Trapped #Wattys2017

Chapter 3 - First Day

I was woken up with a bright light shining in my face. I squinted trying to sense what was happening. Thinking the worse I whispered "Am I in heaven" assuming I was heading towards the tunnel of light.

"No I am just doing checks" The unfamiliar nurse spoke with a slight giggle at my apparent stupidity.

"Oh ok" I said still very groggy from being woken up in a startle. She left making the room appear extremely dark giving my tired eyes a rest.

I was wakened up again with another bright light shining in my face, I huffed and said a bit rudely "Is this going to happen every night?" I finished it off with a loud sigh.

"Unfortunately yes" She said a bit startled by my sudden outburst. "We do it just to make sure that you are alright" trying to make me understand which was the wrong move at such an early hour of the day.

"So it's basically to make sure I haven't tried to kill myself, is that it?" I asked a bit more sharply than intended but come on, she cannot expect me not to be upset at this new routine.

"Sorry but it has to be done, we do it to everyone so you will just have to get used to it I am afraid. It is 7am so up you get and time to get ready for breakfast." She exclaimed and then walked away.

"I am not hungry" I shouted back unsure whether she heard or not. Great this is just perfect, not even able to have a proper night's sleep in this hell hole.

I stood up and looked around my room for any sign of a wardrobe where I can get some decent clothes, who knows how long I have been in these pyjamas. I saw a chest of drawers which had three drawers so I searched in the top cabinet. It contained a hair brush which I saw to have strands of hair attached to it. I pulled a disgusted face and closed the drawer with a loud thud. Next drawer had a towel and a face cloth with a bar of soap sitting on top. Third time lucky I opened the bottom drawer and found a pair of dark jeans and a black t shirt and a couple of pairs of socks and underwear.

 Once dressed I left to attempt to find the cafeteria, I had not been given a tour yet so I wandered lonely in the halls, passing a couple of people just standing, staring into space. I glanced at them, a bit frightened to have eye contact in case they decided to attack. The one thing I noticed passing these few people that it was only women I had seen. I wandered past doors looking in to see who I saw. There were names on these doors, Lizzie, Charlotte, Heather, Carla, Katie... All women.

 After wandering for more than five minutes I gave up and asked a passing nurse for directions. She seemed very nice, short curly blonde hair with a blue nurse's outfit. A bit different to what I had imagined these places were like, I had figured they all wore long white coats with masks on, every five minutes sticking needles into patient's arms to calm them down.

 That was another thing I had noticed it was very quiet. I guess maybe because most people were having breakfast in the cafeteria but I had not heard much screaming or people making a fuss, but like people say its early days yet.

 I followed the direction the nurse had given me and eventually found my way into the café. I joined the end of the queue looking to see what was on offer. I saw a tray of scrambled eggs which looked very greasy to my liking, also a plate filled with toast which looked very soggy. I pulled a face and the girl in front of me looked and smiled.

"It's not that bad really" She said while trying to stifle a giggle, obviously amused at my disgusted expression. I smiled back and was studying her, she looked normal to me, unable to understand what she was doing here, she had soft looking brown hair which just passed her shoulders, she wore the same black t shirt and dark jeans as me, as a matter of fact while looking around the room so did everyone else. She asked, "So are you new?"

 "Yeah got here last night, May I ask you a question? Why are you here you don't look crazy to me?" She giggled at my question.

 "Well let's just say I have an angry streak". She replied. I felt a bit puzzled by this statement, she seemed genuinely nice and friendly but I guess that was a warning not to get on the wrong side of her.

 "Would you like to sit with us" She asked, while pointing to a table where there was a girl sitting on her own, smiling at us.

 "Sure" I replied. We walked towards the table and she introduced us.

 "This is Lizzie, and I am Heather" She said. I remembered walking past their bedroom doors as I could recognise the names that she had said.

 "Hi, I am Leah" I said a bit apprehensively unsure whether I would get on with these girls. Lizzie seemed nice as well but she was a bit dazed and had striking blue eyes and light blonde hair. She was much quieter than Heather was but she didn't seem too shy. We spent the rest of breakfast chatting away and I suddenly felt a bit safer.

If only I knew what would happen later that day.

After breakfast I noticed the big clock on the wall read 9am. We wandered out of the cafeteria and I followed the two girls.

"Do you want a tour?" Asked Heather.

"Sure, why not" I replied. We walked along the corridors, she was pointing out each room as we walked past.

"Here is the lounge, you got books and sofa's in there. Here is the tv room where most people sit and hang out in. The nurses have control of the remote so we cant choose what is on unfortunately." It was quite a big room and a few people sat on the chair's and watched the tv. I noticed the news was on. This is obviously the only way the patient's could get to grips with the outside world. Some people were engrossed in the news and others lay on the couch looking at the ceiling. I noticed one girl who was sobbing gripping onto a teddy bear. I made a mental note to myself to avoid her.

We sat at an empty table in the corner and Heather placed a deck of cards on the table.

"You know how to play solitaire?" She asked.

"Yeah it's a good game I guess" I replied.

We spent the rest of the morning playing cards and the time went by in a flash.

Lunchtime came and we headed back to the cafeteria. I was still sticking to the two friends I had made that morning and we were getting on very well so far.

I stood behind them in the queue trying to tower over them to see what was on offer for lunch. My breakfast wasn't too great so hopefully this would cure my stomach rumbles. I noticed pizza sitting on the hotplate and smiled. This was one of my favourite foods so I was happy. It looked like cheese and on another plate was pepperoni.

Once sat down with my pepperoni pizza I was chatting to the girls when I heard a scream. A girl was throwing her plate at the wall and shouting at another patient. She grabbed her hair and threw her on the floor. Two nurses and a doctor rushed over to grab her off. I was sitting with my mouth open watching this in amazement. I was shocked to see this and also a bit disturbed. The nurses and doctor were carrying the girl out, her screams almost deafend me.

I look at Heather and Lizzie and noticed they were happily sitting there eating their lunch. "What happend there?" I asked a bit stunned that they were not bothered by what had just occured.

"Happens all the time here, you get used to it. Anyway that girl is a total nut job." Lizzie replied.

Oh great I thought to myself. But on the plus side this pizza is so tasty.