Hospital For Souls

Chapter Two

It's nearly 5am when they bring me upstairs. I remember the clocks in the hallways, the same kind they use in my school, but these ones have metal cages around them. I get goosebumps on my arm as we go. What if these people are like the kids at school? What if they're like my dad? Well... Former dad....

I sigh and close my eyes, trying to calm my anxiety. Maybe these people are nice. They have gone through some things. I remember Dustin telling me about his other friend, Jeremy I think, who had been to inpatient. He said that Jeremy called the people "nice and listen really well". But I've never met anyone other than Dustin who was nice. And my mom, before she left us.

There's an electronic beep, and then the clicking of a door opening. I open my eyes. The nurse who had been pushing my chair is opening a door and begins pushing me through. The door clicks behind us and I know that there's no getting away from this now. I'm locked in here.

She wheels me to the front desk and talks to the nurses behind it. There's a female nurse with long, curly brown hair and green eyes framed by dark green glasses. Then there's a male one with a piercing on his nose. He has short brown hair with brown eyes. When I first saw him, my heart had skipped in fear, even though I knew my father wasn't here. He didn't work in a hospital, he worked at a sales company.

After talking for a while, the nurse that pushed me here leaves. The brunette gets up, pushing her glasses up her nose and picking up a clipboard.

"Jessica, if you would please come with me," she says, gently but with authority. I get up quickly and follow her, though I'm slow-going at first. I had only gotten up twice yesterday and once today, so my legs weren't exactly working properly.

She opens the door to an empty room. She closes the door behind her, then turns to regard me.

"Hi Jessica, I'm Nurse Stevens. I am one of the day nurses. Now, I know this may seem strange, but I am going to need you to undress, to make sure you don't have anything hidden," she says softly, flipping a page on her clipboard. She's right, that is strange.

I do as I'm told, taking off the hospital gown they'd put on me. Where were my clothes? They'd left me in a pair of white underwear. I leave those on, a little self-conscious standing here like these. She nods.

"Ok, turn around please," she says. I turn so she can see my back.

"Ok, now I want you to turn back to me and pretend to cough," she says behind me. I turn to look at her, confused, but I attempt a weak cough. She nods.

"Alright, go ahead and put the gown back on and I will meet you at the front again." She opens the door and leaves, closing the door behind me. I stand there for a moment, processing. What would have happened if I had snuck something in? I decide I don't want to know and pick up the gown. I put it on, looking at the bandages on my arms for a moment. Once the gown is on, I open the door and leave the room. I go back to the desk.

Nurse Stevens is sitting behind it, typing on the computer. The other nurse is filling tiny plastic cups with little pills of varying shapes, sizes, and colours and setting them on a metal cart with a monitor on it. I watch, fascinated by the numbers of different medications.

I notice that everything is eerily quiet except for the clicking of Nurse Stevens's keyboard keys. I wait. After a few minutes, she gets up and takes me to a small scale.

"Please step onto the scale backwards," she says. I give her a funny look.

"Backwards?" I ask her. She nods.

"Some people worry about their weight here, and by doing it backwards, they can't worry and we can keep them stabilized," she says, then indicates the scale. I bite my lip, a bit confused, but comply.