What About Her?

3.

Perrie panicked, tossing the cell phone somewhere when her door was opened. Her heart was beating out of her chest. There was no way Leigh-Anne was back already. Right? Wrong.

"Hi Perrie. How you you feel babe? What's wrong?"  Leigh-Anne asked when she saw the unreadable expression on perries face.

Perrie shrugged.

"Can you close the door?"

"I can't while I'm in here. I'm sorry"  Leigh-Anne took a peek in the hallway before cracking the door. It was still open, just not wide open.

"I brought you some stuff. It's a bit boring but there are a lot of restrictions about what I can bring down here." She sat on the floor unpacking her bag.

"I brought you some extra bottoms. Just in case you need to change, Wipes too. Uhhh. I got you some water, I'm not allowed to bring you food unless it's a meal. And entertainment.  I dont know if you read but I brought some books and I have the headphones." Leigh-Anne began to line up the items outside of view. She knows that guards didn't check inside the patient's room but she still wanted to be careful.

"Why are you doing all this for me?"

"Because I don't want you to be bored,dehydrated or sitting in mess all day."

"I mean going out of your way. It's like you want me to get better more than I want myself to get better."

"Honestly Perrie. You all are people at the end of the day and you all have your reasons for substance use and abuse. That doesn't mean you deserve to be treated like youre less than. You need help and I'm giving it to you.  Locking you in a room for months at a time like they've been doing isn't going to help you. It's going to hurt you. You will drive yourself insane and then go down a road that's almost impossible to come back from. I dont want that for any of you, especially you. You have a reason to live. I know you do. That's why you're still here. Otherwise you would have checked yourself out. You've done it before."

"How do you know about that?"

"I was here. I've been working here since I graduated high school"

Perrie hugged Leigh-Anne. 

"Please don't leave me in here alone. It's doing things to me"

"Perrie . . . " Leigh-Anne would if she could but she already has a strike. In her nine years working here that was her first strike. She had a feeling Perrie would get her into some trouble.

"Please I won't hurt you. I promise"

Leigh-Anne shook her head.

"Perrie I can't.I'm Sorry"

Perrie pulled away from Leigh-Anne.  A look of hurt on her face. She walked over to the door pushing it closed. There was only a keypad on the outside. Now Leigh-Anne was locked in here.

"Perrie!"

"You made me do that!! You made me!!" She shouted at Leigh-Anne who flinched in fear.

"Okay. Calm down."

"I told you I didn't want to be alone" perrie cried.

"You're right and I'm sorry."

"Are you serious or Just saying that?"

"I'm really sorry."

"I forgive you. But don't hurt me again. You won't like it if you do" She hugged a frightened Leigh-Anne. 

"Okay, what do we do now?" Perrie asked as if she didn't just threaten the woman.

"Ohh can we watch a movie?"