Pulling Through

CHRISTIE

Ally froze for a whole minute before forcing her legs to run after Gus. When she reached him, she found them both crouching beside Christie´s ragged frame. She was dirty and her hair was matted all around her head. She was mumbling incoherencies and trying to fight them back.

Gus ignored her rambling and simply pulled her up and threw her over his shoulder heading for the truck and putting up with her incessant kicks and punches.

He settled her inside de cab and they all squeezed around her, Ally and Lauren doing their best to hold her flailing hands down.

Gus sped to the E.R. as fast as he could, and after some struggle, she was finally submitted by two big orderlies.

Ally, Lauren and Gus walked to the waiting room and plopped their asses on the stiff chairs.

They sat there for hours but there still was no sight of any medical personnel to answer their questions. And Lauren´s crazy sobs had finally started to fade.

Ally held her until she dozed off a little later and, after a couple more hours of fighting with her heavy eyelids, she finally ended up passing out in exhaustion too, with her head bent down in the most uncomfortable position possible.

When she woke up a few hours later with a splitting pain on her neck and a throbbing headache. Lauren was still asleep, curled up beside her and Gus was nowhere to be seen.

He came back ten minutes later, walking slowly down the empty hallway and holding two cups of coffee. Ally took the cup he offered her and gave it a sip, then she winced in disgust. It was awful.

She forced herself to give it another swig to help her stay awake and she turned her head around to look at the big window behind them, staring at the sun that was beginning to rise on the horizon.

Ally heard Gus´s voice quietly talking on the phone a few steps away from her, calling in out of work for himself and Lauren and she proceeded to call in sick as well.

It was almost noon when a doctor finally came walking through a white door in the back of the hallway and approached them.

Lauren stirred on her seat and jolted up awake at the noise of his steps, quickly rubbing her hands to her eyes and perking up.

-Are you Christie´s Eaton relatives? – He asked looking at them.

-I´m her fiancée- Lauren hurried herself to say, standing up and extending her hand to him.

He shook it briefly and then directed his attention to the board he was holding.

-Ok well, I´m doctor Harris. Miss…- he hesitated, his eyes looking around, uncomfortable.

-Jones- Lauren replied impatiently.

-Miss Jones, please. Take a seat – he said in a purposefully calm voice.

Lauren obeyed, plopping on the chair with her eyes widened and Ally´s hand darted to hold hers.

-It seems that miss Eaton had a Manic Episode. We ran some tests and it all points to an undiagnosed Bipolar Disorder.

-W-what?- Lauren asked dumbfounded- Oh my god! And I thought she was using drugs- she mumbled

-No, miss Jones, her blood tests came out clean, except for some alcohol in her bloodstream. Instead, I would have to ask you if you noticed her having euphoric rages lately, or maybe an increase of activities and ideas? She might have also been making some poor decisions too and experiencing lack of sleep. Those are all common symptoms.

-Yes!- Lauren cried- burying her head down her hands – All of those! How could I not see it! I knew something was wrong with her!

Ally put a hand on her shoulder, rubbing it a little and after a moment she lifted her head up again.

-Can I see her now? – She asked, looking pleadingly at the doctor´s eyes.

He stared at her for a second, before replying.

-I would recommend you spent some time with one of our specialists in psychiatry first. You will need to get familiar with the diagnosis and all of its implications. For now, we´ve given her some medication and she´s seemingly responding well, we might have to adjust her dosage, but if she sticks to her prescription in the future, you should see some improvement soon. Then, if you agree, we can provide a good support net and help you both cope through this.

They spent the next two hours sitting with the therapist, trying to wrap their heads around all the new information she was sending in their way, looking at brochures and asking a lot of questions. When they were done, Lauren walked to Christie´s room holding a pile of pamphlets into her shaky arms.

-Are you ready for this? – Gus asked her as they all stood outside the hospital room, grabbing her by the shoulders and studying her face.

She took a deep breath and offered him a smile.

-I am- she replied- I love her Gus.

-I know, be brave- he said hugging her briefly before stepping back.

Ally and Gus watched her open the door and get inside, they stood silent for a minute before walking back to the waiting room.

An hour later Lauren came storming out the doors, breaking down completely and being a helpless hot mess of tears.

-She wants to break up with me!- she sobbed holding on to them- now that she´s not manic anymore, I don´t know... I think depression is setting in, she says she doesn´t wanna be a burden to me and she´s kicking me out her life!

Gus rapped his knuckles on the door and waited for a minute.

-Come in- he heard a faint voice say and he let himself in.

-Hey- he muttered, his eyes darting to Christie´s face and taking in her reddened nose and swollen eyes.

-Hi- she mumbled back.

He walked up to her and sat beside her bed on the tiny couch. They stood silent for a few moments, staring at each other.

-She loves you Christie, you know that, why are you pushing her out?

-Cause now that I´ve learned what´s going on with me I just can´t bear to drag her down into this pile of s**t, Gus.

-She knows what it carries and she ´s willing to take it-he replied c*****g his head at her- And don´t look at this as if it were a bad thing, now that you have been diagnosed, you can start being treated, that´s good.

Christie scoffed and glared at him

-That f*****g diagnosis means that I´m crazy, Gus! And I don´t want her to be around crazy me anymore!

-Christie- Gus sighed- That´s bullshit. What´s crazy here is the conclusion you´ve reached to! You have an illness!  A mental one, yes… but like with most of any other illnesses, you have the possibility to get better. I know there is no cure, but there is treatment. And we will all help you to get through it.

He paused, looking directly into her eyes- And yes, you will have take your meds and you will have to make some life changes. But that doesn´t mean that you have to give your dreams or your happiness up... Now, do yourself a favor and listen to what Lauren has to say, I´m sending her back in a minute and you better start opening your heart.

He stood up and walked up to her, kissing her forehead. Then he went to open the door.

-Thanks- Christie whispered before he got out.

-Anytime girl, anytime.