Illuminated Silence

45

"Please."

She gasped, desperate for oxygen as she said it. Her brain was fuzzy with deprivation, on the brink of blacking out again. But what a blessing that'd be. Sleep was what she craved most. That or death. As per usual, her plea was no use. The pressure was quickly on the back of her neck again, pushing, pushing, pushing. The remanants of her breath gave out as little bubbles cascading up from her nose. It all went black.

---

"Pete! Oh god. Stop scaring us. This is the second time you've been out of hospital now. Jesus."

Pete went to sit up but grimaced at the pain. He looked down. Covering his abdomen was a thick wide bandage, tinted slightly red with what appeared to be blood. It all came rushing back to him. "Stellar! Where's Stellar?"

Joe shared a look with Patrick and Andy. Patrick shook his head. Andy bit his lip. "Guys? What's going on?" Joe sighed. "I guess you deserve to know. She's been taken into custody on account of Intent to cause Grievous Bodily Harm." Pete froze. "What! That's fucking stupid dude!"

"Pete she stabbed you. Stabbed. She could've killed you and the others and you wanna say that's stupid?"

Pete momentarily glared at Patrick for stating the obvious. Of couse he knew it was stupid, but that wasn't the point. "It wasn't her! It was, but it wasn't. You didn't see her. They've done something to her. They changed her and made her do that–"

"That's ridiculous Pete and you know it."

"You weren't there! None of you were! So shut up and stop pretending you knew what the fucks up or fuck up. You're supposed to be sticking by her because you guys are supposed to be her friends. Friends don't just ditch you when you've made a mistake, when you're in trouble, when you're fucking suffering. They try and help. She was there for me in my darkest hour, so I'll be damned if I don't repay the favour. "

The room was silent for a long time, a tense shameful silence that really made you regret and reflect. "Tell him Joe. He should know." All eyes turned to Andy, who just shrugged. "She's here, in the hospital. She's with the police getting a mental checkup. "

Pete sat up suddenly and winced even more than before, pulling his IV's and such out before swinging his legs over the bed. "Get me a wheelchair will you?"

Joe ran into the corridor to find one while Pete focused on just breathing. "Pete, I don't think this is such a good idea. You're not gonna like what you see–"

"—a stark raving mad psychopathic babbling lunatic? I think he'll be just fine," Gerard waltzed in the room with a wheelchair, helping Pete into it straight away. "Honestly though. She's gone nuts, I just went to see her. I don't know what they did to her, but she is crazy. S'pose at least she got her voice back. "

He ignored the others protests and wheeled Pete off himself, flicking Petes hands away whenever he tried to wheel himself.  "Oh, no hurry and all but you owe me a new jacket. Your stupid blood ruined mine. Anywhore, here we are." He pressed a buzzer to a door on the side of the wall, which clicked open a minute later by a white coat and opened into a small dark room, with a window at one end. "Welcome to the creeper room. Two way glass looks into there, " Gerard pointed. " and they can't see us from the other side. Like in the movies."

Pete wheeled himself closer to the glass and his heart sank. In the middle of the clinical white room opposite was a single table and two chairs. On one side, a white coat sat with his clip board, on the other sat a wild looking girl encased in an equally bleak straight jacket. Off to the side, two police officers were stationed. Like they were needed. "Now, please explain to me why you did it. "