67. Rachel
I wasn’t aware of what Dave was saying over the phone to Nathan, all I cared about was my friend laying there unconscious.
“Oh… Jessie! I’m so sorry, forgive me please” I kept saying these words over and over again. Dave frowned after he hung up the phone and he sat down beside me on the ground.
“Rachel, please calm down” Dave said softly and grabbed my hands, squeezing them gently.
“What’s wrong with her?” I asked Dave, tears were running down my cheeks like river.
“Nathan said he’ll call an ambulance and Jessie’s psychiatrist” Dave said, making me frown.
“Jessie’s what?” I asked, wiping my wet cheeks.
“I’m sure Nathan said psychiatrist. It sounded weird to me too” Dave replied, scratching his forehead. “She’ll be okay, don’t worry”
“I hope so” I said, and threw my arms around Dave taking both of us by surprise. Dave hugged me back tightly and kissed my forehead. He stared deeply into my eyes for a while, I knew what will come next, so I closed my eyes preparing for it emotionally. We kissed for only a few seconds before we heard the ambulance siren.
We pulled away and stared at the ambulance coming towards the wood house with Nathan’s car close behind. While the technicians carried Jessie into the ambulance, me and Dave got in the backseat Nathan’s car, he drove fast following the ambulance.
Jessie’s father was sitting in the passenger seat, unusually silent. Once we arrived at Norton hospital, James and the doctor who I assumed was Jessie’s psychiatrist went inside the room. Me, Nathan and Dave were waiting anxiously outside.
Dave walked towards Nathan who was against the wall, he sat on the ground in front of him. I followed Dave and sat on the ground beside him, staring at my tired looking brother.
“I’m sorry” Me and Dave both said at the same time.
Nathan smiled sadly at us and shook his head, “It’s not your fault guys. I was the one who agreed in the first place”
“Yes, but-“
“No buts Rachel.” My brother said, ”you haven’t done anything wrong, you wanted to make your friend happy and it made me fall in love again when I thought I will never fall in love again after Holly”
“I can understand where you’re coming from” Dave started, “I’m sorry I blew it up like that”
“There’s no need to be sorry Dave” Nathan said.
Just then the door of the room opened, James and a doctor came out. The three of us stood up and walked towards them, the doctor looked at us and smiled kindly.
“Don’t worry guys she was just tired” He said, I sighed in relief.
“Thank god!” Nathan exclaimed and walked towards the door, but the doctor raised his arm, blocking Nathan’s way.
“The patient requires some rest” He said.
“I’m her boyfriend, I need to see her, it won’t take long” Nathan said.
“I’m sorry son…” the doctor said, “Jessica doesn’t want to see anyone at the moment, and we need to respect that. I prescribed her some pills so that she can rest for a while.”
To say Nathan was disappointed was an understatement. As his sister I have never seen Nathan look this sad in my entire life.
“James said you’re her closest friends, please follow me. I would like to explain a few things” the doctor said, making me frown.
“You said there was nothing with her” I couldn’t help but ask.
“She’s fine I promise, but there are a few other things you guys need to know” He replied, smiling at me. I stared at Dave who shrugged and followed James and the doctor. Me and Nathan followed them close behind. The doctor whose name I found out was Dr Bailey, poured us each a glass of tea and sat down sipping on his mint tea which seemed too strong that I could smell it from where I was sitting too.
“I don’t like beating around the bush so I’ll just get to the point” He said, as he tried to stare at all and each of us for a while.
“Wh-what’s the matter?” Nathan asked impatiently.
“James told me only Nathan knows about Jessie’s condition” Dr Bailey said, Nathan ran his hand through his hair and sighed.
“What condition? I asked staring at Nathan then back at Dr Bailey.
“Guys” James started, staring at me and Dave with a sad expression on his still handsome face, “Jessie has schizophrenia”
Suddenly it felt like someone was choking me, except I had my hands on my mouth, probably I was choking myself after all I had gasped so loud that Dave nearly fell on his butt.
“Schizophrenia?” I asked.
“Is there any way for her to get better?” Nathan said, ignoring my question.
“Only drugs…” Dr Bailey answered.
“Will she get better by those drugs?” Nathan asked. As a few teardrops ran down his cheeks.
“She’ll be able to live normally” Dr Bailey said, staring at Nathan with pity.
“Is there no other way?” Nathan asked, his voice getting weaker as more tears ran down his face.
I on the other hand was too shocked to even utter a word. Dr Bailey shifted in his seat, and looked like he was deep in thought before he opened his mouth to talk, “There’s this other way, more effective”
He scratched the back of his neck without staring at any of us and nodded to himself.
“What is it?” Nathan said, wiping his cheeks as he stared at Dr Bailey with eyes full of hope yet a sad expression was haunting his face.
“It’s called electroconvulsive therapy” Dr Bailey answered, putting his cup of mint tea on a nearby table and folding his arms.
“What is that therapy?” Dave asked, squeezing my hand. I stared at Dave’s hand on mine and realized it’s useless to be sad and cry about it, and my best friend wouldn’t want that. Jessie would smile reassuringly in these situations and hold my hand like Dave did.
“It’s passing small electric currents through the brain, to trigger a seizure. It’s mostly used for people who have depression and catatonic, but since I suspect Jessie will get worse, we’ll try to do it for her. Of course if James doesn’t mind.”
“I trust your sincerity Robert” James said, and patted Dr Bailey’s shoulder.
“Is there any chance that my friend will completely heal?” I asked, more like squeaked.
“There’s an eighty percent chance for Jessie to get better” Dr Bailey answered and smiled.
“You mean there’s also a chance that she can’t recover?” Nathan asked in worry and surprise.
“There’s a little bit of chance that her condition might get worse, but then we’ll try our best so don’t worry” Dr Bailey replied, staring at my brother sadly. Nathan looked at James for a moment, so far James hadn’t even stared at Nathan with anger.
So I guess none of us really know what James’s reaction about all these matters are going to be like, especially about the fake boyfriend thing.
But one thing is for sure; no father would want to see his daughter being lied to by her dream guy, and seeing all the emotions behind that tired face of my brother tells me Nathan is as worried as I am about James’s reaction towards this subject.
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