Only Emptiness Remains

Fix You

Once Dave found parking, he and the three Chipettes all slowly made their way into the building. Each one of them was still lost in the same thoughts they were having back in the car on the ride over to this very building they were approaching now. Nobody knew exactly what Brittany's fate would be from this point on.

The first thing Brittany noticed was the way the treatment center building looked. Something about it seemed so strange to her. It would have been very easy to miss this place if it hadn't been for the huge sign out front that spelled out its name.

The reason for this was because it didn't look like any kind of hospital Brittany had ever seen before. No, this looked more like an apartment complex. Specifically like the type you would expect to see for retired senior citizens in Florida (minus the pool, of course). She wondered what the deal with that was?

The four of them were all let inside by automatic doors that slid open for them. As the auburn-haired Chipette continued to take in her surroundings, her disgust grew at the sight of the lobby. She wrinkled her nose and squinted as she scanned the tacky scenery in front of her. This place was seriously trying way too hard to be cheerful. And failing miserably at it too.

Her eyes darted all over as she gradually took it all in. Walls that were painted in an ugly shade of mustard yellow, fake potted plants that seemed to be resting anywhere there was a flat surface, miniature lamps, and the distinctive smell of disinfectant that always seemed to be present at every doctor's office and hospital. Guess this was the reality check that it was still a medical facility, in spite of the more homey appearance on the outside. She hated this. All of it.

She also noticed a security camera right above the receptionist's desk and a big white sign underneath it that had words in big bold black letters stating that the premises was under twenty-four hour video surveillance. Great. So now on top of being away in some strange place, she was going to feel like her every move was being watched at all times.

Just when she thought things here couldn't suck any harder, she was proven wrong by this place at literally every single turn. She knew logically this only applied to public areas and not the bedrooms and bathrooms or anything crazy like that. But seeing the camera and sign still made her feel uneasy, for some reason.

Brittany kept right on walking along behind her sisters and Dave. She averted her eyes away from the tv displaying the camera feed that was on the other side of the room which she caught a brief glimpse of herself in. She didn't even want to see how she looked right now.

Finally, they got to the desk of the receptionist which was under the camera. She was tall, slim, looked to be in her late-twenties, and had brown hair that was pulled back into a sleek bun. She was dressed in white scrubs that were decorated with yellow sunflowers. It reminded Brittany of what she used to see the staff at County Hospital wear in the children's ward when she and her sisters were volunteer candy stripers there.

However, this just felt like one more example of County Treatment Center trying way too hard to act like the happiest place on Earth, when she knew damn well they were anything but that. She better not have some kind of fake cheery voice in an attempt to match the whole trying-too-hard tone. Between Lindsay and that super obnoxious cashier, Alissa, she had that whole unfortunate encounter with at the pharmacy just a few days ago, Brittany didn't think she could tolerate dealing with one more person like that. She seriously thought she might lose it right then and there.

The receptionist's name tag on her sunflowered scrub top read "Beth". Beth looked up from some papers she was reading and gave them a small smile. Brittany cringed in anticipation, half-expecting a chirpy voice that was going to sound like nails on a chalkboard.