She hated what she saw. She slammed her hand against the mirror. Tiny pieces of glass cut her hand. Blood was trickling from some small cuts. The rest of the shattered mirror lay at her feet on the floor. She hated being different.

Looking down at the shattered glass, the reflection was still there but it was split into pieces. She stared at it for a moment, and then brought her foot down on top of the remaining pieces. Splinters of glass entered her tender foot but this didn’t stop her from doing it again. She hated being an individual.

She was not sad, but angry. Why was she different? Why was she an individual? Why couldn’t she be like all them?

She hated not being like them.

One large piece of glass remained in tact. As she bent to pick it up, I knock on her lone apartment door. She didn’t want to answer, but she knew that I would get in anyway. I was the only one who would visit her. No body else ever did, because she was different.

She opened the door and limped back to her small bed. She had no couch, only an old single bed. I saw the glass on the floor but made no comment. I saw the cuts on her hand but made no comments. I saw the look of anger on her face but still made no comment. She was different, but so was I.

I sat on the small bed next to her after reaching into her draw and pulling out two bandages. Carefully I wrapped her foot and hand. Meanwhile she said nothing, all she did was stare straight ahead.

My mobile rang. The caller ID said that it was my girlfriend. I knew that I should answer but I just couldn’t leave her sitting next to me all alone. But the phone didn’t stop, so I decided to answer it. I walked out to the front steps, so that I couldn’t explain that I needed to be with my best friend right now.

This didn’t go down well with my girlfriend but she finally gave in and told me to be careful and contact her if I needed any help. I was grateful to her.

I made my way back in the front door and locked it behind me. I walked back to the bedroom and told her as I walked in that it was just my girlfriend on the phone and that she had told me to stay here with you for a while.

I didn’t see her on the bed where I had left her. Thinking quickly I walked around the other side of the bed and that’s where I found her, a piece of glass in her hand and blood pouring from her wrist.

‘Idiot.’ I chilled myself, as I ran over to her. I pulled out my mobile with one hand as I used the other to grab the blanket off the bed. I dialled triple-0 as I held the phone between my ear and shoulder. I ripped a piece off of the blanket and held it with pressure on her wrist. The ambulance was on its way. I threw the phone away and reached for a pillow to put under her head, all the while holding pressure on her wrist.

I knew that she hated being different, but I never thought that she would do this. I spoke to her softly and told her to stay with me because I needed her. I told her that I was different too. I told her that there were a lot of people out there who cared for her.

I used my free hand to feel for a pulse on her neck. I now had tears in my eyes as I realised how serious this really was. There was a pulse but it was really faint. I kept talking to her and telling her that it will get better and that everything will be all right.

I told her that I loved her and promised her that I would never leave her. As I felt for a pulse again, I realised that promises were made to be broken.