Mental

"So you're finally leaving, Mina?" my best friend in the mental hospital, Celeste, said, sitting on my bed.

"Yep!" I smiled.  I opened my white chest of drawers and pulled out a pair of pajama pants.  I folded them neatly and put them inside my suitcase.  I zipped it up.  "That's the last of it."  My words echoed through the empty room.

I looked at Celeste.  For the first time, I noticed that she had tears in her wide blue eyes.  "Celeste!" I cried.

"I - I can't help it," she sniffed, looking at the white tiled ground and wiping her eyes with the back of her pale hand.  "You're leaving, and I know that I should be happy for you, but instead I'm worried about not being able to see you anymore and.... and you're gonna be gone, and...." she broke out into tears.

"Celeste...." I sat on the bed and put my arm around her.  "No matter what, I'll always visit you.  Every day."

"Alright, I'm done," she finally said, and gave one final sniff.  "Hey, you forgot something."

"What?"

 Celeste took off the gold locket from around her neck.  "Here's your necklace."

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you borrowed it," I said, taking it.

"Yeah, it means alot to you.  Since it was your grandma's and all."  Celeste put it around my neck and clasped it.

"Guess it's time for me to go," I said.

"Yeah, guess it is," Celeste said, and we just stood there.  Celeste burst into tears and flung her arms around my neck.  I hugged her back and we just sobbed together.  Celeste pulled away and wiped her eyes again, her mascara running.

"Bye," I said.

"Bye," she said.  I picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder.  "I'll visit you," I said as I walked across the room.

"Don't forget about me," she murmured as the door closed behind me.

I walked across the hall towards the lobby.  I had been waiting the past two years for this.  Today was finally the day I got to leave this place -- the mental hospital.  But then again, I guess I was the one who put myself here.  When I murdered my ex-boyfriend's girlfriend.

I entered the lobby and went to the front office.  The lady at the desk seemed nervous and jumpy. 

"Oh, so I see you have your bag ready?" she asked as I slid up to the desk.

"Yes.  Can I just go now?" I asked.

"No, you need to run a couple of tests before you go," she said.  "Follow me."  She wouldn't look me in the eye and nervously chewed her nails.  She got up and walked down a different hall.  I followed her to a room marked 205.  She opened the door for me.  "Walk right in," she said.

I walked in and she shut the door behind me.  There was a doctor in there, with a clipboard and everything.  In the middle of the room was a machine -- a seat with all kinds of wires. 

"Hello, Mina," the doctor smiled.  His nametag on his lab coat read "Dr. Smith".

"Hey," I said nervously.

"You're just here to conduct a couple of tests.  You know-- to see if you're mentally stable to leave.  Just take a seat in the chair."  He patted the seat in the middle of the machine.  He seemed friendly enough.  I walked over and sat in the chair.

"So I'm just gonna hook you up to this machine, and ask you a couple of questions.  It will detect whether you're lying or not, and, judging on your breathing pattterns, heart rate, blood pressure, and brain waves, whether you're mentally stable or not."