𝒢ℯ𝓉 ℳℯ 𝒪𝓊𝓉

𝟸𝟿.

Ana's POV
"Oh I'm so nervous Ana, you have no idea," Rosa tells me and I smile at her. "I know, but it will all be worth it," I tell her and she nods her head. She then walks to Jason and she smiles at him and he gives her a hug. I could tell he was extremely excited for what was about to happen.

"How you feeling doctor?" Jose asks me and I nod my head. "Good, I'm so excited for you guys to be out finally," I tell him and Nathalie as well. Nathalie smiles at me saying, "You guys got this."

"Tobella and Palvin," we hear on the speakers of the waiting room and we all stand up as we were led to the court room. I walk in front and Rosa stands behind all of the inmates to make sure they were safely brought in.

"Go ahead," I whisper as I stood to the side and I let them walk past me to sit down. "Thank you," Rosa says as she sits down and I sit down next to her.

And so it began.

"Good morning," Rosalía begins and I could tell she was nervous, but still ready more than ever. "Today, Ana Palvin and I are testifying to change the ways the social justice system is set up for people who deal with mental illness," she begins and the judge gives her an odd look.

"I will give my personal experience of what it was like living in prison for a few months, and dealing with anxiety and PTSD," she says and I could see her hands slightly shaking. She takes a deep breath.

"My first few nights, I was still dealing with what I had done to my ex-wife. I defended myself from her abuse, and I killed her because of it. When I was taken by the police, they took me in the middle of me having a panic attack. They knew about my mental situation, and I was still taken to a dark cell by myself. Where the first night I got no sleep, and I was told by the guards to keep my mouth shut from my crying because I was being too loud," she says as everyone was now looking at her.

"The police abused my vulnerability. Threatening to hit me if I didn't do what they wanted. Watching me as I showered, telling me to change in the restroom where they could all see me, or else I'd be hit," she says and it broke my heart. I had no idea, she had never told me anything. I look over at Jason as tears were already streaming down his face.

"I one day refused, and I was dragged into a room where they say they put the crazy people. I was alone for days, because I said no to getting naked again," she says with a shaky voice. "The women did nothing to help either. They knew what was happening. But because I deal with PTSD, they all assume I was stupid and crazy," she says and I could tell she was becoming angry as she was now using her hands as she spoke.

"My psychologist helped me a lot though," she says as she looks over at me. "She is one of the very few psychologists in a prison that we have all over the world," she says and the judge looked at us surprised at that statement. "I come here to tell my story, to hopefully change the way prisons are and the people that are in them. People like us should not be in there," she says as she looks at the other prisoners and they all have her a small smile. Some of them having tears in their eyes.

"Thank you," she says, and she then sits down. "I'm sorry for what happened to you Ms. Tobella, your message, it was very touching though," she tells Rosa and she nods her head with a smile.

"Palvin?" She says and I stood up, walking to the front as Rosa did. "Today I will also be testifying for these strong people sitting right there," I say. "Rosa's story is not the only one that has broken my heart since the few years I've been working in this prison. I've always preached to the guards to treat these people with respect, and it unfortunately seemed to never work. I've seen so many horrible things happen to all of these people," I say as I made myself become emotional.

"From watching the guards burn the skin off of a prisoner with boiling water, beating another alive, dragging another by the hair, and leaving them neglected in isolation rooms for days, and so much more horrific things, I feel that prison is not the place these people should be staying in," I say as my voice cracked a few times.

"Rosa and I did some extensive research about prisons and their inmates. And what we found was just heart wrenching. Every 1 in 4 prisoners have at least one mental illness. And of these 25% inmates, only 16% of them have received the proper care from a correctional officer. The remaining 84% of the correctional officers are the ones who have sexually abused, physically abused, and emotionally abused inmates," I state and I hear Jason sniffing making my eyes water even more.

I clear my throat. "Not only are these people being mistreated, but they are also not receiving any kind of medical treatment like they should be. Very few prisons have mental health programs, or even allow their prisoners to see a psychologist like myself. Very few allow them the bare minimum of receiving psychological therapy and taking their medicine," I add on and the judge nods her head which gave me relief as it seemed like she knew where Rosa and I were coming from with this.

"Rosalia and I are fighting for the mentally ill to not be placed in prisons at all. And if we can't do that, the least we can do for them is have multiple psychologists in each prison, and give the correctional officers the right training, and allow the patients to take their medication, and to not have an isolation room at all," I say and the judge looks at the prisoners making me anxious.

"These people are humans just like you and I," I tell the judge. "They do not need to be treated like animals because of a mental disorder, especially when their mental health is so crucial. More than 60% of inmates in prisons will commit suicide, and of these people, 9 out of 10 of them were dealing with a mental health condition," I state as I remembered some things we found while researching on this unpopular topic.

I take another deep breath. "I hope you find it in your heart, to do something about this madness we have going on in prisons. And hopefully, these people can be a starter for you to change lives," I say and I tell her thank you as I then sat down.

"You know, I always thought about this issue. And I never thought the day would come where someone actually noticed the mess we gave in prisons, especially for those who have mental health problems," she says and Rosa and I look at one another. This is a good sign.

"Of which of these people do you think are ready to be out? And which ones need to helped at an asylum?" She asks me and I tell her that all of my patients were ready to be out. "Alright, I say they all be let out then," she says and I hear small gasps from all of them including me.

"I will definitely have a talk with some people I know about this issue. You both did an amazing job. As of today, you may all go home," she says and just like that, they were free. "Case is dismissed," she says and we all stand up. Jason stands up as he hugs Rosa tightly, "you did it," he tells her and I hug Nathalie and Jose and they thank me.

They walk past me, leaving out the back door to their families and Jason and I look at one another. We walk to each other and he gives me a tight hug. "Thank you for everything," he tells me and I began to get teary eyed again. "Thank you for never giving up Ana. And by the way, you're an amazing forensic psychologist," he says and I smile at him.

We all leave out the back and I see José hugging his kids, all of them crying. Nathalie being reunited with her siblings and her parents. Rosa thanks me for helping her out. "I can't thank you enough. This means the world to me," she says and I tell her that I was here for if anything.

"I couldn't have done it without you Rosa," I tell her and we hug again. "Let's go!" Rosa says to Jason once she lets go of me and they both walked to her car where they drove off to live their lives together I would assume.

I never would have imagined this day would come. But I am so thankful it happened.

Author's Note: I FUCKING CRIED OMG 😭 BTW, everything Ana said regarding numbers and statistics and all, it was all true. I went back to my English Research paper, and everything that was stated is true. I really hope something changes with the system, hopefully I can do that some day c:

Anyways!!

How do we feel about this chapter?

How do we feel about what Rosa said about her experience in staying in the prison?