I Am You

Chapter Twenty

It had been four days since I last talked to Dylan. I had been thinking about him all that time. Each day, a new fact came to light, a new realisation struck. The one last confirmation I needed to be sure of everything was back at home. I was going to be released from the hospital the next day.

After Nat threw an ultimatum at my face a few days ago, I had no choice but to give therapy another chance. There was no way I was losing my best friend just because I was hell-bent on not going to a therapist. I called her the day after and she was more than happy to come and help me start the search for a new therapist. She came by the hospital after college and we talked for hours, each day I was stuck in the hospital. She was pissed at Dylan for not visiting, but I already had the excuses ready. I know it's not something I should boast about, but I'm pretty good at lying. She also told me that Carly was fine now, already at home. She would be there almost every time I opened my eyes, ready with a new story, a new incident that happened at college, just so that I wouldn't lose my mind from all the boredom. Honestly, Nat is the best, the kindest, the most caring person ever. I couldn't have found a better friend.

I had received multiple texts and calls from Ethan. He was wondering why I had been skipping college. For the first couple of days, I was reluctant about returning his calls or texts. I felt like I wasn't ready to show him this side of me yet. To be honest, I felt quite pathetic. But then, on the third day, with Nat basically holding a gun to my head, I was forced to answer his call and tell him where I was.

Since then, Ethan and Nat didn't leave my side. I was so tired of all the secrecy, all the walls that I had built around myself in the past year. So, I made a split-second decision to open up. I told them what I had been going through, most of which Nat already knew. Ethan held my hand as he listened with patience, concern in his eyes and a frown on his lips. When I was done, he kissed my forehead to let me know that he wasn't going anywhere. It would've been a pretty sweet moment if it weren't for Nat's squeals and giggles in the background.

'Less than twelve hours to go before I can go home and sleep in my own bed.' I mumbled as I looked out at the starry sky.

'That's right.' Ethan muttered in a groggy voice.

'You should go home, both of you. You need to sleep.' I said as I looked at Nat, who was already half asleep.

'No, we can stay. We want to.' Nat replied, partly opening her eyes.

'You don't have to. I'm going to sleep now anyway. I'm getting out tomorrow. So, I'll see you in the afternoon.' I said with a smile, hoping they would go home and get some sleep.

Ethan glanced at Natalie and let out a soft chuckle as she sat in the chair, eyes closed and lips slightly parted.

'You're right, we should go. I'll see you tomorrow, though.' he said as he stood up and gave me a small peck on the lips.

Then he proceeded to wake Nat up and basically dragged her out of the room, making me giggle. Seriously, I could never be bored with these two around.

Sleep came easy to me that night. Actually, sleep came easy to me now, in general. Something had changed for good, but I couldn't put a finger on what it was.

The next afternoon, Nat and Ethan met me at the hospital again and helped me with all the release forms and procedures. Then, the three of us proceeded out of the hospital and towards Ethan's car.

'Wait, how did you get here?' I asked Nat because I couldn't spot her car anywhere.

'Oh, Ethan picked me up. We're kinda friends now. We were at the hospital most of the time, these past few days. But you were almost always asleep. So, we just started talking while we waited for you to wake up.' she answered.