Page 74 of Shadows of Recovery

Matt, writing his notes nearby, heard the station cardiac monitor wail and the banging. He ran to Sophie’s door. Finding it locked, he screamed, “I need a key! Who locked the door?”

Renee ran from the desk with a large key ring and unlocked it quickly. Matt burst in. Sophie was sitting on the floor beneath the broken window, naked, her cut hair billowing with the breeze coming in through the shattered glass. Blood spattered the walls, covered her arms and pooled beneath her thighs. She was rocking back and forth, a piece of broken glass clutched in her bleeding hand. Her eyes were dull, distant, and she seemed to have no awareness of her surroundings.

“Oh my God, Sophie!” Matt cried out. He depressed the panic alarm on his phone, alerting the entire staff on duty. He crouched down, approaching her slowly. “Sophie, it’s Matt. Can you hear me? Please, put down the glass.”

Sophie’s rocking intensified, and she pressed the shard harder against her skin, cutting deeper. “I’m ugly. I won’t be the pretty lady doctor again. No one will hurt the ugly doctor. No one will want me,” she muttered, her voice monotone, repeating the words like a broken record.

Matt’s own panic began to build at her words, but he knew he needed to stay calm. A cut to an artery could kill her. She’d already lost too much blood. “Sophie, please let me help you. Put down the glass.”

She didn’t seem to hear him, her focus entirely on the glass and the pain she was inflicting on herself. Matt had to act quickly. He couldn’t risk her injuring herself further. The door burst open behind him, and several nurses rushed in, followed closely by Dr. Chris Skylar.

“Matt?” Chris took in the scene with wide eyes.

“She’s cutting herself, Chris. She won’t stop,” Matt replied, his voice strained. “I can’t get her to drop the glass. We need to sedate her.”

Chris nodded. “Sophie, we’re here to help you. Please, drop the glass,” he said, his voice calm but firm. When she didn’t respond, he turned to Janine. “Get haloperidol plus promethazine ready. We can’t try to get her to drop the glass any longer.”

Janine left the room to prepare the sedative.

“Matt, call Tristan. He needs to know what’s happening. She bleeds much more, we may not get her back.”

Matt fumbled with his phone, his palms damp. He dialed Tristan’s number, praying he would answer quickly. He picked up on the second ring.

“Matt? What’s going on?” Tristan’s voice was filled with concern.

“Tristan, it’s Sophie. She’s... she’s hurt herself. She broke the window, and she’s cutting herself with the glass. She’s bleeding heavily, and we’re about to sedate her,” Matt said, his voice breaking.

Tristan's voice turned sharp and urgent. “I’ll get there as soon as I’m relieved. Where’s Chris? He should be there.”

Responding to the panic alarm, his surgery canceled, James entered the room, slipping on a slick of Sophie's blood. “Sweet Jesus,” he cried. “Who did this?”

“It’s self-inflicted,” Matt answered James before responding to Tristan. “Chris is here. Sam is here, and James just got here.”

Chris took the phone from Matt. “Tristan, this is Chris. We’re going to sedate her and suture her wounds. She’s in a lot of distress. It’s the break we were worried about.”

“Do what you need to do to keep her safe,” Tristan replied, his voice tight with emotion. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He sucked in a deep breath. “What the hell happened?”

Chris handed the phone back to Matt and turned to Janine, taking the syringe with the sedative from her. Matt took a deep breath, trying to steady himself as he relayed what little he knew to Tristan.

“It all happened so fast. She seemed okay one minute, and then she just... snapped. She broke the window and started cutting herself before anyone could stop her.”

Tristan's voice softened slightly, though the worry was still evident. “Okay, Matt. Stay with her. Make sure she knows she’s not alone. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Matt nodded, even though Tristan couldn’t see him. “We’re here with her. We won’t leave her side.”

Chris, now kneeling beside Sophie, gently injected the sedative into her arm. Her frantic movements began to slow, but her eyes were still filled with pain and fear.

“Shh, Sophie, it's okay. We're here. You’re safe,” Chris murmured soothingly.

James grabbed gauze from the crash cart to apply pressure to some of the heavier bleeds. “We need to get these wounds closed before she loses much more blood.”

Sophie’s eyes fluttered as the sedative took effect. She looked at Matt, tears streaming down her face. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Matt grabbed a pair of gloves, readying to catch her as the sedative took effect. “It’s okay, Sophie. We’re going to take care of you. Just hold on.”

Matt lifted Sophie onto the stretcher that a nurse had wheeled into the room. He gently covered her naked body with a blanket. James immediately began to wrap gauze around her forearms and thighs. “Damn it, these are all jagged cuts,” he muttered through gritted teeth.

Sam gulped as he assessed her injuries. “She’s cut her labia,” he said, his voice filled with horror.

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