-on diapers, and even then, she'd never even seen any as bulky as these felt.

It was difficult to get an accurate sense of just how big they were, however, because she was covered in a blanket, and, when she tried to push that aside, she realized she was still restrained, just like on the exam table. She wasn't there, though... This was a whole different room, and she was on a hospital bed. It was pretty plain, and stark, though the walls were a cheerier color than she would have expected, and a few large stuffed toys were stacked in a pile on the floor.

It almost looked like she was in the children's ward... But why? Even though the nurses had clearly known about her Goodnite, they'd also seen her chart, and that told them she was an adult... Why had they brought her here?

It was a mystery, unlike the soft, but unyielding, cuffs around her wrists, and her healthy ankle. Looking back, she felt bad about trying to fight back... It wasn't really like her, but it had all been so sudden, so scary... If she'd just stayed a little calmer, maybe they would have explained things to her. Now, all she could do was lie there and wait for somebody to show up so she could ask them.

That didn't happen for quite a while, after Elizabeth had spent what felt like hours tugging at her bonds and looking around, before drifting off to a light nap, since there was nothing better to do. She almost missed the nurse, but fortunately the sound of the door opening roused her from her slumber. "Oh, you are up," the nurse said, stepping back inside. "Are you feeling better today?"

Elizabeth blushed and nodded, glad it was the nicer of the two nurses she was seeing now. "I'm sorry," she told her.

"I know, hospitals can be scary, can't they?" the nurse smiled, pushing Elizabeth's blanket aside. "My, we're quite wet this morning, aren't we?"

"S-Sorry," Elizabeth repeated. 

"It's okay," the nurse told her, and it actually sounded like it was. "I'll get you all taken care of." She opened one of the cabinets, and, just like in the exam room, Elizabeth saw a stock of diapers. Why did they have so many of those just ready and waiting? What kind of a place was this?

"Umm..." Elizabeth whimpered, squirming what little she could. "I usually just wear Goodnites, so I don't need..."

"We don't stock those," the nurse told her. "Besides, from what I just felt, I'm not sure they'd be enough anyway."

Elizabeth turned pink, almost informing her that they (almost) always were, but that would be admitting that she used these things a lot... Which was true, though that didn't mean she wanted to admit it. Instead, she asked, "C-Can I get out of these things?"

"We'll see," the nurse replied cryptically. "I'm going to get you all cleaned up first, then we need to give you an exam... Can you show us what a good girl you can be while we do that?"

Elizabeth nodded, despite the wording making her feel like the nurse thought she was some little kid. "Okay." If it meant not being trapped on this bed for the rest of the weekend, she could do that... Besides, she wanted to make up for what she'd done the night before.

"Good," the nurse smiled. "Now, let's get this undone... Wow, you really had to go, didn't you?" Elizabeth blushed, wiggling on her now open diaper as the nurse wiped her clean. "Do you do this often, Lizzie?"

Elizabeth nodded bashfully; there was little point lying about it now. "Have this been happening for a long time?" the woman followed up, and Lizzie nodded again, trying to look away, but it seemed like she could either stare at the nurse, asking these embarrassing questions, or the diaper, and all the evidence of her bedwetting, laid out for anyone to see.

It wasn't so bad, since the nurse was nice, until the other nurse from the previous night came in, right as her companion slid the new diaper she'd brought under Elizabeth and began wrapping up the old. Immediately, Elizabeth became aware again of just how humiliating a position she really was in, lying there with her hospital gown pushed up, on top of a huge, bulky diaper, half naked... It had been almost nice, having someone to change her, since she usually had to do that herself; having a spectator was something else entirely, though.

"All right," the nice nurse told Lizzie. "Are you ready for your exam?" Elizabeth frowned, glancing down at her still open diaper, but nodded anyway, not wanting to give them any reason to think she needed to be restrained any more. "Go ahead," she said to the other nurse, who stepped forward, running her gloved hands over Elizabeth's bare body, poking and prodding every little bit, while the girl squirmed and blushed, the other nurse smiling down at her encouragingly.

"Now, are you going to be good?" the mean nurse asked. "Or do I need to bring the orderlies in again?"

Elizabeth barely remembered the orderlies, but she did recall just how big and strong they looked... And the fact that they were two other people to witness her here like this. "I-I'll be good," she promised.

The nurse nodded, and started undoing one of Elizabeth's wrist, while her partner did the other. The other nurse raised the bed, helping Elizabeth sit up, while the one giving the exam reached behind her, undoing her gown and tossing it aside, leaving Lizzie totally naked on top of her diaper. The nice nurse began asking a series of questions, like when the last time she'd had a cold was, whether she'd recently been in any large crowds in a confined space, while her companion continued her exploration, seeming to want to touch every inch of Lizzie's petite body.

