Sam's POV:
I woke up in bed, cold and alone. Every morning I wake up, take a warm shower, and then eat breakfast in my boxers. Sometimes I'll just walk around naked. I don't care anymore, there's no need to get dressed if I live alone. For breakfast, I made myself a bowl of cereal, and I had some strawberry Greek yogurt.
I sat down and started watching television for awhile. When I got up to get a snack I looked through my cupboards and my refrigerator and realized that I really haven't been shopping in a while. My fridge was practically empty, except for a gallon of milk, one last yogurt cup and a few beers.
So I got dressed in some sweatpants and a hoodie, slipped on some shoes and proceeded out to my car. I haven't even been in my car in awhile, I've been walking to clubs or calling an uber so I could avoid drinking and driving. Before I was able to leave the parking lot, my phone began buzzing in my pocket and I took it out revealing Andrea's cellphone number.
"Hello?" I answered
"Hey, where are you?" She asked, I couldn't help but wonder why she was asking, I haven't talked to her in like a week.
"I'm in my car, just about to leave to go to the grocery store." I replied.
"Can you stay there for a few, I have to talk to you?" Um I do think you're talking to me right now but alright.
"Yeah, sure." I turned off the car and she hung up the phone.
I opened the car door and walked back up to my apartment. I sat on the couch and waited for her, she knows she can walk right in so I don't have to worry about getting up to answer the door. After ten minutes the door opened and Andrea finally walked in.
"Hey." She greeted.
"What's up?" I sat forward on the couch.
"Um, so..." she sat down next to me on the couch. "I know this might be a touchy subject for you, but Stuart wanted me to tell you, and maybe you could help." She began, she looked nervous for some reason.
"Stuart?" I asked, who's Stuart?
"Stuart Camp, Ed's manager." She replied. My heart immediately dropped to my stomach. What would Stuart want Andrea to tell me? I gulped. "He wanted me to... um... Ed is suicidal, Sam." I put my head down and she continued. "He's in the hospital right now and the doctors want to get him the help he needs but he refuses to get it. Stuart thought maybe you could talk him into agreeing to get help."
"You want me to convince him to agree to be sent away? To a mental institution or a psych ward or something?" I ask, a little disgusted. She just looked at me, she clearly knows that I'm upset. "That's not what he needs, he needs someone to be there for him."
"I know, but can you at least talk him into talking his anti-depressants and going to therapy?" Anti-depressants? Therapy? What the hell? She looked really concerned for him, even though she doesn't really like him. "Please? Stuart is really worried about him."
I thought about it for a minute. "Uh... yeah, sure. I'll talk to him." I stood up and walked towards the door. "Lets go."
~
We arrived at the hospital and parked in the parking lot. Andrea and I got out of her car and walked to the front doors of the hospital. As the doors opened a big whiff of what smelled like rubbing alcohol mixed with latex gloves flooded my nostrils. I haven't been in a hospital in a while, not since Ed broke his wrist. I wasn't expecting to have to talk to Ed again so soon. I was hoping I wouldn't have to for awhile.
We walked down countless, white hallways until we came across what Andrea said was Ed's. Room 519. She knocked on the door and a man's voice had politely told her to enter. She opened the door and I saw Stuart sitting in a chair, as soon as he saw Andrea he stood up and walked towards her. They embraced each other for a brief moment and he kissed her on the cheek. He saw me and shook my hand.
"It's nice to see you again." He smiled and I smiled back.
We walked in and I saw Ed laying on the hospital bed, he had a hospital gown, and he just lied there under the blankets, staring off into space. He had an IV line in his arm, the same arm that I could see had just been stitched up.
"How have you been?" Stuart asked me, drawing my attention away from Ed for a moment. We sat down on the couch that was in the room.
"I've been alright." I answered while looking back at Ed. His eyes widened and he looked in my direction, finally noticing that I was in the room.
"Sam?"
"Hi, Ed." I said, feeling a little bit uncomfortable as it felt like my heart was breaking all over again.
He sat up, his eyes still on me. "Hi."
