destiny || m.c

I

the rain was pouring down, and robyn felt as if she was in the middle of a paintball game, the last person standing from the loosing team. the raindrops hit her and left bruises on her delicate pale skin. she worried about the possibility of her dirty blond hair frizzing; it had a tendency to do that in weather like this.

she was standing outside the large, grey building that haunted her every dream. working at this place had taken its toll on her, as it did to every one of its workers and its patients.

she heard the sound of the van (it was grey, as was everything at this place) carrying her first patient slowly edging its way up the long, narrow drive. her friends and her had nicknamed it 'the straight and narrow', due to the extreme religious beliefs of this place.

i might as well tell you now. in case you haven't guessed yet, 'this place' was an asylum. a 'hospital' for the insane, the unfortunate souls who have lost their minds (or, as robyn's grandmother always used to say, the people who have "lost their marbles").

robyn watched the van making its way towards her and the policeman standing beside her and suddenly felt a sense of impending doom. her heart started racing, and dreadful images of a man with blood on his hands climbing out of the van flooded her mind.

she had been told she would be getting a man who has no record of violence, but she couldn't help her imagination running away with her.

after her two years of working here, she had seen some terrible people, and the terrible things they had done.

when it finally stopped in front of her, robyn met the gaze of the van driver. his face was blank, as always, as he climbed out of the driver's seat. he nodded his head towards the back of the van and she followed him around the side of the van to stand behind it. he pulled open the doors with his rough hands, and it took robyn's eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness in the back until she saw her first patient.

finally, her eyes fell on the man - no, boy - with dyed blue hair. he was slim, very slim, and that was the second thing she noticed (the first being his hair, of course) about him. he looked as if he hadn't eaten for a few weeks, and she immediately decided she was going to take him to the dining hall first.

when she outstretched her hand to him, he flinched backwards, sliding along the bench built into the wall of the van so he was cowering in the corner.

robyn nodded at the driver, motioning for him to leave her and the boy alone. he grumbled something and then stomped away, his permanent storm cloud following behind him.

"what's your name?" robyn asked the boy, trying to make her voice as gentle as possible.

"michael." he responded quietly, and robyn noticed he was clutching something to his chest. a thick, rectangular object. he had a vice-like grip on it, and his knuckles were whitening as he tightened his hold on it even more.

"can i ask what that is?" robyn motioned to the object, an inviting smile spread across her lips.

michael looked hesitant, and he loosened his grip on the object so he could look down on it. he looked at her, and she could just make out the green colour of his eyes. "it's my story." he murmured, staring back down at the book.

"oh, did you write it?" robyn asked, knowing she had to read it at some point, if she was going to make him the first patient to get out of this dreadful place.

the boy just shook his head, and robyn noticed a glimmering tear weave a pattern down his pale cheek.

she narrowed her eyes in confusion, but decided she would just ask him about the story later, once she had made sure he was in a healthy state. well, healthy was not the right word to use here... physically healthy, she meant.

"come with me, michael." she outstretched her hand to him once more, and he slowly placed one of his hands in hers, he had to move both his hands though, as he was handcuffed. as he climbed out, she then realised he was not so much of a boy as she had thought. in his cowering, hunched over pose that he had taken in the van, he had looked young and small. but out of the van he was now standing tall, taller than robyn, even. his face looked younger than hers, but he was only a few years younger.

robyn took her hand out of his grasp and motioned for him to follow her. the policeman fell into step behind him. she led him through the hospital to the 'safe' ward. here, all the patients stayed who were considered violence-free. this ward was much more of a community than the others.

in the ward with the worst patients, they had ten metres between each room, with six bolts on each door.

"this is your room." robyn motioned to the white door with a large window in it. michael nodded at her, and she turned the handle, gently pushing the door open. michael walked slowly in, turning his head around to look at the whole room.

robyn watched him, leaning against the doorframe and taking in each and every expression he managed to display. he was still clutching the book in his hands, he never loosened his grip on it.

suddenly one of the doctors appeared behind her, and she spun around to look at him. "dr irwin!" she exclaimed, offering him a wide smile.

he smiled and then motioned towards michael. "michael clifford. everything you need to know is in that book, apparently. he won't let anyone touch it, and he threatened to kill himself when we arrested him and tried to take it away. we had to let him keep it." ashton told me, pursing his lips in an annoyed expression. "i really want to know what's inside it. but, since you're the nurse and he's your patient, you get to call the shots."

robyn shook her head. "i'm going to find out what's in it, but first i need to get him fed. i'll talk to you later, dr irwin." she smiled at him and he nodded, walking away.

"oh, and robyn! can you drop in on calum if you have any time? he asked me if he could see you this morning." ashton told her. she nodded with a smile and then turned back to michael. the policeman had taken his handcuffs off and he was sitting on the bed staring at a blank wall.

"um, michael, do you want to come with me and get something to eat?" she asked him, her voice quiet.

he looked at her and their eyes met. it sent a shiver down her spine; his eyes looked like they held death inside them. dark spots of black and navy were speckled inside the previously pure green eyes, and they held a blank gaze that had absolutely no feeling inside it.

michael eventually shook his head, looking back at the wall.

"you have to eat something. i can bring you a tray of some of whatever the food is if you want? i've heard the patient's meals are pretty awesome." she lied. she'd actually heard the complete opposite, but he did need to eat something.

he nodded, and then robyn shook the bad feeling away as she locked the door to his room, took one last look at him through the window and walked towards the dining hall with renewed determination to make him better.

she was going to cure him, no matter what it took.