Psych Ward

In the middle of the night I woke to hear shuffling in my room. One of the nurses was bringing in another girl. I guess this was my roommate. Once the nurse left her I thought of whispering to her hello but it was around eleven; I’m guessing. I didn’t have a watch or my phone so I had no idea what the time was. I just laid there and assumed she was asleep.

Six a.m.

A nurse comes in and wakes me up.

“Hi sweetie I have to take your blood,” I just held out my left arm, the one closest to her and let her do her job. A small needle entered but not much blood was coming out.

“Maybe we should try your other arm,”

“Okay,” I sat up gave her my other arm, this one did give blood. After four small tubes with different color caps were full she took out the needle.

I later made up a theory that the reason my left arm wasn’t giving blood was because that was the arm I cut. Maybe the scars were so deep they messed up my veins. Similar to that of a junkie. I am not a doctor and have no evidence of this but it’s just a thought.

She smiled and went over to my roommate. I lied back down and tried to sleep but I couldn’t; I was way too anxious.

What were the other kids like? Were they crazy? I have to meet new people without my hair straightened or any make-up? This was going to be hell.

Seven-thirty a.m.

“Okay, wake up now,” I was already awake but I acted tired for the nurses benefit.

I sat up and noticed my brushes, toothpaste, and deodorant were missing. The nurse read my mind and smiled.

“Your stuff is in a cupboard, I unlocked them all this morning. The second one down on the third shelf. Get them, grab a towel and take a shower. When you’re done find a nurse and she’ll take your vitals and unlock the door so you can have breakfast with the teens.” She informed and I smiled before doing what she said.

When I left the room she was waking my roommate up. Michelle was her name. I found the shelf where my things were and grabbed them before going across the room for a towel. There I passed many young children who looked no more than ten eyeing me and seeing the new arrival.

I couldn’t fathom that; send your ten year old child to a hospital to be feed pills and sleep across the room with someone who could possibly be a physcopath. I thanked God my parents and grandma, as unconventional as they are sometimes, weren’t that heartless.

As I would soon learn my thinking was wrong. These kids needed help and this was most likely their parent’s last or only option.

I went to the room with my things and my roommate looked at me.

“Do you want to take a shower first?” She asked.

“Uh, yeah,” I answered before entering the bathroom.

I placed my items around the sink and inspected the shower. The knob wasn’t labeled so I had to move it back and forth to find out which side was warm or cold. Also, you know those facets with the push knobs used in public restrooms where they shut off automatically at a certain time? That knob was on this shower.

This would become super annoying since I had to push it in at least twice every day to finish all of my routine.

I got out and inspected myself in the mirror. My make-up was off and I wondered if I could do this. Walk out to a room full of strangers without my face on or hair changed. I’m so ugly with they make fun of me or never talk to me because of how I looked? Only two days I quoted my therapist. That’s how long she said kids were normally kept and how long I would be here.

I took a deep breath and put on my clothes, brushed my hair and teeth and exited.

Only two days.