Edelgard found herself eating lunch in the recreation room today. She had only been here for three days but found herself surprisingly at ease in the Black Eagle Ward. The doctors were kind and supportive. They were never in a rush, and seemed to have all the time in the world to devote helping Edelgard with whatever she needed. The other patients were also surprisingly welcoming, never judging her on her issues and openly sharing their own. Well, at least most of them were.
One notable exception was her roommate. She was an overly jumpy and incredibly shy girl who seemed to struggle a lot with the policy of keeping their bedroom door open. The girl was so shy Edelgard hadn't even gotten the chance to ask her name. She would run out of the room crying if Edelgard so much as looked her way. Then she would wait until Edelgard either left or she was certain Edelgard had fallen asleep before she would creep back into their room.
Edelgard didn't like being trapped in the small room with the door shut. Not that the room was particularly small, but it was the idea of confinement that bothered her. It reminded Edelgard too much of a past she would rather forget, a past that had frustratingly put her in the mental hospital to begin with. Her musings were interrupted as a tray clattered down across from hers on the table.
"Hello Edie, good to see you out and about!" rang the cheery voice of the charismatic brunette Dorothea.
"Hello Dorothea." Awkwardly, belatedly, Edelgard added, "Would you like to join me for lunch?"
"Why of course darling, I'd like nothing better." Dorothea smiled sweetly at Edelgard, popping a grape into her mouth.
Dorothea was a bit of an enigma for Edelgard. She was the warmest, most charming and sweetest person in all of the Black Eagles Ward. Her room was tidy and she was outgoing. Most surprisingly, she was happy and stable. Edelgard had never seen her line up outside the pharmacy station to take any drugs. Dorothea was just too normal, it made her stand out from the rest of the patients and seemed so incredibly odd.
"Dorothea," Edelgard began, swallowing around her mac and cheese. "Why are you here?"
"What do you mean? I wanted to eat lunch with you? Weren't you the one who offered." Dorothea seemed genuinely confused, not like she was avoiding the subject.
"No, I mean, why are you in the mental hospital?"
"Oh!" Dorothea laughed lightly. "That. There's no reason to be embarrassed for asking," she added noticing Edelgard's blush. "It's because I'm a lesbian."
Edelgard was floored. Surely that wasn't a medical condition, at least not one accepted by such a forward thinking organization as Garreg Mach Medical Institution. "What...?"
"I know, it's not a scientific diagnosis. My whole situation is a little bit strange," She admitted with an easy smile. "You see, my parents admitted me, once they found out. The doctors say they can't treat 'the gay away' and therefore shouldn't keep me here, but my parents insist I stay until I'm 'better.'"
"Can they really do that?" Edelgard asked, a little overwhelmed by the unfairness of the situation.
"Oh, not for much longer," Dorothea said, still smiling. "The moment I turn 18 I can sign my own discharge papers and I'll be free to go. Although," Doroathea leaned in, whispering conspiratorially, "I heard my parents had to threaten to sue the hospital to keep me in here." She said it like a school girl whispering about who had gotten caught sneaking around behind the portables when they were supposed to be in class.
Edelgard was having trouble wrapping her mind around what Dorothea was saying. Her parents had used money to force Dorothea to stay in a place that she didn't need to be, all because they disagreed with her sexual preferences. Not only that, but the hospital had been swyan by the disgusting abuse of power. Now Dorothea was here, taking up a bed that someone else may desperately need for a life threatening condition, and no one had stepped in to fix this. It was revolting, discriminatory and someone really ought to change-
"Hey."
A soft thumb gently stroked Edelgard's cheek. She jumped, eyes refocusing on her concerned friend before her.
"Don't worry about me darling. I only have a couple more months, then I'm free," Dorothea reassured her.
"A couple…" That was too long. Too, unfairly long.
"Just breathe Edie. You're turning red."
Edelgard recomposed herself. Taking deep breaths and trying to remember what she had learned in group about the cycle of thoughts, feelings and behaviour. As strongly as she felt about her friend's plight, there was nothing she could do about it now, and it didn't help anyone if she fell apart.
"You don't need to worry about me Edie, I can fight my own battles. Besides, you should really worry about yourself right now, and do what's right by you." Dorothea continued to talk Edelgard down from her panic.
She was right. Dorothea was strong, but by the goddess did Edelgard wish she had the power to make things right for her. Right for all of them.
"What are you going to do when you leave?" asked Edelgard, now a bit more composed.
"I have a friend who is a performer in the drama club I used to be a part of who said they would give me a place to stay. Then I intend to begin a dazzling career in theater." Dorothea sounded so confident and pleased by this plan that Edelgard grew encouraged herself.
The two spent the rest of lunch sharing much lighter conversation. Food and time passed in equal measures and Edelgard began to feel grateful that Dorothea was there. Sure, it was wrong an unfair for her parents to admit her to a hospital for being gay, but if they hadn't Edelgard may have never had the opportunity to meet the delightful Dorothea. Perhaps her optimism was rubbing off on Edelgard. Regardless, Edelgard felt a little bit brighter when she walked arm and arm to group with her friend Dorothea.