It had seemed like a life time ago since Amelia, Sarah and Sam planned
their late night get together. The week had really dragged and Amelia’s main
problem wasn’t just the voices she was hearing, but the sheer boredom of being
on Cherry Tree ward. It was now five o’clock on Friday evening, and Sarah still
wasn’t back from her leave. Amelia went to go and find Sam, who was sat in his
usual spot on the sofa in the lounge, shouting abuse at game show contestants.
Amelia parked herself next to Sam, and as she did so, brushing her leg against
his. Amelia felt her face burn up with embarrassment as Sam looked at her and
winked cheekily. “So, erm, have you heard from Sarah today?” Amelia asked Sam
sheepishly. Sam turned round and smirked at Amelia, taking his eyes off his
beloved game show program. “Yes, she’s on her way back now as we speak.
Operation late night shall commence after night time meds. Tongue your meds,
you won’t be needing them”, Sam cackled and Amelia could not help herself but
join in. “Gotcha,” Amelia winked.
After tea, Amelia escaped into her bedroom for some time alone. There had
been an incident in the dining room, where a middle aged man withdrawing from
alcohol had been smashing plates and was restrained by the nurses. It had left
Amelia feeling frightened and vulnerable, as she was having flashbacks about
her own experiences with being restrained by the nurses, and also by Lewis.
Amelia tried to close her eyes and block out her thoughts, but no matter how
hard she tried, it was all she could think about. “Fucking useless bimbo. You will never escape it!” Amelia covered
her ears and closed her eyes out of fear.
Amelia was awakened by a loud knock on her bedroom door. “I must have dozed off”, Amelia thought
to herself before opening the door. Amelia turned the silver handle on her door
and was met with Sarah standing on the other side, looking slightly disheveled
and bleary eyed. “I may or may not have started without you, but hi, hello,
welcome to the party!” Sarah bellowed, slurring her words slightly whilst
handing Amelia a bottle of what looked like water. “Shhh. It’s a secret”, Sarah
whispered, whilst nudging Amelia.
Amelia followed the stumbling Sarah into the lounge where Sam was waiting.
“What time do you call this Amz? I thought you’d bailed out!” Sam joked. “I
think I dozed off. These meds make me crazy tired sometimes”, Amelia said.
“What have they got you on?” Sam asked, whilst Sarah was sipping the pure vodka
from her water bottle. “At the moment, quetiapine and mirtazapine, with lorazepam
when I need it. How about you?” Amelia replied, whilst taking a swig of vodka,
instantly scrunching her face in disgust at the strong, burning taste the vodka
left in her mouth. “Me? I take lithium, diazepam and venlafaxine. Meds don’t
really work for me in the grand scheme of things but they do help when I get
really ill. I guess they just make me be able to function. I’ve been on a lot
of medication, but the lithium seems to be doing its job this time around”, Sam
shared, whilst smiling at Amelia. “Don’t even talk to me about medication
Samuel”, Sarah slurred, “I think I have tried every medication known to
mankind!” Sam laughed, “Yes Sarah has been on nearly every antipsychotic ever
invented Amelia, yet she still barely sleeps”, Sam said, whilst nudging Sarah.
Amelia was again taken aback by how normal Sam and Sarah appeared to her.
These were the last two people on earth that she would believe were in a
psychiatric ward right now. Sam and Sarah had been chatting and giggling for a
while, whilst Amelia smiled every now and again, but remained quiet. “What’s
wrong Amelia?” Sarah asked. Amelia sighed, “I just can’t believe how normal you
guys are and how easily you just seem to be able to talk about things”. Sarah
and Sam giggled. “Normal?” Sam asked whilst raising his eyebrow. “Sarah here
bounces back in here a month or so after she gets home because she believes
that the illuminati have poisoned her tap water and injected her food with mind
control drugs. And me, well, the nightmares become too much and I just give up.
