When She Falls V2

Status: 2nd Draft

When She Falls V2

Status: 2nd Draft

When She Falls V2

Book by: graymartin

Details

Genre: Romance

No Groups

Content Summary


Just one month from med school graduation, Ethan Chase is about to start the life of his dreams, with a promising career and a supermodel-with-a-Harvard-degree fiancée. Problem is, he might want
something more, and he might have just found her.



Callahan Perrin is a young prodigy with a troubled past. Famous since childhood for her haunting and unique art, her gift is also her curse. Is she destined for a tragically short life like her
father or can she find another path?



I workshopped the first seven chapters of this WIP a few years ago. Lost the thread, but now I'm trying to pick it back up. Those of you who remember the story can pick up where I left off at
Chapter 8. Cheers, Gray

Content Summary


Just one month from med school graduation, Ethan Chase is about to start the life of his dreams, with a promising career and a supermodel-with-a-Harvard-degree fiancée. Problem is, he might want
something more, and he might have just found her.



Callahan Perrin is a young prodigy with a troubled past. Famous since childhood for her haunting and unique art, her gift is also her curse. Is she destined for a tragically short life like her
father or can she find another path?



I workshopped the first seven chapters of this WIP a few years ago. Lost the thread, but now I'm trying to pick it back up. Those of you who remember the story can pick up where I left off at
Chapter 8. Cheers, Gray

Author Chapter Note


Choi and Grieves give Ethan a reality check.



Author's note: this chapter has some medical details that I'm hoping won't be boring or come across as an info dump. I don't want to romanticize or trivialize mental illness, and feel it's
important to ground Callie's story in medical truth. That said, medical details can be as dry and bland as a mouthful of flour. Please let me know if you find yourself skimming or skipping!

Chapter Content - ver.1

Submitted: June 08, 2020

Comments: 2

In-Line Reviews: 8

A A A | A A A

Chapter Content - ver.1

Submitted: June 08, 2020

Comments: 2

In-Line Reviews: 8

A A A

A A A

You have to login to receive points for reviewing this content.

3:00 PM

 

Ethan

 

Ethan scrolled through Jess’s texts, anxiety gnawing at his stomach. She had their weekend all planned out. Breakfast tomorrow morning with her sister Maddie. Then apartment hunting in Greenwich Village. Hitting the boutiques of Fifth Avenue to pick gifts for their wedding registry, followed by a late lunch at the Water Club, which was also a possible venue for their reception. More registry stuff and apartment hunting. Then dinner with Bethany and Jason – now moved to SoHo so they could drop by some trendy new art exhibit after.

And then what?

He had to come clean. He owed Jess the truth.

Or did he?

She knew about the accident, of course. She’d lived through the aftermath with him, choosing to stay in their relationship where so many girlfriends would have bailed. Sure, a good part of that relationship had been long-distance, and they’d taken a break for a couple of years to try out the “just friends” thing. But would they have rekindled their romance if he’d told her about his monthly visits to Vic the addiction counselor? Would she have said “yes” to his marriage proposal if she knew about his dirty little secret?

He rationalized his silence. Told himself that shameful part of his life was in the past. He wasn’t a drug addict. Not really. He was just a victim of circumstances, and now that those circumstances had changed, why risk ruining his relationship? Hadn’t fate already taken enough? Didn’t he deserve the reward of a “happily ever after?”

Lies of omission. They piled up like bodies, one on top of the other until you were staring down at a mass grave. Tough to build a healthy marriage on that foundation. Only a matter of time before the stench permeated everything.

 

CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU BABE

 

He stared at Jess’s most recent text, which she’d punctuated with a string of heart emojis.

This weekend, he resolved. I’ll tell her everything this weekend.

“Ethan? We’re ready for you.”

He got up from his chair and followed Sophie Choi into Dr. Grieves’ office. Belmont’s Chief Psychiatrist greeted them in the foyer and led them to a sun-bathed alcove with three antique armchairs, arranged in a triangle around a Persian rug. Soft baroque music filtered through the air, which smelled like old books and cinnamon potpourri.

“Before we start,” Grieves told Ethan after they’d taken their seats, “you should know this is an informal presentation. We’re not expecting a journal-ready report, Mr. Chase. Just give us your first week impressions.”

“Okay.” Ethan waited for Sophie Choi to look up from her cell before starting. “Callahan Perrin is a twenty-one-year old female who presented to the ER one week ago after a failed suicide attempt with some level of planning and lethal intent.”

