Where Sanity Falls

The Softest Shade of Green

"I spent my first few weeks here thinking I was dead... They put loads of needles in me, kept me strapped down so that I would stop trying to scrape their faces off... I thought that if I did something unspeakable then I would wake up."

Ada looked down in to the cup of juice that sat before her. Eli had walked her through to the cafeteria after their conversation outside. She was extremely troubled and unsettled, but she continued talking.

"You lose track of time in here, you see..." She gestured round the room to the blank walls as she pulled her hair bobble out with her other hand. Her long hair cascaded down her sides in a tangled mess. She looked so different... perhaps a little bit more sane.

"Noooo clocks. That's how they keep the control, you know."

The way she was speaking; her tone, the vocabulary... it was almost as if she were a different person. Her eyes seemed a little more focused too as she clutched on to the cup before her.

"This place... this is hell. They tell you its a sanctuary, a safe place... it's all lies. All of it."

"Ada... what are you talking about? I am trying to understand but you need to explain it a little more." Eli leaned forward, crossing his arms on the table.

"There's no escape. You just have to.. exist."

"There's always an escape." He reached over, cupping his hand round hers which was gripping on to the plastic cup. "I'm gonna get outta here, and you're coming with me."

She let out a defeated laugh, looking up at him. Her face was twisted with sadness... Her eyes almost vibrating with frustration.

"They won't let me leave. They will never let me leave."

She lay her head down on the table and Eli instinctively stroked her hair. Her eyes began to fall closed as she mumbled...

"L-look after me, please. D.. don't let them take me again."

And then she was asleep.

"Oh dear, we should probably get her back to her room!" Mel came strutting over to the table, flicking her hair over her shoulder as she looked at Ada in concern. She lifted her left hand, gesturing to two of the nurses that were standing close by.

Eli jumped to his feet, positioning himself on front of Ada.

"No. I'll take her there myself." Eli crossed his arms in a protective manner, standing his ground. Mel stopped in her tracks, hesitating slightly. After what felt like a few minutes, she turned and waved the nurses away.

"You shouldn't get so close to this one, Eli. She is very unpredictable and delusional." Mel clasped her hands behind her back as she smiled, showing a little teeth. It couldn't have looked more fake if she had tried.

"I trust her a hell of a lot more than I trust you, lady."

She frowned at him, clenching her jaw.

"Yes, well we shall see if you still feel the same way in a few weeks time. Now get her back to her room please, she's making the place look untidy." She spun on her heels and stormed out of the cafeteria, the nurses following her.

Eli looped one of his arms under Ada's knees and the other round her back, easily and gently lifting her up to his chest. She nestled in to his shirt, clinging on to it loosely as her head hung limp on front of her.

"How much medication are they pumping in to you..."

He carried her down the corridor, checking each name on the door until it occurred to him that she didn't have an official name.