Cw: self harm
Whumpee sat in the day room at the behavioral health center that they'd been at for a few days, coloring quietly, when a patient in a blue shirt whose name Whumpee didn't know came over crying, grabbed a colored pencil and began sawing at their wrist. Whumpee fearfully tried to deter them but to no avail, they continued, crying harder. Whumpee ran out of the day room to a group of staff. "Hey, the person in the blue shirt is really upset, they need help-" Whumpee started but was cut off by Nurse One. "Yes they just had a tough phone call, just leave them alone." "No they need help. Please." Whumpee was having a hard time getting their words out because they were so frantic. Two more nurses came out from behind the desk quietly circled Whumpee who at this point, was pretty worked up. The poor patient in the blue shirt was just in the other room and no one seemed to believe Whumpee. As the three nurses started closing in on Whumpee, a different patient in a blue shirt (mentioned by the nurse who had the phone call, separate from the one with the pencil,) walked out and said "Hey Patient One is trying to cut themselves with a pencil." The staff turned their heads, observed, and ran over, leaving Whumpee by themselves to deescalate alone in the hall. They REALLY needed to start learning names.