His presentation was supposed to take ten minutes, but by the three-minute mark, Choi’s eyes had already glazed over. Five minutes in and she started reading her cell messages. Whatever, he thought as he paused to review his notes. Callie was one of the most colorful people he’d ever met, but trying to sum up her life using passive medical jargon? It was like trying to sketch a rainbow with a pencil.

He plowed ahead anyway until Choi finally cut him off.

“Let’s wrap it up, Ethan. What are your clinical impressions, axis one through four?

“Her axis one diagnosis is bipolar I disorder,” he replied, “characterized by multiple manic episodes followed by major depressive episodes.”

“Agreed. That’s her primary diagnosis. But don’t forget her substance abuse and eating disorder. These are important co-morbidities. What about axis two?”

“Negative. I don’t think Callie has any personality disorders.”

“That’s questionable.” Choi turned to Grieves, whose expression remained neutral. “I’d argue she meets some criteria for borderline personality disorder, but those symptoms may be tied in with her bipolar disease. What about her psychosocial factors?”

Ethan cleared his throat. “That’s where I see most of Miss Perrin’s pathology. From an early age, she’s been ignored, victimized, and exploited. She grew up with no maternal love or support, and her father suffered from depression and addiction issues that ultimately killed him. To make things worse, her stepmother – the one positive role model in her life – died tragically when Callie was a teenager. That left her with no one to turn to but her mentally abusive biological mother.”

Choi frowned. “By that logic, Callie’s just a victim of her circumstances.”

“To a certain extent.” Ethan glanced at Grieves, hoping for some words of encouragement, but he was met with maddening silence.

“I’m not saying Callie’s issues would’ve disappeared with a better support network. But what if?” He noticed how Choi had raised an eyebrow. “What if even one person had stepped up to give her consistent love and support? She’d be in a better place, right?”

Ethan turned from Choi to Grieves, all but begging him to react. After more excruciating silence, the Oracle of Belmont finally cleared his throat to ask a question.

“What would you say about Miss Perrin’s prognosis?”

“Um.” Ethan glanced down at the intricate, geometric patterns on the Persian rug, as if an answer might be found there. “I don’t really think I’m qualified to say.”

“Just give us your gut impression.”

“Okay. Well, I’ve seen a lot of progress over the past few days. Callie’s mood is so much brighter. She has more energy, she’s hopeful about her future and wants to avoid the mistakes she’s made in the past. One example is her willingness to go against her mother’s wishes and stay at Belmont until she’s made a full recovery. With the right support in place, I think she’ll have a bright future.”

Grieves faced his Chief Resident. “Sophie? Comments?”

Ethan expected an eye roll. Instead, he was surprised to see a new softness in her expression.

“Ethan’s done a good job of summarizing Callie’s history,” she said. “I agree that on the surface, she’s shown a dramatic turnaround. She’s a rapid cycler, and her prior hospitalizations have all been characterized by what appear to be quick recoveries. That’s one of the reasons she’s never had the long-term planning and follow up she so desperately needs.”

Ethan leaned forward. “But we can change that.”

“We can try. But here’s the problem. Your take on Callie is what we call the Hollywood Delusion. It’s the idea that mental illness is all due to circumstance, or even worse, that it’s somehow the victim’s fault. That if only they were tougher, they could battle their way through illness and back to health again.”

She took a dramatic pause. “But what if Callie was a brittle diabetic? What if she rolled into your ER in a coma? Once you got her blood sugar under control, would you tell her to watch her diet? Avoid eating too much sugar?” She scoffed. “Sure, you’d recommend those things, but first you’d save her life with insulin. Then you’d tell her to monitor her blood sugars and keep taking that damn insulin for the rest of her life.”

Ethan noticed that Grieves had started to nod as Sophie preached.

“Callie has a life-threatening disease. Now that she’s back on her meds and stable, you see exactly what we see. What we all want to see. A charming young woman who’s bright and funny. Who’s blessed with this incredible artistic talent that most of us could only dream of having. She’s rich. She’s famous. The world is at her feet, right? So then ask yourself this one question…”

Ethan fidgeted in his seat, realizing where this was going.

“Why did she try to kill herself last week? Why was this her third attempt in the past five years? Why, with each attempt, does she show deadlier planning and intent?”

“She had no one looking out for her,” Ethan suggested.

