An Act Excerpt

I made a beeline for the exit; as soon as I turned the hallway, I felt someone grab my wrist.

At the exact same moment, I bumped into someone else.

I looked up and gazed into those dark green eyes.

The nurse behind me said, “I’m sorry, she must have gone temporarily insane. She was running, and I had to stop her.”

“She’s not insane!” Josh cut her off, sharply.

 The nurse looked frightened at the sharpness in his voice, she left as the doctor arrived asking, “Is there a problem here.”

“Not at all, I was guiding her to her room.”  

 The doctor nodded and left.

 Josh put his arm around my waist and guided me back to my room. Exhaustion overtook my senses as I leaned into him.   

 When we got back to my room, I sat on the edge of the hospital bed refusing to sleep.

 Josh crouched down low next to me and asked, “What happened?”

 I refused to look at him; I couldn’t tell him what happened. The nurse thought I was insane, he would think the same thing once he realized what happened, so I just avoided his gaze.

“Talk to me.” He pleaded.

I looked up at him surprised at the gentleness in his voice.

“I suffer with depression, or at least that’s what they tell me I have. I haven’t taken my medication since I was in the accident.” I looked down, “I’ve been having severe depression, and I keep on breaking down. When I texted you, I was thinking about...” I paused, “If you hadn’t arrived, I would have run out the hospital, and who knows what might have happened.” I whispered.

 He didn’t say anything, just startled me when he stood up and hugged me.

Tensing, my mind didn’t know how to process his comforting gesture. After a moment, I hugged him back…not hugged him, clung to him.

I felt the tears all over again, and soon enough, I was crying, trying to escape from my internal hell.

I cried until my eyes produced no more tears, and he just held me while I cried.

I hadn’t felt like this in a long time, I had never had a hug like this before, and it caused more internal ache in my chest.

I just hoped that maybe, after this, something would change.

Joshua

 He held her as she cried, not sure what else to do.

 He just knew that his sister had been right, she was suffering more than what he had thought.

As he held her, he felt his chest well up with ache for her. It was unfamiliar to him, but he felt like he was sharing a little bit of what she was feeling. He wasn’t sure how hugging her would change them, but he wasn’t sure anymore if he wanted their distance to remain the same.

  He gently rubbed her back as he felt her shoulders shake with her sobs.

After what felt like a long time, he felt her slowly let go.

She looked up at him as if asking him what they were going to do next. Her blue eyes were watery and tear tracks stained her cheeks.

As a tear slipped down her cheek, she quickly wiped at it. 

“I’m sorry.” She whispered.

“About what?”

“That you have to see me like this and realize how broken I am.”

“You have nothing to apologize for; we all have a breaking point. It doesn’t make you crazy or weird, it just makes you you.”

“But I thought that you would always think that…that…” She trailed off and looked down at her feet.

“That what?”

 She shook her head, “Never mind.”

 He felt frustration well up in him and struggled to keep it down. She never wanted to talk about what was bothering, and he was lucky that she was opening to him just a bit.

He wanted to force her to say what she had been thinking, but it wouldn’t be right. Especially when she was going through something as severe as depression. He would let her go at her own pace. 

“It’s four in the morning, you must be tired.” She told him.

“I’m fine, but I bet you need to rest.”

 She nodded and settled herself onto the bed.

 In a few minutes, she was sound asleep.

 He took her hand and held it, not knowing if it would make her feel safer. He sat down in the chair, and soon enough, he also fell asleep.