Asleep or Dead

Chapter 8

Mentions of Suicide

- Gerard's POV -

"I'll look after her."

His eyes lit up as he smiled. And it seems like he hasn't smiled in a long time. And no, I do not mean a 'fake smile', I mean a real one without having to force it upon your face. I know the differences. I just know.

The boy's slim figure disappeared as he turned a corner, leaving me alone in this empty corridor. The sun was setting, orange beams of light spilling through the windows. Pieces of dust swirled around in the yellowish light, like little fairies dancing in their own little world. Just like how this institute is our little world. 

It's filled with people that are a little fucked up and rejected by society. We're sent away into places like this. But we're not just patients. We're humans too. We may have gotten messed up, but we still live, breathe, think, feel, live. The same as everyone else. Sure we're not 'normal' but neither is anyone else. What I guess put us into places like this is the fact that we hurt, more than anyone else will. Some have had their hearts broken too many times. Some have been alone for so long. And some have invisible demons to fight everyday. 

We're all alike in some way. Yes, we are going to hurt each other, we're going to call each other names and we're going to leave each other one day. But the thing is, we're all going through the same thing, just differently. Like how we all experience the same day differently. This mental institute has become my home for five years. I have made and lost many friends and I have seen people come and go. Some people I consider my second family, some I consider best friends. We're all there for each other, we just don't know it.

I headed back to my room, deciding to skip dinner. None of the nurses would notice if I miss it for just one day. 

Hastily, I walked into my room and shut the door behind me. I shared my rom with three other patients, all of which I have gotten close with. 

I sat down on my bed which was placed next to a window at the other side of the room. I picked up my sketchbook and began to draw. It started off as a random person's eye until I started to build up on the face. The detail on their lips, the tiny blemishes on their nose. It didn't take me long to realise that I'm drawing the boy I saved earlier today.

Frank.

The unforgettable hazel eyes with specks of green. His chapped and faded lips. And of course his lip ring.

I grinned at the finished sketch I held in my hands. It looked like an exact picture. It wasn't a long time before my roommates barged into the room. 

I juggled with my sketchbook and pencil, thrusting them under my bed behind all of my belongings. 

Ashley was the last one in. There are four of us altogether and Ashley is the only girl. And no, we do not try anything on her. We're not pervs. 

David and Tom had already started to argue over who would get to shower first. Since this hospital is shit, the first person to wash is the only person to get hot water. I don't mind about the temperature of the water. At least I got to have a shower.

I better explain who each of these roommates are.

Firstly Ashley. She's the coolest and really relaxed most of the time. She has long black hair that goes up to her waist. She ties it up everyday, well, only if she wakes up early enough. She has insomnia and is usually up every night. The doctors have offered her sleeping pills, but she doesn't trust them. I can see the reason why though. 

Ashley, or Ash, is more of a tomboy, if you get what I mean. She hates dresses and doesn't like to wear makeup. I don't know, okay? I know that she sometimes screams in her sleep and picks at her skin, but she has the heart the size of the ocean.