“That’s not true. Her mother… I’ll agree she’s done more harm than good. But Callie had friends at Brown. Her roommate, whom I’ve spoken to, is incredibly supportive. She was plugged into the school’s Counseling and Psychological Services. In other words, she was in a good place. But she still stopped taking her meds. That, plus academic and social stressors, triggered another manic episode. And here’s another problem…”

She reached into a satchel at her feet to retrieve a folded piece of paper, which she handed to Ethan. He recognized Callie’s artwork right away. The blizzard of color. The thousands of vibrant dots that fluttered and swirled across the canvas like a swarm of tiny butterflies. He knew this landscape, with its gray-green lagoon fringed with weeping willows. He could even make out the arched pedestrian bridges and swan boats. It was Boston Public Garden, only shattered and then partially reassembled. The warped image made him think of pointillism on acid. A Georges Seurat masterpiece thrown into a blender.

Below the painting, block letters announced the venue and date of Callahan Perrin’s triumphant return:

 

MAYFLOWER GALLERY OF FINE ARTS

12 NEWBURY STREET, BOSTON

THURSDAY, MARCH 19TH, 7:00 – 11:00 PM

CALLAHAN PERRIN, BY INVITATION ONLY

 

March 19th. The night before Callie’s most recent suicide attempt. Ethan handed the poster back to Choi, his hand shaking.

“Callie’s art is tied to her mental illness. Her mania feeds her creativity, and she’s convinced her meds destroy her ability to paint. That’s one of the reasons why she’s so non-compliant. Her manic episodes are worrisome enough. She’ll go days without sleeping or eating. She’s impulsive. Promiscuous. Reckless and self-destructive. But the depressive episodes that follow are even more dangerous.”

“Mr. Chase,” Grieves cut in. “Are you familiar with the Suicide Assessment Scale?”

Ethan shook his head, feeling too shell-shocked to say anything at this point.

“The SAS is a way to predict a patient’s suicide risk,” Choi explained. “A history of prior suicide attempts is the most powerful predictor of death by suicide. Family history of suicide is also a huge red flag. Add to that impulsiveness, chronic non-compliance with meds, substance abuse, rapid cycling, feelings of hopelessness, multiple psychiatric hospitalizations, involuntary hospitalizations…”

She drew in a deep breath, then quickly puffed it out. “You get the picture. Callie’s suicide risk is off the chart. Based on her SAS score, we estimate her five-year survival rate to be around twenty-five percent.”

She paused to give Ethan time to process that gut punch. Then, just in case he didn’t get it, she added, “That’s about the same odds she’d have with metastatic melanoma.”

 

*

 

“I imagine that was hard to hear,” Doctor Grieves said. “The truth often is. But that doesn’t mean we should lose hope. Miss Perrin is a resilient young woman. Her fate isn’t written yet.”

Ethan agreed with a thin smile, even though it felt out of place. They were alone now. The psychiatrist had dismissed Sophie Choi after asking him to stay a few extra minutes.

“Our nurses tell me you and Callie have grown rather close,” Grieves continued. “I hope you don’t mind, but our staff watched you during your garden walk earlier today. From a distance. That’s standard policy, for patient safety.”

Ethan sucked in a breath. Why hadn’t he noticed the intrusion? Because he’d been so focused on Callie that he wouldn’t have noticed a unicorn galloping across the lawn. She seemed equally unaware.

“Sometimes, it can be difficult to maintain appropriate boundaries with our patients.” Grieves slowed his speech, like he was choosing each word with extra care. “Especially when we share common interests and experiences. But those boundaries must be maintained. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Absolutely.” Heat crept up Ethan’s neck like a flame. “I understand what you’re saying.”

“Good. Sophie had her concerns about pairing you two. I’ll admit my idea was a tad…” He frowned. “Unorthodox. But when I spotted your name on this month’s student roster, I thought it was worth rolling the dice.”

“Doctor Grieves?” Ethan raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, but I’m not following you.”

“Then perhaps I should tell you a story.” The psychiatrist took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. When he spoke again, his deep baritone sounded like it belonged in a movie trailer. “This happened five years ago, when I was on the HMS Board of Admissions. We were presented with a tragic case. A bright young man who’d just been admitted to medical school suffered two tragedies. First his sister died. Then he was in a car crash that left him seriously injured. He requested deferment for a year, which we swiftly granted.”

