Hey There! Oh, Isolation is being Re-Written! If you want to see the original story (for whatever reason), a Google Doc is available here!
Fun Fact: Autophobia is a fear of yourself, the fear of embodying your emotions or inner self, or the fear of being alone. Like any phobia, it affects everyone differently and can feel impossible to talk about, especially when you aren't even sure if you understand it. It is also a condition that one can have a very hard time even identifying in themself.
The nurse just watched 'Ichael as they sat down, trying to take a bite out of a sandwich. 'Ichael's injuries were still healing, so all of this was still hurting to a degree, but progress was being made.
"Are you sure you don't want to do this somewhere else?" the nurse asked, a bit shy.
"I'll eat here, then we can walk around," 'Ichael responded, their excitement leaking out a bit. They'd asked just last night if they'd be able to walk sometime soon, and Sarah had told them that, as long as they felt up to it, and under supervision, they could walk just about anywhere in the ship. 'Ichael had a hard time keeping themself in their room since. They just felt they had to move around, even if the bed was super comfortable.
Soon enough, the sandwich was gone, and after double-checking that crumbs weren't anywhere but the tray on their lap, they handed the tray over to the nurse and picked up the crutches at their side, basically jumping out of the chair.
"Slow down," the nurse said, chuckling. "Let me open the door." They were trying to hold the tray against their side with one arm while they did it, which did more to keep 'Ichael from launching themself out of the room than the nurse's words did. As soon as the door was fully opened, 'Ichael did everything they could to slowly follow the nurse out.
It helped to have to use crutches, obviously.
"We'll take this down to the mess hall," the nurse started, pointing to the tray and dishes on it, "then we can get started, okay?"
"Alright," 'Ichael said, smiling so hard it almost hurt. "So, we'll get to leave the hospital?"
"Yeah, but I'll need to let the front desk know where we're going. Do you have any specific places you'd like to see?"