Page 11 of The Gift Of Life

My heart races at the thought of what the next two weeks will bring me.

Chapter 6

Drew

“What do you mean we can’t see her?” I bark at the doctor. “We're her family. She needs us more than ever. We can help.”

The doctor ushers me and Harper's parents into a side room. I don’t know if he thinks this will stop me from causing a scene, but I am not leaving here without seeing my wife.

“I know this is hard. In these situations, the family always draws the short straw. You’re on the outside. You feel like you’ve failed your loved one. That is all normal...”

“None of this is normal,” I snap.

“Harper doesn’t want to see anyone. However, that aside, we advise families to give us these two weeks to carry out our evaluation. To allow us to start any medication and therapies and see where we can go from here.”

“So, we can’t see our daughter for two weeks?” sobs Harper's mum.

“Two weeks is what we have in place, but it depends if Harper wants to see anyone at the end of that two weeks. We can’t force her to see anyone.”

“This is bullshit. My wife is here because she felt like she had no other way out. Surely, being stuck in here will only be detrimental for her.”

“She isn’t a prisoner, Drew. We have common rooms here. We have gardens, and different rooms for arts and crafts, puzzles and games. She is not alone. Please, you must trust us. We know what we’re doing.”

“And do you believe she’ll want to see us at the end of the two weeks?” asks Harper’s dad.

“In my experience, I very rarely come across a patient who doesn’t want to see their family at the end of the two weeks. We will work closely with Harper, and our aim is to get her to a place where she will be safe to come home. Right now, the outside world isn’t safe for her. She did this once, and she could do it again.”

The thought of Harper trying this again and succeeding makes my blood run cold. I cannot lose her.

“Can we call? Speak to her on the phone?”

“If she wants to speak to you, we have phones. You can call me or the nurses for daily updates. I’d prefer to give a weekly update because sometimes daily updates don’t give a good picture and you’ll feel like we’re getting nowhere.”

“It feels like we’ve already lost her,” I say and turn to look out the window.

“She'll come back to us, son. We just need to be patient.”

“Once we’ve done the initial assessment, we can do family sessions to help you all get through this because it isn’t just affecting Harper. It’s affecting you all equally.”

I remain looking out the window. Tears fall down my cheeks and I let them. There’s no point trying to be strong now because no one is going to be around to see me fall apart.

“Just bring our little girl home to us, Doctor.”

“I’ll do my best.”

And I guess that’s all anyone can ask right now. We could be facing a completely different scenario if Harper had succeeded in taking her own life. I may not be able to see her, but she’s alive. She’s still with us. I will get to see her again. That is a promise I will keep.

Chapter 7

Two weeks later

Drew

Two weeks without Harper has been horrendous. Every day, I sent her a text message to let her know how much I love and miss her. I know she doesn’t have her mobile phone with her right now, but when she is well enough to have it, then she will see that I haven’t forgotten about her. She is the first thing I think of every morning. The cold side of her bed sends ice through my veins, and she’s the last thing I think of when I close my eyes at night, if I can shut off enough to sleep. The whole situation from losing our daughter to now has been horrific. I feel like I'm living through a nightmare that I can’t wake up from, only this is my reality. I must have been a bad bastard in a past life to be suffering like this now.

The doorbell ringing makes me climb out of bed. I could quite gladly just lie here and wallow in self-pity, but my family and friends won’t allow me to sink to the bottom of the sea.

I throw open the door and my mum and brother are standing there. My mum has a tray of coffee cups, and my brother has what I presume is a box of food. They’ve come bearing gifts. I must admit, if it wasn’t for my mum and Derren, then I would have dehydrated or starved to death because I am in no mood for cooking and looking after myself.

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