Institutionalized

I finished up my shower quickly, considering that if I took too long, they might think I was trying to drown myself. I toweled off and wandered back into my new room.

When I arrived, I found Trinity standing on her bed, playing her violin. I wasn’t sure if it was the piece she told me she had been working on or not, but the melody was strange. At times the notes were joined together perfectly in a relaxing tune, and then her playing would dissolve into erratic, frantic chaos. What I found really strange was that she seemed to be playing from memory. She had no sheet music on the bed with her, or a stand set up near the bed.

She was right about one thing—I did adore it. When the music hit a seemingly arranged part, I found myself swaying in time with the notes; when it was frantic and screechy, I still found it pleasant.

Well, if they wouldn’t let me have my iPod, I guess this’ll do for music, I thought. Honestly, I think Trinity’s music was better than half of the music I had on my iPod. Different, but better somehow.

Finally, after a long crescendo and a shorter decrescendo, Trinity stopped playing. In that instant, the atmosphere in the room completely changed. It went from a sort of vibrating, peaceful energy to the usual crazed hyperactivity Trinity created. She opened her eyes and saw me standing, jaw dropped and wrapped in a towel, in the doorway.

“Oh, hello!” she chirped. “Since you weren’t in the room, I had nobody to talk to. So I started playing. Did you mind it?” She actually looked nervous at the last part.

“No,” I replied, quickly and vehemently. “It was great. You play really well, Trinity.”

She broke into a huge grin. “Wonderful! So I take it you won’t have any problems with me playing more often?”

“Nope, no complaints here.”

“That’s splendid,” she replied, clapping her hands together. “Simply splendid.” She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “Oh, by the way, Clara will be coming into the room in about five minutes or so. I don’t believe that she’ll mind the nudity, but you might want to clothe yourself.” She turned around and covered her eyes. “I promise I won’t peek.”

I stifled a giggle at the last part. “Okay. Thanks for the, uh, privacy.”

“Not a problem, dearie.”

After quickly throwing on jeans and a T-shirt, I started to make my bed. “Trinity, I’m decent. You can turn around.”

She spun around and removed her hands from her face. She gave me a quick smile and picked up one of the many composition books that were stacked up by her bed. She wandered over to her desk, set the book down, and took her seat. After tapping her chin for a moment, she took out a feather quill (I promise you, she had three of them) and began to scribble something down.

For a few minutes, all was silent except for the scratching noises that Trinity’s quill made on the paper. After a few moments had passed, a soft knocking came at the door.

Trinity smiled and sprang up from her chair. She bounced over to the door and opened it to reveal a severe-looking nurse with a tray in her hands.

“Clara, how lovely of you to stop by! Do come in, please.” Trinity pulled up a chair for the nurse to sit in and patted the seat, inviting her to sit down.

Clara sighed. “Trinity, I don’t have time for this today. I had to put that Byrd kid in solitary again last night, and I finally got Gertrude to take my shift so I can get some sleep. Just take the pill, please.”

Trinity pouted. “Oh Clara, that’s no fun. I look forward to seeing you. I regret that our visit needs to be cut so short.” Trinity reached for the tray and grabbed the pill that was on it. She swallowed with an expression of distaste.

“Ugh. You remembered my tea, correct? Excellent.” She took the chipped, floral-patterned teacup off of the tray and sipped it. “Aah. Earl Grey is always delicious.”

Clara rolled her eyes. “Great. I’m glad it pleases you, Your Majesty.” She looked at me. “You’re Lilly Finnegan, right?”

I nodded and she handed me some papers. “These are your therapy schedules. Have a wonderful stay.”

Trinity smiled. “Thank you, Clara dearest. You may leave now.”

Clara turned and walked out of the room, muttering something about Trinity being a ‘fucking weird tea-lover’ as she went.

Trinity smiled brightly at me over her teacup. “She’s a grouch. I’ve never liked her, but as a proper lady, I feel obligated to be gracious and polite whenever she comes to see me.”

“Aren’t there other nurses?” I wondered aloud. “I mean, if you dislike her so much. Can’t they send anybody else to bring you your medicine and tea?”

“Well, yes there are. But last time they sent somebody different, he kept staring at my crotch. I tried to make pleasant conversation with him, but he grabbed my bosom, so I was forced to bite him.” She looked a little sheepish at the last part. “It was a rather nasty wound. He needed three stitches. They put me in solitary for it.”

I blinked. “What was that like?”

“Well, to be honest, I’ve tasted better,” she replied with a sniff. “He tasted awful. I wouldn’t feed him to the rats in my basement.”

“No, no—I mean solitary. What was it like being in solitary?” I clarified.

“Oh, that. Well, it wasn’t completely horrible. It was only for a few days, and they brought me my Earl Grey and my medication, so it wasn’t all bad. But it’s rather difficult to drink tea in a straitjacket.” She looked at the nightstand clock again. “Oh goodness, look at the time. Almost time for breakfast.”

When she mentioned breakfast, I had a small panic attack. The thought of finding a place to sit and making conversation with people who were potentially as crazy as Trinity was a little nerve-wracking.

Trinity must have picked up on my nervousness because she quickly cut in with “Oh, don’t worry—you can sit with me and my friends! Kevin’s rather funny, and Rachelle is an absolute darling. Lately Mikhail’s been joining us, so perhaps you’ll have somebody you can relate to.”

She took my hand and gave me a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. They’re all very friendly. We’re all good people here at Shady Acres, if you can ignore the fact that we’re all a bunch of fucking lunatics.”