The Nursery Nurse Oneshots

We'll get you through this.

TW: Eating Disorder, Panic Attack and Self Harm.

Nothing had happened. No one had made a negative comment. No one had been looked at her wrong. Not for a couple of months after the parent had made a comment about her body, telling her she needed to "be careful" with what she ate. She didn't think that comment impacted her, she'd had worse said to her. Yet Carly didn't feel good. Her mind was racing, and it had been since she arrived at work.

At lunch, Carly sat up in the staff room, with her best friend, Charlotte. Charlotte had been her best friend since Carly started at the nursery, she was always the one who noticed when something wasn't quite right.

"Carly?" Charlotte spoke, as she watched Carly sit there with no food in front of her. The apprentice looked up at her, continuing to bite her nail-less fingers. "Yeah?" Carly looked up at her, fear in her eyes.
"Has something happened?"
"What'd you mean?" Fear grew in Carly, she thought she'd been able to hide it well... she usually could.
"Well, you seem more distant today.. and you haven't eaten... at all? Reece mentioned he saw you... running to the nursery this morning?"
Carly looked down, pulling her sleeves over her hands. "Not to mention you haven't took your jumper off all day and it's like 40 degrees" Carly gulped, "Carly, what's going on? What's happened?" The young woman had tears growing in her eyes. She thought she'd hidden it well. Apparently not.

Her mind began racing.. she'd let her best friend down, she knew that, she felt that, but how could she bring herself to tell Charlotte that she'd let her down. She'd already let her parents down, and her father made sure she knew that. She'd been a disappointment to them since the moment her mental health declined again. She already had her mind telling her she wasn't good enough, she didn't need others telling her that too.

"It's bad again, Char" she gulped, "I thought i could handle it... I thought I had it under control.. but I don't... I never have" she wiped the tears falling down her face, "not really, anyway" The young apprentice couldn't bring herself to look at her best friend.. she didn't want to know what Charlotte was thinking, she was imagining the worst.

She couldn't breathe. The room was falling on top of her. The walls were caving in. The apprentice ran to the bathroom, locking the door. She slid down the door, holding her head against her knees. Charlotte followed her, knocking gently on the door, "car," she whispered, "why didn't you tell me it was getting bad again?"
"Because I've let you down" Carly wiped her face, "I've let you down... I've let you down, I've let everyone down... I'm just a huge disappointment... to everyone"

"Carly, open the door... please" Hesitantly, the apprentice opened the door, seeing her best friend standing there with open arms. She fell into her best friend's arms, sobbing into her chest. "I cant do this, Char, I'm scared" she sobbed, "please don't let it get as bad as last time again."

Charlotte rubbed Carly's back, comforting her, "ssh, Car," she whispered, "it's okay." Charlotte wanted nothing more than to be able to comfort her best friend, to take away all her pain, but she didn't know how. She had helped Carly through this so many times before, but this time felt different. She wanted to help her, but she knew she couldn't do it alone. "Char, we need to tell Marjorie, so she can help us help you" Char placed her hand on her head, "we can tell her together?" Carly nodded hesitantly.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Come in" Marjorie called from inside the office. "Marjorie, we need to talk to you about something" Charlotte spoke rather quickly while Carly hid behind her, fiddling with the sleeves of her hoodie. "What's up?" Marjorie replied, a concerned and worried look appearing on her face.

The two sat down as Char explained everything the apprentice had told her. Carly sat, her legs shaking, afraid to look up at either of the women. She closed her eyes tight, hoping to wake up from this dream.. but she didn't. It wasn't a dream. It was reality. Her reality.

The apprentice held her eyes tightly shut, she wanted to wake up from this nightmare. Carly never wanted to be having this conversation again... but here we are. Carly opened her eyes slowly as she felt a warm hand on her knee, "Carly, my love," Marjorie warmly spoke, "I am... I'm so sorry we didn't pick up on the signs that things were getting bad again... I can't even begin to imagine how lonely you must have felt, feeling like you couldn't come to us because you didn't want to disappoint us." Carly's eyes filled with tears again, had she actually let Marjorie down? She couldn't bare the thought of letting her work family down, they were the only people keeping her going.

"What have your parents said?" Char asked as she watched the young woman wipe tears from her eyes.
"Father just reiterated what I already know... they I've let them down..." Her voice broke, breaking down into tears again. "Why am I like this?" She sobbed, falling into Marjorie's chest. The two women wanted to protect Carly, they wanted to take away her pain, but they didn't know how. All they knew is that they needed to be there for her, no matter what.

"Why don't you come stop at mine for a few days?" Marjorie suggested, "Reece is away with Autumn on holiday for a few weeks rekindling their sibling relationship. You wouldn't have to worry about anything... let us help you, Carly" Carly looked down, picking at the skin around her nails until Char put her hand on top of hers, "Charlotte can stop too, if her daughters are at their fathers?" Charlotte thought for a moment, before responding,
"They're there for the next week, their teachers have gone on strike for the week" Charlotte looked at Carly, "I can stop as long as you want me to, Carly" Carly nodded, reluctantly.

At Marjorie's, Carly changed into some of Marjorie's comfy clothes, a pair of joggers and a hoodie, before returning to the living room, sitting beside Marjorie. She winced a little, burying her head in Marjorie's shoulder, as Charlotte cleaned her arms. "How about we order a pizza... pepperoni?" Marjorie raised an eyebrow, looking down at the apprentice. She shrugged, watching Charlotte wrap her arms up in bandages. "Even if you just eat a slice, my love" Carly nodded.

As Marjorie placed the order through on the app, Carly closed her eyes, resting her head on her chest, slowly feeling herself fall asleep. "How could we not pick up this, Marjorie? I'm supposed to be her best friend. I should've picked up on it." Charlotte whispered, placing a blanket over Carly, "We're supposed to be her family." Marjorie sighed a little, thinking back to if she saw any signs of it getting bad again.
"What matters now is that we are here for her, and that we make sure she knows she's not alone"

When the pizza arrived, Carly slowly ate 2 pieces of pizza. It was a struggle, but Marjorie and Charlotte continued reassuring her. Once they'd finished eating, Carly looked at them, "I need you to distract me... please" She looked down, tears in her eyes. Marjorie wrapped an arm around her, handing her the tv remote, "Put anything you want on, my love," She smiled softly.

As the trio sat watching Barbie, Carly rested her head on Marjorie's knee, resting her legs on Charlotte, "I'm sorry, for all of this" She mumbled, half asleep. Marjorie rubbed her hand against her back, "Sssh, my love, it's okay" She whispered.
"We're going to get you through this, Car... we promise" Char whispered.