Cuts and Bruises

The Facility

Jack's P.O.V

I got home from school early because my older brother was my only ride and he had an appointment. Once we came back from the, "Horrible" dentist office we rushed home. Zachery was at a late field trip so we didn't pick him up.

As soon as I stepped through the doors I ran to my phone. I pulled it off of the charger and turned it on. I rapidly typed in my password. After I hit the call button I typed in the hospital's number. It rang with no answer. I typed it in again and I heard someone pick up.

"This is-" I cut them off.

"Is she ok?" I didn't wait for a response. "I tried to call earlier but didn't get an answer. I want to know. Is she ok?"

I heard ruffling then a silence. "Who?" The voice was from a man. "I hope you're not talking about Brooklyn."

"Why? What happened?" I was angry yet scared. I wanted to punch something but at the same time I didn't want to have this conversation. I knew something was terribly wrong. She was my friend and I was worried. I felt weird considering her that. Is she really my friend? I feel like we've grown closer. We may not have known each other for more than a year. But we are close.

I tried to remember how long she was in the hospital. A month and a half. I shuttered. Something was wrong. It was time she came home. That meant a lot if they didn't want to talk about her. "She was sent to special treat meant." There was a pause. "I'm not supposed to call it this but you sound a little young. She was sent to a facility."

My expression dropped. My heart sank. The phone hit the floor.

Brooklyn's P.O.V

I stood at the desk. Peter and I haven't seen each other for five hours. I was worried. As every hour passed my anxiety built up. About Peter. About were I was. I was terrified to even come here. Here I am now. At a facility for the mentally ill, and I'm one of them.

I can't help but wonder. What if I stayed in the hospital? Would my parents pick me up? Would everything be ok? I don't know how much I will be able to see Peter, but I wasn't going to give up. Yes I'm still waiting for some outcome.

Something kept pushing me. I knew I wasn't supposed to stop. After all. I was missing school. Soon I would have been moving on through my classes. Getting the good grades as usual. But I felt like that part didn't and wasn't supposed to happen. I was supposed to be here. I just had to wait for the outcome.

They handed me what looked like a hospital gown, a pair of regular white pants, and a white t-shirt. "She will be here soon." They had said.

"Who?"

"The therapist." The man at the front desk had responded.

I had to see a therapist. At least I was going to get a real form of help now. At least they thought it was help. I was lonely and needed someone to talk to. Five hours without him, that was hard. I needed him. I don't know what for but his company was great. Something I couldn't help but enjoy.

I remember six hours ago. I will never forget that. Nothing mattered in that moment. Nothing but him. His lips and how they moved. I sound crazy for even dwelling on that. I might have to forget it soon enough.

I was showed to a room. Room I would be staying in. It wasn't fancy, but it wasn't like a jail sell. It had greenish walls, Blinds covering up the window, A small twins size bed, And a hard wood dresser.

I walked over to the bed and sat down. It was very firm. I set down the clothing items I had been given. I didn't really know which one to wear. I decided on the white pants and matching shirt. I didn't and wasn't expecting them to give me anything like this. I didn't look that crazy in it.

I heard my door slide open so I looked up. A woman walked in holding a clipboard with papers on it. She smiled and shut the door behind her. I assumed she was my therapist, partly because a therapist was the only person I would be expecting.

"Hello, my name is Ms. Walker." She had a soothing voice. She had darker skin, black hair that was put up in a bun. Her eyes were blue. She came in sitting down on the spot next to me on the mattress. "Do you have any concerns you would like to talk about?"

I hesitated. After I talked to her for a bit I would then ask about Peter. "Can you tell me a little bit about the place?"

"Ok. I can tell you the basics. You are on floor A. Below is floor B. Under that is floor C." She looked at me and paused. "How do I word this? Hmm, Ok. A is for minors. B is for more severe cases. And C is, it's more serious. They are people you might want to be careful around but don't act like they are disgusting. I hate it when people do that."

"Ok. I feel like I don't belong here." I tried to state. She just looked at me normally.

"That's not the first time I heard that." She furrowed her eyebrows. It looked as though she was trying not to give in. She cleared her voice. "Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?"

"No."

"Why not?" She started writing on her clip board. She flipped over a page. "Oh." She looked at me then at the clipboard. "What do you remember since you woke up?"

"I remember that, there was a boy with blonde hair..." I trailed off. I didn't want to give in too much details. I wasn't entirely sure were this information went to.

"Can you tell me. They told me not to tell you this, but there was a boy. He was screaming your name saying he wasn't going to just leave you. Do you know this boy. Is there anyone new here that you are familiar with. He acted as though he knew you personally." I didn't respond. "I don't mean to alarm you-"

"His name is Peter." I blurted out. I fought the tears that threatened. My voice would crack soon enough. "He is the only person I have left."

Jack's P.O.V.

I had messaged Rose a few times. She was worried about her sister. She wasn't sure what was going on. She hadn't had answers for a month. I filled her in on what happened. She told me that their parents were coming home from their business trips. She didn't know what to tell them.

In just a week I would be getting ready to say good bye to middle school. I wasn't ready to move anywhere. It felt like high school was going to have to wait for now. How was I even going to finish up my last classes if I couldn't focus?

I couldn't help but wonder this. I had called the hospital a few times. I called different people trying to arrange things. I arranged that Brooklyn would be given school work so she would make it through. I did the same with Peter. Sure he wasn't my favorite person. But I couldn't just forget about him.

I was told that Peter was on floor C. Whatever that meant. They didn't tell me anything besides that because I wasn't his guardian and I wasn't in anyway related to him. For now Peter's condition remained a mystery.

I didn't stop when it came to Brooklyn though. At some point I had to get Rose to talk to the hospital. They told her that Brooklyn was on floor A. They said that Brooklyn would be aloud a few visits and that we could only give her the school work as long as she worked on it while we were in the room.

I talked to my mom about visiting. I didn't tell her about the fact that it was a facility I would be visiting. That's what I told Lucas. Lucas agreed to driving me there. He didn't want to go inside but he felt like he could tutor Brooklyn since he's older and has had to tutor younger people before.

I packed the home work into a bag. I brought my phone just in case. I put a few snacks in the bag if I get hungry or Brooklyn Is. I may have packed a huge stack of papers, pencils, and snacks. but I didn't feel prepared.

Would she even want to see me? Is she crazy? Last I checked she was..well.. in some kind of state. She wasn't facility crazy. Maybe bad dream crazy. But Peter on the other hand. He was crazy. He belonged at a facility.