Journey Back to Me

Chapter 9

She tells me about how she's here for post-partem depression, and it had been getting worse until she snapped and said she was going to kill herself. "And don't even get me started on my job," she smiles to herself as if sharing some sort of inside joke.

"What do you mean?" I'm genuinely enthralled by this woman's story.

"I work in mental health. Not this facility, but one about forty-five minutes away."

I finally understand why she was laughing to herself a moment ago. We start laughing and get glared at by one of the older women in the group.

While we continue to share stories, a young man wearing eyeliner and easily standing at six-foot-three walked into the common area with sweatpants that hung low on his hips and a white tee that hugged his muscles in all the right places.

"Damn," Dani and I both whispered in unison before giggling like schoolgirls.

"I wonder what his story is," I look at her for her reaction, but she's still staring.

"Hello, Dani, you with me?" I smile as I lift my water cup to my lips and take a sip.

"Look, I know I'm married, but he's hot. Go talk to him."

We both look over at him and see him staring back at us. His brown hair is perfectly coiffed, and his tan skin looks almost too perfect. We make eye contact before I quickly snap my head back around to look at Dani.

"First of all, I'm not going to try looney bin speed dating. Not my thing. And secondly, we don't know anything about him. What if he's in here for being a psycho killer or some shit?" I'm a little taken aback by her bold assumption that I would try to talk someone up while in a mental facility, and I make that obvious in my tone. She clearly doesn't catch on as she waves at him, inviting him to come sit with us.

"Hi, I'm Dani," she pushes her long blonde hair off of her shoulder, revealing a tattoo of a rose on her collarbone that I hadn't noticed earlier. "What's your name?"

"Eddie. You?" He looks at me. His voice is a much higher pitch than I expected it to be, and for some reason, I don't find him as intimidating as I did moments ago.

"I'm Michelle. Nice to meet you. Not necessarily under these circumstances, but nevertheless..." I trail off because I feel myself getting dumber. I've never been good around guys, especially attractive ones.

"So, Eddie, what's your deal? Dark and mysterious, showing up at a mental hospital with eyeliner and sweatpants, what's that all about?" Dani has no tact, but it's refreshing.

Eddie laughs, whether it be from Dani's brave question or my clear look of shock, but he doesn't seem uncomfortable with it at all. "Well, my boyfriend and I have a really volatile relationship, and we got into a huge fight while getting ready for a costume party, and I said the magic words, 'Why don't I just kill myself' and since the cops were already on their way, I got Baker-acted, and here I am."

I can't say I'm surprised by his story, given the eyeliner and some of his mannerisms, but I almost immediately relaxed. After finding out he was gay, it became way easier to talk to him. We shared stories of our fucked-up lives, and in a twisted way, I was happy to have met these...could I call them friends? It's not like we'd ever see each other again after we were discharged, but it was clear that we all needed each other this week.

By the time curfew rolled around, I headed to my room and noticed a small girl with short black hair sitting on the bed next to mine. She couldn't have been more than nineteen. I was more than a little shocked to find her in here, especially since I hadn't seen her come in.