CHAPTER 21) The Assessment ***TRIGGER WARNING***

Amelia slouched on the pink armchair, staring out of the window. “Whore”. She was disrupted from her daydreaming when Amanda returned with a doctor to assess and admit Amelia to the ward. “Hello Amelia, I’m Dr Adams and I will be completing your admission today and Amanda here will fill in her nursing notes at the same time. So what has been going on Amelia?” Dr Adams asked.

“Nothing I’m fine”, Amelia argued.

“According to your admission notes from the emergency department you were talked out of a suicide attempt by the police. Why did you want to kill yourself?” Dr Adams asked.

“I didn’t”, Amelia replied.

“So you did not want to kill yourself? You had no suicidal thoughts at all when you were on the bridge?” Dr Adam’s persisted.

“Lying fucking whore. Always fucking lying. Smack him. He’s a twat. Smack him.”

“I don’t know, maybe” Amelia replied begrudgingly.

“What made you feel that way?” Dr Adams said.

“I don’t want to answer these fucking stupid questions”, Amelia snapped. Amanda and Dr Adams looked at each other. “Amelia sweetie we just need to find out what you were feeling at the time so we can help you get the right treatment” Amanda intervened.

“Okay let us go back to when you ran away. What triggered that feeling that made you run away?” Dr Adams attempted to assess Amelia again.

“I didn’t run away. I just needed to be on my own” Amelia replied.

“Why was that? Did you have an argument? Did something bad happen?” asked Dr Adams. Amelia began to well up with tears. “My nightmare came true. I was raped five years ago by a guy and he turned out to be my boyfriend’s brother. He tried again and tried to beat me up. I tried to tell people but nobody supported me. I left my boyfriend’s house after a fight.” Amelia replied.

“Was this the first time you ever felt depressed or low or down in the dumps?” asked Dr Adams.

“Moron what a fucking moron. Punch him. He deserves it”.

“Well when I was raped I did, you moron of course I was depressed and since I have been tortured and controlled all I am is depressed!” Amelia snapped.

“Do you feel suicidal? Like you want to harm yourself?” Dr Adams persisted.

“Well I nearly jumped off a bridge didn’t I? And I bled all over the hospital toilet. You have the notes there why ask me these fucking stupid questions?” Amelia demanded furiously.

“If we discharged you now would you consider hurting yourself?” asked Dr Adams.

“Yes”, said Amelia.

“Do you have a plan?” asked Dr Adams.

“I’d jump off the bridge”, replied Amelia.

“How long have you been self harming?” Dr Adams inquired.

“Please can you stop with the questions already?” Amelia demanded.

“Amelia you are doing brilliantly hun, just let us ask a few more questions” encouraged Amanda.

“I’m fed up of these questions. Basically I was tortured by Lewis and now he controls me and my mind. I self harm and I want to die. Please let me go now!” Amelia begged

“Okay that is enough for the moment, I will have a talk with my colleague and she may want to come and speak to you”, Dr Adams responding, sensing how agitated Amelia was getting.

“They can all fuck off. You can fuck off. Go and hang yourself. I am sure you can manage that here.”

Amanda and Dr Adams left the room and entered the office in which Amelia’s family had occupied. “Is she okay? What did she say?” Melanie inquired.

“She didn’t want to answer too many questions but from the assessment in Accident and Emergency and from what she has said we have a little idea of what is going on but we would like to have a talk with you guys first”, Dr Adams said.

“Okay well what do you want to know?” Larry asked.

“Is Amelia normally fit and well? No medical conditions? Taking any medications at all?” Dr Adams asked.

“No she is pretty healthy”, Catherine replied.

“Is there a history of mental illness in the family?” Dr Adams asked.

“Nobody that I can think of can you?” Larry asked the others who shook their head.

“Have you noticed a change in her behaviour recently? Is she low, flat or depressed or can she seem euphoric or elated? Or a bit of a mix of the two?” pursued Dr Adams.

“Well she’s mainly been very down and very avoidant recently” Catherine said.

“Let’s face it her behaviour has been erratic. She has been severely self harming, avoiding us and her boyfriend when normally she is bubbly and friendly. We found her a few nights ago smashing her bedroom mirror because she could see faces in it and could hear voices. She goes missing for days on end and tries to throw herself off a bridge? Oh and tablets have gone missing from our house and she has a room full of knives and blades? Anything else you want to know?” Melanie snapped.

“Is there any particular reason for such erratic behaviour like this?” Dr Adams inquired.

“Oh you mean she found out that her rapist is her boyfriend’s brother who has also been tormenting her and I find him beating her up in her bedroom. That could have something to do with it”, shouted Melanie.

“Okay how do you feel she is? Do you think she would be safe without immediate treatment?” Dr Adams persisted.

“No, she would be a danger”, Melanie replied.

“I wouldn’t be happy with it, we have been trying to get her to see her GP but she refused to”, Catherine added.

“Okay Amanda, if you could bring Amelia in please”. Amanda scribbled down the rest of her notes then left the room to fetch Amelia.

