Hospital Help Group

[JustAnotherSomebody]

Two boys both wind up in the same hospital therapy group as they spend their time in the hospital trying to recover from what put them there. One is there with no choice, weighed down by a terminal illness. The other tried to commit suicide to escape their life. How will their relationship affect them as they struggle to get better?


(A reserved roleplay)

 

[JustAnotherSomebody]

Hayden

Hayden lay in his hospital bed, watching reruns of last year's the bachelor. It was only his second day there in hospital, after waking up and though his vitals were fine, the hospital had requested that he stay there longer to go through therapy and other such recover. Hayden would have normally protested, but he didn't feel up for fighting anything anymore, so he had agreed. He wondered what his parents were doing at that moment, and if they had heard about what had happened. His next thought was if they even cared.

"Who knew the bachelor could be so depressing," He said to himself out loud. He had gotten into the habit of commenting on things when he was by himself, and so far he was the only one claiming the room. He hoped it would stay that way. He'd hate to have to explain why he was in the hospital to someone, especially if it was someone not here by choice. Hayden had made the decision to put himself in the hospital, but most everyone else here didn't. Most wished they could just go home. Hayden started feeling guilty all of a sudden and he decided that was enough tv for today. He snapped the tv off and decided to read a book while he waited for the doctor to visit him again.

The doctors were what he hated the most about this place. They were always asking questions about him and his life and what his childhood was like. They were also trying to get him onto an anti depressant to see if that better improved his mental state, as the doctors had put it. Hayden knew they were just doing their jobs, but he wished everyone would just leave him alone. He pushed the sleeves of his jacket down lower on his wrists to cover the bandages that were wrapped around them, then grabbed one of the books he had asked the doctors to bring him, and started reading.​

 

[Run Rabbit Run]

Dominic

​

Dom wondered if there was a limit to how many times a person could say 'I'm fine' before they snapped and went mad. Doctors tell you that they have to keep you in for further testing: I'm fine. Doctors say you may have some variant - whatever that meant- classified as akinetic-rigid, which means instead of twenty years, you've probably got ten at most: I'm fine. Doctors tell you you're going into shock: I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine.


There wasn't much he could do to escape it, however. His parents were insisting he follow the doctors' advice and spend a few weeks in hospital, and the last thing he wanted to do was upset them further. They'd already just learned that they were going to outlive their only living child. He didn't need to add rebellious run away to their list of problems.


Gritting his teeth, he looked himself over in the mirror and fastened the top of his hospital gown. It was far from flattering, and only made him feel more exposed with his forearms and legs bare from the knees down. Apparently, he was in for a day of MRIs, CTs, PET scans, so he'd just have to deal with it. He could do that. One step at a time.


Wiping at his face in case he'd done something stupid like cry, he ran a hand back through his hair and then slipped out of the bathroom. He padded down the corridor, counting off the wards until he found the room he'd been assigned to. The nurse had warned him he'd have company - a nice boy about your age, she'd said with well-meaning optimism- so he paused for a second outside the door. No looking like a sourpuss, he mentally ordered himself, and managed within a second or two to plaster on a lopsided grin, all dumb dimples and easy friendliness.


Knocking, he entered. A dark haired boy with an impressively spiky hairstyle was sat over on one of the beds, a book in his lap. At least the nurse hadn't been lying about the age thing. Dom figured this hellish stay could at least be made bearable if he had a mate to get through it with, and no one from school or uni had a clue about what was going on with him yet. The seventeen voice messages on his phone all wanted to know why he'd vanished, but that seemed like a whole other world, out there.


"Hey," Dom said, looking the guy over. He liked trying to guess what people were in for by their appearance, but with this guy he didn't have a clue. He looked a bit pale, but that was about it. No convient hair loss to point to cancer. Nada. Dom assume the guy was terminal, and that the hospital stuck people together with some kind of logical order. "I'm Dom," he said as way of introduction, going over to the bed he'd been assigned next to the guy and dumping his rucksack atop the sheets. "You?"

 

[JustAnotherSomebody]

Hayden


Hayden kept on reading, trying to ignore the beeping of the machines, and even scarier, the occasional flat line and the rush of activity that accompanied it. After a few minutes, he discovered he could almost forget where he was. Books had always allowed him to do that and that's why he loved them. He became so invested in what he was doing, what he was reading, that he was transported somewhere else.


The world he was currently living in was a classic. The first Harry potter book. He had read all the books who knows how many times, and though he didn't care much for the movies, he had seen all of them, and owned all eight. Whenever things with his father had gotten really bad, he had turned towards the series for comfort, so there was no reason he wouldn't read them now.


His blissful was soon broken. A nurse came in accompanied by a doctor. 'Dr.Miller,' Hayden thought to himself, reading the name tag on the man's pristine coat. It was so white it was almost blinding, and it gave Hayden the tiniest of headaches. He scowled, annoyed with the sudden intrusion, and turned his attention to the doctor to find out what they wanted and get them out as soon as he could.


