happy pills//reddie

2

Eddie hardly left Richie's side for the remainder of the day. Except when they had their individual therapy session. The day consist mainly of therapy such as expressive therapy, group therapy or individual therapy. During individual therapy, Eddie met his psychiatrist who prescribed him new medication for his anxiety, verses the Zoloft that he was already on.

Eddie sat with everyone during meal time. Richie was always trying to crack jokes that Stan didn't find amusing. The food was pretty good, but Eddie found it a little confusing on why they had to show how much they ate to a therapist when they were finished. Beverly explained that it usually has to do with medication increasing or decreasing appetites, or how a decreased appetite is a sign of depression. Eddie thanked her.

From what Eddie picked up, Bill has been there the longest. He's been there for almost a month. Bill's on strong medication, and sometimes it helps him, but sometimes he still hears or sees his dead, younger brother Georgie.

Beverly has been there the second longest period of time. She's been there for twenty seven days, and is also on strong medication. She claims to sometimes still see blood in her sink, despite other people not seeing it.

Next is Mike. He's on fairly strong medication for his PTSD. He sometimes suffers from nightmares. He doesn't enjoy talking about it much, but from what Eddie picked up, it has something to due with the death of his parents, and a fire. On rare occasions, he has flashbacks to the traumatic event when something sets him off. He's been there for twenty days.

Stan has been there for nineteen days. He got into an argument with someone. Stan ended up having the cops called on him, which brought him here. His medication isn't super strong, but it helps. It gives him very painful headaches, and nausea, however.

Richie has been at the hospital for two weeks. He was placed here after a suicide attempt that got him into a medical hospital. He stayed there for a couple of days because he overdosed. His medication is given to him twice a day, and he's been on it for awhile, therefore he doesn't suffer from any side effects.

Ben was the newest patient before Eddie came along. He told his school social worker that he harmed himself the night before, which led the social worker to alert his mom. His mom was told that it'd be best if he was brought here. Ben's been here for five days.

Around ten at night, everyone was allowed to have a late night. Richie and Bill were called over to take their meds. While they did that, everyone gathered in front of the tv in the group therapy room. The room was painted a light green. It had comfortable couches. Everyone moved them to the tv so they could all watch television closer. Everyone was aloud a late snack. Eddie got two packs of Oreos. The Oreos ran out quickly, leaving everyone else with chips or shortbread cookies.

Stan and Bill shared a couch, and Beverly called dips on the bean bag. A nurse flipped through the channels. It took awhile because nobody could agree on a movie. At the end, they all decided to watch some cheesy romance story. Bill leaned his head on Stan's shoulder. The two held hands. Richie walked in later, and couldn't find anywhere to sit since all of the couches were taken. He ended up laying on the ground. He didn't mind too much since the flooring was all carpet. They could all barely keep quiet. Mike and Bill were the only people that were actually paying attention to the movie. Eddie ended up getting bored, and he asked if he could play a card game. The nurse said that it was fine. Eddie was given a card stack. Richie, Ben, and Beverly beamed, and quickly joined the game. Everyone grinned at Stan who wanted to play, but Bill fell asleep on his shoulder. He was worried that he'd wake up Bill, and Stan was fairly comfortable. Beverly played on behalf of Stan, which made her determined to win. The time quickly flew by, and Beverly ended up winning. Richie clearly cheated, which got him kicked from the game. At 11 pm, everyone was sent to go to bed. Stan woke up Bill, and he helped him to their room. Ben and Mike went to their room, Beverly went off to her own room, and Richie waited for Eddie.

"Thanks for waiting," Eddie said as he walked with Richie to their room.

"Anytime," beamed Richie.

The two walked into their room, and there were two bins on the table. One bin had 'RICHIE' written on the side. The other had 'EDDIE' written on the side as well. Eddie discovered that there was shampoo, body wash, a comb, toothbrush, and toothpaste, along with some chapstick. Richie took out his comb, and started to brush his hair. Eddie decided to take a shower, therefore he grabbed the shampoo and body wash.

Once Eddie finished his shower, and dried off, he quickly got changed into fresh clothes. From there, he combed his hair, brushed his teeth, applied chapstick, and placed the stuff in the bin. The nurses already took Richie's bin, therefore Eddie left it outside their room. There were people out in the halls. They kept a close eye on Richie since he was currently on suicide watch. Eddie looked at Richie who was already changed into his pjs. He was staring at his wrist that had scars covering it. Eddie noticed them, but never brought it up.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Eddie spoke up.

Richie's shifted his body to face Eddie. He shrugged. "These are kind of old, but they aren't healing. I got them before I came here."

Richie sighs, and laid down, staring at the ceiling. "It's just not fair. I've tried so many things, but they never work. I'm always stopped. I always turn out still alive. Here, they give me medication, and I guess it helps. I think I might need an increased dosage soon, or stronger medication. My suicidal thoughts are still there. I guess they've always been there," he whispered the last part.

"What about you?"

The question took Eddie by suprise, but he answered.

"I'm just tired of always living in fear. I also obessess over these thing, and I never focus on what's present. My mind is constantly flooded with 'what if' thoughts. I never feel fine, I'm always anxious. My entire life I've lived in fear, and I just-"

Eddie was cut off by Richie sitting on the edge of his bed with a tissue box. Eddie didn't even notice that he was crying until now. He took a tissue, and wiped away his tears.

"Thanks, Richie."

"No problem. I'm always here for you. We'll get through this together."

Eddie felt his eyes well up again. He weakly smiled.

Richie got up, and went back to his bed.

"We should probably sleep, I think tomorrow they're bringing therapy dogs."

Eddie chuckled. "Will do, goodnight, Richie. Thanks again."

"No problem, Eds."