Stay Strong: The Diaries of a Cutter. (On Hold!)

Chapter 8: Mail Call.

Chapter 8: Mail Call.  

~Carter~

“Mail Call!” Shouted one of the male nurses as he came in with a cart that had big packages, little packages and a stack of envelopes on it, he sounded tired and that tiredness was rough on his voice. I remained behind the grand piano, playing the music I’ve written down in my song book. It’s been a long week since I got the amazing news that I’m gonna be an Aunty. Zane is supposed to be coming to visit me in a few days. I’m nervous to see him, I know he’ll see the recent additions to my collection of cuts and he’ll be disappointed and he’ll go to Doc Wallace demanding answers then they’ll have no choice but to do a room search in which they’ll find my collection and I’ll have to throw them all away. I can’t throw them away just yet, not when I still have to have a face off with my parents, so far no emails from them. I haven’t called them either. Zane said they moved so they have a new number, they moved to Vermont the day after I came here.

“Sophia!”

“Elise!”

“Myra!”

“Sabal!”

“Brooklyn!”

“Michelle!”

“Holly!”

“Ben!”

“Melissa!”

“Sarah!”

“Max!”

“Keely!” One by one they got up to gather their letters and packages from their loved ones. I remained behind the piano with my dark hair tied up from my face; I wore a nice grey sweat shirt that wasn’t actually a sweat shirt, just a long sleeved shirt with different kinds of black font written in French on the front. I wore a pair of Jeggings and my black Vans.

“Carter, your package is in the front room.” The male nurse, whom I haven’t bothered learning the name to said to me before waltzing out of the room with the mail cart. I sighed, stopping my fingers from pressing the keys of the piano. I got up to see everyone enjoying their packages and letters from loved ones. Some had tears in their eyes while looking homesick but others pouted frustrated at their letters.

I trotted off into the front room from the library where I usually spend my days, composing music or entertaining the other patients, I mean residents. Today was an okay day, weather wise. It was another cloudy day but there was no rain and no wind so the temperature was cool but still warm even without the sun.

I entered the front room only to be floored by what I saw. It made me almost jump for joy; there standing in a pair of beige jeans with a button up plaid shirt that was buttoned up from the very bottom to the very top was Zane. He had his hair combed back from his face. He stood there with a fair sized package in his arms.

“Zane!” I squealed joyfully, jumping up and down. He laughed and put the big brown box down at his feet so I could tackle him with a large hug. I haven’t seen my brother in two weeks and I’ve missed him dearly.

“Oh my God, what’re you doing here? You aren’t supposed to be here for another couple of days.” I cheerfully said as I peeled myself from his chest. He chuckled and shrugged carelessly.

“I thought I’d surprise you and come spend a couple days in Maine to visit you.” He stated with a beaming smile. We both fell silent with too much joy to express. Zane looked down at the box and made an ‘oh’ sound before bending over to pick it up. He handed it to me with a gleeful smile.

“Gran and Gramps told me to give this to you, I told them not to go over board with the homesick remedies but they couldn’t resist plus Jewels and I threw in a few things.” Zane said happily.

“Okay, ugh –Is it okay if you carry it to my room. I slept on my shoulder funny last night.” I lied; I didn’t want my sleeves to rid up to show my cuts, even though they’ve scabbed over and are on their way to healing. Zane nodded once before letting me take the lead to mine and Holly’s bedroom. Holly was in the bedroom, she was sitting on her bed with her care package on the bed beside her; she had her nose buried deep within a letter. She told me at breakfast that she was going to write her folks a letter when she received a letter from them. She noticed Zane and me when we walked in.

“Oh –Hello.” She commented shyly. Zane stopped smack dab in the middle of the room and looked at her, bowing his head slightly.

“Hello, I’m Zane; Carter’s older brother.” Zane said with a large smile.

“Zane, you can put the package on my bed over here.” I said pointing towards my bed. Zane nodded and set the box down on the bed with a heavy sigh.

“So, guess who signed who out of the hospital for the day?” Zane sang lively doing a little dance in his place. I shot up an eye brow at his question, I knew who he was talking about; he was talking about me but just to be cheeky I shrugged and shook my head.

“I dunno, who?” Zane stopped his dance and let his shoulders slouch forward as he wore a dumb look.

“Wow, you should’ve stayed in School.” He commented cheekily. My jaw fell down slightly as I stared bug eyed at him.

“That hurt my feelings.” I said lively. He crackled, throwing his head back.

“Okay, I’ll get my jacket while you wait in the front room.” I told him jokingly.

“Yes, master.” Zane said doing his Igor impression out of the room. Both Holly and I laughed at him; I shook my head in slight shame.

“Is he always this . . .”

“Nutty?” I offered the word out. Holly nodded at me. “–Unfortunately.” I added, grabbing my black leather jacket before heading out of the bedroom and down the hallway to the front room where Zane was waiting for me. We both went out to his car; luckily I got to sit in the front seat. For some odd reason Zane never allows me to sit in the front seat, well he never did. I don’t know why he’s allowing me to sit in front all of a sudden.