The Shades of Blue

Chapter 3

"Hey", she entered the room without knocking. He was kind of getting used to the lack of privacy in this center. Like yesterday, when she had barged right through the door while he was is in the middle of pulling his t-shirt over his head and had left without an apology.

And on the bright side, he was now wearing his own clothes, consisting of a grey t-shirt and and maroon sweatpants. No more fear of flashing his ass to the these people. In addition to his clothes,he was also given a blue colored wristband with the center's name scribbled across it.

"Why are you here?", he couldn't help but get annoyed at her sudden intrusion. She pulled a stool from underneath the bed and sat beside his legs. Rather than wearing the scrubs she was decked in a knee length brown dress,at least that's what he believed was.

"You have a counseling session in", glancing at the wristwatch adorning her wrist "about 20 mins." This was the part that he had been dreading all along; counseling sessions. He knew how those counselors loved to prod at his wounds, use his weaknesses against him as a leverage and awaken those deep buried ghosts of his past. The last session that he had attended, a few months ago, had ended in a disastrous way with him going into a full blown panic attack.

From that day onward, he had resolved to never be a part of another. He could feel his heartbeat accelerating, the sweat gathering in his palms. Fuck. If this is what is happening before he has even seen the counselor heaven knows what will be the aftermath.

A click of fingers in front of him jerked him back to the reality, to his safe haven for now. Sage had a familiar questioning look with curiosity bubbling beneath those grey almond-shaped eyes. The grey a stark contrast to her personality, he had always associated grey eyes with aloofness and indifference but hers were breaking the norm, quite gracefully.

"Nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing", crossing her legs she settled on his bed with her hands resting on her thighs.

"What is it with you not understanding the meaning of personal space?" backing up against the bedpost he tried to increase the distance between them.

"You are in a rehabilitation center,kid. There's no such thing as personal space"

"Clearly not in your dictionary", holding her hand against her heart she pretended to be offended at his remark before extending the very same hand and ruffling his hair.

" I'd love to talk with you but we're a little short on time, kid. Chop Chop", beckoning him with her hand to follow her she shuffled across the room and opened the door. Sighing loudly, he trudged behind her with several scenarios flashing in front of his eyes, not even a single one ending in his favor.

The long hallway was bustling with nurses and only one or two patients who happened to be in wheelchairs. Thankfully within the past two days, his muscles had started functioning properly without the effect of the drugs injected in his system fading slowly. But this was the first time he had left his room. There were huge glass windows on one side on the hallways while glass paneled rooms on the wonder.

Privacy? My ass

Despite of being almost twice is age, she was fast. Too fast. He was panting slightly by the time they rounded the corner. Gazing out of the window, he could tell that they were on the second floor right now. Patients were roaming in the garden below him, some in groups performing yoga while others chatting among themselves.

Among the herd, he noticed a frail boy who seemed to be around his age tied to his wheelchair. A thick rope was fastened across his bony chest with two security guards strolling beside the nurse pushing him. He looked too quiet to be restrained, reminding him of a dog on leash.