Finally, they both ran out of things to ask, or search, the nice one reaching into her pocket to pull out a small lollipop for Elizabeth, though the girl couldn't help but notice she took the plastic off for her. They consulted for a few seconds, while Lizzie licked her candy, just glad for something to take her mind off what had just happened, then turned back to her.

"All right, sweetie, we have two more things we have to do, and they're the most difficult parts... Do you think you can be brave for us?" Elizabeth did not like the sound of that, but she nodded anyway, wondering if the lollipop had been to help soften the blow of whatever they were about to do. "Good girl," the nurse smiled, pulling one of the room's chairs over and sitting at Elizabeth's side. 

Lizzie knew right away she was being distracted, as the questions the woman asked her had changed from the more potentially medical to more simplistic things like what her favorite color was. All it did was make Elizabeth more anxious about what the other nurse was doing, her eyes darting over to check on her, finally doing so right in time to see a needle sink into her arm.

The nice nurse saw her eyes widen, was reaching out to calm her down even before she sniffled, "I don't want another shot!"

"This isn't like last night," the nurse told her. "We're just taking some blood, to check on a few things. It's all right... Just stay calm, okay? You're doing so well... There, it's done already!"

Elizabeth was glad she wasn't getting knocked out again, but the woman's words hadn't been nearly as comforting as she'd thought. "What do you need to check?" she asked.

"Okay, flip her over," the mean nurse ordered, not bothering to answer.

Lizzie's eyes opened even wider. "I'm not sure that's necessary," the nice nurse took her side. "She's been very cooperative, I think we could do it the other way..."

"You know the rules," the other one shrugged. "Come on, turn over for me," she turned to Elizabeth.

"Why?" Lizzie demanded. "What is going on?!"

"Turn over," the nurse repeated, all but ignoring Elizabeth's words. "If you do it right now, you can keep your lolli... If not, we're strapping you down, like we're supposed to," she glared at her partner.

The nice nurse seemed to take this as an acceptable compromise. "Just do it, Lizzie, it'll all be over in a minute."

Elizabeth pouted, part of her wanting to resist; mostly, she didn't want to be tied to the bed again, though, so she flipped over, lying down on top of her diaper, bare bottom in the air, anxiously eating her candy, trying to steal glances behind her to get an idea of what to expect. She failed at that, so, when the nice nurse held her free hand, she couldn't help feeling very scared.

She gasped as she felt something cold being pushed into her backside, having no idea what it was. She began to wiggle in discomfort at the invasion, the mean nurse placing a hand on the small of her back and threatening, "Stay still, or we'll have to do this again with you restrained."

Elizabeth had never - at least not that she remembered - felt anything like this before. She felt so open, so vulnerable... She was glad both for her candy, and the other nurse, although neither was enough to keep her from feeling the thing inside of her, and wanting to reach back and pluck it out.

When the mean nurse finally did, it was a huge relief. The nice one helped her turn over again, positioning her back on the center of the diaper, which she immediately set to work taping into place, tapping a healthy amount of baby powder into it first, although Elizabeth was distracted from that by stealing glances at the other woman, blushing as she saw what was now clearly a thermometer, realizing she'd just had her temperature taken in the most infantile way possible.

As the nurse pulled her diaper up, she realized it was just a little wet already... Sometime during that - she assumed just moments before, at the surprise assault of the thermometer - she'd peed herself, right in full view of whoever had been watching at the time. If the rest of this hadn't made her feel like a baby, that certainly did, and she prayed that, somehow, nobody had noticed, although, as experienced as both the nurses seemed to be, she doubted that.

The diaper was so much bulkier, and strangely stiffer, than her usual Goodnites, clearly something medical, made for cheapness and effectiveness rather than comfort or discreetness. Even mostly dry, she could definitely tell the difference... Wet, it had expanded even more, although that did soften it a bit, or at least make it more squishy. Once she was taped up snugly, the nice nurse headed to the room's closet, where Elizabeth saw a small variety of fresh hospital gowns.

Unlike the one she'd had on before, which she assumed had come from the exam room, and was plain, hospital blue, these were bright and cheery, like the room, and covered in patterns, like little hearts, or flowers. Some were even designed to look like a doctor's coat, complete with a cartoon stethoscope drawn on, although, clearly, nobody would ever mistake anyone in it for a real doctor. Like everything else in the room, they definitely seemed like they were designed for children.

The nurse picked the one with hearts out, helping Elizabeth into it before going to consult with her partner. "Will you tell me what's going on?!" Elizabeth demanded, although it was hard to feel like she should be taken seriously while sitting there in her diaper, holding a lollipop.

