Nightmare

Once again a knock sounded at Sofia’s door. If only words could describe how much she hated that sound. Why did people constantly feel the need to interrupt her? Regardless, she was polite by nature and lifted her head to acknowledge whoever was standing in her doorway.

It was another patient, a male. He was shorter and wore his dark brown hair slicked in a Mohawk fashion. Much like everyone else she had encountered, he appeared dull and emotionless.

“Sofie, right?” he asked in a flat monotone. She didn’t bother to correct him. Sofie had been her nickname as a young girl, but only to a select few. Still, it never bothered her when others bothered to use it.

“Mhm.” She nodded and shut her book, setting it carefully upon her nightstand as she rose to greet him. He held out his hand as she approached, although this seemed more of a routine gesture than an actual desire to shake her hand.

“I’m Johnny. Matt said I needed to meet you.” He shook her hand lightly and very briefly before letting it go.

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you,” she responded quietly, trying her best to smile at him. It wasn’t that she didn’t like him. It was the atmosphere that made it incredibly difficult to express any emotions of joy. She was finding that the more time she spent in here; the harder it was for here to feel anything other than disgust or pure monotony. In fact, one of the only times she didn’t feel this way was when she was with Matt. Over the past few days, he had become an anchor of some sort, a link to a life of normal people outside in the real world.

Johnny nodded once and left the room, breaking Sofia out of her thoughts. She was surprised by her lack of desire to return to her book. Eager for more company, she wandered out into the halls, peering into each room until she found the man he was searching for. He was sitting at a table in the recreational room. Directly across from him sat Brian, holding Jocelyn tightly on his lap. The brilliant gleam in his eye was remarkable. He looked entirely different from the person she had met several days ago.

Cautiously, she walked into the room, taken aback as both Brian and Jocelyn waved to her. She had yet to be properly introduced to Jocelyn yet, and she had gathered the sense that Brian had not particularly taken to her in their first meeting so she was shocked, yet still pleased by their warm reaction to her.

Sofia moved closer to the table and took the seat next to Matt. He smiled widely as he wrapped an arm loosely around her shoulders. “Hey, you’re out of your room.”

“I’m not a total recluse,” she laughed and tucked a strand of wavy blonde hair behind her ear. She looked towards Jocelyn and extended her hand. “We haven’t officially met. I’m Sofia.”

“Jocelyn,” she replied, shaking the other woman’s hand. “It’s great to finally meet you. Matt has talked about you quite a bit. I think you’re his favorite topic of conversation.”

It was obvious from the look on Matt’s face that he was holding back a biting comment and struggling to maintain a sense of aloof dignity all at the same time. Brian laughed loudly, his melodic chuckle filling the air in a pleasant way.

“How flattering,” Sofia smiled in response and patted Matt’s leg affectionately. It was almost a relief to know that she crossed his mind as much as he crossed hers. Even though they had only known each other for a short time, she thought of him as a close confidante and a rock, someone she could count on in this unpredictable place.

“Yeah, yeah,” Matt grumbled softly, looking at her with a small grin spread across his handsome face. “So did Johnny come in and introduce himself like I told him to?”

“Mhm,” Sofia nodded, toying with a strand of her thick hair. “He was very polite.”

“That’s only because he’s off his rocker,” Brian snorted, another hearty chuckle erupting from his mouth. “Although, he was a little crazy before we came here anyways. We all were, but Johnny more so than the rest of us.”

Sofia wanted to question this further but she held her tongue. Although Matt had dropped several vague hints, she did not know exactly why these boys had entered the hospital. What she had gathered was that they knew each other before their admittance and their cause was for some sort of intense grief therapy. However, Matt had revealed nothing more and Sofia felt it was not her place to pry. If Matt wanted her to know, he would share it with her, just as she would do for her own reason for admittance.

Jocelyn turned in Brian’s lap and cupped his face in her hand, giving him a quick kiss. “You were never crazy, just Matt and Johnny.”

“I was not crazy!” Matt retorted. “Devilishly handsome? Yes. Crazy? No. Although I have made a few ladies crazy with my devilishly handsome features, right Sof?”

“Dream on,” she laughed and hit his shoulder playfully.

“Mhm,” Jocelyn rolled her eyes at Matt before turning her attention towards Sofia. “Do you see what I have to put up with every day? Are you sure you want to deal with this?”

Sofia giggled softly at the expectant look on Matt’s face, taking several moments before delivering her verdict just to tease him.
“Yeah, I think I do.”