It's my life- no matter the strife
I will fight- it's my right
I will survive....
With scars of the knife
*****

Alice woke in a small room. There were loud voices out in the hall. She stood up out of bed and felt a little dizzy at first. It quickly passed as she went over to the door and opened it. She saw a young girl, younger than her, shouting and screaming. A guy and a woman she didn't know were trying to calm her down. The girl looked at Alice and stopped, going back into her room. The man and woman glanced over and smiled warmly at Alice before following the girl.

Alice saw more people walking around, many looked like nurses or doctors. She followed where most of the noise was coming from and found a sitting area.

A lady, dressed like a nurse with her hair up in a bun, came over to her.

"Hello, Alice, I'm glad to see that you're up. How are you feeling? Do you need anything? My name is Rose. Here let me check your bandages." She spoke without giving her time to answer any of her questions and started to grab for her wrist.

That was when Alice looked down and saw her arm was wrapped in white gauze. A little bit of blood had seeped through. Alice took her hand away from her and backed away. "No, I'm fine. Where am I?"

"You are at the rehabilitation center in Heaven. I'm not surprised you don't remember given the state you were in when you got here." There was no reprimand in her voice, she was just merely stating the facts.

"Can I go home?"

"You will be here until the doctor thinks you are safe to go home," Rose answered. "When we know you will not harm yourself or others. You will attend private sessions with a doctor as well as group meetings." She held out her hand expectantly.

Alice handed her arm over and looked away as she changed the bandaged. After the nurse finished she left. There was a TV that had something playing on it, but Alice couldn't really hear it. The place felt surreal and she couldn't help but feel out of place.

All the seats were taken besides a couch that had a guy sitting on it. He had dark brown hair and a goatee. His green eyes stuck out with the dark hair. The dark baggy blue jeans and a loose black t-shirt made him look like he didn't care what people thought. Alice couldn't stop looking at him. She guessed his age to be the same as hers. Everyone else looked to be older or younger.

He caught her staring and smiled. "Hi, I'm Braiden."

"Alice," she said, figuring it would be rude not to say her name and didn't know what else to do.

"So, they finally got ya huh? Want to hear a secret?" Braiden asked as if she were crazy to not want to hear it. "They put us in here because they think that we are a danger to ourselves and to others, but the truth is we are no more dangerous than anyone else. Everyone has their own problems, some can hide it better than others."

"Thanks," Alice said, not really knowing what to do with that. He winked at her.

Alice sat there, continuing to ponder over what he said. Another show came on, still though, she didn't know what it was. Of course it was true. A lot of people who know what the problem was continued with it anyways, like her father. It had just become part of their life. They had grown accustomed to living that way.

Alice glanced down at her wrist, noticing a folded up paper in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw the handwriting. She would never see that handwriting again. It was Katie's goodbye letter. A single tear slid down. Eric must've picked up when she wasn't watching. She wished now that she could talk to him.

Katie was right. Alice was strong and wouldn't let her down. She still had her life to paint and she would leave behind a masterpiece. She knew it wouldn't be easy, but she would try to rediscover herself. She can't let the friendship she had with Katie become a waste or her brother's life. This was something Alice owed to herself. Who knew, maybe after all this was over her and Eric could have a chance.

Rose came back, placing a smile on her face.

"You're to see the doctor."

She took me to the office room and opened the door. The doctor glanced up, smiled fondly.

"Hi, come in," he beckoned.

Alice walked in and sat in the chair across from him. She heard the door shut behind her. She stared at the doctor, wondering if she had the right to give away the secrets that weren't hers, and began talking.

~

The end