There was no answer at first, both women ignoring her, like her words were meaningless, the babble of a silly baby. Finally, the mean one headed off, and the nice one turned back to the bed. "Now, sweetie, I want you to press this button if you need to go potty, okay?" She pointed to a button on the side of Elizabeth's bed. "Someone will take you there, and help you out of your diaper... If you try to take it off yourself, we're going to have to restrain you again, and you don't want that, do you?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "I didn't think so," the nurse said. "I know it's scary here on your own, but if you want to play with the toys, or watch TV, you can do that, and I'll be in to check on you again before too long."

Clearly, she was about to be abandoned again, and still without a reason for any of this. "Why am I here?!" she pouted. "I just want to go home..."

The nurse smiled sadly down at her. "Well, hopefully once the doctor is done looking at your blood, and we've been able to watch you for a little longer, he'll decide it's safe for you to do that."

"Why wouldn't it be safe?" 

The nurse started to speak, then stopped herself briefly. "I'm sure it is," she said, clearly not convinced of that at all. "But there's this thing going around right now... It has a scientific name, but most people just call it the 'baby virus'. Have you heard of that?" Elizabeth shook her head. "Sometimes it hits really hard, and sometimes it isn't so bad... Either way, it makes the people who have it act like... Well, like babies. There's a vaccination for it, though, unfortunately, not a lot of people have gotten it, and without that, it's very easy to catch, so we can't let someone who might have the virus leave before making sure, one way or the other."

"N-No," Elizabeth shook her head, finally piecing it together. They'd thought her Goodnite had been because of that... "I've had to wear Goodnites for a long time... It isn't a virus, I just have a weak bladder!"

"Well, there were no notes about that in your file, so we have to be safe, not just for you, but for everyone around you," the nurse told her. "Don't worry, it isn't so bad in here once you get used to it... And it's only another day and a half!"

Elizabeth hoped that was true, and the woman was clearly trying to sound cheerful, but she didn't seem convinced that would be the case... Suddenly, Elizabeth regretted not having told her doctor about her problem before, to have evidence that this hadn't just started up because of some bug. As far as anyone knew, she really was infected... And that accident during her exam probably hadn't helped.

She flipped on the television, but the only channels that came in were clearly meant for kids, full of cartoons, or kids dressed in bright clothing dancing around and singing. She supposed it made sense that they didn't have rooms set up just for people they thought might be infected, so they'd put her in one obviously meant for ones who definitely were, although that didn't make the place any less embarrassing to be stuck in. 

Eventually, out of sheer boredom, she landed on a show that didn't seem too bad, and, just from loneliness, grabbed one of the stuffed animals from the pile, cuddling with it on her bed as she stared up at the screen. As usual, she didn't have a ton of warning, when her bladder decided it was time to empty, but she hit the button as quickly as she could, praying whoever was on the other side would come fast.

They did not. She had no idea how many people were in the ward, so it was hard to be too mad, but by the time the nurse came in to check on her, she was already wet again, blushing and hugging her toy to her chest, having been so caught up in the show now that she hadn't noticed the nurse come in until she was beside her, checking her diaper. 

She was nice enough, even if she was clearly talking to Lizzie like an actual child, changing her into a fresh diaper and hugging her with a smile when the girl tried to apologize, telling her it was okay. Her niceness didn't stop her from noting what had happened on her chart, however...

Elizabeth watched her go, suddenly feeling very worried about the next day or so. She knew her bloodwork would come back clean, but if they were consulting both it and her behavior, clearly they didn't totally trust it by itself... And, if the nurses on the ward were so busy they couldn't respond to her any faster than that, she was going to have a lot more wet diapers... And, with nothing other than baby toys and shows to occupy her, how could she not look like a kid as she tried to just keep from being bored out of her skull?

She really hoped the doctor, and the nurses, believed her story, rather than trusting the inevitable many diaper changes she was bound to have over her stay here, or she might just be spending more than just the weekend here. Or... She dropped the toy she'd been snuggling, an even worse thought crossing her mind. Surely, the hospital cleaned this place thoroughly after the last patient, hadn't they? They wouldn't have put her in here if they hadn't...

What if one toy had missed their attention? What if the cleaning crew had slacked off the day they'd had to wash the room? She was sure she didn't have the virus now... But what if she caught it because they were keeping her here? What if, because of their suspicions, they forced her to stay there, and then she wound up a victim to it, thus 'proving' they'd been right all along?!

She shivered, looking around the room, suddenly wondering if she was going to be spending a lot of time here... Surely, she was just being overly paranoid, and the doctor would be able to tell she was perfectly healthy, and maybe even let her go home early... Surely, that's what was going to happen, and not the opposite... Right?