Hollow Beings

Chapter 3: The Drive

Aiden got into the car and Jennifer didn't say a word. She sat in the Passenger seat scrolling through her phone. From the backseat Aiden saw that she was massaging someone named Sam.

"Tsk," Jennifer froze for a second then looked up from her phone and turned to Aiden. "It's not polite to stare at other people's phones." Aiden whispered under his breath, "hypocrite." "I can hear you." The car got quiet. Mr. Jakins opened the driver seat and got in.

As they drove the scenery changed from spaced out mansions to clusters of tall buildings. Sometimes, Aiden forgot he lived in the city. His house was almost isolated from it. After some time driving they reached the hospital.

Owen Reynolds Rehabilitation Hospital was a very big rich people place. From the parking lot you could see modern art hanging from the ceilings. It seemed more like a museum than a mental hospital.

Mr. Jakins got out of the car and rushed over to Jennifers' door. Adien got out and slammed the car door behind him. Jennifer glared at him, "Be more gentle with the car." He rolled his eyes and walked into the hospital without waiting.

When he got inside the full force of the 'modern day hospital' hit him. "they weren't kidding when they said it would be nice,"Mr. Jakins walked in with Jennifer. Aiden sat down in one of the waiting room seats. There wasn't much going on in the room. There were a few people in the chairs and some employees talking by the front desk. He extended his long legs and shrunk back into his seat. He leaned his head back and looked up. Above the seats was an art piece of what looked like a glass ostrich. "What the fuck."

To the right a young boy scraped his chair on the ground making Aiden look over. He stormed over the bathroom. The man who appeared to be his dad sighed and got up. The mom leaned over herself with her hands on her face. The dad followed his kid to the bathrooms.

"Aiden." Jennifer sat by him, setting her purse on the other seat by her. Aiden kept watching the restroom doors and the dad and his son came back. "Aiden?" as the dad sat back down the boy made eye contact with him. "Aiden!?" "mm." She sighed and took out her phone and started talking with Sam again.

After a few minutes of silence a nurse from the front desk came over. She rested the clipboard on her chest and said, "Hello, my name is Carrie, I'm the nurse that's in charge of your checkup." The boy's mother scrunched up, "I thought we talked with Dr. Nickel about him, doing the checkup." A doctor came walking behind the nurse that just came.

The three adults bickered beside Aiden who had stopped paying attention' God I can't listen to this, he stood up "You can leave now Jennifer." "Now don't be like that, why don't-''

"Carrie, could you tell me where the bathroom is?" Nrs. Carrie jumped a little "Um, well I-'' she looked nervously at the Doctor who nodded, "Of course she would. I'm going to talk with Mrs. Hineland a little longer, so you can leave." He smiled at Aiden. The nurse named Carrie led him to the bathrooms. He brushed past her and walked in.

"Ughhhh-'' Aiden walked into the handicap stall and sat on the floor. He buried his face in his knees. "I'm not gonna be able to do this." The bathroom door opened and someone walked in front of Aidan's stall door. Knock knock. "Aiden? I'm gonna need you to come out now." Dr. Nickel stood there a moment then knocked again. Aiden sighed and got off the floor. He flushed the toilet then exited the stall. He went to the sinks Dr. Nickel waited by the wall. Aiden turned around. "Ready?" Dr. Nickel asked. Aiden gave a nod and they left the restroom.

Nrs. Carrie was chatting with a someone pushing a medicine cart. She looked over at them, "Ah! Are you ready, Aiden?" "Yeah." She looked at the doctor and he nodded. "I'll talk with you later Aiden but I'll be having Nrs. Carrie show you around. If you have any problems you can ask the front desk for me." Nrs. Carrie led Aiden in the opposite direction of Dr. Nickel.

"I was thinking we would start the tour by going to the rec room. Every morning we have patients gather there for a group check up. I'll just have you watch today so you get an idea of how it works." They walked down the fluorescent hallways until they reached an open room with several different seating options. A group of people of different ages sat in a general area of each other.

Standing in the middle of the group was a woman holding a dry erase marker. "It's your turn Benny." an old man grumbled under his breath, "I'd say it's a four and don't talk to me about it!" the woman frowned as she put the numbers on the white board behind her, "Now Benny, you know you'll have to explain yourself, I'm gonna have a talk with your therapist so expect the conversation." again Benny grumbled. "What would be today's goal?" Benny sat for a second, "a five." She wrote down the number and before turning around, "What type of coping would you like me to write down?" " Sitting outside in the fresh air." "That is a good one, if you'd like I could take you outside later." "hrm!" The man turned his head disapprovingly. "Next is, Harper."

A little girl shifted in her seat. "Harper, how would you rate the day on a scale of 1-10? Ten being the best, one being the worst." The nurse waited patiently for a response. The girl looked like she was struggling to say something and eventually gave up. She held up a five with her fingers. The nurse asked, "And what's your goal for today?" Harper put up ten fingers with a big grin on her face. "That's a wonderful goal Harper. I hope you reach it today. Finally, what is the coping skill you'll put on the board?" She held out a dry erase marker and Harper took it. On the board she wrote 'coloring'. The woman leaned down and patted Harper on the head