Chrissy stared at Monica with her mouth open, stuttering to get words out, but nothing would come. She never once expected she'd be caught in the act, and didn't really know how to react.
Monica was shocked too. Even though she was aware of Chrissy's cutting, she was not prepared to catch Chrissy actually cutting herself. She remembered quickly that she was an angel sent by God to help Chrissy, so Monica walked into the bedroom further. Chrissy stood up, her hand still covering her wrist, tears beginning to fill her eyes.
"M-Monica, I-I…" Chrissy choked on her words, but Monica put her arm around her.
"It's okay. Let me help you." She said, and she led Chrissy to the upstairs bathroom.
Chrissy found herself sitting on the bathroom counter, tears streaming down her face, as Monica rustled around the washroom. Chrissy still had her hand covering her wrist, but the blood was leaking past her hand. She felt overwhelmingly tired all of a sudden, and she began twitching from the pain on her wrist.
Monica returned to Chrissy with a bottle of peroxide and gauze bandages.
"Let me see." Monica said quietly as she looked down at Chrissy's covered wrist. Chrissy didn't move, she only stared at Monica. Monica smiled a little.
"There's no point in hiding it anymore Chrissy. I know, and I'm not angry. I just want to help, so let me see." She said calmly. Chrissy sniffled as she looked into Monica's sincere brown eyes. She felt she could trust her, and she felt she could let herself go. She felt so tired, and so weak, she didn't care anymore. So slowly took her hand away from her cut, revealing a long, fresh scar across previous scars, blood everywhere. Monica took Chrissy's sleeve and pulled it up further and to her surprise, Chrissy didn't budge. She only closed her eyes, ashamed. Monica saw what she had seen on the bus the first time she'd seen Chrissy, scars of every shape and size covering her pure skin. Yet there were new scars now, put there since. Monica poured some peroxide onto a Kleenex and held Chrissy's hand in her own. She carefully dabbed the Kleenex on Chrissy's wrist, and Chrissy cringed with pain.
"I know it hurts, I'm sorry, but we need to clean it. Don't you ever clean your cuts?" Monica asked. Chrissy sighed, and shook her head, as she breathed heavily, not enjoying the pain from the peroxide very much.
"You really should, or they could become infected." Monica explained.
"I don't care if they get infected." Chrissy replied, rather quickly. Monica took the gauze and wrapped it around Chrissy's wrist, taping it closed. She pulled Chrissy's sleeve down and sighed, looking into Chrissy's eyes. Chrissy wouldn't look at her. She was too ashamed. She didn't know what to say, or what to do now that Monica knew.
"I just want you to know, I don't think of you any differently than I did before. You're still my friend, and I still think you're a pretty cool girl." Monica said, with a smile on her face. Chrissy looked at Monica, as her eyes began to feel heavy. She managed to smile.
"Y-you're not going to tell my mom, are you? Or anyone else?" She asked cautiously, fearing the worst.
"No, I won't. But I wish you would talk to me. I'm a good listener, you know. You can talk to me, if you ever want to talk about why you cut your arms like this." Monica replied. Chrissy looked away, ashamed. She held her tears back, and sighed.
"I-I don't know why I do it, okay? I-I just do. I'm sorry you had to see me like that." She said, with a sense of guilt in her voice. Monica took her hand in her own.
"Don't be sorry. I'm glad I saw it. Now you know you aren't alone. So never feel like you are alone, alright?" She asked, as Chrissy stared into the eyes of her friend. She knew she could trust her; there was something about her that made everything feel all right. Chrissy smiled, and nodded slowly.
"Now then, do you still want to play a game of cards?" Monica asked, trying to cheer Chrissy up a little bit. Chrissy nodded and the two went back to Chrissy's bedroom, and began to play a game of Gin Rummy. Chrissy still felt exhausted, and in the middle of the game, as Monica played her turn, Chrissy leaned against her pillow and before Monica could look up from playing her turn, Chrissy had fallen asleep. Monica smiled and gathered the cards and put them on Chrissy's bedside table. She pulled the blankets over Chrissy and watched her for a moment. Thank You Father. Thank You for using me tonight. Please continue to use me, and please protect this young girl from any harm that could come her way. She was thinking about Jessica. She didn't know how much more of Jessica she could stand.
She just prayed that something would happen before it was too late.