Jump to content
Episode Downloads / Asking For Episodes / Viewing Episodes Online

Beauty In The Breakdown

Guest whispered_envy

By Guest whispered_envy
in The Vault

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 154
  • Created
  • Last Reply
wrongturntaken Super Poster

wrongturntaken

Posted
Posted

I am SO annoyed at myself!!!! For some reason i had managed to convince myself that this fic was finished so i didn't bother checking it!!! I can't believe what i would have missed out on if i hadn't seen that it was on the top page!!!!!!

This fic is seriously amazing!!!!!!!!!! The way you wrote about Aden's suicide attempt was incredible because the dialogue, especially from Aden, was just so brilliant!!!!!!!!!!

I loved that Nicole and Roman now properly know and i feel so sorry for Aden (although the way you're writing him makes me think that he would hate that).

Anyway, incredibly awesome, and you have to write MORE MORE MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

mk1diva Member

mk1diva

Posted
Posted

o wow again am speechless! Thank god he is alive, I love the roman and nic support group and the fact Belle wanted to be there aswell!

O please update again soon!!

whispered_envy Member

whispered_envy

Posted
Posted

Thankyou all so much for your reviews! To know people are reading/appreciating this fic makes it all worthwhile. :)

No warnings in this one really- slight mentions of suicide.

Chapter Eleven:

Groggy and drained, Aden lay in the hospital bed, his head swimming.

How could this have happened? He was supposed to be dead, not lying in a hospital bed, with a broken arm and aches pulsating throughout his body. He wanted to be free from all his problems. How could he have failed so badly? What had he done wrong?

Rachel entered his room. “Hey Aden. How you feeling?”

Aden ignored her question. He wasn’t in the mood to answer stupid questions.

“I have a few visitors for you. They really want to see you.” Rachel encouraged. As Aden’s eyes focused on the door, she beckoned them in. “Come on in guys.”

Roman, Nicole and Belle trailed in one after the after, looking ghostly pale and shaken. Their eyes widened with shock as they looked at Aden lying mutely in the middle of the bed.

“Hey mate.” Roman greeted warmly. When he was met with silence, he tried again. “You gave us quite a scare last night!”

Tears sprouted out of Nicole’s eyes, and she leapt towards Aden, pulling him into a fierce hug. “I was so worried that I was going to lose you!”

She eventually let go, and it was Belle’s turn to talk to Aden. She grabbed his hand. “I’m so glad that you’re alright.”

Aden, dazedly, looked down at Belle’s hand within his. This wasn’t right. He quickly pulled his hand out of hers, and looked up at Belle. “No.” He whispered.

She looked at him, confused. “What?”

“Just don’t, okay? All of you- just don’t!” He scanned the group, and was met with a number of puzzled faces.

“Don’t do what, Aden?” Roman asked.

“Don’t give me sympathy, or feel sorry for me, or be glad that I’m alive! I don’t want any of it!” He struggled to sit up in the bed.

“But we’re happy that-”

Aden cut Nicole off. “No! Don’t be happy! I’m not happy that I’m alive! I don’t want to be alive! I’d rather be dead than living in this horrible, disgusting, pathetic excuse for a world!”

“You don’t mean that!” Belle interjected.

“Yes, I do! I don’t want to be alive anymore! And I don’t want your sympathy! I don’t want any of you to care or worry for me anymore! So get out, all of you! I don’t want to see you!”

“Aden-”

“GET OUT!” He shouted, and he turned on his side, away from the troubled faces.

He heard the footsteps leave his room, and silence reigned once again. Aden wondered why, after everything he had put them through, they still cared for him.

----

“He just...blew up at us!” Belle sobbed into Irene’s shoulder.

Irene calmly stroked the girl’s hair. She had decided it would be best if she hadn’t gone in to Aden’s room, but after they had all come out and explained what had happened, she realised it wouldn’t have made much difference.

“It didn’t even seem like the real Aden.” Nicole observed.

“What happens now Rachel?” Roman asked, rubbing his hand through his hair.

“I’ve called for a psych consult to assess Aden’s mental state, but as you saw it doesn’t take a professional to understand that he’s in a pretty bad place right now.”

“How will you help him?”

“Well, after the hospital has cleared his physical health, the most likely scenario is that he will be sent to a psych clinic to undergo intense therapy sessions and there, they might recommended him to start taking anti-depressants to help him recover.” Rachel explained seriously.

“What do we do in the meantime?” Belle asked. “He said he never wants to see any of us again!”

“I think its best if we give him a little bit of space for the time being, till we are given more information from the psych assessment. I think that all of you should go home and have a proper rest. I know you want to be here for Aden, but there’s nothing more you can do for the time being.”

As much as they hated to leave, they knew Rachel was right. They had done all they could

----

Over the next few days, Roman and Nicole continued to visit Aden in hospital. Aden never said much to either of them, but he didn’t say much to the doctors or nurses either. It was confirmed that once his doctor was happy with how his fractured arm was healing, he would be sent off to a psychiatric clinic.

One afternoon, when Roman was sitting with Aden, reading the paper, he gasped slightly, eyes darting from the paper to Aden. Aden noticed that Roman was acting strangely, and furrowed his brow.

“What is it?”

“Oh...nothing.”

“Roman...show me the paper.” He demanded.

