Strangeland

Chapter 20 - I Could Really Care Less

I was let out the next day, luckily. They gave me a yucky breakfast, but Billie snuck out and got me a bacon sandwhich. It was still way better than margarine on white bread. I ate most of the hospital food so that the nurse who collected the food wouldn't go off and tell or something. I didn't want to get in trouble.

After breakfast, my doctor from last night came back and took my blood, which was one "fun joyride". I basically jumped so hard that they had to do it three times. The first time was a nurse that had no idea what she was doing, the second time they missed my vein and then they finally got it the third time. Billie wasn't happy.

The doctor discharged me from the hospital, with Billie grabbing my backpack which had some clothes in it which I had put on and went to talk with Dr. Williams outside. Not about the blood thing, he told me, but about something else. I sat down on a chair inside the main waiting room of the hospital, which was on the bottom floor. The sun let in warmth and a lot of light, something I had needed for a long time.

Billie came back with brochures in his hand, and folded them and put them in his pocket. We said goodbye to Dr. Williams, who said he would be in touch if I ever needed to come back, which I hoped wouldn't be for a long time. Billie and I walked outside to see there weren't that many people on the streets since it was early. We walked to his car and got inside, turning on the radio to a medium volume.

We didn't say anything for the ride home. I just kept looking at the road ahead and looking at buildings as we went past them. Billie kept gazing at me and passed the time at red lights by tapping his fingers to the beat of the song on the steering wheel. It took about 30 minutes to get home since the morning rush had already begun, and we were stuck in the middle of it. We were waiting for about 5 minutes at one intersection because one guy about 3 cars in front of us was talking to someone on the phone and didn't notice that the cars had already gone.

Billie took his hands off the steering wheel and turned the radio down. "Um... Adrienne and I talked on the phone after you were asleep," Billie said, looking at me. I looked up at him to continue. "We've come to an agreement, and I mentioned this to Dr. Williams as well. We all think it's a great idea. I think you need to see someone about this."

We started moving again, with Billie glancing back at me and to the road.

"Billie, I'm fine! I don't need to talk to someone-"

"Eliana, you need to, okay? I know it's only been a few weeks but I'm really worried about you. You've been talking to yourself for days now, and even Mike and Tré have noticed. You were mumbling at the dinner table one night, and it was like you were in a trance! Jakob heard you talking to someone when he got something from his room last night. He raced down to the living room, freaking out."

I stayed silent.

"I'm not mad, I'm just worried. I want to protect you with my life. I don't want you to feel harmed or depressed. I want you to be happy. You are beautiful and kind and funny, it's just that it's hard right now for you, and I get that, I really do. I just want you to get these feelings off of your chest."

"But I can talk to you. I don't need to see someone else,"

"I'm not a professional psychologist Eli. I want you to talk to someone other than me, because I feel like you're not going to tell me the full story, are you?"

"No," I sighed in defeat.

"But we can talk about it lightly, then we can start to talk about the heavier stuff, if you want. Just for now I want you to talk to me, then someone else if we think you need it."

I huffed and looked out the window. "You shouldn't spend money on something that'll never get fixed." I murmured.

We pulled into our driveway all of a sudden. "What?"