The Eleventh Ward

Chapter 16

No one spoke at breakfast. We were too busy watching the door, waiting to see who wouldn't walk in, or for a nurse to come in and talk to someone. We were there all morning, ticking people off in our heads until breakfast ended and we had to leave the cafeteria.

"Maybe a room became free" suggested Michael

"Yeah, I mean she had to sleep somewhere last night"

"She slept in the sponge" said Gracie.

"Grow some fucking tits" imitated Calum and we all started laughing again. I had an inside joke with them. That's something I should have put on the list, but it would have looked pretty pathetic next to number one. I turned to look at Luke, noticing how his blue eyes sparkled as he laughed. It made me smile even more, and I could feel the urge to kiss him growing inside me. If the nurse hadn't interrupted us, I think I might of.

"Excuse me" she said. The laughter cut off straight away as the realisation set in. It was one of us. But which one? They all prayed it was them, I prayed it wasn't.

"Erin can you come with me please" We all looked at her. A small smile started to creep across her face and she turned to hug Gracie. Erin hugged all of us one by one, most of us whispering congratulations to her, but Lacey stood rigid until Erin started walking off with the nurse.

"No!" she screamed. Erin turned back around. The nurses at the desk started standing up, one of them pushing a button on her desk. "It should be me!" Luke went to hold her back but she pushed him off and started walking towards the nurse. "Why her? Why not me? I've done everything you asked me! I took my fucking pills, I stopped throwing up, I ate what you told me to eat! I'm fucking eating!" She screamed and kicked a hole in the wall. Nurses were now rushing around, trying to hold onto her and calm her down. "I'm eating, I'm fucking eating!" she kept screaming. Eventually Ash appeared, an injection of blue liquid in his hand. Erin had already been lead away by a nurse by now, and despite the tranquillizer spreading through her blood stream, Lacey kept trying to scream how she was eating as loud as she could until she too was lead away.

Erin came back from her meeting a few hours later. She skipped into the lounge and sat on the sofa.

"My dad's known about it for a while. He's got me an apartment about 10 minutes away. 2 bedrooms, one bathroom nothing special you know. He also got me a job. Receptionist at this office building, I can't remember which one."

"Erin that's amazing" said Gracie, hugging her again. You could see that Gracie was happy for her room mate, but if you looked close enough, the sadness in her eyes were evident. Erin wasn't just her room mate, but her best friend. For months and months they had slept in the same room, told each other everything in late night conversations. Gracie had never had to be alone, not counting her brother. She was loosing her best friend, and everyone else was so happy for Erin to notice. As we went to go help Erin pack, I took Gracie's hand.

"Its going to be okay, she'll come and visit us. You're not going to loose her" I smiled. Gracie started smiling, and quickly hugged me "Thank you" she whispered.

We'd only packed Erin's first suitcase when Lacey coughed from the door frame. We stopped folding clothes and looked up at her. "Need help?" she asked.

"Umm, yeah. Thanks" Erin said, and Lacey slipped in to the room, picking up a t-shirt. I noticed how she never apologised for anything. In the smoking room, she just said things were going to go back to normal, and now she just offered help. I doubted I would ever hear her say the words 'I'm sorry', but then again Lacey didn't seem the kind to say it for any little thing she did.

We didn't finish packing until the cafeteria opened at 6pm. Erin's dad was coming to pick her up after dinner, so once we'd dragged the suitcases to the nurses' station we went in to have one final meal as a family. The next 2 hours were filled with 'remember when this happened?' 'remember when Erin did that?' I laughed at stories that had happened when I was still living a normal teenage life, or sitting in an orange jumpsuit in juvie. I thought about how long these guys had been together, a real family, and how lucky I was to have been accepted and loved my these incredible people. After we ate, Ashton bought out a cake. It was white, with red icing saying 'Goodbye Erin' in fancy writing. Despite barely anyone else in the ward ever speaking to Erin, they all asked for a piece of cake and said goodbye to her in a quiet voice before going back over to their own tables. Even Lacey ate the piece of cake Ash cut for her. I didn't want tonight to end we were all so happy, but after cake the head nurse came in and told Erin it was time to go. We walked out the cafeteria with her and saw her dad standing by the nurses' station talking to Ashton. He was tall with greying hair, dressed in a long black coat and work shoes. He was a man who had obviously worked in an office all his life. Not the man I'd pictured to have raised his colourful haired, pierced and tattooed daughter though.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye" Erin said, her voice starting to crack with tears. Michael took her into his arms and whispered "Good luck out there kiddo" Next was Lacey who said she'd miss her and she'd come round her apartment soon. "If you ever need a good shag, you know where I am" smiled Calum, but still hugged her tightly. When it got to me, I didn't know what to say. "Hey Brandi. I know I haven't known you for long but thanks for everything" she smiled, and wrapped her arms around me. I hugged her back and wished her good luck. After saying goodbye to the others, she went up to her dad and grabbed her suitcases. Tears were streaming down her face as she turned around one more time. We all waved goodbye, and she waved back before letting the door shut behind her. And that was it, Erin was gone. The emptiness in the group was evident, and for a few seconds nobody knew what to do.

"Cards?" Luke suggested.

"Fuck off am I playing against you again" said Michael

"Just because you know you're going to loose" Gracie teased. And just like that we went back to normal. Over the night, the hole Erin left behind started to close and we joked and laughed like we had done before she left. I wondered if it would be that easy for them to get over me when I left, and I knew it would. But instead of making me feel sad, it made me feel happy. Because even though they might not cry over my departure, I would still be silently missed.