Adam [BOOK ONE]

I

"We are very excited to have you hear Miss Nance."

"I'm excited to be here."

I followed the doctor, dressed in a long, white trench coat down a series of hallways. They all looked the same. Bleak with white walls, white doors, and white floors.

"The hospital itself isn't very exciting, but it's so the patients can have consistency. We've noticed a lot of patients tend to act out when things change."

"Is the children wing the same?"

"They have a bit more color. Most of the children in that wing our housed for sever depression, suicidal thoughts, or eating disorders. We house more serious offenders with the adults."

The more we walked down the hallways the more I wanted to turn around and forget about what I was doing. What had possessed me to take this job? Why the hell was I walking through mental hospital corridors instead of doing what most other thirty year olds did.

"We want to thank you for doing this. As you know, this is a new program so you're one of our first test subjects."

"Well that's reassuring."

"Not everyone in this hospital is bad, some of these people are simply misunderstood. Society is very linear and if you ever take different paths, you're considered an outlier. Everyone is only a few steps away from being an outlier."

I nodded, following Dr. Baker quickly. He walked up several more hallways, took an elevator up a floor, and we finally stopped in front of two wide, white doors with the words 'OUTPATIENT' plastered in large, black letters.

"Are you ready to meet Adam?"

I nodded, "I read his file last night, he doesn't have a last name in it."

"Adam doesn't talk," the doctor said waiting for two men in white polos and white pants with black belts and shoes to open the doors, "we gave him the name. He wouldn't tell us his real one."

"Has he ever talked?"

The doctor shrugged, "we don't actually know of his past life. The only thing we found on him was a caravan that was completely cleared out by the time we got to it. He doesn't have a record or anything."

"So why is he here?"

"Because he's a mystery. People have mystery because they can't pin them one way or the other. Mystery equals danger."

The two men opened the doors we followed them, stopping at a white door with the name Adam written in large letters. There was a room number and a small window where I could make out subtle features of the man. He was perched on the bed in his room, staring out into the blue of the morning sky.

The doctor nodded and the two men opened the door slowly.

"Adam, stand up."

I headed shuffling before the two men walked out with a tall, lanky man following. He was pale with stunning brown eyes and brown hair they fell to his cheek. He stared straight into my eyes, almost as if he was refusing to blink.

"This is Adam," the doctor pointed to him awkwardly, "Adam, this is Miss Elena Nance. She's going to be facilitating your transition back into the real world."

I held out my hand, "how are you?"

Without saying anything he lifted his hands so I could see the hand cuffs restraining his wrist.

"Does he have to wear those?"

"It's for your safety Miss," one of the men spoke up.

I stared back into his eyes, "I think he'll be fine. Can you take them off please?"