Problem Kid

Chapter 9

"You... did?" He nods.
"When I was 14 I first developed it. Anorexia. It was my way to take control of my life. It was the worst two years of my life. But I got out of it and so can you," I nod slowly.
"I'll try," he shakes his head, beginning to pull out of the car park.
"No. You will get better," I stare out of the window, silently observing the world whilst my wrist throbs and aches.
"What if I don't?" After a few minutes, I break the silence.
"You don't what?" Mr Gray looks at me in the rear mirror.
"What if I don't get better. What if it's too late for me?"
"It's never too late. Trust me. I promise you, you will get better. There'll be days where it feels hard. My husband has seen that for himself. But those days are so much easier to get through. I promise you," I sigh and nod.
"We're here," I stare out of the window with cloudy eyes as we park near the entrance.
"I'll get the chair out. Jimmy, can you help?" Jimmy nods and follows my teacher out, leaving me alone with summer. I take the small purse from my pocket where its contents had been digging into my skin through the fabric and place it into my bag before using the left hand mirror to see what the two boys were doing. They seemed to be taking. I silently cracked open the door a small amount to listen, staging silent.
"I'm worried about her, Jimmy. She's getting worse. It's not good. I don't want her to do something she'll regret. I just wish I could fix it. It's almost like me when I was younger," Jimmy nods at my agonised teacher.
"Me too, sir,"
"Call me Sam here," the teacher chimes in.
"Ok... Sam... I try to message her a lot in the evenings. She doesn't listen though. She doesn't eat, she cuts her pain away and she refuses to get help. I don't want to deal with it anymore," I hold back tears.
"Jimmy, it's hard-" I push open the door, leaning out.
"You guys ready, my hand hurts like hell," they both jump slightly, startled.
"You ok?" I act clueless and they nod.
"Yeah, Sorry. Just trying to figure out how to put this up," I nod at their fake excuse, watching them pretend to fumble with my wheelchair for a moment before it pops out and they wheel it around to me. I quickly stand, the dizziness hitting me in an instant before I settle in the contraption.
Jimmy takes my handles, wheeling my towards the A&E entrance where we stand inside the doors for a moment, clueless on what to do. Or, Jimmy was clueless anyway. I begin scratching my hand uncomfortably. The A&E room leaves me anxious over many previous visits. None of them particularly fun.
"Let's go and sign in at the desk," we follow the teacher, pausing in front of a wooden desk where a miserable looking woman sits.
"Hello how can I help you?" Mr G explains the situation and the woman nods.
"Full name?" I respond to that.
"Everleigh Louise Rosten,"
"Age?"
"16,"
I answer a few more basic questions before we are sent to sit in the waiting area. Multiple people are seated here. Some in chairs, some on wheels and some in beds.
"I'm going to call my mum quickly. I'll go outside," the pair nod.
"Want me to come?" I shake my head at Jimmy.
"I'll be fine," I take my bag off of the back on my chair and stand, heading outside with Summer beside me. She alerts as soon as I stop waking so I sit down on a bench. The heat attacks me in my hoodie and so I decide to take my  hoodie off, figuring that I'm at a hospital so people wouldn't judge my cuts too much. I slide out of it gently, wincing as the sleeve catches my wrist. I then take out my phone and settle Summer under my arched knees before calling my mum.

