how it feels to be alive {tom riddle}

sixty: rehab

REHAB

It felt forced, the homeliness of the floral curtains and beige carpet. Maybe because it still felt cold, sterile almost.

There was a medical ambience to the room despite the paintings depicting a sunny afternoon at the beach or a cool morning in the misty valley between two snow capped mountains. It was difficult to ignore.

A bell rung throughout the room, coming from the hallway beyond the cream coloured wooden door.

"Everyone up for morning meeting!" A commanding voice sounded, alike to McGonagall's in tone but contrasting in pitch.

It was cold outside the warm protection of the bed covers, almost taunting and teasing at how hard it already was to get out of bed.

There was movement on the other side of the room where a small lamp flicked on, a girl with short pink hair was making her bed systematically. She brushed a hand over the doona to smooth any creases, tucking it snuggly under the mattress.

"You should really get up. A bad reputation gets you nowhere here, new girl." The girl spoke with slight humour lacing her tone.

Lucia groaned and squeezed her eyes shut, pulling the covers over her eyes to shield her from the morning light as the pink haired girl pulled open the curtains.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." She chuckled when Lucia stayed curled up in bed, walking towards the door to the hallway.

A few minutes passed of Lucia drifting in and out of sleep, before the door opened once again to reveal a tall curly haired woman entering.

"Sweetheart, it's time to get up. You miss morning meeting and you'll already be losing your privileges." The gravelly voice of a woman who'd smoked too many cigarettes in a lifetime filled the room.

Lucia groaned again, the comedown piercing her temples like a drill and deflating her mood like a pin to a balloon.

Eventually, she managed to roll herself out of bed. She pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, putting her hair back in a loose low bun at the back of her head.

After slipping on a pair of slippers, she made her way out into the hallway that was milling with other people, both nurses and patients. With a sigh, she trudged toward the open space she knew the meeting would be held.

Fuck this, she couldn't help but think to herself.

As she walked into the general space, she saw the group had already taken their seats, her seemingly being the last one to arrive.

She received a couple of glares for her tardiness, and the curly haired woman from earlier sat with a clipboard patiently on one side of the circle.

"Nice you could join us, Ms. Cohen." She announced as Lucia slumped down in one of the only free armchairs.

Lucia put minimal effort into a forced smile in return.

The woman began the meeting, discussing the timetable for the day and jobs everyone would be taking part in.

"As you all may have noticed, we have a new addition to the program as of last night. Lucia, would you please introduce yourself and your reason for being here to the group?" The curly haired woman raised her eyebrows to Lucia.

Lucia cleared her throat, her legs curled up beside her in her chair and hands hidden within the sleeves of her hoodie.

"I'm Lucia, and I'm not really sure why I'm here. I went a bit far at my strict boarding school with coke, so I suppose they thought sending me here was a good idea. I just don't think they understand that I have it under control." Lucia couldn't disguise the irritation in her voice.