Confidential | Zauren

Two

I approached the large black open gates of Colson Sanitarium. They were embellished with a large C S, so were the front doors when I finally got there. I rang the buzzer and it buzzed three times before it opened.

When I entered it was a claustrophobic walkway. There were two double doors on the side of a closed off window, much like the window where you get your tickets from at the cinema.

The woman behind the window looked like she hated her job. "Can I help you?" she asked not looking up at me. I cleared my throat. "I- uh- I'd like to check myself in." She finally looked up at me. She sized me up and down. She slid me a clipboard with paper work on it. I stood there filling out what I could.

She grabbed the clipboard when I was finished. "Zayn Malik.." she said aloud. I nodded my head. She grabbed her phone, and made a call to someone. "We've got a Zayn Malik." I don't even think she got a response before she hung up. She licked her wrinkled finger as she continued paging through my paper work. That made me feel a little sick.

I saw a man enter the little box the woman was sitting in. She nodded toward me, and he disappeared. He reappeared moments later walking out the beige double doors.

"Zayn Malik. I've been waiting for you." I raised my eyebrow. "Really? He nodded. "I'm Dr. Jeff Colson. This is a family business. It dates back to the early 1900s. We've modernized it, of course. I'm great friends with your journalism teacher Mrs. Mitchell. A vibrant soul that one. She's been having her students do their delve in project here for 6 years now. Don't worry. You'll be fine. You look a bit nervous." I nodded my head. I was more than a bit nervous.

"We're going to treat you as if you were an actual patient here at Colson. Do you take any medication?" I shook my head. "Alright, we distribute medication usually two to three times a day. We'll just give you a simple daily vitamins so the other patients don't think you're getting special treatment or anything. There are always nurses everywhere, so if you ever need one, just approach one. You will have a bunk mate. We won't give you one that's too out there if you know what I mean. There are levels here. Where you're going to be is with people around your age range. The extreme cases are on on the fourth floor. You'll be on the third. We'll make one of the nurses give you a tour." Jeff tapped his chin thinking of whatever else he needed to tell me. "Only a few nurses on your floor know about this project, none of the patients do and they shouldn't. They can be very defensive and feel as though you're teasing them in a way." Jeff snapped at the woman behind the window and the double doors opened. They quickly slammed shut.

We were led into corridor with a ton of chairs, and another cinema like window. "Hey Marge, this is Zayn Malik. He's one of our newest patients. You can skip the anal search portion. I know he's good." My eyes widened when he said that, The door opened and I walked in. "Empty your pockets. Take off all your clothes except for your underwear, and hand over your shoes." At this point I was shivering. She handed me gray and navy blue sweatpants, a gray t-shirt, a navy blue crew neck, and a navy blue cardigan. I slipped on the gray sweats and the gray tshirt. "You can keep your socks, but we also give you socks. We'll give you some underwear as well. Here are some slippers." The slippers she handed me looked like some loafers my grandpa wore. I slipped them on. They were actually comfortable.

"You'll get all of your things back in two and a half months, unless you can't make it until then," Jeff said.
"How many people haven't made it that long?" I asked following Jeff. He led me to the elevator. We got inside and he hit the button for the third floor. "It's not easy here. You see things. You hear things, but as a journalist that should keep you going.. I guess the strong make it through." The elevator doors opened. He pushed me out. "Josie, this is Zayn Malik." The nurse smiled at me and I approached her.