His Safety Net

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

       I rubbed my eyes as I was walking down the stairs, and I almost missed a step because I was way too tired to focus right now. Maybe I should have stayed in bed a bit longer but it was already quite late in the afternoon. I needed to leave my room for even a short amount of time so I didn't feel trapped in there, despite the fact that I should feel comfortable in there since it was my bedroom.

       The first thing I did when I got downstairs was lie down on the couch. I was truly exhausted from being drained mentally and from not getting enough sleep at night. Then again, the reason why I wasn't getting enough sleep at night was because I was mentally drained. Everything was because I was mentally drained.

       "Nolan, are you okay?" Mom asked from the kitchen. She was currently preparing dinner with Dad, so I must have really slept in today.

       "Mhmm. Just tired."

       "Why don't you just lie down in your bed?" Dad asked. "There's no reason why you can't lie in bed all day when you're tired. It's like lying in bed when you're sick. You just don't feel well enough to move."

       "I don't want to lie in bed all day," I said. "Then I'd feel like I'm not getting any better at all. So I'll lie on the couch all day instead."

       "Are you hungry?" Mom asked.

       "Not really, no."

       Mom didn't really listen. She just quickly prepared a bowl of fruit before walking over and handing it over to me. I sighed, though I took it anyway since I knew I had to eat something. It was the same thing every time I wasn't doing too well. It was best I ate something healthy, despite me feeling like spitting out anything I ate.

       I still laid down as I slowly ate the fruit. I didn't really feel like sitting up right now.

       Although, I did want to get a bit more comfortable and I suddenly remembered about the giant teddy bear I won at the carnival. Maybe I should go upstairs and get it so I could at least snuggle with that.

       Even though I really didn't feel like moving.

       Once dinner was ready, Dad called everyone into the dining area, but he was fine with me just lying on the couch to eat the fruit. He did fill up a plate of the dinner for me and left it on the coffee table just in case I got hungrier but as for now, I didn't even feel like sitting at the dining table.

       It really sucked that I couldn't even spend time with my family because of it.

       I totally loved being mentally ill.

       I actually ended up eating all the fruit in the bowl. I placed the now-empty bowl on the coffee table, beside the dinner plate. I stared at that food for a bit, but then I started to feel a bit nauseous at the idea of eating what was on it. So I just turned around, facing the back of the couch.

       I did close my eyes in an attempt to nap for a bit, despite just waking up not too long ago. However, my cell phone did suddenly beeped with a message. I sighed, taking my cell phone out of my pocket and looked at the messages. It was from an unknown number, but the first thing I noticed from the text was Hey, it's Brandon so I opened it to read the full message.

       Hey, it's Brandon. Jerome did something stupid and it's too long to explain over text, so can I call you.

       Jerome did something stupid?

       That was enough for me to get up from the couch as I texted Brandon back a sure. I made my way upstairs to my bedroom so I could have a bit more privacy with my conversation, even if my family would only hear my part.