Unwillingly, Roman handed him over the paper. Opening it to the page Roman had been on, he scanned the print, and his eyes quickly found the article Roman had been reading.

TEEN’S SHOCKING SUICIDE ATTEMPT

A nineteen year old Summer Bay High School student has attempted suicide by jumping off the Surf Club roof building. It is reported that he was found there late last Friday night in a distraught state, and the attempts of the police to try and talk him down failed when he flung himself off the building. He was taken to hospital in a serious condition, but with the combined efforts of the doctors and paramedics, he was able to be revived. Rachel Armstrong, a local doctor who helped to save the young man’s life, told us: “At a delicate time such as this, I would appreciate the community’s discretion in giving this person the privacy he needs. I am aware of the patient’s history, and it is evident that he is severely depressed, this was serious attempt at suicide and is not to be taken lightly. We will provide ongoing help and treatment to help the patient battle his depression.”

If you, or you know of someone close to you who is feeling depressed and you don’t know what to do about it, please remember that there are a number of mental health organizations that can help.

Aden threw the paper across the room. “How dare they? They can’t get away with printing that!”

“They didn’t mention you by name, mate- legally, they can.”

“I can’t believe it! Everyone’s going to know it’s me! I’m going to get those god-damn sympathy looks! I hate those looks! They make me so mad!”

Aden was shouting, but Roman remained calm. This was the most Aden had talked to him since he had been in hospital. Roman leaned forward. “What’s wrong with a bit of sympathy?”

Aden glared at him. “Don’t worry- I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“Aden, talk to me! What’s wrong with sympathy?”

“Nothing! It doesn’t matter!”

“What’s wrong with sympathy?” Roman repeated, putting pressure on Aden to answer his question.

“Shut up!”

“What’s wrong with sympathy?”

“ROMAN, SHUT UP!”

“What’s wrong with sympathy?”

“IT MAKES ME FEEL WEAK, OKAY?” The words burst out of Aden, and Roman fell silent. “It...makes me feel ashamed...about my grandfather...and what he did to me. People only feel sympathy for me once they know about my past, and I hate it! I hate feeling weak and ashamed! It’s like...” Aden started breathing hard, and tears started to fall. “It’s like...he’s alive again... and were back in my room...and he’s leering down at me...and there’s nothing I can do!”

Aden’s whole body shook as the sobs became harder and harder. Roman sat on the bed next to him, and Aden, going against everything he stood for, let the older man pull him into a hug. Crying into his shirt, Aden always thought that something like this would feel wrong and dirty. Instead, all he felt was comfort and support.

----

“Why hasn’t Belle come back to see me?”

Aden asked the question suddenly, as he waited with Rachel for Roman to come back from processing his hospital papers. Aden had been given the all clear from his doctor that he was allowed to leave the hospital, but Aden wasn’t going back to Summer Bay. Instead, he was straight off to the psychiatric clinic for further treatment.

Rachel looked at him. Aden hadn't said much to her, but when he did, it was usually a nasty remark. Roman was the only person he had opened up to, and that had only happened once. So, to have Aden ask her a civil question was something unexpected. “I’m not sure.”

“Do you think she was too scared to see me?”

“I think the only thing she was scared about was that probably didn’t want to face you in case she made things worse for your recovery.”

“Do you think she knows that...all of this...wasn’t her fault?”

Rachel smiled. “I’m sure she understands.”

Aden sighed. “I hope she does.”

Roman appeared at the door. “Right, that’s all sorted. Ready to go mate?”

Aden stood up and grabbed his bags with the arm that was not covered in plaster. Letting Roman lead him out of the hospital, Aden’s mind was still on Belle.

----

Belle lay on her bed, reading the letter over and over again. She couldn’t believe it- was it a dream? After everything that had happened, was something good about to take place? She read it again.

Dear Miss Belle Taylor,

A few months ago, you sent in an application form and a sample of your portfolio for a position for a photography cadetship with our paper, The City Review. Although you were shortlisted and we asked you to attend an interview, at the time you will remember that you were unsuccessful in securing the position. However, our current cadetship holder had to leave the job, and we would like to now offer you the position, if you are still willing and enthusiastic enough. We believe that you have great potential, and this opportunity will not come around from us again. Please ring our office to accept or decline the offer on the number below, and if we do not hear back from you within two weeks we will be offering the cadetship to somebody else.

Thankyou,

Neil Lambert,

Editor, The City Review.

She had completely forgotten about the position she had gone for. She hadn’t been given the job, so why should she have remembered it? Now, this letter had come, completely out of the blue. They were right- another opportunity like this would be very rare to find, and Belle was excited by the prospect of working for such a classy city paper. It would be so fascinating, and would give her life more meaning than just working her days away in a small jewellery store.

However, if she decided to take this job, it meant she would have to move away from Summer Bay. Move away from Irene, Geoff and Annie...move away from Angelo...move away from Aden. Could she really leave all the people she loved?

Wait a second. Belle backtracked her thoughts. Why had she lumped both Angelo and Aden into the category of people she loved? Did she actually love Angelo, or was it more that she enjoyed how uncomplicated her relationship with him was? And Aden...she had been falling for him, but did she now want to believe that she still loved him because she thought it would make his life easier?

Letting out a frustrated groan, Belle threw herself back on her bed. She had a lot of thinking to do.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.