Breaking Point [Watty's 2015]

The After

A few days after Mason left, I am shaken awake by Dr. Marga, one of the doctors that has been in and out of my room since I got here.

"Hey, Aria," she says gently, sitting down in a chair beside the bed.

I sit up, suddenly confused. "What time is it?"

"It's almost noon, hon," she chuckles. "Your parents came in to see you again about 15 minutes ago, but they didn't want to wake you. They're in the waiting room."

"Oh," I say. "So...does that mean it's almost lunch?" I ask with dread.

"Well...yes," she says slowly, "but first we wanted to give you some news."

Oh, crap. "What's going on?"

"Dr. Johanson has been looking at your x-rays and blood sugar levels again recently," she says, and suddenly, breaks out in a smile. "And he thinks it's time for you to go home."

My jaw drops. I have no words. I am both half thrilled and paralyzed with fear. Going home means going back to school. Seeing my friends again. Living like a normal girl.

But it also means seeing everyone again. Answering questions over and over. Fending off the assholes who are too shallow to see what I've been through.

It means facing Mason again.

"You can come in now," Dr. Marga calls out in the hallway, and my parents walk in. My dad is smiling with the widest smile I have ever seen him wear, and he has his arm draped around my mom, whose face is covered with tears.

"Oh, honey!" my mom calls out, breaking free from Dad's grip and flinging herself on to me. Dr. Marga opens her mouth to say something, probably that I'm still too fragile to be hugged so ferociously, but then shakes her head and smiles at us. Kinda wish she had told my mom off. I seriously can't breathe.

Mom eventually notices this and gets off of me, my hospital gown now wet from where her face was on it.

"Are you ready, honey?" my dad asks me, and I seriously wonder if his face is about to crack from how big his smile is spreading across his face. I can see the pride in his eyes.

I think about all of the things leaving means. The pity, the questions, the bullying, the preventing a relapse, Mason...

But I look into my parents eyes, and I know none of that matters. I have to do this. I refuse to sink like this.

I close my eyes, and say, "Yes."