I Myself Am Strange and Unusual

"Go away!" She yelled, pushing me off her.

"What happened?" I repeated, wrapping my arms around her.

"Go away!" She yelled louder, squirming as hard as she could to get out of my grip.

"No I won't. What the hell happened?"

Audrey looked up at me with tears and mascara streaming down her face. I don't think I've ever seen her so broken. I saw red in the corner of my eye and I looked down. I finally realized that her entire arm had blood streaming down it, along with mine now. I looked back up in to her eyes and she looked away ashamed.

Without speaking, I picked her up and carried her to the bath tub. I sat her on the toilet and ran the water. I turned around to her and picked her up, placing her with her clothes on in the warm tub. She looked sick, sad and so very lost.

Once the tub was almost filled, I stopped the water and reached over to Audrey, carefully undressing her. The water tinged to a pink color as the blood seeped up from her arm and diffused throughout the water. I reached over to grab her arm in the water and she flinched, pulling it away. She still refused to look at me.

I frowned and pulled off my clothes next, slipping in the water beside her. Audrey finally looked at me, confused. "Why are you joining me?" She whispered.

"We're in this together. Now let me see."

Cautiously, she raised her arms out of the water. I looked down at them, moving her arm around to get a better view. "Not too bad," I nodded. "Yeh did a numbah on yehself, but it definitely could have been a lot worse."

"You're not going to ask why?" She mumbled.

I shook my head and pulled her close to me. We laid down in the tub letting the warm water soak into us and keep us heated.

"Why?"

I kissed her forehead, mimicking her words back in the hospital a few weeks before. "Yeh'll tell me when yeh readeh."

She looked up shocked. "What made me deserve you?"

"What made me deserve you?"

Audrey smiled lightly before leaning in and kissing my lips gently. "Am I still allowed to kiss you?"

"Am I still allowed to hold you?"

She nodded, leaning on my chest again. "Seriously though, what made me deserve you?"

"Seriously though, what made me deserve yeh?"

"Stop mimicking me," she smiled.

I grinned. "Hah, got yeh to smile a real smile."

"Suppose so," she sighed.

"Ice cream?"

She nodded and I chuckled, stepping out of the tub. I wrapped a towel around my waist before leaning over and picking her up like a small child. I wrapped a towel rightly around her body and handed her an extra for her hair. I then reached into the cabinet and pulled out wraps for her arm.

"Doctor Malia?" She questioned, smiling.

I shook my head, applying the wrap. "Nurse Malia."

"Oh, of course."

I finished wrapping her arms up and enlaced my hand with hers, heading straight for the kitchen. I fixed us both a bowl of ice cream and sat on the counter next to her as we ate silently.

"You know, most people would have freaked or yelled or cried or questioned, but no. Not you. You stayed silent, calmed me down and fixed me up without asking a single question."

I smiled and leaned over, kissing her lightly. "My first priority is yeh mind. I worry about yeh thoughts more than yeh body. Yeh thoughts can kill yeh quicker."

She nodded, licking her spoon. "Thoughts can be a dangerous thing."

"Aye," I nodded, thinking back to the mental state I was in before I drove off the cliff. The funny thing about depression is that it hits you quickly. Yyou always feel sad and depressed, but not all of the time is it in the front of your mind demanding attention. As soon as it hits you, it's like the thousands of pounds that you were already carrying come hitting you, like a volcano containing lava when it finally erupts. Then, after it explodes, the only thing you can really do to fix it is pay attention to the little things. Your mind develops a shield to all those yelling and panicking and that only makes you more frightened. What catches your mind off guard is when someone you care about is remaining calm and carefully going about the situation. It distracts you and makes you wonder. It calms the volcano.

"So," she began, "can we get dressed and sleep?"

I nodded, taking the dished and putting them in the sink. The only way to go about the situation is waiting until that person is ready to talk, until then, pay attention to the little things.