Disclaimer; I do not own the characters I'm about to use….
REHAB: OVER THE EDGE
By HarpersauruS
CHAPTER #1
Cold…..cold…
It was so fucking cold!
Where am I?
Cold……
Why can't I feel my legs?
I could hear sirens but they sounded far away in the distance…
I tried to open my eyes but that hurt too much so I kept them I could feel hands touching me, trying to lift me. I wanted to tell them to leave me alone but my mouth wouldn't open. I felt myself being put on something soft and covered with a blanket.
That still didn't help the cold.
…cold…….so cold….
I couldn't stop shivering, and then everything went black.
#&$$&&&$(
Beep…..beep………..beep…beep..
I finally became conscious of the fact that I was breathing…
I became conscious that I was lying in something warm and soft…
Beep….beep………..beep…beep..
What was that noise?
Opening my eyes was more difficult than normal and the millimeter I managed to crack open brought in a blinding white light.
Shutting them immediately, I focused on my breathing.
Beep….beep………..beep…beep..
I could feel my heart beating and that meant that I was still alive…
Alive….
Beep….beep………..beep…beep..
I tried to open my eyes again, bracing myself for the brightness.
They opened slowly trying to adjust to the light. Squinting from my lying position I observed that everything was white. I was in a small room in a twin bed with white sheets, there was a bed table with a vase of flowers and tacky pictures of beach scenes and sailboats on the walls. The source of light was coming the huge window in the corner, it's curtains were fully drawn back.
Beep….beep………..beep…beep..
Looking to my left I located the heart monitor that was making that repetitive sound. I lifted my hand to adjust my bangs and saw the i.v and the hospital bracelet.
Sakura Haruno
MR 00359640
17 F 03/15/1989
New York Public Hospital
What the hell happened!?
That last thing that she could possibly remember was going to her best friend Ino's apartment party, 3rd floor in the SoHo district.
Everybody was crammed into the studio; there was loud music, unlimited drinking and unlimited drugs. All of the friendly neighborhood dealers were invited so they knew that they would e provided with the necessities.
Wrapping the blanket tighter around herself, she tried to recall last night's events.
She had brought an 80 oz bottle of vodka and started taking shots as soon as she entered the apartment. Mingling with the crowd she soon found herself included in a joint rotation, taking some goods hits she danced off again for some more shots. Later on she went into Ino's room where she found her, another girl and a guy doing lines. Accepting the straw she helped them finish the 8-ball. Whipping her nose she twirled out of the room for some more alcohol. After midnight a dealer came with an ounce of chronic to spare so Ino brought out the Hookah and they smoked it all. Not just ready to pass out yet, Sakura untangled herself from the stoned mass on the couch
And found her bottle of 90 proof vodka still 1/5 full, taking it with her on to the balcony outside for a cigarette, she just downed the whole thing. Her throat was already numb so she couldn't feel the burn. Trying to stand up the world spun, gripping the rail of the balcony she leaned over, hazily admiring the beautiful hypnotic lights of the city…
Then everything went blank…..
Then what?
I was on the balcony, then what?!
Sakura was used to partying hard, she had been doing it since she was 13; Booze, pot, coke, acid, ecstasy, shrooms and hundreds of pills she had simply swallowed, it had always been part of her life. She had been stealing sips of drinks from her parents formal dinner parties at the age of 9, her first middle school boyfriend was in the 8th grade when she was in the 6th, introduced her to pot because he was dealing. In the 7th grade, her best friend Ino quickly lost all of her baby fat and became one of the most sought after girls in school. Sakura kept asking her what kind of diet or exercise she was using but when Ino showed her a little plastic baggie half full with white powder, Sakura got onto the same "diet" as her.
Coming into High school she made friends with dealers, junkies, white heads, rock heads and pot heads, anything she wanted or needed she had a hook-up. Her grades no longer mattered, all she cared about was getting fucked up and having a good time. She would often wake up on a school morning, not knowing where she was or where her pants had disappeared to. A couple of times she woke up next to a stranger in their bed, quietly she would gather her clothes and any money she found lying around.
More than once she would wake up in the middle of the night to vomit whatever she had put into herself earlier, sometimes there was blood. Ignoring it, she would flush the evidence and pass out again.