"We'll let you two talk..." Stuart grabbed Andreas hand and left.
"They want to send me to mental institution... and I suppose they called you here to talk me into going." He said, finally taking his eyes off of me and tracing his index finger over his stitches.
"I'm here so you don't have to go to one, Ed" I said, walking towards him. He was silent. "How long have you been like this?"
"Since we broke up." He said, barely above a whisper. It hurt me to see such a strong person so depressed and... broken. "I just... I feel so guilty, I lost you. And when I lost you, a piece of me was lost too. And I'm so fucking stupid for what I did and I beat myself up everyday for it."
"Ed, you really need to take your anti-depressants. If you do you won't feel so bad, if they helped me they can help you." I felt so bad for him, he's been like this for two years...
"Nah, I deserve to feel like this." He looked down and chuckled a little bit. "You can leave now if you want, it's probably hard for you to stand here and help the person who broke you."
"Ed, I -" I was cut off by Stuart and Andrea walking back into the room. Looking at both me and Ed.
"Ed, a nurse will be in soon to take out your IV. And then you'll be free to go home." Stuart said.
I shoved my hands in the pockets of my sweats and walked out of the room. Ed was right, it was hard for me. I haven't seen or talked to him in two years, since he cheated on me so I mean yeah, it was hard. But to me, he made it seem like I was only there because I was asked to be. Which is untrue, I care about him, his health, and his well-being.
As I walked out of the hospital into the parking lot, I heard footsteps behind me. Without stopping, I spoke up because I knew it was Andrea. "How many times has he tried to kill himself?"
"I don't know, a few." She said, I don't think I've ever turned around as quickly as I did just then.
"There's been other times and you're just telling me today?!" I was furious. Maybe if someone was there for him sooner he wouldn't be so depressed or suicidal.
"Stuart just told me about this today, Sam. You know if I would have known sooner I would have told you." She argued.
"What am I supposed to do? He thinks that I was only there because I was asked to save his ass from being sent away." I asked her, throwing my arms in the air in frustration.
She just looked at me for a moment. "Well, isn't that why you're here?"
"No!" I cried. "He tried to take his own life. I came because I'm worried, I came because I care." I turned around and walked out of the parking lot towards the sidewalk. "I'm walking home!" I yelled to her. This is all too much. I didn't want to see him so soon, but I can't fight the fact that I care about him. Yeah, he hurt me but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to at least try to help him.
Ed's POV:
They discharged me from the hospital, but just before, they wanted to send me away. I was there because of the cut in my arm but they discovered that I was a little dehydrated to they hooked me up to an IV.
I sat in the car with Stuart while he drove us back to his apartment. "So..." he began. "How did it go with Sam?"
I just sat there for a moment before I answered. "Why did you get him?" I turned and looked at him.
"I thought he could help." He says innocently.
"No, he hates me." I said and looked back out the window.
"Ed, if he hated you he wouldn't have showed up." Stuart continued driving until we got to his apartment. When he said that, it actually uplifted my spirits a little bit because it's true. If he didn't care, he wouldn't have tried to help.
As soon as I walked into the apartment, I went into the bathroom to take my daily dose of anti-depressants. I guess me going up to the bathroom so quickly worried Stuart because he called my name as if I did something wrong.
"Don't worry." I called to him, taking the pill in my hand and popping it into my mouth, swallowing it with a gulp of water. "I'm taking my meds."
"Oh." He sounded relieved. I opened the door and he was standing right there. "Are you going to go to therapy?" He asked.
"Um..." I thought for a minute. If I can get better, maybe, just maybe I could figure out a way to get Sam back into my life. I mean, Stuart did have a point earlier: he wouldn't have showed up if he didn't care. "Yeah."
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Part 2 is done! Hope you like it! I'm trying here, I've never been depressed myself so writing about depression is a bit foreign to me. I am in no way trying to glorify it at all. That and suicide. So please don't penalize me for it if I wrote something that's wrong. Tell me what you think of Part 2 and don't forget to vote! ❤️
-tiff