How Did We End Up Here? - A Phanfiction

Chapter Eighteen

The word 'Hospital' was too kind for this place. 'Sanitorium' or 'Asylum' felt more fitting. The floors were dirty white tile, and everything was lit by overhead fluorescent lights. Dan and Phil made their way to the front desk where a woman was sat at her computer, clad in scrubs.

She looked up as the two men approached her, and put down her pen. Her features were sharp, and while they weren't hostile, they weren't friendly either.

"Can I help you?" She asked in a snappy tone.

"Um... my name is Dan. I had an appointment to see Michelle." The woman clicked a few things into her computer, and nodded in confirmation.

"Follow me, then." The two men followed her down a hall and into a room with a table and chairs. It looked like something out of a detective movie, two chairs across from one, with a hole in the table where handcuffs made their way through. Dan and Phil took their seats across from the single chair, exchanging a worried glance, and the woman left the room saying she'd return shortly. She did return about three minutes later, leading Michelle behind her, hooking her up to the cuffs, and leaving the room saying that if Dan and Phil needed anything they should just press a button placed on their side of the table and someone would come get them.

Michelle looked awful. She was clad only in a thin gown, and her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail that looked like it hadn't been touched in weeks. She had dark bags under her eyes which were glazed over and didn't seem to entirely focus on anything, flitting around the room.

"Hi." She spoke lowly.

"Hey, Michelle. How are you?" Phil asked in a soft voice.

"I'm fine." she snapped, and Dan and Phil sat back, taking her words as a hint that she wanted to run this conversation and take it at her own pace. There was a long silence, and Phil was just starting to wonder if he should try again, when she spoke so quietly he could barely make out the words.

"How is she." She didn't phrase it as a question.

"She's good. She's really good." Dan responded, and Phil recognized his tone of voice. It was the same tone Dan used whenever Phil was feeling helpless or out of control. "She's healthy and happy, and has even started talking." Michelle nodded, looking down at the table, her mouth twisting a bit in a grimace.

"I want to see her." She stated after a few moments.

"Michelle... I think we all know that can't happen just now..." Phil began, and Michelle slammed her hands on the table, looking up at him directly for the first time.

"DO YOU THINK I DON'T FUCKING KNOW THAT? I MEANT A PICTURE, I'M WELL AWARE OF MY CURRENT SITUATION!" She raised her hands up angrily, tugging at the cuffs to indicate said 'situation'. Dan and Phil each jumped a bit, but then tried to relax, attempting to stay calm for their old friend.

Phil took out his phone quickly and pulled up a recent photo, one they took right before leaving for Thailand. The photo had the three of them laying down, Anna laying on her back, smiling up at the camera in a bright ruffly turquoise dress, while the two men on either side of her looked at her, smiling. It was adorable and when they had posted it to Instagram it quickly had become Phil's most liked photo ever.

He couldn't read Michelle's face as she looked at the phone, and eventually he pulled it back, putting it back in his pocket. They sat in silence for a long time. Michelle was looking confused. At first she looked happy and loving, but then her expression began shifting, and it was starting to make Phil nervous. Finally, her face seemed to rest on a cold angry glare at the table.

"You did this." She whispered icily. "You took her away from me."

"Michelle, you asked us to take her..." Dan began.