Liquid Perception

Chapter 1

My mouth twitches as I wipe drool from the side of my face. My mind is clearer. I haven't felt this lucid since... well I can't remember. It's overrated, I need my pills. The white padded walls are bright enough to hurt my eyes. The dulled down world I have been living in has been peeled away like the thin plastic covering on a new TV. The lights flicker. That's new.

I get up from the mattress on the floor. It's the only furnishing in the room. If you can call it that. It's strapped to the floor. Nurse Campbell told me that I tried to pull it up once because there was a tunnel underneath I needed to excape through. She assured me that there was no such tunnel. They took the mattress out to show me. I don't remember any of it. She should be coming to give me my medication soon.

The lights go out. What is going on? I reach out to my left. My fingers touch the rough stitching covering the wall. I guide myself towards the door. I see softer yellow lights flash on through a small window in the door. Something slithers across the floor. I jump back. My arm hits the wall hard. A loud buzzing sound causes the walls to shake. My entire world is tilting to the right. The door begins to swing open as the buzzing stops. Great it's my pills. The door doesn't open all of the way.

I need to see what is on the other side. I hope Nurse Campbell is OK. I say, "Hello? Helloooo? Anyone there?" My hand pulls the door the rest of the way open. There are doctors in the hallway wandering around. A large bald man is banging his head against the wall. A few are muttering to themselves, but not close enough for me to understand. A green butterfly floats down the hospital hallway. I need my meds.

I ask the bald man, "Where are my meds?" No response.

I ask one of the wandering doctors, "Where are my meds?"

He smells of sweat. He mumbles, "..the ratio of a circle's circumference to it's diameter is approximately equal to 3.1415.."

He repeats the same thing over and over, but doesn't help me. What kind of hospital is this where they don't give their patients their medicine? I go to the end of the hall. The plexiglass door that leads to the nurse's station is reinforced by metal bars. There's no one at the nurse's station. That's strange. I bang on the door. No response.