Code Violet

Chapter 14: Welcome back.

"Are you excited?" Mom asked as we pulled up to the asylum. It's been a month since I've been there and I guess she can sense my excitement to see everyone again. I'm also nervous as to how they will react. Some of them are in fact not mentally stable.

"I guess so." I Said as I got out of the car.

"Have fun, be careful." She pulled away and I went up to the front door and went inside.

"Carter! How lovely to see you again!" The nurse at the front desk said. I smiled at the familiarity of it all.

"It's great to be back." I Said as I dropped off my phone and signed in at the front desk.

I made my way upstairs to the common room. When I walked in I noticed that they had decorations but in the walls for Christmas. Nothing fancy or dangerous but just some to nod at the fact that Christmas was a week away. I also saw some new faces sitting around the tables and some other ones missing.

"Hey Lisa." I said walking over to her she looked up from her cards and smiled.

"Hey carter. Long time no see. Grab a seat I fill you in." I sat down next to her and looked around at the girls sitting around me. I saw Kennedy, Meredith and Arabella but noticed that Jill and Polly were missing.

"Sooo as you can see Jill and Polly were released last week. We also got some new people come in." Lisa explained. I looked around and saw three faces I'd never seen before. "That one there is Maya," She said pointing to someone looking to be in their mid twenties, she had short cropped blonde hair and a scar on her left cheek. "That's Jamie." She said pointing to a ten year that had pigtails in her hair and was murmuring to herself. "And that's Mabel. I think she's loosing her mind." She pointed to an older lady probably almost sixty rocking back and forth in a rocking chair, staring at something only she could see.

"Nice to meet you guys. And nice to see you guys again." I Said as I looked around the group again.

"We missed you Carter. It's been boring spending a month locked in our rooms most of the time. But that flu was brutal. I threw up more than I normally would." She laughed at her own joke and so did most of the group. I caught up with them for a bit before curiosity got the better of me.

"So where's um," I stuttered trying to remember the numbers that Violet had to go by.

"You mean 4317? We call her Violet now. She stays in her room all day and doesn't come out very much." Kennedy answered. I nodded. Rosemary called me over to the nursing station and asked me to run something down to the bathing room.

I grabbed the box and made my way down the hall. I looked in almost every small window trying to find where Violets new room was. After not seeing her in any of them I gave up and headed to the bathing room.

I stopped in the doorless doorway and knocked but heard no answer I didn't hear any water running either. I walked in places the box down, I turned to leave when I saw someone in one of the showers. It's weird there was no nurse in here with her. I was on my way out when she turned and saw me.

"What the hell?" She yelled as she pulled a towel around herself and shut off the water hurriedly. I turned around and saw that I had found Violet after all.

"Geez Violet I'm sorry. I knocked and i never heard the water running." I did feel bad for walking in on her but the view I got seeing her naked in the shower was not something I'd apologize for.

She was thinner than I'd ever thought she was and looked even smaller soaking wet. I also noticed had fading purple bruising on her ribs and back. The bandage even in the shower was on her neck. Something about her made it so I couldn't look away.

"Carter? Your allowed back?" She Said confused. She held the towel tighter and slipped on some shoes She she had waiting outside the shower.

"Yeah I am." It got awkward so I just asked, "aren't you not supposed to be in here alone?" And she shrugged.

"Aren't you not supposed to be in here while I'm here?" I grinned.

"Touché." It seemed she realized she was naked right then.

"Get out. I'll get dressed and meet you out there." I nodded and ducked into the hallway. I wait 2 minutes before she came out. She had on a white crew neck with a pair of over sized grey sweats. I looked at her wrist and noticed her bracelet wasn't blue anymore, it was green.

"So green now huh?" I asked surprised and she nodded.

"Hopefully I'll be outta here soon. I'm sick of everyone talking about their Christmas plans." We walked down the hallway and she stopped in front of her door. She sat on the floor by the wall. "You can't go in but we can't talk out here." I nodded and slid down next to her.

"What do you mean, Christmas plans?" I asked confused and she shook her head.

"Patients deemed able by doctor Montgomery are allowed to spend the holidays at home. They leave on Christmas Eve eve and come back on January second to resume treatment." She sighed.

"Oh. I didn't know that." She nodded and then asked.

"So hows your life going?" I then spent 30 minutes filling her in on everything that happened to me in the past month. Emily, hockey, Amelia. And she listened.

"Did you get sick?" I asked when we were done talking about me.

"Yeah. It was bad. I threw up for like a week straight. Not even joking." She laughed and so did I. It really didn't make sense why she was in here. She seemed completely normal. But maybe it was an eating disorder, she was really skinny.

"So this Christmas getaway thing..." I asked slowly, "Are you leaving?" And she shook her head.

"Nope."

"Why not?" I pressed further. This caused her to stand.

"I'm feeling tired. I'm gonna lay down. I'll see you tomorrow." And like that she left me sitting outside her door, with no answers. Damn it Violet.

"So Lisa," I asked when I was back in the common room.

"What is it? I'm on a winning streak!" She was quickly picking up and putting down cards while eying them carefully.

"I some patients can leave for Christmas if they want to. Are you going?" And she shook her head.

"I could, but it's a damn lot of paper work. I think Kennedy and Meredith are but the paper work is due Wednesday and I can't be bothered." She kept laying down cards quickly.

"Oh, how much paper work?" I asked curiously.

"I don't know boy. A lot. Now get your ruining my winning streak." She nudged me softly and I got up from the table.

Maybe Violet does want to leave for Christmas. If I can find out who her parents are maybe they will get the paper work done before Wednesday and she can go home. She did say she can't wait to be released so maybe this will be like a present for her.

With this idea in mind I set off to find Rosemary. It took some searching but I found her walking down the hall with a clipboard checking rooms.

"Hey Rosemary?" I asked falling in step with her.

"What is it Carter?" She asked stopping to give me full attention.

"So I was wondering. You know 4317, Violet. What's her parents names. Maybe they would want to take her home for Christmas." I asked and Rosemarys expression softened and she sighed.

"Look we know Violet is ready to leave, but she has no where to go. Her folks are out of the picture and I can't even disclose her last name to you. We are looking for a placement for her, like a foster home but not really. Like a home outside of here for her to stay. But so far no good leads. It's sweet of you to think of that though. But if you knew what I'd know, you'd understand she can't leave." She turned and walked away without saying anything else.

Maybe there is something I can do. She needs a placement. We have a guest room. It'd take a lot of convincing to mom but maybe.