ThE vOiCeS mAdE mE Do iT

Chapter Four

Dr. S turned back to me with a smile. “Follow me and we’ll get you settled in here.” She instructed. She then walked out of the reception, towards an elevator with me trailing just behind her. There was a key code next to the elevator, where she tapped in some sort of password. I glanced over to Echo as she did this. My uneasiness reflected on my imaginary friends face.

“You won’t ever really need to go below the second floor. If you do, then you shall be escorted by one of the doctors who have the clearance to do so.” She started saying to me as the doors of the elevator closed in front of us.

“There are mainly three floors that you will be allowed to move on. The nurses and the guards stay up at the top floor, just in case if there is an emergency. But don't worry, there are guards everywhere, so there will always be an adult available in any situation.-”

“Stay?” I interjected.

“Yes, we like to keep our staff here full time. There are also several offices on the top floor, the most important of which is Mr. Blake’s. He is the creator of this institute. He would probably like to meet you in the next few days, but you won’t have to go there very much either.”

While she talked I looked around the small, rumbling elevator room, lit with only one flickering florescent light overhead. My stomach churned at being inside this metal container. Echo smiled sympathetically to me from over in the corner. She more than anyone understood that I had... issues.

“The second floor is where we get a lot of our work done. Therapy rooms One , Two, Three and Four are located there. There are also several classrooms that we use for lessons or one to one therapy. The infirmary is on that floor. There is also the dinner hall, where all the patients eat together.”

“How many kids are there here?” I asked her when she took a moment to breathe between sentences. She was telling me so much, I didn't know how I was going to remember it all.

“Well you best, because it's not like I’m going to.” Echo chimed in.

“There are around twenty at the moment. While number is always changing, we like to keep it relatively small so you kid’s can get the individual attention that you need. This brings up to the third floor. It has the bedrooms and the common room for the patients. The girls rooms are all on the left and boy’s rooms are on the right. The rooms are all fairly basic and everyone has a room-mate. There are toilets on every floor near the elevators. Elevators are out of bounds. Patients are not supposed to use unless accompanied by a high ranking member of staff and everything is coded. Tough luck, but you guys have to take the stairs.”

“Wait.” I interjected just as the doors slid open and we stepped out. “I have a room-mate?”

It was difficult enough trying to not draw attention to Echo at the moment, but if I had a room-mate then... Then she would see me sleepwalk.

“Yes, of course you do, I think it will be good for you to have a girl your age to talk to. Don’t worry about it, we talked to her yesterday and she has said she’ll look out for you here.” Dr. S told me. I was too busy frowning at Echo that I didn’t see the strange smirk that came over Dr. Saunders face. It was gone before I looked back up at her.

“I’ll take you to meet her, once we get you into the uniform.” She decided. I hadn’t realized it, but I had been soaked from the rain outside and while I had put my shivers down to nerves, the damp clothing I wore was freezing.

“I’d like some new clothes.” I said as I followed her down a white hallway. She glanced back at me with a smile.

“The nurse’s office is just in here.” She told me as we got to the end of the hallway and walked into a room.