The Great Escape

Chapter 4: Carter

Mikey pulls up the sleeves of his white jacket. I was already horrified by his story. But then I saw his arms. They are laced with white and pink lines. They were everywhere. Then there is one distinct thick scar right down the center of Mikey's left arm. His suicide attempt scar. It seems older so it must have been one of his first attempts. He's only sixteen, how old was he when he had his first attempt. My first attempt was when I was 16. Then I tried again later that year.
I don't really pay attention for the rest of the session. Mikey is also obviously ready to get out of there too. He's just kind of sitting there with his arms crossed on the table and his head resting on them, his eyes trained on the table. I felt so bad for him.
"You are dismissed." Dr Hugh says. A few people jumped up and ran out. "Carter will you please stay here with me?" Dr. Hugh asks. I nod and remain seated. Warren and Mikey glance back at me before walking out together. Warren has his arm wrapped around Mikey's shoulders reassuringly.
"How have you been getting along so far?" Dr Hugh asks me. "Fine." I reply. He nods and asks "Thats good, do you have any friends yet?" I nod "Yeah, Warren and Mikey." Dr. Hugh grumbles a little something. "What sir?" I ask him. "Nothing, it's just funny that you would pick those two." He replies, looking at his notebook. I knit my eyebrows "What is that supposed to mean?" I ask defensively. He must have realized I was slightly upset about what he said "Don't take offense Carter, they're good boys. It's just, they're stuck together like glue. They've never really opened up to other people. They seem to isolate themselves from the other boys. They've also been here the longest. The other ones usually only stay a week or two. Mikey was here first. Then like three days later Warren came. They actually hated each other at first believe it or not. They had to room together and Mikey would always cry himself to sleep and Warren's bipolar disorder got the best of him and he lost it & started yelling at Mikey and Warren got sent to another ward for the night. I made them talk it out and Mikey explained why he cried himself to sleep and Warren felt horrible and apologized and they bonded and now they're inseparable. Funny how that works." That got me thinking. Why would Warren invite me over if Mikey and Warren are as inseparable as Dr. Hugh says they are. Odd. "You won't have a personal therapy session today. Not yet. I will let you know what days and when you have your sessions." Dr. Hugh tells me, snapping me out of my short train of thought. I nod and he tells me I can leave.
"What did he want?" Warren asks when I enter the cafeteria. "Just asking how I was doing and if I had any friends and all that." I reply. Warren nods. "I wonder how the trials are going." Mikey says quietly. Warren smiles warmly at him "I'm sure they're fine. Maybe your siblings will come visit." He says. Mikey smiles a small sad smile at Warren. It's hard to imagine they ever hated each other. "I wonder how my friend in the other ward is doing." Warren says. "Other ward?" I ask. He grins and replies "In the psychotic ward. If I have a bipolar break down, I have to go there and spend the night. It's not bad really. I just have to sleep in an empty room by myself. It's different than sleeping with Mikey in my room. I made a friend there too." Mikey chuckles, sipping his water. "His names Kelli, he can be really messed up sometimes. His boyfriend comes to see him a lot. He's also pretty hard to miss. He's paper white and has blue hair." I knit my eyebrows and ask "What do you mean 'really messed up'?" "It's kind of like a split personality type thing, minus the identity loss. He seems like a normal cool person some of the time, then he can get really depressed and cries like that" he snaps his fingers "then he can be really hyper and bubbly, he can get really mad and angry and want to crush your face in. Then he gets mean. Like insulting people he hates or doesn't know very well. He has never insulted his boyfriend as far as I know." I raise my eyebrows in shock "I didn't know that was a thing." Warren nods quickly "Yeah, he was finally admitted because he was going through all the phases really quickly and he tried to kill himself, then the next minute he was hyper and bubbly then he had an anger fit." He says "and that all happened in a matter of minutes." Mikey and I stare at Warren. "What?" He asks. "You made friends with this guy?" Mikey asks incredulously. "He's not actually a bad guy. Super nice." Warren answers. I blink and say "Man, he sounds like he could rip you in half when he's angry." Warren thinks a minute, then laughs at the thought "Nah, he's actually kind of feminine and kind of acts really girly." He smiles fondly. "One time I had a really bad anger episode and they sent me down there for two nights. It wasn't so bad until Kelli left for Mental Therapy. They do have some real nut jobs down there though. Kelli is nothing compared to some people." Mikey shivers. "How old is Kelli?" I ask. He has to be pretty old to be suffering from something like that. "Like twenty something. Early twenties." Warren answers. I am once again shocked. "He was adopted and apparently his adoptive parents beat him because he was antisocial and Damian was actually friends with him when they were both in the orphanage when they were really young. They're really cute together." Warren rambles fondly. He clearly becomes fond of people rather quickly. "Visiting hours guys, Rec Room." A male nurse says loudly coming into the cafeteria.
People whisper excitedly. Mikey looks like he'd rather be stabbed with a fork. Warren looks kind of nervous. Let's do this.