His Name Is Blurryface *Joshler*

3

Josh knows the room 302. It was the room that was closest to all the doctors. It was the room reserved for the most troubled patients. It was the room that was the closest to his office and the room that was the furthest from the entrance.

Before he can think anymore, his feet take him into the room and sit him on the chair closest to the boy. Josh sat there taking in the 17 year old boy. The first thing he noticed was that Tyler was skinny. Almost too skinny. The next thing he noticed was that Tyler had huge, dark circles around his eyes. His chestnut brown hair was sticking out all over the place and he had scratches everywhere. His thoughts were immediately interrupted by the boy on the bed promptly opening his eyes, locking sight of Josh, and screaming while scrambling away from the older man.

Josh immediately stands up and shuffles away from the frightened boy. Josh raises his hands as a sign of peace as his mind searches for words.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. It’s okay. Breathe. Just breathe, everything is going to be okay.” Josh rushes out.

The boy simply stares at him. His breathing somewhat regulating but his eyes not letting up. His eyes are digging into josh’s soul, searching for something. He still stands in the corner of the room while Josh takes a seat in the chair closest to the door.

“Well hey there. My name is Josh and I’m here to help you. I mean no harm bud.” Josh reassures the younger. Realizing that Tyler is still standing in the corner shaking, josh suggests that he sits on the bed. Tyler looks at him wide-eyed and that cues josh to once again reassure the boy that he won’t hurt him. Tyler slowly inches near the bed and takes a seat on the side furthest from Josh.

Josh realizes that that wasn’t an easy feat for the boy so he provides: “Good job! I know it’s scary, but I’m really proud of you for doing that.”

Josh could sense Tyler’s uneasiness and fear. It broke his heart knowing that something hurt Tyler this bad to the point where he couldn’t feel comfortable around people. Knowing that Tyler couldn’t trust people.

At this point, Josh decides to introduce himself: “So yeah. My name is Josh, but my full name is Joshua William Dun. I’m 24 years old and I work here as a therapist and carer. Not your normal therapist though. Not the ones who just ask how you feel and all that nonsense. I’m here to help you. To be there for you. Anywho, I love being outside. I hike, bike, and run. I’d say that I’m pretty active. I have 3 siblings, 1 brother and 2 sisters. I grew up in Ohio, but I like it here in LA much better. That's pretty much it. Oh! I also have a love-hate relationship with coffee.”

Josh swears that he saw Tyler’s lip tug up into a slight smile at that last sentence, but of course, he can’t be too sure. It was around dinner time now so he told Tyler that he’d go grab some food and head right back to the room.

With that, Josh heads to the nurse’s station to pick up Tyler’s pre-planned meal. It was simple. Almost too simple. On the tray, there was one roasted chicken breast laying on a bed of white rice with steamed broccoli and a cup of water.

Without overthinking the meal, Josh heads back to Tyler’s room. The minute he walks in, he sees Tyler curled up in the corner of the room crying. He’s clutching his hair and squeezing his eyes shut. He’s shaking yet again.

Josh immediately drops the tray full of food on the side table and carefully approaches the crying boy. He manages to sit right beside Tyler and decides to just sit there. Josh has learned over the years that sometimes, just letting someone know that you’re there for them means more than words so Josh plans on doing just that.

After a good twenty minutes, Tyler’s cries have subsided and all that was left was faint whimpering.

“Everything okay?” Josh asks as he looks over his shoulder.

Tyler just nods slightly and begins to crawl back into his bed. Josh takes the message and walks over the tray of food. He wheels the table closer to Tyler and asks him if he wants him to stay. Josh could see the contradiction happening in Tyler’s head. After ten seconds, Tyler looks up and slowly shakes his head. With that, Josh says bye to Tyler and clocks out for the day.

This is an interesting one, Josh thought on his way home.