Home is not a house

Chapter 44

Tw for this chapter: Hospitals, abuse, suicide?

Tommy wasn't dead, but it sure felt like it.

He was sat in a chair, staring down at his socks. More than anything he wanted to go to bed, but he couldn't.

"Do you know anyones phone number?" Someone asked him softly but he shook his head. He did know Puffy's but he felt like he couldn't speak. Like cotton was in his mouth and throat. "Okay. Just sit here then."

Where was he gonna go? Someone was sitting just outside the door making sure he didn't run. He didn't have other options right now.

He sat in silence, and his head felt so heavy. He missed his bed, he missed Henry, he missed Storm and he missed the feeling of safety.

He didn't get that now. At least not for the mandatory 96 hours he was about to spend here. He over heard the nurse tell the police officer that.

"All teens brought in by law enforcement are required to stay for 72 hours, but since it's not the start day yet, this time doesn't count. So he'll be here for 96 at least." The nurse explained.

"The call I got was weird. The person said that a teenage boy was stood next to a bridge sobbing on the phone. When I got there he was sat on the ground, phone smashed next to him." The officer said and the nurse hummed.

"We don't always know what brings people to different points." She said.

"Yeah I guess so. He didn't give me any phone numbers and no last name. All I know is his name is Tommy." The officer says and the nurse hums again.

"Alright well thank you."

So now he was sitting here.

When he got here he had thrown up basically his body weight as his body tried to get ride of all the vodka, but his brain still wasn't making 100% sense. That's maybe why he couldn't speak, or why he wasn't calling people.

He didn't want to call Puffy, and he couldn't call the others. He knew they knew that he was gone, and he knew they didn't know where he was. But this is where he was now.

He didn't even tell the officer much, if he could he would have said he wasn't going to kill himself, he was just upset. But he didn't, so the officer took him to the hospital. They checked him for injuries and now he was going to the mental ward for 96 hours.

They had searched him, and gave him new clothes to change into. They took his phone, the only item other than his clothes that they had on him, and he was instructed to wait in this room. A nurse sat on a chair outside the door to keep watch on him if he tried to leave.

"Okay, Tommy, let's go to the floor now okay? We're going to be putting you in the young adult ward alright? The people there are 15-25. Right now it's mostly empty, there's only 3 other patients." A nurse spoke as she entered the room. Tommy nodded and stood up, wishing he had a sweater to put over the thin shirt they gave him.

Tommy followed the nurse to the elevator, and up a few floors. She lead him down a few hallways and opened up a few doors with a key card.

Opening up the first thing that Tommy noticed was a group of people sitting in what seemed to be like a living room. Each curled up with a blanket and looking tired. There three people and then there was two nurses.

Glancing at the clock on the wall Tommy noticed it was 7am, he got here about three hours ago. He looked back down at the three people sitting down and locked eyes with one of them.

He recognized them immediately.

"Tommy?" Schlatt asked, standing up and dropping the blanket from off of him. Tommy stared at Schlatt walked over to him, looking him up and down. "The fuck you doing here?"