Against All Discouragement That Could Be

Chapter Five

Four hours had passed by. Kate was sitting there next to her mum in an old t-shirt she had been given from lost and found. All of her tears had been used up and now all that was left was shock. Emma had died, she was dead for three minutes before the doctors managed to bring her back to life. Sarah began to speak, thinking it would be good to actually use the time they spent sitting there alone. Her voice cut through the air like a knife, making Kate jump. “When you came in here,” she began, “You called for help. You called for the doctors to come and help your friend. Well, more specifically you called for them to help your girlfriend.” Normally, this would have taken Kate aback, but after the events of the night not much could shock her now. So she simply replied, “Yeah.”

 The next few minutes were spent in even more silence, until a doctor came through the waiting room doors. Both of them sprung up out of their seats, eager to know what was going on. The doctor sighed, and then said, “She’s stable.” Kate and Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. “You can go and see her, but you must be calm around her. There is something else as well. We have organised for her to see a therapist at her school, twice a week from now on. She will also have to attend a weekly hour long session at a place called Tier 3, and her real mother will have to be informed of this. If Emma is to refuse this treatment, and the self injury gets worse, she could be sectioned. Do you want me to tell her, or would she take it better from you?” Sarah decided it would be best for the news to come from her and her daughter, and so they went into the room.

She was pale. That was the first thing Kate noticed about her. Her back was slightly raised, and there was a bandage wrapped around her wrist. Emma opened her eyes ever so slightly, and a smile came to her face when she saw Kate. No one could hold back the tears for long, Sarah included. She sat in the corner and looked on as Kate stood by her girlfriend. “You can hug me you know,” Emma said. Kate just shook her head, wary of all the machines surrounding them. “I’d be afraid to break you,” she managed to choke out. Instead she made their hands touch. Emma responded and said, “Babe that could never happen. I’m already broken.” The next two hours were spent in Emma’s room, and before she went to sleep, Kate had the task of explaining to her about the therapist.

The whole time she was explaining the situation, she held tightly on Emma’s hand. To be fair, she took everything rather well. She didn’t seem to mind about seeing the counsellor in school, or Tier 3, but when it was mentioned that her mum would have to find out about everything, it all changed. Emma instantly began refusing Tier 3, saying she couldn’t let her mum ever know. Kate tried to calm her down, but nothing worked. Eventually she managed to explain, “It’s not that simple! You can’t just refuse the help. If you refuse, then they will have to force you.”

“Well what does that mean?” Emma asked. Sarah then spoke, for the first time.

“It means they will have to arrest and section you.”

The word “section” set Emma off. She began hysterically crying, and Kate felt her heart breaking yet again seeing her girlfriend this way. “Please… Please…” Emma was saying over and over again. Ignoring the tears streaming down both of their faces, Kate leant towards Emma and their lips met. They stayed there, and kissed for a moment longer, as Sarah sat in the corner. At first, she had to bite her lip – this was completely new territory to her. But eventually, she got used to seeing her daughter happy.