"I don't feel comfortable answering questions about my childhood when you're in a position of power over me."

"Do you deal with a lot of defiant behavior, issues with authority, at home?" she asks Evelyn.

Okay seriously who says that out loud with their ACTUAL MOUTH with a teenage foster child RIGHT THERE. If it were Teagan - or twelve-year-old Emily - the nurse would be in serious danger of a punch to the face. 

(What on earth did Emily tell Iomedae last night. ...Possibly Iomedae opened up more about her childhood, and Emily - correctly - judged that if she told any adult mandatory reporters, everyone would freak out and make a huge deal of it, and Emily thought it was reasonable of Iomedae not to want this? Which is...something Evelyn has mixed feelings about...but is not going to unpack here.) 

"- No. Not at all. Iomedae is lovely and helpful most of the time, and when she's angry, she uses her words and explains why. It's very normal for children who just came into foster care to prefer not to speak about their childhood to people they see as having power over their lives. I haven't pushed her to talk about her childhood if she prefers not to, I usually don't find it helpful to keep pushing, especially with teenagers."

If she has to come back here with Iomedae she is requesting that they NEVER SEE THIS SPECIFIC NURSE AGAIN, because poor Iomedae, but it's not going to help to make a big fuss of it now. 

"...I believe she's never seen a doctor before this or had any vaccinations, but I don't have any reason to think she had serious injuries or illnesses as a child, and every indication I have is that she was well fed and cared for by her birth family before leaving home." There, something to put down on the form. 

"Thank you." She will put that down on the form, then. "Right, that's everything, you can head back out to the waiting room and I'll see if Allison's finished up."

"Alfirin," Evelyn corrects her, smiling so pleasantly and so normally. "Thank you." She stands. Smiles reassuringly at Iomedae, but she's not going to ask if Iomedae is okay right here in the doctor's office. 

She really hopes Alfirin is getting along all right. Alfirin seems to have - more instincts in general around managing conversations with authorities and not just saying everything she thinks - but of course she also has minimal context on what will or won't sound concerning, on top of the language barrier. 

She really hopes Iomedae can tell that Evelyn is trying very hard to be on her side. 

That was really fine. Intensely unpleasant, but everything about the next three years is going to be intensely unpleasant; the skill she needs is patiently enduring it without letting her resentment of these people inspire her to put less care into treating them honorably. Nothing bad happened. The doctor explained some more America laws that are important to know about. Hopefully Alfirin is also fine. 

Alfirin gets a different nurse, a chipper younger woman who smiles anxiously at her. "Hey. I'm Jessie, and this is a behavioral health screening, where we try to understand how you're doing emotionally - how you are feeling, what feelings are maybe making it hard for you to settle into your new home, do well in school, get along with your friends, and do all the other stuff I am sure you want to do! It's pretty long and repetitive because we try to ask the same question lots of different ways in case one way makes sense to you and the others don't. 

"In the last two weeks, how often have you felt stressed or scared?"

"...all of the days."

"In the last two weeks, have you had thoughts like that you wish that you were dead, or that you would be better off dead, or that other people would be better off if you were dead?"

"Being dead is bad."

" - yes. So you haven't had thoughts like that?"

"No. Because being dead is bad."

"Okay. In the last two weeks, have you felt like you might hurt yourself or other people?"

"...on...purpose?"

"- yes, on purpose. Like, because you felt out of control, or angry, or mad at them, or mad at yourself."

"...No."

"How often in the last two weeks have you felt unhappy?"

"Sometimes?"

"How often have you felt alone?"

"...I have been alone at night when I sleep, except last night I slept in Iomedae's room and was not alone."

"No, it means - how often have you felt like - you don't have friends, like no one is on your side, like no one really understands you?"

"...My English is bad and people do not really understand me sometimes? I do not have no friends."

"How often have you felt like your life is bad?"

"...Ever since I become a foster child, my life is bad in some ways and good in some ways?"

"What would you say is good and bad?" That's not on the questionnaire but especially with a language barrier you might want to go off script occasionally.