The Bellevue Program

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1.

Sydney stared at the concrete ceiling, only 3 feet from her face. She usually ignored the constant yelling throughout the block, had been able to ignore the smells of piss, shit and filthy body odor. She had even found a way to stomach the food, just to survive - anything to get through the time. 

But tonight her head pounded, the cracks in the concrete he had come to memorize line for line were blurring. She felt a trickle of sweat run down her temples, and her heart raced. She had no cellmate to wake up for help, and there was no sign of guards.

She doubled over on her side, a sharp pain overtaking her muscles, curling her up in agony. She groaned through gritted teeth and a tensed jaw.

She felt a chill suddenly rush over her, then a heat and then she wretched, her somewhat digested food slapped against the floor, the wall and a small trail on her sheets to her mouth. She felt another wave come up through her lungs and throat and then she heaved again, this time with such force it came out through her nostrils, burning. She scooted to the edge and weakly peeled herself feet first off the bunk, landing heavily, her weak legs unable to hold her up. She crawled to the bars, she could make out calls here and there of other inmates further down the line, she tried to muster up her voice but her breaths became shallow, a ringing sound flushed out the voices as she slipped into unconsciousness.