Sophie And Lane

Chapter 17

Lane's POV

Lawton Psychiatric Hospital. A sign had never been so scary before. I must have reacted to it because Soda pulled me against him. What was I gonna do without my brothers for 60 days? We were all we had.

The building loomed in front of us looking very ominous, "Please, Darry?" I whispered, "please can I go home?"

He didn't respond, he just squeezed my hand, "Elaine Curtis," he said when we got into the lobby, "she is suppose to check in at noon."

The receptionist looked at me over her glasses, "you can have a seat over there," she pointed to a group of chairs in the corner, "Dr. Sauter will be with you momentarily."

I sat down next to Pony. I missed my gang already. We said our goodbyes this morning. Two-Bit swiped me a stuffed Mickey Mouse. Dal threaten to beat the tar outta me if I didn't get better. Sophie cried. She was going to Duncan tomorrow. I took in the waiting room. It smelled like a hospital. The walls were all painted that boring taupe color. Every now and then a couple of girls would walk by. Some looked about my age, others were older...maybe Soda's age.

A few of them smiled at Soda, then walked away giggling and blushing. I shot Pony a look. He noticed, smirked, and shook his head, "can't take him anywhere," he mouthed. I stifled a giggle. Soda seemed to attract girls anywhere he went. He knew it too. He kept flashing his hollywood smile at everyone who walked by.

After what felt an hour, it was really 15 minutes, Dr. Sauter came into the room. She had short black hair in a bobbed style cut and brown eyes. She wore a black pencil skirt, a white blouse with a black jacket over it, "Hello," she held out her hand, "my name is Dr. Tess Sauter." Darry shook it and then she turned to me, "you must be Elaine," she said warmly.

"I go by Lane," I responded coldly.

Darry squeezed my shoulder, "I'm her legal guardian, Darrell Curtis," he motioned to Soda and Ponyboy, "those are her other brothers."

She ushered us toward what I'm assuming was her office and sat down behind her desk. She pulled out a manilla folder, opened it and started skimming it, "Lane, it says here that you self harm? Tell me about that."

That caught me off guard. I didn't want to talk about that! Especially in front of my brothers! I shook my head 'no' and folded my arms defiantly.

"That's ok if you're not ready," Dr. Sauter said gently, "how about your appetite? Are you eating?"

I nodded slowly, "I eat when I'm hungry."

She motioned me over to a scale and I stepped on it. She wrote down a few numbers, "how old are you?"

"I turned 14 in August."

She sat back at her desk and turned toward my Darry, "are you familiar with the term anorexia?"

"Yes, I've heard of it."

"Lane is on the edge of being diagnosed with anorexia. She is 88lbs and should be anywhere from 108-132." I must of looked as shocked as my brothers were because she quickly added, "this is very common with some of the girls here. Lane? Do you think you're fat?"

I shook my head, "no. I know I lost some weight, but I just ain't hungry."

"Do you exercise?"

"Not really...I walk everywhere and I like to play basketball with some friends."

She nodded, "when did you start cutting?"

I looked at the carpet, "ummm right after my mom and dad died." I felt Soda put an arm around me, "I'm just so angry at them! but I don't want to be!  I can't explain it, but cutting makes me feel better."

"But it's not permanent?"

I shook my head, "no...it's not."  I allowed a tear to fall from my eye, "do you think I'm crazy?"

Dr. Sauter walked from behind the desk, knelt in front of me, and took my hands in her's, "No, Lane, I don't think you're crazy.  I think you are a very scared, angry, and sad girl who doesn't know how to cope with a life changing tragedy."  She paused for a second.  "And you have 3 brothers who love you so much and just want you to get better."  She stood up, "any questions before we go meet your roommate?"

"When can we come visit her?" Ponyboy asked almost immediately.

"Every Friday-Sunday.  Lane will be able to call every evening as well."  Ponyboy squeezed my hand, "see it'll be like ya never left.  We can still annoy each other, it'll just be over the phone," he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

I gave him a small smile and hugged him.  He and I didn't always get along, but we could always count on one another, "yeah," I agreed, "it'll be like I never left."  I hated lying to him.