CHAPTER 20) Cherry Tree Ward ***TRIGGER WARNING***

The nurse with short, black hair escorted Amelia to the psychiatric ward along side the police officers. Amelia was still handcuffed and it was a short car journey to the back of the hospital to reach the psychiatric unit. Amelia’s heart was in her mouth and she was extremely anxious. What would the other patients be like? What were the nurses like? Would she ever get out of the ward? Amelia’s head was racing with thoughts. “Bitch, bitch, fat, ugly bitch got what she deserved”. They had arrived at the psychiatric unit and the police escorted Amelia and the nurse with short black hair into the department. They followed the signs for “Cherry Tree Ward”. They reached the ward fairly quickly as it was the first ward on the left hand side of the long corridor and waited to be let in the ward as the door was locked. Amelia noticed how modern the building was. It was bright and cheerful and had paintings on the wall, some of which looked like they had been painted by patients.

Eventually the door to the ward opened and Amelia, the nurse and police officers were greeted by a cheerful healthcare assistant in a purple uniform. “Hiya, my name’s Rachel if you’d just like to follow me into this room and we will come and see you in a jiffy. Just gotta speak with this nurse hon and then will come and ask ya for a drink”, the cheery healthcare assistant said to Amelia. Rachel lead Amelia and the police officers into a fairly small, but nicely painted room off the left hand side of the corridor. “If you’d like to take her cuffs off you can go after we’ve had a handover”, Rachel said to the police officers. Amelia was sat on the pink, leather seats, staring at the window. “Locked away for good now. Loser. Loser bitch. Ugly, fat bitch. Never gonna see the light of day again”. Amelia began to cry. She felt so alone and she really needed her family right now.

The nurse from Accident and Emergency sat in the office, waiting to give the ward nurses information about Amelia. “Gosh I don’t very often get to come down here, it’s quite posh now isn’t it?” the nurse with short, black hair said.

“Yeah they have redecorated and added and extension which is where the new psychiatric intensive care unit is and therapy centre is”, said one of the nurses who had plaited, blonde hair with bright blue eyes. “So this is Amelia we have got, I understand she has had a time of it recently? Want to give handover?”

“Yes yes. Well I have brought you Amelia Rose. She is twenty years old and she is sat in the side room up the corridor. Well Amelia was brought to us on a section 136 after being talked down off a bridge by one of the police negotiators. She apparently mentioned something about being raped in the past and was possibly sexually assaulted last night. As she was in a state the police forensics team haven’t had chance to grab a swab so they will be here later. Amelia has been missing from home for several days, not sure why she disappeared yet but claims to be controlled by voices that she is hearing in her head. She pulled a little stunt in the emergency department as she managed to get hold of a needle and sneak it past staff and the police and was found with a needle sticking out of her arm in the toilet with blood everywhere from bloodletting. Her body is covered in cuts and she has quite clearly been severely self harm recently. We had trouble persuading her to come to the ward but the doctor down there threatened her with a doctors hold section then she agreed to come for further assessment.  She has had oral diazepam for agitation and she also had intravenous lorazepam and haloperidol, the dosages are on her drugs chart. Her family have been contacted and will be arriving here shortly” the nurse with short, black hair informed the staff.

“Oh gosh, sounds like we are in for a busy shift then folks, potential candidate for the intensive care unit methinks. Okay hon thank you very much for the handover”, the nurse with blonde, plaited hair said to the nurse from Accident and Emergency who then swiftly left.

“Well who wants to do Amelia’s admission or am I the only taker?” joked the nursed with plaited blonde hair. She walked up the corridor and greeted Amelia. “Hi there Amelia, my name is Amanda and when the doctor arrives I will be completing your admission. It consists of taking notes of what you are saying and then the doctor’s plan of action. The nurse said your family are on the way and it might be useful for us to speak to them, if that is okay with you?” Amanda asked.

“Err, sure, whatever”, Amelia said, unenthusiastically.

“Okay hon would you like a drink or anything?” Amanda asked Amelia.

“No. I am fine thank you”, Amelia snapped.

Amelia’s mum, dad and sister arrived shortly and were anxious to see Amelia. “I want to see my daughter”, Larry demanded at the reception desk. Amanda left the room to attend to Amelia’s parents. “Hello there, is it Mr and Mrs Rose? Hi there my name is Amanda. I am the nurse who will be completing Amelia’s admission once the doctor arrives”, Amanda informed Amelia’s family.

“What has happened? Is she okay? We know nothing we just got a call saying she was being transferred here!” Melanie inquired ferociously.

“If you’d like to step into this office here with me and I will give you a quick summary now of what has happened so far. I don’t think it is beneficial to discuss this in front of Amelia right now and she has given me her consent to speak to you”, Amanda said, in a very professional manner.

“Go on...” Melanie said.

“I understand that Amelia had been missing from home for several days. Last night she reported to have possibly been sexually assaulted and the police forensic team have yet to take samples and statements from her but she has not been fit to do so yet. She was found threatening to jump off a bridge a few miles away from here and was talked down by police negotiators. She was arrested on a section 136 which is what the police use to detain members of the public who pose a risk to themselves in public and move them to a safe place such as a hospital or police station. While she was in the emergency department, she managed to commandeer a needle and self harm with it in the toilets and needed to be restrained. She has been medicated as she has been severely agitated and has claimed to be hearing voices. She seems calm now, a little down but much calmer than has been reported”, Amanda told Amelia’s family.

“When can we see her? She must be scared and frightened?” Catherine inquired.

“I have just seen the doctor arrive, we will want to assess Amelia and then speak to you guys separately, then as a family to talk about the treatment plan, so approximately half an hour or so? I will get Rachel to offer you something to drink and something to eat.” Amanda said. Larry sighed.
“I suppose so then, and we can stay here until then, right?” Amanda nodded her head and then left the room.