She Heads to the Dresser Drawer to Drive Her Pain Away

“Thanks, Ash. Drink all my water, why don't you?” Rylie said and laughed a little.

Ashland took another drink, and then chugged the rest of it. She choked a little, laughing as Rylie's jaw dropped.

“Now, I did drink all it!” Ashland giggled and walked in the hall to get Rylie another water. As she was walking back from the vending machine area, she ran into a tall boy, and fell backwards, landing flat on her back.

“Oh gosh! I'm sorry!” the boy exclaimed, trying to help Ashland get back to her feet.

“It's okay. We all do that at some point,” she said and laughed, then looked into his eyes. He stood about 6'2, with blue eyes. He was wearing a Cobra Starship shirt, along with black skinny jeans, his medium length black and red hair falling over one eye. Ashland immediately thought he was cute.

“I'm Garrett, nice to...run into you,” he said with a chuckle, which Ashland noted was adorable.

“I'm Ashland. So, you come here often?” Ashland said and mentally slapped herself for being so generic. It was a hospital, she would hope he didn't come here often.

“Not really. My grandpa is here to get one of his kidneys removed from cancer, “ Garrett explained and pointed to the place where his kidneys were.

“Oh, that's terrible. I'm sorry to hear that,” Ashland said and hoped he wouldn't ask why she was here.

“So, why is a beautiful girl like you in a hospital like this?” he asked, winking.

“My best friend, she's just down the hall. She tried to commit suicide...” Ashland trailed off, her face darting to her mud stained Converse.

“I'm so sorry to hear about that. Hey, listen, I've got to get back, but maybe you could call me sometime?” Garrett asked, biting his lip, which Ashland now noticed was pierced with a single silver stud.

“Sure!” Ashland answered, trying not to sound eager.

“Here's my number,” Garrett said and pulled a pen out of the pocket of his skinny jeans, writing his number on Ashland's hand and smiling as he walked away. Ashland squealed a little, and walked back into Rylie's room. Rylie looked up and smiled a little.

“Hey Ash,” she said in a raspy voice.

“What's wrong?” Ashland asked, quickly becoming worried.

“Nothing,” Rylie answered simply. Ashland realized she wasn't getting any answers.

“Come on, Ryles, I'm here for you,” Ashland tried again, but Rylie just turned on her side, and closed her eyes. Ashland saw a tear glisten on her cheek. She sighed and sat down in the chair, sinking as low as she could go.

The room was silent for the rest of the night, except for Rylie leaving to go to her counseling. Ashland turned on the T.V when she was gone, but felt lonely without her best friend.

“So, Rylie, care to tell me about yourself a little?” the counselor asked, and Rylie just shook her head no.

“Dear, we can't help you if you don't want to help yourself.”

“That's just it, I don't want to help myself. I don't want help. I didn't want to be saved, either,” Rylie said and sighed angrily.

“I think you have severe depression, Rylie,” the counselor said, and tapped her pen on the clip board.

“Stop tapping! You're driving me nuts!” Rylie yelled after about 5 minutes of tapping.

“You seem irritable. Could you calm down a little?” the counselor asked, her eyes darting from Rylie's hands, to her eyes.

“Calm down? You want me to calm down? How can I calm down when one: I'm about to lose my best friend, and two: I'm being classified as a danger to myself, and others!” Rylie shouted, completely losing it. The counselor scribbled something on a yellow note pad, and nodded, signaling Rylie to go on.

“I'm not saying anything else,” Rylie said sternly.

“You may go back to your room,” the counselor said, making more notes on her pad, and setting it down.

Rylie got up and walked out of the door, furious. That counselor was one of the bitchy ones. She stormed back into her room, plopping down on the bed and shutting her eyes, trying to force the tears away. Ashland looked over, and bit her lip, deciding it'd be best not to say anything to her when she was in this state. Little did Ashland know, that her comforting words were all it took to make Rylie feel completely happy again.