We have been here too many times to count, this is the only place we can be
ourselves. The real world is a scary place” Sam continued, whilst Sarah gagged
on the mouthful of vodka she had just glugged. “Oh, I didn’t see it like that”,
Amelia replied, whilst Sam took Amelia’s hand and smiled. “Enough of the morbid
talk, more conspiring!” Sam demanded.
The trio had been making fun of the nursing staff and other patients at
Cherry Tree for the past few hours, whilst receiving some unwelcome glaring
from Martha, the night nurse. Martha was extremely well built, with a broad
African accent. She had beautiful, natural African hair and wore a pink hair
band. Unfortunately for Martha, being at work was an inconvenience to her and
she often had little tolerance for her patients, especially the emotional ones.
“She’s more crabby than usual”, Sam said, referring to Martha. “She’s probably
on her period”, Sarah replied. “But she can’t be on her period for 365 days a
year”, Sam joked, as Martha looked over at him, disapprovingly. “How come they
haven’t clocked on that we’re drinking?” Amelia asked. “Because the night staff
are lazy fuckers who just sit in the office all night. They only come out to do
their checks or to make a drink. God forbid they have to make contact with
you”, Sam explained to Amelia. “Well, I’m fucked”, Sarah announced, “I’m going
to bed. The illuminati won’t want me tonight”. Amelia and Sam laughed at the
state Sarah had got herself into, as she staggered down the corridor, leaving
Sam and Amelia alone together.
“Well, isn’t this cosy?” Sam said, breaking the silence as Amelia smiled
coyly. “Here, lets put on some music and dance”, Sam said, whilst walking over
the stereo in the lounge. There wasn’t a vast choice of what music the pair
wanted to listen to, but Sam settled for a rock band compilation in the end.
Sam reached for Amelia’s hand, as he started to dance to the music. Amelia
began to laugh, as she felt like Sam’s dancing was less than up to scratch. It
was the first time in a long while that Amelia had truly laughed without
feeling shy, or feeling like she had too. She remembered that this was how she
once used to feel, happy and carefree. Amelia wanted to savor the moment as she
didn’t know how long this good feeling would last for, or when she would feel
it again.
Amelia and Sam had been twirling, pirouetting and head banging for an hour,
laughing and giggling at each other intermittently before Sam walked over to
the sofa, with Amelia joining him. “I’m knackered now Amz, you’ve officially
worn me out!” Sam said whilst smirking, as Amelia smirked back. “I really like
you Amelia. There’s something special about you. If you didn’t have a boyfriend
and wasn’t such a gentleman, I would so kiss you right now!” Sam confessed. Amelia
was flattered, but she remembered that she did indeed in fact have a boyfriend,
or did she? Tom had not bothered to make any contact with Amelia in the two
weeks that she had been in hospital, not even through her parents. She was hurt
that he didn’t seem to care about her anymore, and that he had abandoned her at
a time where she needed him the most. Amelia looked into Sam’s illuminating,
green eyes, and before she knew it, they were kissing.
Sam’s lips were warm, soft and enticing. Amelia kept her eyes closed as she
ran her hands through Sam’s silky, dark brown hair, and he touching her
porcelain coloured cheek. Sam eventually pulled away, “Wow”, he exclaimed, “I
certainly wasn’t expecting that”. Amelia blushed and began to apologise profusely. “Don’t apologise, I kind of enjoyed that. But is this what you
want?” Sam asked Amelia. “I don’t know, I honestly don’t know. I don’t know
where I stand with Tom, or anything. I’m confused about everything”, Amelia
stuttered, as she began to sob. Sam took Amelia’s soft, pale hand and held it
in his small and sweaty hand. “It’s okay, I understand. I’m here for you, as a
friend. And any time you need a cuddle, a chat, a drunken night, or even a
cheeky kiss, I will be happy to oblige”, he told Amelia. Amelia grabbed Sam,
holding him for no less than five minutes before the pair were interrupted by
Martha. “Don’t you two think you should be in bed?” she barked. Amelia and Sam,
split up and headed their separate ways to bed.
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