Diamonds

You fell asleep pretty fast after Jinxx left, sleeping heavily for a few hours. When you woke up, all you wanted was to go home. The nurse that had given you juice yesterday, Babette, was working today as well. She brought you some toast and tea in the morning. Or noon, as it actually was. You took a bite and listened to Babette talk. She said you had gotten to the hospital around midnight, and that they were now satisfied enough with your test results to release you.

“But obviously we can’t just let you go,” she said.
“Huh?”
“Have you ever heard of St Garrett’s?”
“No,” you said, mouthful of toast.
“It’s a psychiatric ward where we’d like to send you.”
“WHAT!?” you spat, slamming the bread down on the table. “I want to go home!”
“Miss, we take suicide attempts real seriously here.”
“I-I-I’m fine, I’m dandy, it was a lapse of judgement and won’t happen again,” you said quickly.
“Even if I believed you, it’s not up to me. It’s already been decided that you’re going there. You’ll get picked up from here in a few hours.”
“You can’t do that!” you shouted, out of your mind.
“I’m sorry, Y/N, but we believe that is what’s best for you right now. You will be provided with a psychologist at the centre, which we think can help.”
“Fuck all of you,” you muttered and looked away. Babette left shortly after that.

You had no way to escape, so you simply waited out the hours until the people from the nut house to come get you. You were tired and angry; mostly tired, and all you wanted was to sleep. Eventually a man and a woman walked into your room, dressed in scrubs different to what the hospital staff wore.

“Hello. We’re John and Martha from St Garrett's. Are you ready to come with us?” the woman asked and smiled. You smiled back - an utterly hateful smile. Babette had given you a bag that contained your jacket, phone, cigarettes and headphones. Apparently Jinxx had been thoughtful enough to retrieve them before he’d gone to the hospital to check on you.

“Yeah. Sure,” you said and followed them willingly. You knew what happened to people who resisted. At the psychiatric ward they examined your body. They asked about the deep scar on one of your wrists from a few years back. They wondered if it was another suicide attempt and why no one had taken it seriously back then.
“Cause I lied and told them I wasn’t trying to kill myself. No offense but you guys don’t have the best history of taking depressed teens seriously.” The guy examining you looked slightly uncomfortable. “Hey I said no offense,” you reminded him and he chuckled quietly.

John and Martha showed you around the grounds, but only inside. Since you were a high priority patient and had attempted suicide, you weren’t allowed outside yet.
“So I can’t smoke?” you asked and gave them your best puppy eyes. John chuckled.
“Nope. We have nicotine patches and gum for free that you can utilise until a doctor decides that you’re stable enough to go outside.”
“Kay… can I have one now? It’s been over twenty four hours since I smoked.”
“Sure, we’ll go round to the reception soon.”

They provided you with gum before showing you your room. A tiny miserable space with a bed, a desk, a sink and a small wardrobe. At least it had a window, but the blinds were down and it didn’t look like they opened. You frowned.
“Do you have anyone we can call to collect your clothes?” Martha asked.
“Huh?”
“We prefer if possible that patients wear their own clothes rather than the ones we provide. Do you have anyone we can call who could pick something up from your place? Parent, relative, friend?”
“Oh. Uh… no. No contact with parents, don’t have any siblings.”
“Friends?”
“Not really. My only friend is on vacation right now.”
“Alright. The man who saved you? Your guardian angel?” Martha continued and smiled.
“Do you think you’re being cute by calling him that?” you snapped. “And no. I don’t know him.”

John and Martha looked at each other and sighed.
“Alright. Guess you’ll have to wear our clothes for a while then,” Martha said.
“Mhm…”

You stayed in your room most of the time. Breakfast was at 8, lunch at 12, dinner at 5, and evening snack at 8. The food reminded you of what you used to have in school back as a teen. It was edible but no more. The only thing you genuinely liked was that they had chocolate powder so you could make hot chocolate. For a few days you kept to yourself, didn’t really talk to anyone, but after a while you got lonely and decided to explore the day room some more. You ran your fingers over some board games and magazines. If you befriended someone, maybe you could play Monopoly.

On your third day at St Garrett’s psychiatric hospital, you got to speak to a doctor and a psychologist. You found the doctor quite rude, but the shrink was actually nice to you.
“I think twice a week should be a good start,” she suggested and clicked her pen after your session. You nodded and wrapped the hospital jumper tighter around you.
“So next time will be…?”
“I’m thinking Friday after lunch, that alright? Have they given you any activities yet?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m supposed to attend a drawing group every Thursday but that’s it so far. So Friday is fine. I have a lot of free time,” you said and chuckled bitterly. Leona, your new psychologist, smiled.

Notes

Is anyone reading this story? :D