Now here in the hospital Sakura was left to wonder what went wrong within her normal pattern of life. Looking out the window at the skyline she heard the door to her room open.
"Oh! You're finally awake!"
"Ino! Hey, what happened?"
"….You don't remember...no one has told you anything yet?"
"No! I just woke up. How long have I been here?"
"….3 days….."
"What! 3 days! Ino what the fuck happened to me?!"
"You fell Sakura..."
"I, what?"
"You fell Sakura! You fell 3 stories off my balcony! You're lucky you landed on your back in some of the garbage in the alley, but you've been unconscious for these past 3 days…"
"…But, how did I fall? I remember holding onto the rail and looking out into the city, then everything goes blank..."
"Shikamaru saw what happened, he said that you were sitting outside smoking a cigg, then you had some difficulty standing up…you started to lean over the balcony and he thought that you were going to throw up but instead you kept leaning….and then you disappeared."
"…I went over the edge?..."
"Yeah…"
They just sat in silence staring at one another.
"This is bad, do my parents know?"
"Unfortunately, I had to call them, I panicked, I thought you had died, I was all coked up and there was so much blood everywhere.."
"Fuck!"
Sakura lifted her arm with some stiff pain, feeling the bandages on her head.
"Do I look bad?"
"… I didn't think it was possible, but your forehead has gotten even bigger."
"Ino!!"
"Just kidding! When the bandages come off you'll look fine, there's no damage to your face except a couple of small scratches and you're lucky that after that fall you only twisted your arm and sprained you ankle. Obviously you'll be having some back pains but other than that you'll be better in no time!"
"Yeah, thanks…"
Ino took Sakura's hand and brought it to her heart, both smiling and glad that she had survived that incredible fall. Then a look of pained recollection crossed Ino's face.
"Sakura, I overheard you parents talking."
"What did they say?"
"Well your mom was in tears, they never even knew about all the stuff we do. They found out from the blood and urine tests, everything showed up in your system!"
"Shit!"
"Your father was furious, he was about ready to disown you but your mom talked him out of it."
"Oh, good, but I don't know if I can face my parents after this fiasco.."
"You won't have to."
"Huh?"
"…..They're sending you to rehab.."
(TWO WEEKS LATER)
The bandages were off, her bags were packed and Sakura found herself in a cab headed for the mountains in northern Albany.
Her parents simply didn't know how to deal with her so they were shipping her off to the middle of nowhere.
"There probably won't be any electricity and they won't let me shave my legs, so I'll come back to civilization looking like a gorilla!"
She pouted and leaned against the window, watching the passing forest become a blur.
"I could use a drink right about now…"
The cab traveled along the narrow path carved up the side of a mountain. At the top they came to a stop at giant rusty metal gates. The driver leaned out the window and pushed the intercom button.
"Hey! I brought another Loony for the Bin, ha ha!"
"You jerk! This is rehab, I'm not fuckin' crazy!"
The gates squealed as they slowly began to open, Sakura's eyes widened as they drove up the lengthy drive way.
A massive 4 story brick building loomed in front getting closer. The facility was surrounded by majestic oaks, evergreens and red woods, there were no fences but she could see trails and paths carved out in the ground. To the right in the far background she could see a lake with a dock surrounded by wooden cabins.
"I thought this was going to be like prison, but it looks more like summer camp."
The cabdriver helped Sakura take her bags to the front steel bolted doors…
Looking back to the cabins by the lake, she heard a loud piercing scream..
"Actually, I take it back; this doesn't look to good…"
As the doors opened Sakura was greeted by a woman with long, layered black hair and blood red eyes, beside her was a man in a lab coat with an eye patch and fly-away silver hair.
"Welcome to the Oakwood Rehabilitation Center. My name is Kurenai and this next to me is Dr.Hatake."
"Call me Kakashi."
"I believe you are Sakura Haruno?"
"Yeah, that's me"
"Please come in."
Dragging her bags in ,she looked around the main entrance room, there were chairs and a table or two but other than that the place was bare. They led her down a dimly lit hallway and into a waiting room/ receptionist area where there was an elderly Japanese woman behind the counter.
"Hello Obaa-san."
"Good evening Kurenai, new guest?"
