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To her, the brain was the most vital human component, and she was humbled to have the privilege of helping her patients cope and heal theirs … even if she struggled with her own sometimes.
she wanted to be someone worth staying for.
She tended to fall too fast. Too hard. Care way too much. It was why Chris had seemed so safe. The
She was done crying over all these people who hurt her. She was done letting anyone hurt her, period.
he was too broken to be fully anywhere, but he’d do his best to pretend.
Jude understood that. He worried that if someone touched him, he’d crumble. It was much safer to hold himself together.
That’d been a problem for him lately, this inability of his brain to process the things happening around him, this constant disconnect from his body.
“I just feel useless. I feel like I’m this broken mess that will fail others because I can’t even fix myself.”
Psychiatry takes a special understanding of where chemical imbalances and emotions meet.
You don’t have to be a source of wisdom or strength. You don’t have to be anything but human. I’m here to listen to you. Be here for you.
pour her soul into the room. She wanted to talk about the ache that never went away. The hole in her heart that no one seemed able to fill.
How her deepest want was just to be loved, and how she wasn’t sure anyone ever could.
that was enough of sitting with her feelings for one day.
she felt incredibly safe letting her guard down around him.
“I’m really glad you’re here,” Collin said, smile earnest. “I’ve missed you.”
What was it about the simplest comments that had the power to break down every wall?
“You know I wouldn’t miss your wedding.” “I know. But it still makes me happy you’re here.”
It didn’t matter. Nothing had made sense to him in a long time.
Jude let himself slip further away—dissolve into the gray space where things passed through him.
“Seriously, thank you. I really appreciate it.”
He hated how much work it took for his body to do the things that should come naturally.
even in the heavy weight of all the aches, a foreign warmth glowed in his chest.
Running was the one constant Jude had from place to place, giving him some momentary peace as he pushed his body.
It’s surprisingly fun to indulge in the details or something. Get lost in the complex simplicity of it all.
really nice getting caught up in the small things with someone you love.”
You’ve always been quiet, but this seems different.”
Jude didn’t know what to say to that. He wasn’t himself. He’d probably never be that person again.
Jude feared if he gave an inch of himself to someone, he’d crumble completely. And he couldn’t handle breaking more than he already was.
Something about his bond with Collin always made him feel safe.
she had a rather unfortunate and incurable need to help people.
Her chest ached as she felt the hurt radiating out of him.
“Trust me,” he said at last. “It’s for the best if I don’t.”
it ending. Or maybe it was that things never felt … right with him?”
I could always get under his skin, and I kind of loved it. It meant he saw me.”
“Having him be this steady presence in my life for so long, it felt terrifying for him to leave, no matter how annoying he was. Is.”
supposed to stir up complicated feelings of abandonment in me and now I can’t stop worrying about you?’”
“I’m fucked up,”
“I panic when people leave.
had so many people walk out of my life after I cling to them too hard and it’s embarrassing.
“How can I be this damaged and still help people?”
you’re self-aware, and that alone is half the battle.”
We’re all flawed.
Your emotional struggles as a human are not a moral judgment of your worth, and they’re not a reflection on your ability to help others.”
“Sitting with these feelings is a great place to start with healing from them.”
created the odd sense in his chest that she understood him.
“I love that I get to watch people learn to heal themselves. It’s magic.”
Even when things are going well. It sometimes feels like I’m missing a crucial piece to their puzzle and it makes me restless.”
To just exist around her.
Anchoring him.
Trying to think would wrap his brain into knots, impossible to unravel. His mind used to be so agile, seeing steps ahead in conversations or action. Now, it seemed incapable of even completing the simplest of processes.
