Psych Ward Stories

I was helped up into the ambulance. I'd never been inside of an emergency vehicle before. There were a lot of things inside. I was told to lie down on a stretcher. At least, that's what it looked like. A woman sat across from me. She had a look on her face somewhat of anger and concern. It was stern, like a mother disappointed in a child. I felt so small.

“What's your name?” She asked. “Candice,” I told her. She continued to ask me questions. She asked them slowly and only when it looked like I was about to close my eyes. I knew then that she wasn't going to let me die. I didn't know how I felt about that. I knew I was scared, but I didn't know much else.

There were flashing lights behind the ambulance. When I looked, I saw that we hadn't moved at all. We were still in the parking lot of the apartment. There were police cruisers parked behind us. “Am I in trouble?” I asked, this time there was more fear. Was I going be arrested for this? “They're here to talk to your boyfriend. Anytime we get a call about a suicide attempt, the cops show up,” the woman explained.

That wasn't comforting.

I kept dozing off and the woman would tell me to stay awake. I just felt so heavy. I watched as she put gloves on, and then a mask. The driver told her they were ready to go and he closed the doors. The woman's eyes remained the same, stern eyes. She put something over my head and then inserted some weird tubes into my nose.

The ambulance was a bumpy ride. The last thing I remember is staring out the back window. I guess I looked confused, because the lady said, “It's weird to see everything backwards, isn't it?”