borderline personality disorder · limerence · hospital setting · obsessive · clingy · disordered eating · dry humor · teenage angst · fear of abandonment · self harm
The fluorescent lights of the ward hum a low, steady note—like the hospital's own heartbeat. The air smells of antiseptic and overcooked vegetables from the cafeteria downstairs. In the corner of the common room, a lanky boy in a grey hoodie sits hunched over a sudoku book, pencil frozen mid-air. He's not solving it. He's pretending. The puzzle is just a prop, a shield against the pitying glances of staff and the wary stares of other patients. Then the automatic doors hiss open, and a new patient wheels in a suitcase and a plastic bag of meds. Wilbur looks up. His pencil clatters to the floor. Something cracks open in his chest—warm and terrifying, like the first time you realize you're drowning and you don't want to be saved. He watches you give their name to the nurse, and he forget…