Ethan’s heart beat faster with each word.

“No controversy there. The young man had our unanimous sympathy. But then, months later, we received a concerning update. This same student had been caught forging a prescription for a controlled substance. He’d stolen his father’s prescription pad, and to make matters worse, his father was also a distinguished member of our faculty.”

Grieves cleaned his lenses as he spoke. “Turns out he’d developed an opioid addiction. Clear grounds for revoking his admission, but the committee was split. Some of us argued for compassion. Given his tragic history, didn’t he deserve another chance? We debated his case for hours.”

Ethan’s mouth had gone dry. When he tried to swallow, it felt like his throat was coated with sand.

“In the end, we agreed to place him on probation. He could attend medical school, but on the condition that he enroll in a substance abuse program. He also had to receive addiction counseling throughout his medical school career. He started his first year with two strikes. One more transgression would be met with immediate dismissal.” 

He slipped his glasses back on and gave Ethan a smile. “I’ve followed your career with much interest, Mr. Chase. When you graduate next month, I’ll be proud to call you Doctor. Giving you a second chance was the right decision, and you’ve proven that time and time again.”

Ethan couldn’t find words. What Grieves had just revealed… he didn’t know whether to feel grateful or horrified.

“Your academic performance puts you at the top of your class, but I’m talking more about your compassion. Your dedication to your patients. I’ve seen that first-hand watching you connect with Callie. You opened doors for us that would still be locked without you.”

Ethan finally found his tongue. “You assigned me to Callie because you knew about my past?”

“Yes.” The psychiatrist met his gaze. “It was a calculated risk, but I knew Miss Perrin needed someone to listen. Someone her age who could relate to her struggles. Who would draw from personal experience.”

“You should’ve told me.”

“Perhaps. But then you would have carried that knowledge into your first meeting. Now that you’ve gotten to know Callie, you understand what’s at stake. When she leaves Belmont, she’ll be more vulnerable than ever. Sophie was correct. That girl’s next suicide attempt will likely end her life.”

Ethan slumped back into his seat. “You don’t think she’s going to make it, do you?”

“I don’t know. But at least she has a chance. That’s better than some.”

Grieves furrowed his brow. “Let me tell you another story. This one happened many moons ago, back when I was a medical student at St. George’s. During my pediatrics rotation, I took care of an angelic little girl named Lily.” He smiled, as if warmed by her memory. “I can still picture her face. Hear her sweet voice. She was precocious too. Sharp as a tack. To look at her, you’d think she was in perfect health, but her CT scan told a different story.”

Ethan winced, guessing where this was going. It took a special breed of doctor to be a pediatric oncologist. Sure, there were uplifting moments, but enough heartache to bring most people to their knees.

“Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma,” Grieves continued. “One hundred percent fatal back then, and not much better today. Her parents refused to believe she’d be gone in a year, as did I. Even as the seizures became more frequent, they held out hope for a miracle. But we could do nothing. Her fate was sealed when that first glial cell mutated into cancer. She died before the year had passed.”

“Are you saying Callie’s fate has been sealed too?”

“No. Quite the opposite. Callie has what Lily never had: a fighting chance. I’ve spent my career studying brilliant but troubled minds like hers. There’s no reason she can’t live a wonderful life – one filled with love and happiness. And she doesn’t need to choose between her art and her health. With the right support, she can have both.”

“But what about the odds Dr. Choi gave her?”

“Based on where Callie is today, Sophie was being optimistic. But you were right too. Change the script and those odds will improve. Medications alone will never be enough. Therapy won’t be either. She’ll need to surround herself with healthy relationships. Friends and someday, a new family. People who will love her enough to catch her when she falls. Every day, for the rest of her life. Because she will fall, and rise, and fall again. As do we all, Mr. Chase.”

He rose from his chair slowly, like a tree reaching up for the sun, and put a hand on Ethan’s shoulder.  “As do we all.”

 

***


© Copyright 2025 graymartin. All rights reserved.

Write a Regular Review:

Regular reviews are a general comments about the work read. Provide comments on plot, character development, description, etc.

Write Regular Review

Write an In-line Review:

In-line reviews allow you to provide in-context comments to what you have read. You can comment on grammar, word usage, plot, characters, etc.

Write In-Line Review

Submitted Feedback

avatar

Author
Reply

avatar

Author
Reply

Connections with graymartin

graymartin is a member of: