Meet Dilemma

Mental Hospital Flashback (Narrated by Pierce)

I walked up to the front desk and saw two nurses at their station. I had no clue of what to say and, of course, the nurses looked at me like I was crazy. I decided not to ask if Hope was there, but to tell them that I was a social worker. I was surprised that they actually believed me. They gave me a visitor's pass and sent me along my way. I walked through the halls of Fitzgerald Mental Hospital with butterflies (and not the cute, antsy butterflies you get when you see your crush, the butterflies you get when you feel like you're about to jump off a cliff).

Anyways, I walked into the area where all of the patients socialize, but I figured it wouldn't be much help asking the patients if they knew who Hope was. They could've been lying for all I knew. So, I took a different route and walked up to a nearby nurse. She was an older looking woman so I figured that she had been working there a while.

I said "Hi ma'am, my name is Pierce Waters. I am a social worker for the mental hospital and I was wondering if you had any information about a former patient here."

She directed me to another station to look up the name.

"Patient Name?"

"Hope Blaire"

She typed the name in, but nothing popped up.

"She's not here, sir."

"I know she's not here. Is there any way you can find out where she is now?"

"What do you think this is, sir? FBI? This is a mental hospital."

Then, this patient came up to me. I was a bit startled.

"Hope... Blaire"

"Yes, do you know where she is?"

"Hope Blaire..."

I was a bit scared. Why was this lady repeating Hope's name?

She said it once again ... "Hope Blaire"

I turned to walk away, but she grabbed my arm and walked me down the hall. She directed me into her room and closed the door.

"Ummmm... I don't think this is safe. I think i'm going to..."

"I know where Hope is."

"Huh?"

"You must be Pierce?"

"How do you know my name?"

"Hope Blaire was my roommate. I know all about you... and Journey... and Eternity... and Dilemma."

"You don't seem like you should be in a mental hospital."

"Neither did Hope. It seems like the craziest people in this world roam free, while the few of us that are still at least a bit sane are kept hostage in this hell hole. Almost like the world it's going crazy."

"That's something to think about..." I responded.

She had a point. Hope didn't belong in a mental hospital. Her emotions were just overpowering her and she felt like that was the only way she could've reacted.

"Look... when Hope got here, she was 2 months pregnant. When she had her child..."

"WAIT A MINUTE! HOPE HAD A BABY???"

"Yes, Pierce. A little girl named Irony."

"I would've never guessed that! What happened to them?"

"When Hope had her child, she was released from Fitzgerald Mental Hospital. They gave her free fare to any place she wanted to live. She chose... Majuro."

"So she's in Majuro?"

"That's the last I heard from her..."

"THANK YOU SO MUCH!"

"No problem!"

I began to walk out and exit the building, then I turned around ...

"What's your name?"

"Maria," she smirked at me.

I smiled back and walked out of the building.