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Life Support For The First Time Around
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Haley finished writing her ninth poem of the day and flopped down on her bed. She stared through the heavy mesh covered windows and sighed. Then she hid her pencil under her pillow. On the Adolescent floor of Crane Hospital, patients weren’t allowed to have pens or pencils in their rooms. The ever-creative patients might use them to hurt themselves. Haley knew this rule. She had broken this same rule at all the hospitals she’d been in. She was a pro at breaking rules and getting away with it. This hospital was hospital number twenty-two for fifteen-year-old Haley. She knew she was at the end of the line. Now she was in DCF custody. No foster home would take her, she was too "disturbed" and "mentally unbalanced" She would be forced to live in a residential treatment center for mentally and emotionally disturbed kids. Residential treatment was like a horror story spoken about in hushed voices with chills running down your back to kids in psych units. It was the end of the line and the last place she wanted to go. Every time Haley got out of the hospital, she would promise herself that this was the last one. But then the hallucinations would start winding her up and reality would start to crumble.
“Oh?” asked Dr. Fowler as if Haley had just told him she made toast for breakfast. Haley drew her knees up to her chest and dropped her head into her lap. “Who did you kill?” asked Dr. Fowler, even though he’d already read her records and knew she’d been involved in a fatal car accident and that her mother had been killed on the scene. He knew exactly who Haley thought she’d murdered. However, he also knew that his young patient had to express herself and get it off her chest. The only way for him to help her see the accident was no more than an accident was to verbally and emotionally process it. Haley had started crying again and her whole body shook with each sob. “I don’t understand,” Dr. Fowler repeated, “Who did you kill?” “My parents,” Haley whispered.
Pensive girl sit on couch holding medicines and glass of water thinking of taking medications, depressed young woman on sofa pondering doubt whether to take pills antidepressant or contraceptives The next morning, Haley ventured out of her room for morning meds instead of waiting for Kim to come get her. She was in shock when she returned, and the door to her room was locked. Thinking it was a mistake, she went to find Kevin, another Mental Health Tech. “In morning rounds staff had a discussion and decided that because you are ignoring the groups and lying in bed all day, we have to keep you out of your room.” “That’s not fair,” argued Haley. “We want to make sure we help you as much as we can. Part of that is making sure you go to groups and learn better skills in dealing with problems. Lying in bed all day is no way to deal with your issues.” “I’m not just lying in bed in there,” Haley told him. “Staff do checks every fifteen minutes, they see you,” Kevin told her in a calm even voice. “I know it looks like I’m just lying in bed, but I’m practicing mindfulness,” Haley told him, looking at his name tag because she was too moral to lie to his face.