The Asylum

Chapter Five: Love Triangle?

      I woke up the next morning at 4 AM, completely unable to sleep from the events of the previous day. I mean, how was I supposed to get any rest with of that bullshit stuck in my head. Trying as hard as I could to disregard my negative and questioning thoughts, I got dressed in an olive colored cami and some ripped up jeans, finishing the look with some combat boots and my father's old dog tags from when he served in the military.

I made my way out of my room slowly, being met by a cold draft of morning air lingering in the brightly lit hallway. I knew that nearly everyone except for the staff would still be asleep at these hours, but looked down the hall, hoping somewhat to catch Luke walking groggily out of his room to talk about the odd incident yesterday. Nothing happened, and I looked down at the slightly dirtied bandage encasing my right forearm, the bandage that led to my struggled confession not even 24 hours earlier. I assumed it would probably need to be changed, and I really had nothing to do until breakfast, so I reluctantly made my way through the familiar maze of the anything but extravagant linoleum floors, soon reaching the infirmary.

Walking through the single wooden door, I breathed in the fresh smell of hot coffee, teas, and the most prominent of all, the usual morning sleepiness from the complex's array of willing doctors and nurses. I made my way forward, to the inviting young receptionist behind the dark oak desk. "How can I help you young lady?" She asked as sweet as she possibly could for it being 4 AM. I took a glance over the counter to notice that she was already on her fifth cup of steaming coffee, the other four small paper cups tossed aimlessly in a small trash can behind her chair.

"Oh, I'm just here to see Dr. Lang. I need him to do a quick bandage change for me if that's alright with him." I responded with a quick smile, holding up my bandaged arm for her to take a small look at. I took not of her small cringe at my arm, obviously she had been chosen as the receptionist for a reason. She turned in her seat and started to type on her computer before pausing on a schedule of sorts. "...It looks like now would be a good time for him. He's right back in room 7. Down that hall-" "Second door on the right." I interrupted her. She gave a little timid smile as she realized I had obviously been through this before and she was only really wasting my time. With a thankful smile for her provision of friendly direction even when she was tired, I escorted myself back to Dr. Lang's room.

I knocked on the door three times, but didn't wait for him to answer as I opened the creaky door into the room. Immediately I regretted my decision to do such. There stood another newborn about my age, in the room with Dr. Lang, in the middle of getting his physical. I nearly shrieked in horror as my eyes went wide and I froze. The boy pulled up his pants and tightened his belt around his waist at lightning speed, and Dr. Lang could do nothing but freeze and stare at me with the same wide eyes I had.

"I-I had n-no idea. I- um, I'll just be out in the hall until you two are finished." I squeaked out shamefully before closing the door on myself and shuffling to other side of the hallway. I slid my back down the wall and slumped into a lazy sitting position. That was definitely going to be an event I would never forget.

Just a few minutes later, I heard the door click open and looked up to see the boy gazing down at me. He held out his rough hand for me to take as he helped me up. "I think Dr. Lang is ready to see you now," He informed me with a gesture towards the open room. "I'll catch you at breakfast in about two hours. See ya then." He finished with a wink before walking down the hall to leave the infirmary. He just winked at me? I had just taken witness of all of his "manhood" unexpectedly, and he... winked at me? Boys will be boys after all.

Concluding my final thought, I finally walked into room 7 for the bandage change that I had asked for in the first place at these early hours. "So Alex, what had you originally come in for?" He asked in his usual authoritative voice, trying to refer to the unexpected encounter as lightly as possible. "Oh, I just came in to get my bandages changed, Doc." I responded as I sat down on the hospital bed, listening as the familiar sterilized paper crinkled underneath me. "Well, let me just have a look and see how your cut is healing then." He sat on his padded stool and wheeled forward towards my outstretched arm to carefully remove and dispose of the old bandages.

After some careful inspection of my stitches, he concluded that the wound was healing well enough to remove them so long as we could put some adhesive strips on the deep cut. I nodded my head quietly, trying not to show any signs of discomfort as he removed the carefully sewn thread from the flesh of my arm. He applied some white adhesive strips across the cut to hold it together while it continued to heal before finally rewrapping my arm with fresh bandages.

"Thanks again, Dr. Lang!" I called as I slipped past the infirmary door and back into the hall. Checking a small clock on the wall, I noticed it was already 5:30. Some of the other patients had awoken from their slumber and were milling about around the halls or headed to the gym and the courtyard to get a morning workout or basketball game in. I decided to head out to the grove for the next hour so I could have some time to sit in the quiet of the morning before everyone else got up and headed towards the cafeteria.

I stepped out into the crisp morning air, watching as the sun's warm glow just barely started making its way over the horizon. I walked past some guys on the basketball court, already sweating and running back and forth from each basket as the ball was passed from player to player. Finally, I reached the benches around the koi pond and sat down on the wooden planks. I looked around at the dew covered plants and the small orange and white blotched fish milling about in the crystal clear water. I removed myself from the bench and bent down on my knees, stretching a hand towards the clear liquid to feel its cold snap on my fingers.

" Whatcha doin' back here Girly?" I heard an oddly familiar voice startle me as I jumped up to my feet to find the stranger from the infirmary staring at me curiously. "Trying to get some sort of peace and quiet before breakfast, when i was supposedly meeting you at your own request. My name's not Girly either, it's Alex" I claimed ignorantly, not sure why he wash here to stalk my actions in the first place. "Well, Alex, I'm Aaron. I was playing a game with some other guys on the court and I saw you back here so I figured I'd just swing by." He informed me, using the small towel around his neck to ruffle up his sweaty jet black hair.

I sat down on the bench and he sat next to me, his tank and basketball shorts he changed into from his outfit earlier reeking of fresh sweat. "You know, I didn't really ask for you to sit here with me, invading my peace and quiet." I snapped, not really wanting anyone in my space at the moment. " Yeah, well I didn't ask for you to walk into the room when I had my pants down with "Little Aaron" hanging out either, but that happened." He commented and I could feel my cheeks burn with embarrassment at his words. "Oh, I'm really sorry about that by the way. I honestly had no idea and the receptionist, she just-" I was interrupted by his speech, followed quickly by a playful chuckle. "It's really not that big of a deal. A lot of people have seen me naked after all." I rolled my eyes, not really in the mood to start a pissing contest with this brute.

Still, it was sort of hot how he really took charge of things and seemed to be extremely dominant when possible. Maybe I should just try and talk to him? After all, Luke and I aren't actually a "thing", and I have no idea if he even wants to be near me after yesterday. So, with high hopes, and a tinge of reluctance, I made my move and decided to give friendship with Aaron a try. By the time breakfast was over, I had taken the same spiral with him that I had with Luke.

I somehow couldn't find a way to peel my gaze from his muscular arms and the way they tensed if he got angry somehow. His jet black hair and striking green orbs caught my attention with ease, and his dominance always found a way to turn me on. Shit this was bad.

I only could think about how horrible this was as I waved goodbye to Aaron and plopped restlessly on my bed after breakfast. What had I become? What was to happen with the three of us? I knew at some point they would meet and learn that I had fallen for both of them, forcing me to make a choice or watch them kill each other for me. I have only been here for like, five days, and I've already gotten myself caught in some fucked up love triangle. Whatever was going to happen. I knew for a fact that the end result of it all would be a bitch to sort out. Boy was I right.