What If...

Chapter Twenty Two

It had been two weeks since Luna's parents talked to her about the mental hospital. Luna knew she was going there, she had clearly been booked in by her parents, and her dad had moved back in (temporarily) just to help Luna. Luna didn't really talk to them until they were in the car on the way to the mental hospital.

"Why couldn't you two be like this or at least act like this after you broke up? Why couldn't you come to some arrangement? Pretend to be a happy family like we are now? Luna piped up from the back of the car.

"Luna, sweetie. If you ever have children with a husband, or a partner and stuff starts going wrong, I would like to see how you would handle the situation. Your father and I went through a lot of stuff before we ended it. I feel like what we both done was our escape. I would love to know what you would have done after feeling caged in for years and feeling like you have no freedom." Her mum replied from the passenger seat. Luna took a deep breath.

"You know what I would do? I would talk to my child, I would let them know, I wouldn't just force it on them and make them accept it straight away whilst I go and get drunk and party. I would make sure they're okay, I would ask them what's going on in their mind, because the last thing I would want to do is drive my child to a mental asylum." Suddenly, her dad piped up.

"Honey, please don't use that word, asylum."

"Why? It's where I'm going right, the place for the insane, the crazy, what do they call it? Oh yeah, the looney bin?" Luna replied harshly, slumping in her seat. The rest of the journey was mainly silent. Luna was sat in the back of the car with her pillow and her favourite teddy, hugging them tightly. Luna was afraid, and she was told she could take anything soft that was precious, a maximum of four items for her room, from her house. Luna looked as they pulled into the carpark outside the hospital. It looked bare, plain white building, barred windows dotted every couple of meters which Luna guessed was the bedrooms.

"You ready Luna?" Her mum asked, turning around in her seat to look at Luna's petrified face.

"Why are you doing this mum? I'm fine, I promise, I was getting better, I'm stronger now, the bullies at school weren't getting to me. I don't need to go here." She then felt her mum's hand on her knee.

"Luna, we spoke to your doctor, the school and the mental hospital and they said that the way you are behaving, you need treatment. You have gone through so much and you need to get better."

"But mum, I'm fine!" Luna protested. Luna then watched as her mum's façade began to fall.

"I'm sorry Luna, it's what's best for you, we will be back, I promise, we'll come visit. You just need some time to recover. You'll feel even better once you come out of here, promise." Her mum said, giving Luna her little finger to shake as a pinky promise.

Luna walked into the mental hospital holding her mums hand and her pillow and teddy in the other. The automatic doors slid open and they walked into a huge open space with a receptionist desk at the front, a few tables dotted around with chairs and then corridors leading off to different rooms and sections of the hospital. The hospital was very well lit and Luna noticed that they had ceiling lights as well.

"Hi, my name is Sophie Murray, I'm the mother of Luna Murray. I am here to check her in." The receptionist nodded and pulled up a web page and handed over a form to Luna.

"I just need you to sign this please." The woman said in a not-interested tone. Luna rolled her eyes. Great, all the people who will be working here are going to be boring and annoying and hate everyone. Luna thought as she read through the form. With a sigh, she signed the bottom of the paper. The receptionist nodded as she took the paper back and rang a bell, suddenly, there was a tall, blonde haired guy wearing a white nurses suit who looked quite muscly approach her.