Chase and Madelyn: A love story

Chapter 27

TW: Brief mentions of self harm and eating disorders

Madelyn's POV:

It had been a month since I first came to the recovery center, and I was doing a lot better. I hadn't had the urge to cut, purge, or starve myself in weeks. Carrie was coming today to check in on me.

"Hi Maddie!" Carrie said as I entered the room she was waiting in.

"Hi." I responded with a smile.

"You seem to be doing well!" She replied.

"Yeah, I've been feeling a lot better." I said.

"Good, that's really nice to hear. I'd like to discuss the possibility of you being released..." Carrie proposed.

"Really? When?" I asked excitedly.

"Well that's what we'll talk about today, but I'm thinking about next week. We'll decide that after I evaluate you." She replied.

I smiled. I was waiting to hear that sentence for a while, but now I actually felt like I deserved to hear it. I put in all the work, and I finally felt better.

"Have you had any thoughts or urges about harming yourself recently? Be honest." She said as I got situated on the chair across from her.

"No. I mean I think about it sometimes, like my scars and stuff but I'm never thinking that I want to do it." I replied.

"What causes you to think about it?" She asked.

"I'm not actively thinking about it, I guess it's just a part of me now." I said.

"Do you think being reminded of your past behaviors will cause you to relapse?" Carrie asked.

"No, I've learned better ways to cope with everything." I responded.

"That's great. You seem to be at a much more healthy weight too. How have your eating habits been?" She said.

"Good, I haven't starved or purged in a long time." I said.

"Do you think you're ready to go back home? It can be a hard transition..." Carrie stated.

"Yeah, I am. I don't think it will be harder than the transition to here was." I joked. 

"Ok, I'll let Erica know that you are ready to be released, let's say in two days?" She asked.

I smiled and nodded my head. 

"Great, I just want to confirm a few things with you before your release, ok?" She began. "Once you're at home, you will ask for help when you need it, you will contact me for anything, even if it's a minor inconvenience, and no matter what happens, you won't go back to your old coping mechanisms, you will call me or a friend."

"Yeah, I will." I said.

"Maddie, I'm proud of you." She said.

I blushed, that was something I needed to hear, especially from Carrie. 

"Thank you." I replied.

"And by the way, for the beginning of your transition back home, I want us to have two sessions a week, just to make sure you're settling in ok." Carrie said.

"Ok, that's fine." I responded.

"And if I notice that you're cutting again, you'll be sent right back here, understood?" She said with a concerned look on her face.

I laughed, but I knew it was more of a threat than a joke. "I know." I said. 

It was the day I was getting released. I was so excited. Chase was coming to pick me up in less than an hour. I packed up my belongings and made my way over to Rachel's room. 

I knocked on the door and slowly opened it. Rachel was sitting on her bed with a journal in her lap.

"Hi baby." I said. I gave her this nickname the second week into my stay. She was like the little sister I never had. 

She didn't look up from her journal. I sat down next to her on the bed.

"What's wrong? Are you mad at me?" I asked quietly.

Rachel nodded. I could tell that she was upset because I was leaving today.

"You'll be ok." I said while rubbing her back. She nodded. "You were ok before I was here, you'll be ok after." 

"Yeah." She whispered. 

"I'll call you, and you call me, ok?" I proposed. "I can come visit too, how does that sound?"

"Good." She said while looking into my eyes.

"I'm gonna miss you." I said.

She quickly hugged me and we sat there for a few minutes holding each other. 

"Madelyn?" I heard a voice call from the hallway.

"Well, that's me." I said to Rachel. "I'll call you, I love you." 

"Thanks for everything, I love you too Maddie." She replied.

I exited the room and saw Erica.

"There you are, I was looking for you. Chase is here." Erica said while placing her hand on my shoulder.

I smiled and walked with her to the door. She stopped and held the side of my arm.

"I'm so proud of you, we're all so proud of you Madelyn." Erica said.

"Thank you...I couldn't of done it without you." I replied. She hugged me and I wrapped my arms around her waist.

"He's right outside." She said referring to Chase. Without looking back, I opened the door and was greeted with one of Chase's big hugs.

"There's my girl!" He said excitedly. I gave him a gentle yet passionate kiss on the lips. 

"C'mon, let's go before they change their minds." He joked.

"Hey! That's not funny!" I said while laughing.

The apartment door was unlocked when I twisted the knob. I had a sudden flashback of the intervention.

Before I could recount the details of that traumatizing day, the word "Surprise!" was shouted. 

I gasped. My parents, Madison, Rudy, Drew, and JD were all standing in the apartment with balloons. 

I turned my head to face Chase. He winked and I mouthed "Thank you."

I first walked over to my mom and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. 

"We're so proud of you sweetie." She said.

I then hugged my dad who told me he loved me, and then I hugged my friends.

"Thank you guys, this means a lot." I said with a wide smile.

"Welcome back." Chase said. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed the side of my head.

JD brought a cake and we all ate some of it before everyone went home. They knew I needed some time to settle in. 

"I'm gonna take a bath." I said to Chase.

He smiled and said "Sounds good, do you need anything?"

"No, I'm good, thank you. And thank you for today." I replied.

"You deserve it baby." He said.

I walked to the bathroom and smiled to myself. I was so happy to be home surrounded by people who love me. I noticed that this was the first time where Chase didn't ask me if I would be ok on my own or demand that the door be left unlocked. This made me even more happy, I realized that he finally trusted me, I was better.