IP shared with me about himself all week, thanks to my emails that I sent either the night before or that morning. I felt like that interaction lifted my mood in a genuine, therapeutic way.
IP talked about his journey into becoming a doctor, about how calculus wasn't hard for him (it was probably because he had a great professor, he said, trying to make me feel better). He gave me the advice that life takes us in different directions, but we can still end up in the right place. I'm not too sure what that means for someone who could have easily ended up a substitute teacher, but he pressed on, finished his pre-med courses, and applied to medical school.
While he never talked about his private life, besides drinking coffee non-stop all day long and rebuffing the science that coffee addiction exists, he shared what he thought made for attraction in a relationship (shared interests). (I'm more of a physical attraction type.)
All of this was enough for me to get the courage to ask in my last email if I could write him occasionally (very infrequently, maybe once every few months) once I've been discharged. If we could keep the line of communication open. I explained that I wouldn't contact him if I was in crisis (my regular psychiatrist is for that), I wouldn't contact him if I needed to be re-hospitalized. I have a number to call to see if there are beds available. I mentioned that it was perhaps crossing some line or perhaps he just didn't like writing emails. If that was the case, that was okay with me. I do have an agreement with my inpatient psychologist that I can contact her, if I'd like, when I'm on the outside, just to say hi. I brought that up as an example.
I have no idea how he'll respond.
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