Chapter 14

Two weeks later, Joey was sitting at the kitchen table staring at a 3 day old pizza slice and her razor. She was an awful mess. Her long brown hair that she kept neat, strans of hair was came out of the braid. Her arms were a mess and she was pale. Just recently, Joey started cutting her stomach area.

'I cant go on like this forever.' she thought to herself, taking a sip of beer.

She rolled up her sleeves and looked for a place that didnt have any cuts. There was a space just below the elbow. She picked up the blade, pressed it deeply into her skin and pulled the blade across. It started to bleed-a lot. She dropped the blade on the table and went to the sink. Joey turned on the water and let the cold water run over her cut. There was a knock at the door.

'Shit...who could that be?' she thought but she knew who it was.

"Joey, open the door!" Heero yelled. "I know your in there, and if you don't open the door, I'll break down the door!"

Joey turned off the water and rolled down her sleeve. 'Good thing I'm wearing black.' she thought to herself. Her cut was still bleeding as she walked into the livingroom and to the door.

"Go away!"

"Joe...we just want to talk to you." Duo said.

'Oh...great. Duo's here too. Who else is here?' Joey thought to herself as she opened the door as far as the chain allowed her to.

"I don't want to talk to you...or anyone. Now go away!" Joey tried to shut the door, but Heero was too quick for her. He put his weight hard against the door, so the chain on the door snapped. He, Duo and Sally walked into the apartment.

'Great! Sally's here too.' Joey thought. "Get out of here. Go and leave me alone!" Joey yelled pushing Heero out the door. He grabbed her arms and she shrieked out in pain.

Sally went to look in the bedroom and Duo followed. Heero dragged Joey into the livingroom. She pulled her arm away from him and went to go into the kitchen, but Heero grabbed her arm again.

"Ow Heero! Your hurting me." Joey said trying to pry his fingers off her arms. He led her to the kitchen and made her sit down at the table and started pacing the room. Heero didn't noticed the razor blade on the table and Joey was grateful for that, so she put some old newspaper to cover it.

Sally came into the kitchen and stared a Joey for a minuet, then went and whispered something into Heero's ear. Joey noticed that Heero kept looking at her. He nodded, and followed Sally out of the kitchen. A minuet or two later, Heero came back into the kitchen. He walked over to Joey and grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing?" Joey yelled at Heero, but he wasn't listening. He was trying to roll up her sleeves.

"Stop Heero." Joey tried to pull her arm away, but he held it to tightly.

Heero finished rolling up her sleeve, and when he did he stared. He called Sally and she came in the kitchen holding a bag of 5 razors.

"Hey...thats mine!" Joey shouted, but no one was listening. She jumped up and tried to grab them but Sally put them in her bag and told Heero to hold on to her. Sally reached into her bag and pulled out a needle. Joey eyed the needle.

"Your not gonna stick that in me!" she yelled.

"Its to calm you down and to make you sleep. Heero, hold her tightly." Sally said.

"I don't want to be calm...and I don't want to sleep. I WANT my razors!" Joey yelled trying to get up, but Heero had a good grip on her. Duo walked in to the kitchen and Joey pleaded with him to help her. Joey noticed that Duo had been crying ash she stared at Duo while Sally stuck the needle in her arm.

"There. That wasn't so bad." Sally said. "We should get going. Heero and Duo nodded.

"I...don't want...to go...." Joey muttered. She was starting to feel the effects of the drugs. She stood and walked but couldnt walk too far before she slumped to the floor. She pulled her knees up and started rocking back and forth with her head in between her knees.

"Duo, could you please go and get your sisters things? Heero and I will take her out to the car ok?" Duo nodded and went to the bedroom.

Heero walked over to Joey and picked her up. He noticed that she had been crying. She put her head on his chest and closed her eyes. Heero followed Sally out to the car and put her in the back and crawled in beside her. Sally got into the drivers seat and started the car. Two minuets later, Duo came out with Joeys suitcase and climbed into the front passanger seat.

"I found one more blade." he said giving the dried, bloody razor to Sally. "It was under the paper on the kitchen table."

"It looks like it has been recently used." said Sally.

"She has a deep cut just below the elbow." Heero said quietly so he wouldnt wake Joey up. They didn't speak until they got to the station.

Sally bought four tickets for the shuttle, while Heero carried in Joey and Duo followed. The man at the desk wasnt going to allow Joey on the shuttle because she was 'unconscious', but Sally explained the situation to the man at the desk (without giving too much detail) and he let them on. They got on the shuttle and Heero put Joey beside the window, then sat next to her. Sally and Duo sat across from Joey and Heero.

The shuttle started moving. They sat there in silence as Joey slept. An hour later Joey opened her eyes. She looked at them all but didnt say anything. She pulled her knees up to her and looked out the window. She felt like she needed to cut, but she didn't have her blades and she couldnt do under the watchful eyes of Sally, Duo, and Heero.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Joey said and she got up to leave but Sally grabbed her arm.

"You've got five minuets and if your not back I'll be in there." Joey nodded and walked to the bathroom.

When she got there, she locked the door and leaned against it. Her whole body was crawling with the need to cut. She sat down on the toilet and started scratching her arms. It felt so good. She scratched and scratched until there was a lot of blood and she felt better. There was a knock at the door.

"What?" said Joey.

"Are you ok?" asked Duo.

"Yeah...Im fine. I'm just going to splash my face with some water and I'll be out." Joey replied.

"Ok." said Duo and Joey heard him leave.

Joey got up off the toilet and went over to the sink. She turned on the water and stuck her arms under and watched the blood run down the drain. When the blood was off, she left the bathroom and walked back to where Sally, Heero and Duo were sitting. She was still feeling very tired. When she sat down again, she put her head against the window. The sound of the shuttle bobbing along made her fall asleep once more.