"Visitors are here Cheryl."
"She's not coming Steve."
"Well why don't you come down for a walk? You haven't left in a few days."
"No, i'm fine."
"Or you could go see Lily, her mum's bringing her little boy in today."
"I said i'm fine here."
The door slams shut abruptly, once again separating Cheryl from the world.
----
A few months later.
"Ms Tweedy? Cheryl? We're coming in."
With some force, the door comes flying open, finally letting some light into the dark, cold room.
"We're gonna need you downstairs."
"Cheryl, we're gonna need you downstairs!"
They repeat after getting no response before letting Mark and Steve pick her up and take her down themselves.
The tele is on quietly in the room as Cheryl lays attached to the bed with restraints. Shaking her head violently and mumbling words to herself, the doctors all walk by casually, knowing her usual behaviour.
"LET ME GO!"
She's screams, getting a brief reaction before everyone carries on. As a nurse flicks over the tele in the corner of the room, Cheryl only gets more impatient.
"Miss Smith you're under are-"
"Oh my god i literally hate he-"
"The best tactic when cooking-"
"In other news, Britain's biggest girl band Girls Aloud are set to come back including a reunion tour. Management made an official announcement on social networking site twitter last night revealing Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts, Sarah Harding and Kimberley Walsh will all be making a return without Geordie band mate Cheryl Cole after she suffered depression last year. We're all very excited to see the girls back on stage singing those hit songs. Speaking with Kimberley Walsh at last nights Brit awards-"
"NO!"
Cheryl screams, wanting nothing more to cover her ears but the restraints making that impossible.
"NO! TURN IT OVER! PLEASE NO!"
"We're all really excited to be back on stage, i've obviously spent time outside of the band with the girls but i'm so happy to be working with them again."
"Do you think the dynamics may have changed in the band as Cheryl is no longer part of Girls Aloud?"
"No, we're all as close as before. It's going to be weird with four of us but we can get round these things, we have to do what we have to do."
"Can you possibly give us some information on what we can expect?"
"No. My lips are sealed."
"Just one little thing?!"
"Well they'll be lots of glamorous outfits, intense dance routines and obviously our amazing fans front row!"
"Could you give us any information on Cheryl's condition right no-"
"KIMBERLEY! KIMBERLEY!"
With a smile and a quick thank you, Kimberley walks away, ignoring the question on Cheryl and heads towards the photographers who are screaming her name with management following.
The white room fills with cries and screams as the Yorkshire accent echoes around Cheryl's head. All it takes is one look from the leading Doctor and all the nurses are approaching Cheryl. Holding her down aswell as the restraints while another prepares the sedative.
"NO! NO! STOP! NO! KIMBER-"
She screams before her eyelids become heavier and her vision turns black, that one familiar voice still playing round her mind.
----
Cheryl's POV:
"AH GOD, NO!"
Smacking my hand on bedside table, pain shooting through, i sit up in the empty bed, my previous nightmare still fresh in my mind.
"Kimberley?"
I turn to wake her when i see it's empty, she's not here.
Feeling slightly more awake and my hand still throbbing, i decide to grab some painkillers from downstairs, hoping they'll ease the pain and let me get a good night rest.
"Ok Chez?"
I hear Steve call as he walks down the corridor, obviously doing a night shift with Mark.
"Yeah, just my arm. I smacked it on the table."
"You look a little pale, i'll leave Mark up here and i'll walk down with you."
"I'll be ok-"
"Nonsense! I can't leave you to walk down, if anything was to happen. HEY MARK, I'M TAKING CHEZ DOWN!"
He sticks his thumb up showing he understands before Steve follows me down to see the nurse.
"You been alright without Kimberley tonight?"
"Um, well i had a nightmare and i panicked when she wasn't there but i understand."
"She's really proud of you, you know? You've made a lot of progress here to say you haven't been here long."
"Yeah, it's given me a break this place. From all the rubbish out there and criticism, it's taken me out the spotlight and made me think."
"It's what you needed sweetheart, right i'll wait here."
I walk in, greeted immediately by a middle aged woman.
"Hello Cheryl darling, you alright?"
"Me arm, i banged it on the table."
"I'll get you some pills, hold on a second."
I wait around before she passes me the pills and says night before i go back out to Steve, shivering slightly as i'm only wearing pyjamas shorts and a thin jumper.
"Alright? Let's get you back to bed then."
"Be lucky to not have another nightmare."
"If you don't mind me asking and if you don't want to tell me that's fine but what was the nightmare about?"
"Oh, just about Kimberley."
"What happened?"
"She didn't come back, i must have got worse."
"She'll come back, don't you worry! You mean too much to her."
"I know, it just gets to me sometimes. It's lonely around here."
"Hey, it's not! Unless you're Cheryl Tweedy who spends every waking hour in her room!"
He jokes, teasing a smile on my face.
"There's a gym, that often helps people work off their anger. There's a track outside or a field, you can run there. Beside the Gym, there's a spare room where people do yoga in, if you're into that sort of stuff. Lily used a lot of those when she first came here."
"Was she bad? You know, when she arrived?"
"I shouldn't say but i know she'd come out and tell you herself if you asked. She was a lot like you! Maybe a little worse? She had her son took off her and that really was the only thing that kept her going. She takes a picture of him everywhere so she'd go to the gym and work out for a few hours with that picture, she'd speak to Doctor Green and have that picture right beside her. It kept her strong and as soon as she's built up a healthy relationship with him and her family again, she can leave. She went through the nightmares and anger issues and she overcome it just like you can. I know we're all different but you're a whole lot stronger than she was and i know you can do this in half the time she did."
"Who put her in here? Why did she come in?"
"Her mum got us to get her, she'd go to clubs and start a fight every night basically. She ended up in hospital aswell and she'd put people in hospital. She was havoc really."
"Oh."
"Spend some time with her too, you'd be surprised how much she can help."
"I will, she wanted me to meet her son the other day so i'll go down tomorrow well actually later today."
"Yeah, you should be getting some sleep. I leave in an hour."
"You do?"
"Mark's gonna stay till around 9/10 and then i'm gonna come back. With Kimberley being here for you, we haven't much to do through the day."
"Ah i see, well i'll see you tomorrow sometime."
"Alright Kidda, just a word to warn you Chez?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't let anyone get you down in here, it's not got the best of people in."
"But you said about Lily-"
"Oh yeah, she's fine. Lovely girl but the others in here, don't get too close Cheryl. You're an amazing girl and they'll bring you down with them."
I nod, showing i understand even though i'm not sure what i'm meant to think. I shout night to Mark before retreating to my own bedroom, pulling out my notebook, playing with around with a few chords for Parachute and jotting a few ideas down.
It's going to be a long night.