10 Minutes

I finally found Leo. As I was getting ready for the day, I missed a call from a random number. I listened to the voicemail and it was Leo. Part of me was excited and happy that he was ok. But the other part of me sunk to the floor. He was in an inpatient psychiatric ward. Long story short, he gave consent to be taken in for treatment. They stripped him of everything he had, even clothing. He called me from a communal phone, and told me to call back later around 9pm. I got another missed call from him at work. On my lunch break I decided to call and eventually got through to someone who took a message for me. We finally got a hold of each other and hearing his voice gave me a sense of relief. What he's gone through there is terrible. Visiting hours are very limited, so seeing him is difficult around my work and school schedule. I'm debating whether or not I should tell my parents. I know he wants to keep it contained that he's there, but it would help if I could borrow one of my parents' cars to see him during the later visitation hours. I'm seeing him Wednesday, but only for a half hour between my classes. It'll be the first time I've seen him face to face since the summer. I just want to hug him and see his face to make sure he looks ok. Where he's being held is actually only a 10min car ride from my house, so it's easy to visit. It's just the restrictive hours that are the problem. He and I talked for an hour on the phone in 10min intervals. Each call can only last 10mins so he kept having to call me back. It's comforting to know he's safe. But it concerns me with how lonely it must be in there. He said he likes his roommate, but there are some real crazy people in there with him. I've shed a few tears since I spoke to Leo a few hours ago, but I'm trying to fight the depression and anxiety. He doesn't understand how much he means to me. I can count how many friends I have on my two hands. And that's including coworkers and my boyfriend. I don't trust many people. I don't let them get too close because I'm guarded. Leo is my best friend, and to know he's alone in an unfamiliar place with literal crazy people is breaking my heart.