Trigger warning - There will be a mild theme of an eating disorder throughout this story. (Not in this chapter).
Short chapter I know but I wanted to upload something. I will try and write the next chapter today or at least weekend.
Luke
I arrived at work early this morning, having left before the other guys.
One of my patients was being discharged this morning and that was always a very big step so even though we had gone over everything last night, I wanted to be here when she left.
But on my way there, I saw a girl sat on the floor in the corridor, crying.
I thought I recognised her and it took me a minute but I realised she was Calum's patient: Megan.
I knew Calum and Michael weren't here yet so slowly I walked towards her, though she didn't seem to notice me.
"Megan, isn't it?" I asked as I crouched down in front of her.
"Who are you?" She asked, quickly looking up and swiftly wiping her tears away only for more to replace them.
"My name's Luke. I'm friends with Calum," I told her, hoping it would make her a bit more comfortable.
"Where is he?" She asked, looking down the corridor as if she expected him to be walking towards us now.
"He hasn't left yet but he'll be here soon."
"You live together?" She asked, confusion clear on her face.
"We're roommates, along with Michael and Ashton," I explained, knowing she'd met them both.
She looked down at her lap, not saying anything but also not making any moves to leave.
She probably wanted to be left alone but there was no way I was leaving her sat on the floor in the corridor crying.
"What are you doing out here?" I asked gently as I sat beside her, my back up against the wall like hers.
"I got lost," she muttered.
"What were you looking for?"
"The door to the roof. But I couldn't find it. And then I couldn't find my way back to my room." More tears spilled down her cheeks as she spoke.
"Well I can help you find your room," I offered "Do you know the number?"
"303," she told me and I nodded.
"You're not that far away," I said, standing up and offering Megan my hand. "Come on," I encouraged softly when she didn't move.
After a moment she reached up and took my hand, allowing me to help her to her feet.
"Why were you looking for the roof?" I asked Megan as I led her back to her room.
"I wanted to be alone."
"Why's that?" I pushed lightly. It was clear to see that Megan was extremely upset by whatever had happened and talking about it was usually beneficial.
A shake of her head was the only answer I got.
"Didn't Calum tell you the roof's off limits?" I asked. Megan didn't seem like the type of girl to purposely break the rules, I'm mean you never know but she just didn't strike me as the type.
"He didn't specifically say 'off limits' but he did make it seem like I shouldn't be there."
"Well, Calum is your doctor so it would probably be wise to listen to what he says. He's only trying to keep you safe," I told her. Megan hadn't even looked at me since we started walking. She either looked straight ahead or down at the ground. There was something interesting about Megan and I wanted to find out what.
"I just wanted to be alone," she mumbled, her voice sad.
"I understand that but -"
"No, you don't!" She yelled, surprising me. "You have no idea what it's like. My parents don't give a shit about me. They couldn't care less what I do or what happens to me. I'm stuck here with a bunch of doctors who think they know everything, when they don't! I'm not allowed to go where I want, I'm not allowed to eat when I want. I've only been here three days and I hate it!"
We'd gathered a bit of an audience.
"Can everybody head back to their rooms please?" I said, turning to the couple others that had come to see what the yelling was about.
I paged Ashton and Calum, hoping they were at the hospital.
"Megan let's go inside then we can talk about it, okay?"
"No, you can't tell me what to do," she folded her arms across her chest. Stubborn.
I wasn't sure what to do but then I saw Ashton walking towards us and I was relieved; he would be able to handle this.
I took a few steps away from Megan, telling her to wait there.
"What's going on?" He asked once we'd reached each other . "I thought you were with Alana. Isn't she getting discharged this morning?"
"She is. I just came across Megan sitting on the floor in the corridor crying."
"Did she tell you what it was about?"
"No," I said. "She told me she was looking for the roof, because she wanted to be alone, and she got lost. Then just now she was yelling and saying her parents don't give a shit about her so I assume it was about them."
"Ok. You go catch Alana before she leaves and I'll handle this."
"Thanks," I said before quickly jogging away down the corridor.