The doctor sat down on a chair and asked him questions, the same ones as the day before. 'How are you feeling, do you feel okay, how are the pills working? Any side effects?' It was so boring, and it brought Hayden abruptly back from the brief happiness he had been feeling from being alone with his book. Hayden rolled his eyes and interrupted the doctor, saying, "Didn't I have to tell you guys all this yesterday? Why do you need to ask again today?" The doctor looked a bit taken back, but he shared a knowing look with the nurse and told Hayden he didn't have to talk if he didn't want to, which for some reason irked him even more.


The doctor stood and turned towards the door, trailed by the blonde and way too perky nurse. Before they left, the doctor turned and informed Hayden that he would be getting a room mate. "Someone your age," He said cheerily, trying to get Hayden to leech of his happy energy. Hayden shrugged and went back to reading his book, but he wasn't really reading. Really, he was just using the book as an excuse to end the conversation with the doctor.


Hayden had just begun to wonder what his room mate would be like when a boy his age walked in with a grin plastered on his face. Immediately, Hayden disliked him. 'Who could be that happy in a hospital?' He thought to himself as he examined the boy. 'Although maybe he's faking it,' He mused. He was so busy thinking, he almost didn't hear the boy talk, but he was able to snap out of it and answer his question. "Hayden," He answered, his gaze returning to his book. The boy was dressed in a hospital gown and Hayden once again felt glad the hospital had allowed to dress in his own clothes during his stay. He subconsciously pulled his sleeves lower down on his wrists and resumed reading.

 

[Run Rabbit Run]

Dominic

​

Huh. So the guy wasn't much of a conversationalist. That didn't bother Dom all that much, since he had a tendency to be able to just talk, even when people had long started wishing he'd shut up. Besides, he was probably dealing with shit: this was a hospital after all. "Nice to meet you," he said perfectly cheerfully, unzipping his rucksack. He had way too much shit to unpack, especially after his mum had become involved in the process. He glanced briefly up at his fellow roommate as he pulled the stuffed dog he'd had since he was two out, and gave it prime seating on the bed. If someone asked, he could always say it was in case his mother dropped by. Definitely had nooothing to do with the fact that he couldn't sleep without it despite being a grown-ass man. No sir.


The rest of his stuff was mostly clothes he couldn't wear for all his scans, so he set them under the bed. Lastly he had the pamphlet thing the doctor had given him. It was advertising some youth/young-adult communal support group. It wasn't really disease or disorder specific, just some 'I'm dealing with shit and need support' gathering.


Sitting up cross-legged next to his rucksack, he leafed through it again. It seemed pretty depressing, being surrounded by people who'd being given a shit lot too early in life, but at the same time... He figured it might be reassuring to have some other people like him to talk about it with. Or at least hang out with whilst here.


Looking up at Hayden, he considered for a moment before smiling lopsidedly and holding up the leaflet. "You going to this?" He asked, then figured he might not be able to see what the hell he was talking about across the distance and so walked over and offered him the leaflet, leaning against the corner of his bed. "I can't tell if it's a dumb cliche that's going to make us talk about our feelings and visualise healing energy and all that shite, or you know, actually help." His previous experiences with psychological therapy would indicate it'd be the first but... maybe the group could at least serve as an ice-breaker with his quiet roommate.

 

[JustAnotherSomebody]

Hayden


Hayden was glad he wasn't being pressed to make awkward small talk. But he hated silences. He always had. For as long as he could remember, if he was alone doing homework or chores, or even trying to fall asleep, he always had to have something on in the background. He didn't care what, just as long as it filled the space with noise that he could mindlessly listen to. He would never admit it to anyone, but because of his this habit, he'd developed a guilty pleasure sort of love for a bunch of different reality tv shows. The maury show and say yes to the dress are two that come to mind. For awhile, the hospital noises had been enough to placate his need for white noise, but now with another person in the room, it didn't feel like enough anymore. So Hayden grabbed the tv remote, flipped to a random channel, then went back to reading.


He glanced up periodically as his room mate, Dom, started to unpack. He noticed that Dom had a lot of clothes in his rucksack. 'So he's probably staying here awhile,' Hayden mused, thinking about his own bag full of clothes he had stashed around somewhere. He noticed the stuffed dog and chuckled inwardly. He figured it was a favored childhood toy or something like that. Hayden had his own version of that, a stuffed pink octopus he had won from one of those claw machines when he was six.


Hayden looked up at the clock and grimaced as it ticked on. In just a few hours, he would be in a room, surrounded by strangers, listening to them all talk about their lives and their struggles. His doctor thought the support group would be helpful and was requiring Hayden to go.


Hayden was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his room mate speak up. He was holding a pamphlet or something, but Hayden couldn't quite see what it was. Just as he was about to get up to get a better look, Dom stood and walked to his bed instead. As Hayden studied the pamphlet, he realized it was advertising the support group he was being forced to go to. He laughed softly at Dom's comment. "It's definitely gonna suck," Hayden responded, taking the pamphlet from Dom's hand and leafing through it. "But my doctor is making me go," he said, shriveling his nose in distaste.