A week later, Chloe was in her new home: the mental hospital. Jaycee, Clara and her dad were the only ones visiting as she had no one else and even if her mother was still alive, she wouldn't care anyway.
Being in that dark and gloomy place left her alone with her thoughts more often. Chloe knew she was getting worse, not better, so she had been trying to think about random things that would take her mind off of the past couple of months as it was not how she imagined to finish tenth grade.
So to distract herself for the moment, she thought about how she really wanted to have a real shower instead of a cheap, itching shower with cold water or boiling water, no in between. If she was in an alright mood, she'd choose cold but if she was in a slump she'd choose hot.
Chloe was currently sitting in the art classroom as the instructor, who was volunteering, walked around to check their progress. Chloe still had a blank canvas and others were almost finished. She stared at the yellow paint, it's brightness mocking her, as she wondered what to paint.
She was never the arty type, more the sporty and competitive type. But what could she compete against, how long it took the leader to reveal themselves? She rolled her eyes and finally decided on what to paint. The instructor told them to paint something happy to lift them up and Chloe saw everyone rolling their eyes.
Picking up the paintbrush, she dabbed it in some brown paint and splattered the entire canvas in it. Luckily, it was fast drying paint so Chloe could paint over it within seconds. She then grabbed a thinner brush, as thin as a pencil, and drew the outline of some roots. Only one of them ran deep and the others just dissolved near the top.
She then filled it in with white and was finished. The instructor came over and they were a bit confused. "What's the name of this artwork?" Chloe thought for a second then answered, "Only some roots run deep." The instructor nodded, as if they understood now, and suggested signing it and writing that somewhere either on the front or back. She decided on the front and she wrote it in white.
She did just that and then was aloud to leave. Chloe thought she was the last person left but then out of the corner of her eye she spotted another girl around her age still sitting there with a blank canvas. Whatever, it's their problem. No it's not Chloe! Be considerate of others! Chloe rolled her eyes at the voices. She'd gotten used to them now and was just starting to say some of them out loud.
And that scared her.
***
After Chloe's boiling hot shower, since the voices made her annoyed, she sat on her bed drying her hair as it was the only thing to do. She heard a knock on the door and one of the voices slipped out of her mouth. "Oh wow! Chloe has friends! Who would've thought?" The door opened revealing a smiling Jaycee and Chloe smiled back. Standing behind Jaycee was a grumpy nurse who Chloe didn't like. "Jaycee! I've missed you so much!" That wasn't a lie, it was very lonely in the hospital as she knew no one except some of the staff.
The nurse who had escorted Jaycee in left and she sat down next to Chloe, her eyes once happy and joyful had turned fearful and anxious. "They've been sending me threats and they said I had to come visit you before I-" Jaycee collapsed into a puddle of tears and she fell into Chloe's lap. Chloe comforted her as Jaycee cried her heart out. "Shh! It's ok! They can't hurt you while I'm around!" Jaycee sat up and wiped the last of her tears and nodded. "You're right and just being ridiculous."
The nurse came back in and Jaycee was taken away, once again. It felt more like a prison with its visiting times than a hospital. Chloe was left alone again and she sighed as she rolled on her side on the uncomfortable bed. Suddenly, a masked person burst in Chloe's room and drugged her and suddenly, Chloe's vision was nonexistent.
