A&E

There were no sirens, no screams, no horror.

There was regret, disappointment,and hurt.

The A&E waiting room had never been so empty. Well, it only seemed empty in my head. I realised it was an illusion that my deprived state had left me with. All I could see was what I was focused on - my hands. Everything around it blurred, the sounds muffled.

My hands were light and strangely angular. It looked almost distorted with its anatomy so prominent - I could see the blue veins which ran down my arm and the tendons which joined the bones to muscle (or what's left of it really)

I felt the weight of someone's hand on my shoulder. It was then I looked up to see a young woman looking at me with tearful eyes. She was my friend but at the time, she seemed just like any other person who didn't matter to me. I could feel all emotions, but dread, ebb away from inside me. Suddenly the world seemed so insignificant - nothing in the whole world could be bigger than the emptiness inside my mind. It was so overwhelmingly...non-existent.

My friend placed her hand on mine and said: "You're doing the right thing." I sighed and dropped my head - and dozed off as the world walked silently over me.