Childhood Possessions

Chapter 6

I stared at her without speaking, careful to keep my face neutral. I had no reason to trust her, none whatsoever.

"Maddie?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Okay," I said finally, worrying that if I didn't say something the nurse would just come back and shoot me full of more drugs.

"My name is Dr. Whalen," she said.

"I figured," I told her.

"How did you know that?"

"The nurse told me that was who he was taking me to see."

She nodded. "That makes sense. So, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself."

"Well, my name is Madeleine Fremont. I'm sixteen years old, and I'm a Scorpio and I like long walks on the beach..."

"Maddie..."

I sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"What's your favorite subject in school?"

"Recess."

She raised an eyebrow, but didn't respond. "Okay, so school isn't your thing. What do you like to do?"

"Not much."

"What do you like to eat?"

"Caviar."

"Favorite movie?"

"Don't like movies."

"Music?"

I shrugged.

She put her pen and notebook down on the table beside her, then stood up to go to the door.

"Where are you going?" I asked. "I thought we were talking."

Turning back towards me, she shook her head. "I thought you were ready for this, but I guess not. I'm just going to call the nurse to come and take you back to your room."

I thought about the nurse patting the pack where he was keeping the extra syringe. "So if I don't talk, I get drugged up again?" I asked.

"No, as long as you stay calm, there won't be any reason for that."

The nurse came back with the wheelchair. I stood up a little easier, and sat back down in the chair of my own volition, determined to stay as calm as possible, so as not to give him any excuse.

"I'll see you again tomorrow. Maybe you'll feel a bit more like talking then," Dr. Whalen said as I was wheeled out of the room.

* * *

One thing I hadn't counted on was how boring it was now that I was awake. There was no phone, no TV, no books. Nothing at all in the room except for the bed. As the lock to the room clicked shut behind the nurse I had to fight the urge to rage at being left like this, with nothing but my own thoughts. I didn't even have a clock to know what time it was, or when I might see another person again.

My body wasn't about to let me go to sleep. I counted holes in the ceiling tiles, tried to tell myself a story, anything to make the time pass faster. I could feel every nerve, every pore in my skin. By the time an orderly unlocked the door to bring in my food, I was about ready to throw myself out the window - if it weren't for the fact that the window had iron bars on it.

"Dinner," he said abruptly, dropping the tray onto the bedside table.

"Can I get a TV in here?" I asked without any preamble.

He snorted in response and started heading for the door. "A book? A magazine? Anything?" I begged, getting up off the bed and going after him.

He turned toward me; he wasn't huge, but definitely big enough to be physically intimidating. "Stuff like that's a privilege," he told me. "You have to earn it. Doc has to give permission." And with that, he left the room, pulling the door shut behind him.