"Oh yes, this is Sakura Haruno, she'll be staying with us for about 6 months."
"WHAT!? I'm suppost to live here for 6 months! My mom told me I was only gonna be here for 3 weeks, there must be some sort of mistake!?"
Kurenai looked down at the clipboard she was holding.
"Nope, you've been signed in and paid for 6 months of detoxification, therapy and psychoanalysis…but if we see major progress, we might be able to release you early."
Sakura couldn't get the look of shock off her face, how could her parents do this to her? She wasn't addicted…well, she wasn't about to prostitute herself for her fix. She was usually very responsible…except for that one time she woke up with Ino under a bridge in Queens, not knowing what day it was. She knew how to handle herself and her own 'problems', she didn't need all of these people telling her how to run her life.
"By the look on your face, I see that you lack some communication with your parents, we can talk about it in the group therapy sessions"
Sakura turned to stare down the one eyed doctor, throwing her bags at his feet.
"I don't need therapy! I have control of my life! And I'm not as fucked up as most of the people in here think I am!"
"Ah…but that's what you think…Sakura, if you don't mind me asking, how much do you weight?"
"What? Why?...I don't know."
"Well, you have a petit frame for an 18 year old, your about what, 5'6"-5'7", lanky and yet you look no more than 98 pounds…when on a healthy average you should be a good 20 pounds heavier."
"Don't criticize my weight, that's none of your business!"
"Ah…but if it concerns your health then it is."
Awkward silence
"Look, I'm just tired, it was a long cab ride, can you just take me to my room and I'll call my parents in the morning to straighten this out."
"That sounds good."
Sakura followed Kurenai down another hall that led to a pair of elevators. Pushing the button they waited.
"Just a quick lay-out, the first floor is the waiting room, reception wing and lecture hall. The second floor is staff quarters and the cafeteria, the third floor is a small library and where majority of the patients reside and the fourth floor is detoxification and the medical unit."
"What about those cabins by the lake?"
"Oh! Those are for solitude or those special patients that need isolation, this isn't just a rehab for drugs, some of these kids have some real problems so a couple are padded cells…you need to be careful if your ever walking around them."
"….Okay…"
The hallways on the third floor were so clean, white and brightly lit that it hurt. Sakura's skin began to itch, it smelt funny here and it reminded her of a hospital. She followed Kurenai through a maze of hall ways; left, right, left, left again, until they came to room 3-k.
"Here we are, oh yes, before I let you in, I forgot to tell you that you will be rooming with two other girls-"
"What! I don't want to interact with freaks and psychos!"
"That's not a nice thing to say, just be nice to them and they'll be nice to you. These girls have been here for awhile and they can show you the ropes."
Kurenai opened the door with a key and ushered Sakura in, all of the lights were off except for one. It was a spacious room, four beds, bedside tables with lamps, dresser drawers and a small full bath room in the back. Sakura chose the bed closest to the window and put her bags underneath it.
"Good night Sakura, I'll see you in the morning for breakfast."
The door shut and was followed by a click.
Curious, Sakura walked over and turned on the handle to test it, not to her surprise, she was locked in.
Feeling eyes on the back of her head she turned around to see a girl about her age sitting up in the bed closest to the door. She had dark brown hair up in two messy buns and was silently staring at her as she rubbed her arms.
Looking down Sakura saw that her forearms were covered in long thin and thick scars
"Hey…" she said, already knowing that those scars were self inflicted
"Are you cold? Do you want one of my blankets, I have an extra one?"
The girl simply shook her head and turned away, getting back under her blanket.
Sakura sighed "So much for progress.."
She changed into a large flannel shirt and boxers and climbed into her own bleach-cleaned twin bed. It wasn't that bad, over on the right side the bed got softer so she cuddled closer to the wall
"...Sweet dreams"
Sakura turned in the direction of the masocist girl, who was now facing her with a small grin on her face
ignoring her comment, she closed her eyes and willfully slipped into the darkness..
#$&$$#
i've only managed to come across a small handfull of GOOD SakuraxGaara rehab fics.
i liked the concept and will try to write a decent one.
like the kind of story i've always wanted to read, but could never find...so i'm doin' it myself!
CHAPTER#2 ; MEET THE INMATES
love & peace
Harper