Broken Minds

Chapter 2: How to Heal the Mind

When Rebecca awoke from her badly needed, but sudden slumber she felt refreshed. She looked over at her clock for a brief moment to check the time. 1:00 pm flashed before her, crap crap crap, I need to meet him in the park in an hour! She thought, getting up quickly and throwing on some clothes. She managed to get herself ready by half past, 'great half an hour to get to the park.' she thought cheerfully galloping down the stairs. 

"Oh good morning sweetie, down for your pre-dinner snack?" her dad said sarcastically, not batting an eyelid away from his phone. 

"No actually, I'm going out for a bit, I'll be back before dinner," she replied smiling. 

"We haven't run out of ice-cream yet, there's no need to go out and buy some." her dad said sarcastically again, a smile showing as he continued to look down at his phone. She ignored him, putting her shoes on she left the house with excitement, a whole 3 years not having anyone care, 3 dark years of being alone, and in her time of need someone arose from the blue to help her, maybe her bad luck had finally ended.

As she arrived at the park she saw her ex sitting on a bench, he seemed too concentrated looking at the sky to notice her walk up to him. She lent her face over his and looked down at him with a grin. 

"Hi there, just daydreaming or something?" She said sitting down next to him. 

"Ugh yeah, sorry just a bit tired, haven't slept at all since two nights ago, I've got to get my patterns fixed but every time I try to sleep I start thinking about life and stuff and I end up staying up all night." Her ex sighed looking at his watch. He turn around and face her smiling. 

"Tell me what's wrong right now? What's been making you unhappy?" He said looking into her eyes, a deep sense of sorrow behind his gaze. She sighed looking away from him. 

"Too much has gone wrong, my life turned to crap a year after you left me, I just had too much time to think, and I just thought about my future... How I will turn old on my own, and how I'm slowly turning into my aunt." She said on the verge of tears. He looked back at her and wiped a tear from her cheek. 

"It's ok, you don't have to walk this dark path alone. You have me." He replied smiling at her. She looked back and smiled a little, she felt he was there, but at the same time she felt alone. Like a blind man in a train station during rush hour. She could hear people but couldn't feel them close. She shrugged it off and looked up at the afternoon sun and dreamed on. She got shaken out of her daydream by her ex. 

"So do you want to grab a bite to eat?" He said as she stepped back into reality. 

"Huh? Yeah sure."

As they finished their drink Rebecca looked into her ex's eyes. 

"Harry, Did you really mean what you said earlier? About me not having to walk my path alone?" She said before taking a bite out of her doughnut. 

"Yes, I meant every word of it, I'm not going to let you suffer alone. I've already made that mistake once." He said looking back into her eyes, sporting a small smile. They sat there looking into each other's eyes a while before their waiter brought them their bill. As they left Harry held out his hand for her, she grabbed it and smiled at him, pondering her future and how it would change for the better. She looked deep into his eyes and saw the same reason she dated him in the first place, kindness and a feeling that just made her know she wasn't alone. As he walked her home they talked and talked. Then as they reached her door they said their goodbyes and he kissed her. It was a kiss that sat upon her lips all the way until dinner. She didn't say a word to anyone till dinner, she just walked around the house with a smile on her face. She felt like she could take on the whole weight of the world and it still wouldn't upset her.

She sat down at the table and looked at her plate, she sat there thinking about Harry as she pushed her spaghetti around the plate. 

"Aren't you going to eat that?" her father said with a frown upon his face. 

"Yeah I am, I'm just thinking about stuff." She replied twirling it with her fork and eating it. 

"Remember your appointment is at 12 tomorrow." her mum said looking over to Rebecca. 

"Mum, I don't think I need it anymore." She replied looking back at her mum and smiling. 

"Well you better go just in case." her father said smiling a little. Rebecca nodded a little as she finished off her meal. As she finished she ran up to her room to check if Harry had messaged her. Her heart sank a little as he was offline. She sat there watching videos until he messaged her. When he did, it was of a sad manner. His dad had just been sacked from his job and on his way home he had walked into the local pub to drown his sorrows, when he had been caught in a bar fight and got knocked unconscious. He was still unconscious in hospital and Harry had to walk home from the hospital. Rebecca and Harry spent another night talking, this time Harry talked about how his look on life had changed for the worse since he saw his dad in hospital, the sight of a man beaten within an inch of his life. They talked about how they wish they could leave their world and lives and live in a better place, but every time Rebecca closed her eyes to dream of that place she came crashing back into the real world. Every time she regained consciousness she say she had another reply from Harry saying talking about his problems, and as the evening progressed it became clearer that they needed to support each other. They talked more about how they were there for each other but deep down Rebecca felt something was off. She eventually fell asleep with her laptop opened mid-way through a reply.

When she woke up she saw the morning sun shine through her curtains. She looked at her laptop and saw a long line of messages from her boyfriend about how he was going out for a walk and how he was sorry if he didn't see her again. She quickly threw on some clothes and ran out the house quickly. She ran all the way past the park, passing by countless shops and morning commuters going to work, away from the town and into the local forest. She finally reached the local lake and saw Harry sitting on a log throwing stones into the lake with his earphones in. She ran over to him and hugged him tightly, he sighed softly. 

"I should of known you'd find me here." He said quietly smiling softly as he removed his earphones. 

"Don't ever be selfish and leave this world without me!" Rebecca said sobbing softly into his shoulder. Harry turned around and looked into her eyes, she could see that inside his eyes showed sorrow and pain, darkness lay underneath his eyes like an ever-growing shadow. 

"I'm sorry." He said tears welling up in his eyes. "I know it's selfish, they always say taking your own life is selfish to those around you, but when your outlook on life is so bleak you don't care about being selfish, you just want it to end. You want the pain and sadness to stop, but death is the worst and most immediate solution to the sadness and pains of life, and it's a permanent solution that people can't turn back on." He said looking back into her eyes, tears streaming down his face. 

She looked back at him crying as well. They sat there in silence hugging each other, neither knew what to say to the each other. When they both stopped crying they looked into each other's eyes and sat there for a while, Rebecca then caught a glimpse of Harry's watch and say it read 12:00pm. 

"Dammit I need to get home, I have a doctor's appointment in an hour." She said getting up. He nodded and kissed her as she left running, she looked back quickly and smiled at him.