Echo Creek Mental Institution

Chapter 6: Over Reacting

I've been in a physical fight before. Once, actually. I don't really remember how it started, but I know it ended with the girl throwing me into lockers and a teacher yelling at us for making so much noise. I think my french prof walked by at some point but she, since she doesn't like me, didn't say anything and kept walking. Physical fights aren't usual at my school, to say the least.
But, as I grab a wall for balance, I remember this isn't my school.
Marco was mad. Beyond mad I'm pretty sure he's intent on killing me. And as my five-foot-five, skinny ass white girl self with only my long, easily grabbed hair to cushion the blows, I wasn't doing to hot. Blood was dripping from my lip and nose from when he'd punched me and my shoulder hurt from trying to fight back. And as I stood there, arm against the wall as the room suddenly turned into a fun house, I realized one thing.
I was fucked. Like, massively.
Marco stalked up to me, not even phased by the fact that I was about to pass out.
"Hey! Marco!" Someone screams from behind me. I turn around just to be manhandled by some grub. I'm pulled away from the wall and swear my breakfast was very close to coming out of my mouth and ending up all over this sleaze-bag nurse's chest.
"Why are you holding me?" I complain as I fight against him. "Dude I wasn't even doing anything!" Because I couldn't. Now looking back on it, I couldn't even defend myself against a sickly preteen. Man, I would suck on an adventure.
I turn around to see Marco being held by two nurse, man and woman actually. I don't know what I was expecting, a random needle to manifest itself in one of the nurses hands and them to inject him with some shit to make him go to sleep. That's what happens on TV.
"Why were you two fighting!?" The nurse questions forcefully.
I open my mouth to answer but I can't seem to pinpoint it. Why did we? It's all a big blur. Wasn't it something about me not belonging here? Yeah, I guess that sounds right. (For all of you concerned I do not have a concussion, my brain normally works like this)
"Nothing." Marco breathes.
I scowl in his general direction.
"Well then," the female nurse holding Marco looks up and I catch her eyes. It's the same witch-y looking one that gave me a meal card and never told me how to fill it out. Ouch, why would you bring an old lady to help break up a fight!?
"I'll go back to my room-" Marco turns to leave but the lady catches his arm.
"Oh no you don't, mister." The woman looks me right in the eyes. "You two, come with me."
"But i didn't do anything!" I scream in protest. "He started it and gave me a bloody nose!"
"I am aware, Ms. Butterfly. Come with me." Her face was haunted and I followed her footsteps. Marco and I stalked on either side of her, catching each other's eyes in a scowl every so often. The hallway faded from the vibrant yellow to the manilla that surrounded the elevators. Which, was where we were going, the elevators.
"You're... you're kicking us out!?" Marco's voice cracks unevenly as his eyes grow. "No no no no no! I can't leave! I'm not better I'm sorry I'm sorry Star I'm sorry I'm sorry-"
"Calm yourself, Marco." The nurse sighs as the doors open to the huge hospital elevator. "You're not being kicked out. You and Star are just helping us with something for your punishment."
"What!?" I say suddenly as we step into the elevator.
"You didn't think you got away from that scott free?" She teases. "No ma'am, you're going to serve you're time."
"You're gonna tie us up!?" Marco shoves himself against the wall and begins to breathe heavily. "No I swear I'm going to be good I swear just please don't tie us up and shove us in a small room I hate small places. I swear I'll... I'll be good I'll do better please just don't-"
I watch as Marco slides down to the floor and covers his ears, muttering to himself. His eyes have grown bigger and the elevator slides down. The nurses rushes to his side and coaxes him out of it, says we're just going to do some cleaning in the kids ward. But like seriously, why would you do that? Feel like they would cover not to do ominous threats in a psych ward, especially to kids like Marco. I didn't even think about that sort of worse. They could tie us up, straight jackets are still a thing, right? It didn't even occur me that the punishment could be bad, I figured it would be whatever, but Marco took it the worse possible way.
Scary.
By the time the doors open to the second floor, Marco was standing back up fine but a little dazed. And still, we were shuffled through the ward that looked just like ours, except the walls were a baby blue. Good color, yellow was gross. We reach the end of the halls where the rec rooms were. They didn't have big ass windows like we did, but enough light shone in from the lamps. It had small tables covered in paint and paint brushes and some art projects. The floor had dolls and train tracks and stuffed animals and a fake kitchen sat in the corner. I smiled at the mess, I felt nostalgic.
"As your punishment, you will be cleaning this room. Together." The nurse announces like she didn't just cause a kid a minor panic attack. I sigh and enter the room. Marco inspects the door nob to make sure we couldn't be locked in easily (we couldn't) and then went to the opposite side of the room and began to sort out the kitchen.
"Nurse Jan will be checking up on you, she works in this ward. I'll come back down to pick you two up when you're done. No fighting and try to get along, okay?"
Fuck you. "Okay!" I call with a smile. Marco grumbles.
I toss my wet hair out of my face and stack stuffed animals in a bin. Marco keeps mumbling, the Nurse Jane or Joan or whatever shows up and my chest twists as my thoughts roll over the morning.
What a shitty first day.

HEY WHATS UP EVERYONE!? I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IM DOING WITH THIS BOOK ANYMORE SO ENJOY MY RANTS UNLESS YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS! CAUSE IM HAPPY FOR INPUTS SO I CAN MAKE A BETTER OUTPUT. SO YEAH!!!

ALSO IF ANYONE NOTICES ANYTHING I GOT WRONG ABOUT YA KNOW BEING IN A PSYCH WARD CAUSE IVE NEVER BEEN TELL ME SO I CAN MAKE IT BETTER AND MAKE IT MORE REALISTIC. CAUSE IM BASING THIS OFF OF WHAT MY FRIEND TOLD ME AND WAHT IVE READ IN BOOK.

SO YEAH... LOVE YOU ALL. I HAVE SCHOOL TOMORROW SO KILL ME NOW UM OKAY WOW THIS IS LONG

WOLFIE