The ghost of him

Chapter 27

My stomach is churning. I woke up happy, smiling at the ceiling, but then I remembered where I am, and where I'm going, and my smile fades and my anxiety kicks in. I've never been away from my parents for that long. The longest was two weeks, for summer camp, and I spent two weeks at my aunt's house. Never a whole month.

I don't know how I'm going to do it. I'm sure they'll come to visit me from time to time, well at least dad will, but still, a month with strangers. Not looking forward to it.

One of the nurses walks past and sees I'm awake so she decides to stop in. "Oh good. Perfect timing. Breakfast starts in about 30 minutes, and that'll be your chance to meet everyone. They still need to show you around. We put some clothes on the table over there, put them on. Your mom also dropped off a bag with some of your things. She was restricted with what she was allowed to bring though."

Ughhhhhh. I should have stayed asleep. Why can't I have breakfast down here and go up there later? Or...never? And what did she mean about she was restricted?

I have no choice so I get and go grab the clothes. I look in the bag she gave to see what she brought. There's a note at the top with her handwriting that says, 'this is all I could give you' A few clothes, a hairbrush, a book, and the note. I can't even have my phone? Or my laptop? And what about a toothbrush and toothpaste? Surely she could've brought that.

I get changed in the clothes the hospital gave me, which is just gray sweatpants without the strings, and a plain blue t-shirt.

One of the nurses escorts me up there, like before.

No one is outside, everyone is in their rooms, probably sleeping, or they're not allowed to come out because it's not breakfast time.

"Hello again." Nurse Kelly comes up to me with a welcoming smile and holds her hand out, and we shake hands. "I know you probably don't want to be here, but we're here to help you, don't you forget that." Her tone is so...perky. I don't know. For someone who works in a hospital, she's very optimistic. Kind of weird if you ask me.

"This is Darrel." She points to the guy behind the counter, hunched in his seat, doing something on the computer. "He's the secretary, but kind of the main guy. If you have questions or complaints you go to him, okay?"

I awkwardly smile at him and he just gives me a wave and goes back to what he's doing. It seems like he hates his job, hates being around these kinds of people, well I guess now I should say us because I am now those kinds of people.

Nurse kelly stares at me up and down, studying me. "We have a few rules here... we try to get rid of anything that may cause you harm..." She comes over to me, behind me, and takes off the necklace around my neck.

What is she doing? My necklace isn't going to hurt me? I love this necklace, if something happens to it... "Hey. Why are you-"

"Sit."

"But I-" She forces me to sit in a chair and unties my shoelaces, taking them off completely. "Hey! What's your deal?"

"Safety precautions," she says. before I can process her taking off my shoelaces she comes and takes out my earrings. I loved those too, and now I'm getting annoyed with the things she's taking away from me. When I came up here I didn't expect to be robbed and violated.

"I'll have to check this bag too." She says as she takes my bag from my hands. Wow. They are strict in this place.

I feel bare, without my jewelry or my shoelaces, and because of no shoelaces, my shoes feel too big on me.

"Now, let's go show you you're room and introduce you to your roommate."

Oh, come on. I have a roommate too? I mean I assumed I'd have one, but I was hoping I didn't. I just hope whoever it is, they aren't too over the top, that they're manageable.