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Chapter Thirty-Nine
Lily started to make good progress after a while.
Eventually, she joined the other patients in the dining hall and ate with them instead of on her own. She started to talk to this other woman there called Jessica, and the two clicked straight away. Jessica had Bipolar Disorder, and Lily mentioned David to her and how he'd struggled for a while but was doing so much better because of his medication, and that got Jessica interested in Lily's career. Lily was able to answer all sorts of questions that Jessica wanted to know the answer to.
Connie worked in between the ED and the psych ward so she could be there for Lily if she needed to. Lily was soon trusted enough for them to take the lock off of her door, and she found that she started to sleep a whole lot better. Of course she still went for her regular check ups and weigh ins, and Connie was pleased to see that she was slowly gaining weight and not losing it. She was even more pleased when she checked Lily's arms and saw that there were no new cuts in place.
Iain still visited as well. When he wasn't working, he was in psych. The patients felt incredibly jealous of Lily when they saw them together, and when they saw how handsome Iain was, especially in the paramedic uniform as well. Lily liked that feeling, and she felt proud to be able to show Iain off to everyone.
It was Wednesday and Lily woke up in psych, feeling sick. She wondered if her body was reacting, fighting against the food that she'd been eating. After all, she'd been eating meals again and she hadn't had a binge session in weeks so it wasn't used to it. Groaning and clutching her stomach, she knew what she needed to do. She climbed out of bed and hurried out of her room, bumping into Kirsten on the way.
"Lily, are you okay?" She questioned, as she noticed the colour drain straight from Lily's face.
"No, I need the bathroom," Lily replied. "I feel sick."
"Oh no Lily, not this again," Kirsten sighed, hands on hips. "Come on, you have been doing so well."
"It's not what you think," Lily whimpered. "I feel like I'm going to be sick."
"Back to your room please," Kirsten said, pointing down the corridor.
Lily sighed and groaned, going to turn round. Immediately though, she fell forwards and threw up all over the floor of the corridor. She coughed and spluttered, hands on her stomach, as Kirsten placed a hand on her lower back. Her mouth hung open as Lily just wiped a bit of sick away from her mouth, feeling awful and also completely embarrassed.
"Okay, I'll get someone to clean this up," Kirsten said. "Go back to bed and stay there, please."
"I told you I felt sick," Lily coughed, holding her hands to her face.
"I know, and I'm sorry," Kirsten said. "Go back to bed."
Lily just faintly nodded, slowly dragging herself back to her room. She shut the door behind her and climbed back into her bed, covering herself with the covers. It was weird, she didn't feel hot or cold, and she wasn't aching either. She just felt sick.
She must have gone back to sleep because the next thing she knew, it was two o'clock in the afternoon and Connie was just entering her room.
"Hey Lily," she greeted, walking over and placing a hand on her forehead. "Kirsten told me that you weren't well. You okay?"
"I...I feel a bit better," she whispered, pushing the covers away and sitting up slightly. "I was sick though."
"Yes, she said," Connie sighed and perched on the edge of Lily's bed. "All over the floor apparently. Nice work."
"Thanks," Lily scoffed sarcastically.
"Stay in bed today, yeah?" Connie said. "I'll let Iain know and see if he can come back tomorrow."
"No, please don't," Lily whined. "He was really looking forward to visiting, and he said that he had something for me as well."
"Lily, if you're not well..." Connie went to speak, but Lily interrupted her.
"I feel fine now," she said.
"It isn't just that though," Connie sighed. "You could be contagious. Say if you pass this onto Iain, he could then pass it onto other staff in the ED and we cannot afford shortages right now."
"I don't think I'm contagious," Lily said. "I think you're forgetting that I'm a doctor. I feel fine."
"And I think you're forgetting that I'm a doctor," Connie laughed. "How about you come into the lounge area, have a drink, and watch some TV? Say if you still feel fine in a couple of hours, Iain can drop by this evening to see you."
"Okay," Lily agreed reluctantly. She would have rather Iain saw her that afternoon but knew that she wasn't going to change Connie's mind. "Fine."
"But you're feeling better?" Iain asked, after Lily had informed him of her earlier incident.
The two of them were sitting on her bed, Lily resting her head in his lap allowing him to stroke her hair. She loved having her hair stroked, and he loved watching the smile that she gave him when he did it.
"Loads," Lily said. "I've been eating loads better recently, thanks to the doctors and nurses on this ward, and thanks to Mrs Beauchamp I suppose. My body just isn't used to it, that's all."
"Well, I am still very proud of you," Iain said, kissing her head.
"Thank you." Lily beamed up at him. "Hey. Didn't you say that you had something for me?"
"Did I really say that?" Iain asked. "I don't remember."
"I think you did," Lily giggled. "Come on, cough it up my sparkling wit."
Iain laughed at his girlfriend and removed her head from his lap so that he could reach down and pick the gift bag up from the floor. Lily tucked the loose strands of hair behind her ears and hoped that Iain couldn't tell how greasy and messy it was; she'd had no motivation to wash it so had left it dry for the last few days now. Iain didn't seem to care though.
"What's this for anyway?" Lily asked, as Iain handed the bag to her.
"It's just a little something," Iain said, shrugging his shoulders. "To let you know how proud I am of your progress."
Lily nodded and felt herself blush a bright shade of red. She reached into the bag and pulled out a purple scrapbook with her name stuck on the front. She frowned in confusion and opened the first page. There were a couple of photos of her and Iain together and 'I love you to the moon and back' was written across the top in a black marker pen. As she flicked through the book, she saw more photos and more inspirational quotes. There was also a few blank pages for her to write whatever she wanted to.
"Iain," she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. "This is beautiful."
"It's a scrapbook of us," he told her. "But I guess it's also a journal as well, for you to write down your thoughts and feelings. If you ever feel sad or worried, you can just look at this and write whatever you need to. I thought the quotes would help as well."
"It's beautiful," she said, allowing the scrapbook to fall from her lap as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're literally the best boyfriend ever."
"I wouldn't go that far," he chuckled, and rolled his eyes.
"No," Lily sobbed, tears of happiness escaping from her eyes. "You are. After...After Archie, I thought that I'd never be able to be near another guy again, let alone kiss and sleep with another guy. I was terrified and I hated myself, but...You didn't care. You were always there for me, even when I was at my lowest. No guy would ever be able to put up with that. I love you so much, Iain."
"I love you too," Iain said.
"And I'm going to write in this tonight," Lily said, bending down to pick the scrapbook up. "Thank you."
"Really?" Iain asked. "How comes? I thought you were happy."
"Oh, I am," Lily said. "I'm not just going to write in it when I feel down. I'm going to write happy stuff as well, like how I have the best boyfriend in the whole entire world."
Iain smiled and leaned in to kiss her. He just couldn't get enough.
"Hey," Lily whispered. "I'm still going to get low days, you know? And I'll probably be on medication for most of my life."
"I don't care about that," Iain said. "I love you for you, Lily, and that is never going to change."
I loved writing this chapter :-) x