M- Hey sweet, you ok?
E- Kinda. Don't panic because I'm alright but I'm in A&E right now. I think I've broken my wrist by shutting it in a door
I lie fluently
M- Oh my god, are you ok? I'll leave work now
E- No, no! Mum don't worry. We need the money and I'm here with a teacher and Jimmy. I just need an X-Ray and a cast, ok? I'll call you after. Trust me, I'm ok. I'll update you after my X-Ray, ok?
M- *sigh* alright. As long as you're ok? I love you
E- I love you too, Mum. Bye
I hang up and take a deep breath. Tears begin to fall down my cheeks at a stealthy pace. I hate being the one to always hurt people. Lying to my mum, causing trouble for Jimmy and Mr Grey. I hurt everyone. Summer moves from under my legs and attempts to climb onto my lap. I allow her, laughing through my sobs and stroking her golden fur as she licks my face.
"Good girl," I hear someone stop walking in front of me and look up to see a skeletal girl, about my age, staring down at me smiling slightly.
"I'm sorry, you guys just look adorable!" I blush and thank her.
"Mind if I sit here?" I shake my head and she sits beside me.
"I'm Emma," she offers a hand and I shake it with a grin. "Resident at this lovely little place, in recovery for anorexia and depression. You a resident too?" I shake my head.
"Broke my hand I think. I also have anorexia and depression though. I'm on about 3 antidepressants and 2 sets of anxiety pills. Probably should be here but nah," she nods at me.
"I hate it. They think I'm hopeless. I've been here for a year and not even gained 10lb," she smirks.
"How much you at now?" I ask.
"73lb, 16 years old and 5"9. You?"
"97lb two days ago but I've not eaten so I should be lower. 16 as well and 5"8. When's your birthday?"
"Seven months ago," I nod.
"Five months ago here. We're pretty similar!" We laugh.
"Cutter?" She nods and rolls up her sleeves to show numerous marks on her arms.
"You shouldn't. It's bad for you," she looks at me with a smirk.
"What? Like... starving yourself?" I gently push her.
"Yes! And you shouldn't do that either. You're beautiful," it wasn't a lie. I had instantly been attracted to her. She had long brown hair which was straight down to the bottom of her ribs, deep green eyes which were full of life but also full of sadness and beautifully rounded lips. She would be perfect if she had a healthy weight. It made me sad to see such a perfect girl so hurt and damaged.
"So are you..." I shake my head.
"Oh hell no, girl!" We laugh together and exchange numbers just as Jimmy walks outside.
"Everleigh? Oh hi," he looks at Emma and me with worry I'm his eyes.
"This is Emma! She's a patient here on the ED ward. We're 2 months apart for age," he nods.
"We have to go back inside. The doctor is ready for you," I sigh.
"Fineeeee. I'll text you in a bit, Em? Ok?" She smiles and hugs me as I stand up. I call Summer to my heel and she looks at me.
"Oh... before you go, can I pet your dog? If she's on duty and I'm not allowed I totally get that," I nod.
"Of course you can! She's called Summer," Bella thanks me before stroking Summer gently and kissing her head. With one last hug and wave, she walks back toward the main entrance of the hospital and I enter back into the waiting room. I begin to feel dizzy so I hurry back to my chair.
"She seems... nice," I nod.
"She's lovely!"
"Ev... are you sure you should be talking to people who are... sick? Maybe it'll be a bad influence on your recovery," I shake my head.
"Jimmy. Stop. She's my friend, ok? Let me be," he sighs.
"Done it," Mr Grey sits back beside Jimmy, returning from the main desk.
"He nods at Jimmy and I sense somethings up.
"Huh?" They look away.
"Oh, nothing. Just had to answer a couple questions about the school," I nod, unconvinced however I don't persist.
"Everleigh Louise Rosten? Room 4," Jimmy stands, wheeling me down the hall as I click at Summer to follow I place my hoodie over my arms as we enter the small consultation room.
"Hello Everleigh. I hear you've damaged your hand?" I nod at the doctor who is a middle aged Caucasian Male. He smiles and me softly.
"May I see?" I nod and place my arm in his over the table. He regards my cuts with a concerned look however Mr Gray leans over the desk to whisper something to him, avoiding my eye contact. I look over ya him, confused and anxious.
"Alright... that definitely looks broken. It'll be an X-Ray for that then. We can take you straight there now. It's pretty empty today," I thank him and place my arm back under my hoodie, wincing once again. Mr G wheels me this time, down the hall and around a few corners until we reach the X-Ray lab. I make sure my fringe is covering part of my face, ignoring Jimmy when he asks if I'm ok.
"Everleigh? Are you ok?" Mr Gray asks this time and I answer without looking at him.
"I'm fine," we enter a small room which holds and X-Ray machine and another doctor in a small room at the side. My wrist is set up in multiple different positions on the table and Summer is left outside with the two boys. I breathe in slowly, relaxing my muscles and calming myself. I felt tense and stressed.
"Alright, that's all done now, Everleigh. Well have your results in a moment. If you can head back to the waiting room for us?" I nod as Jimmy walks in and takes the handles of my chair, pushing me down the hall. We walk in silence, Mr Gray joining us and handing me Summer's leash, until we reach the waiting room where we seat ourselves in the front row of seats. I sit, absent mindedly playing with Summer's fur as we wait. I'm taken from my thoughts when I hear the frantic cries of a woman who is rushing to keep up with four paramedics who hurriedly push a gurney. I look up and see a young boy lying there, his wrists bleeding from deep, fresh wounds. His eyes are slowly closing and the woman, I presume his mother, is sobbing. I watch her being pried away from her Son's hand by a man who I presume was her husband. His arms wrapped around her and they cry as the boy is rushed behind a set of doors. I sit, frozen.

A scream.
My mother's scream was the last thing I heard before darkness consumed my mind, the blood flowing from my wrists and painting the water red.
A beep.
Another beep.
A heart rate monitor.
Tubes.
Tubes everywhere around me.
Sirens.
I was in an ambulance, my mother sat on a seat near me crying into her hands.
Medics worked around me, frantically trying to stop my bleeding. I reached one shaking hand up, attempting to pull away from the person there to help me. I didn't want help.
I didn't want to survive.
I wanted it all to stop.
Why didn't they understand?
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I was restrained.
And then silence.
I can't remember what happened next up until waking up in a hospital bed with a feeding tube down my throat and bandages up my arms.
I didn't notice the tears rolling down my face until the flashback was over. When I did, I noticed everyone was staring at me, including the boy's parents. His mother looks over at me, understanding. I stand, dropping my dog's leash and running out of the doors. I run to the play park next to the hospital and climb to the top of the climbing frame where I break down. I sob and scream, fighting off a panic attack and failing. However just as I begin to have one, my vision instantly darkens and I black out.

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EDITED