WtSLB: Sapphire in Wonderland (Hiatus)

Chapter 23: Mental Ward

Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead in the bleach-white room of the mental ward, five out of six shielding their eyes. Lewis didn't have eyes to ache.

Sapphire blinked a few times, adjusting the quickest. Underneath them were shiny tiled floors; polished so well she could almost see their silhouettes in them. The walls had no windows, and had motivational posters neatly aligned with the floor and ceiling. Some of the posters and phone numbers to various hotlines. At the far end of the waiting room was a metal door.

There were chairs lined up in two separate squares, a few occupied by residents of Ludwig, and in front of them was a long counter with a line receptionist - a lizard woman who was filling out paperwork, her serpentine eyes not looking up.

She led the way to the desk, stopping in front of it.

"One moment, please," the receptionist said kindly. She finished scribbling something down before sliding the paper across her desk, looking up at them with her teeth bared. To people unused to seeing nonhumans, it would easily be mistaken for a hostile snarl. But with no lips to convey her emotions clearly, she couldn't smile. The receptionist was doing the closest she could to a friendly smile. "How many I help you today? Are you here for a new prescription? Antipsychotics? Antidepressants? Antibiotics?"

"Um! We're here to get through the hospittle," Sapphire said. The receptionist hummed, nodding her head before writing something down on a clip board.

"I see... Please have a seat, we'll be ready for you shortly."

They moved to a group of chairs and sat down together, Red Hood looking around warily. Two seats away was the nearest customer, a thin, bony human man with sunken, alert and nearly feral eyes. He kept scratching at his arms, his neck twitching every few moments. He looked like he was addicted to something. And he certainly didn't look friendly. The eleven year old shivered, keeping her eyes focused ahead.

"... Never thought I'd be sitting in a psyche ward's waiting room," Vao mumbled. "This place carries a bad air about it..."

He was right. It was uncomfortable at best. Sapphire, still holding his hand, squeezed it tighter. Shiza stood back up, walking to the counter.

"Yo. Got any snacks while we wait?"

The lizard stared at her. "We do not serve leaves here."

Shiza stared at her blankly. "... I can eat normal food too. Crackers, anything is fine. I'm just really hungry is all."

The lizard shook her head. "We are only allowed to give the crackers to patients and customers, not insects dear."

Shiza hummed, returning to her chair. "... Figures."

("Well that's... Kind of messed up,") Lewis muttered.

Aside from the monotonous buzz of the fluorescent lights above, the only other sounds were the droning of the clock as the hands ticked, and the occasional mutter from the drug addict next to them talking to himself. It felt like an eternity, Vao and Emma eventually falling asleep, Red Hood playing with her sleeves, Shiza's stomach grumbling, and Sapphire and Lewis counting how many times the clock ticked, before the receptionist finally called out to them.

"The door is open to you ladies," she said.

Vao didn't even get mad that he was called a lady. That was how long they had been waiting. Sapphire led the way, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she pushed her way through and into the hall.

And very quickly, none of them were very tired.

The hallway lights flickered, the small, short-lived bursts of light exposing the dank, grey corridors that seemed to twist and bend to nowhere, the steel doors with the barred windows locked shut with no handles. The floor was sticky and wet, and the air filled with the quiet hum of voices, rarely elevating to mad shrieks and cries for help.