The Struggles We Face (Book 1 in the Shine Bright Like a Diamond Series)

Chapter 13 - The Climb

4 days had passed. Dani had been moved out of the ICU a few days ago and was now in a private room on the children's ward. After talking with Dani, Travis went back to work as normal but stopped by most days to see her during the day when he dropped patients off at the hospital. Others from Station 19 had been to visit Dani and in all honesty, Dani enjoyed their company. Ryan had spent the previous day at the hospital with the teen as it was his day off and they had spoken quite a lot. Dani was feeling much better and had spoken with a psychiatrist like they had said she would have to. It was now around lunch time and Dani was at up in bed talking to Alex who was sat on the sofa in her room eating his lunch.
"When can I go home?" Dani asked Alex as they sat in silence.
"Well...we'll run some blood tests to make sure that everything is okay. But you'll need to speak to a psychiatrist again before you can leave. It's up to them whether you can or not" Alex stated. Dani sighed and nodded her head.
"Dani...why didn't you speak to anyone?" Alex asked quietly.
"I...I don't know. I kind of felt like I was drowning, and I didn't want to be a burden on anyone...I'm sorry Alex" Dani explained. As she said the last part she started to cry and looked up sadly at Alex.
"Hey...you listen to me. You are not a burden. To anyone okay? We're all here for you...anytime you needs us" Alex stayed, placing his hands on the teens shoulder and looking her in the eyes. Dani nodded as Alex pulled her in for a hug.
"I want you to speak to someone okay? A councillor...they're just going to help you through this as well." Alex added after a few minutes. Again Dani nodded her head.
"Okay" Dani said, as Alex's pager went off.
"I'll be back later" Alex stated as he walked out of the room, leaving Dani on her own again. Obviously due to the circumstances she wasn't allowed to leave her room by herself or go outside. Dani decided to sit and listen to music until someone came. It was very likely that either Ryan, someone from Station 19 or someone from the care home would come and see Dani so it wouldn't be that long until Dani wasn't alone again.

Just like Dani thought, and hour later Chris - one of Dani's caseworkers - walked into her room.
"Hi" He said, smiling slightly.
"Hey" Dani greeted.
"How you feeling?" Chris asked sitting down on the end of Dani's bed as she had her legs crossed.
"Better...I just want to get out of here" Dani admitted.
"I know you do...but for now. I've spoken to your doctors and they said I can take you outside." Chris commented. Dani smiled slightly.
"But you have to be in a wheelchair" Chris added. Dani frowned slightly but nodded her head.
"Let me get changed first" Dani said, as she was only in shorts and a T-shirt as it was t that sunny outside. Chris nodded his head and handed Dani her bag. Dani grabbed why she needed and went into the bathroom to get changed. It was a lot easier now as she wasn't hooked up to any machines or drips. The only reason she was still in hospital is because the doctors had to make sure that she wasn't a danger to herself anymore. After changing into some warmer clothes, Dani sat down in the wheelchair and Chris pushed her outside. The went over and sat down on one of the nearby benches.
"So...how's everyone been?" Dani asked after a few minutes.
"They've been good" Christ stated.
"Do they know?" Dani asked looking at Chris.
"Some do...but the younger ones just think you're poorly" Chris explained. Dani nodded her head.
"You know...once you come back, we'll have to put you under supervision." Chris mentioned. Dani looked at him.
"It will only be for the first few days...Mike's already assigned me to it as we get on well and Liam has also offered to help out" Chris explained. Dani nodded her head and sighed.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this..." She muttered.
"What?" Chris asked, obviously having heard her.
"I didn't mean to do this...it just seemed like the only way out. I hate talking to people about...stuff like this. But now I can see that I have to...otherwise it's not going to get better is it?" Dani said rationally.
"No...it won't. But do you know what?" Chris started.
"What?" Dani asked quietly.
"Asking for help is one of the hardest things to do...it's the first step in your recovery. And you've just done that" Christ explained. Dani smiled slightly and leaned into Chris. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"Thank you" Dani said quietly.
"Anytime Kiddo...I'm always going to be here for you" Chris reassured.

A little while later Chris took Dani back to her room as a psychiatrist was stopping by to see whether Dani could go home or not. After talking to Dani in private – Dr Alicia Moore – Dani's psychiatrist determined that Dani was safe to go home as she would have plenty of support and company around her. In the time she had been in the hospital, Dani had come a long way. Although she still had a long road ahead of her, Dani was finally allowed to move on from the experience as she was discharged and allowed to leave with Chris that evening. Packing her things, Dani walked out of the hospital side by side with Chris and smiled as they climbed into Chris' car. On the drive back to the care home they listened to the radio. 15 minutes later they pulled up outside the care home and Dani smiled again. There was a banner outside the read 'Welcome home Dani'. Climbing out of the car Chris grabbed Dani's stuff as she went inside. The youngsters were the first to hear her come in. They raced over to give her a hug.
"Careful guys" Chris remined as he walked in behind her.
"Are you feeling better?" Jesse asked.
"Yeah..." Dani smiled, glancing up at Liam and the others who stood waiting. Dani went round and hugged everyone.
"Did you see our banner?!" Jesse asked eagerly.
"I did thank you...it's very pretty" Dani said, smiling at Jesse and giving her another hug.
"Right you, go rest" Chris encouraged, knowing that Dani would still be feeling tired for the next few days. Dani nodded and started to grab her stuff.
"I got it" Liam said, beating her to it. Dani smiled and walked up the stairs with Liam behind her. She hesitated and stood in her doorframe.
"You okay?" Liam asked coming up behind her.
"Yeah..." Dani reassured, walking in and sitting down on her bed. Liam placed her bag on her chair and sat down on her bed as well.
"You know...you can always talk to me" Liam stated. Dani nodded her head.
"I know...thank you Liam" She said quietly, giving him another hug.
"Anyways, I'll let you rest." Liam said getting up and leaving. Dani smiled as she was happy to be back in her own bed again. She knew that the next few months weren't going to be easy and that she had one hell of a mountain to climb, but she also knew that she had a whole army of people on her side that would be there to help her through.
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Ta-da! What do you think? x

Also, here are the face claims for Liam and Chris (⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️)