Daniel took a great interest in the patient he saw earlier. He wasn't sure why, since he was just another insignificant person. There wasn't anything special about him that Daniel knew of, so he just supposed he was only interested in him because he was the first person he saw in here that didn't work here. He looked completely normal as well, so that was some sort of reassurance to Daniel that people in here weren't completely insane. He really needed that, too.
Daniel also took note of the fact that he was very attractive. It wasn't at all like Daniel saw him for half a second and was obsessed and in love, it wasn't like that at all. It was just like one of those moments where you might see an attractive person you didn't really know and just appreciate their face in that moment, thinking nothing else of it and moving on. That's just what Daniel did. He moved on to worry about being stuck in here.
His list of worries and concerns was a mile long. He moved through his first day like a zombie, not paying attention to anything or anyone. He was too occupied by his thoughts to even eat. A tech told him that he'd lose points for not eating, which didn't have any effect on him. It just meant he might have to stay longer, but Daniel simply didn't care. He probably should have cared, but he didn't. He wasn't putting up a fight, at least. That was all he promised.
The tech that stood near him assumed he was just anorexic (she'd seen a lot of them during her time there) and started talking to him about the dangers of not eating and why he shouldn't skip meals. Daniel didn't pay attention and continued essentially being mute. He wasn't anorexic anyways.
Later that night, Daniel wasn't done worrying. It kept him up all night. Rick was up too (he was an insomniac in need of better medication) so he tried to spark up a conversation after a while.
"Can't sleep? Neither can I. Sorry if I'm keeping you up, though. Am I?" Rick whispered. Daniel shook his head, sitting up a little. "I'm Rick. You?"
Daniel just stared blankly for a moment before replying "Daniel." He moved so he was laying down again and closed his eyes, trying his very best to shut off his thoughts so he could sleep. Rick got the message and left him alone, trying to get at least a little sleep as well.
Daniel ended up staying awake for another two hours worrying. He was sure everyone knew he was here already and was going to be talking about him. They'd probably treat him like he was crazy now. They already did, but he was concerned they'd think even less of him and get more people to think of him as crazy. He wasn't crazy, not at all. He didn't want people to think of him like that.
Daniel finally was able to fall asleep (as well as Rick). It may have only been a couple of hours until a nurse was banging on the door at 7am, but he cherished those hours of sleep. The nurse informed the two boys in the room that they had to be up and ready for breakfast in ten minutes before moving on to the next door.
Daniel rushed through his morning routine, hoping to get some more sleep. He also wanted to complain about his neck hurting due to sleeping on one stiff pillow to Rick (he would need a medical note to get another).
Before long, all the patients were being led down to the cafeteria. Apparently, today was pancake day, so everyone was cheery about that despite it being very early in the morning. Daniel got his food and joined Rick upon invitation. He seemed very nice. He was sitting with one other boy with spiked hair that was introduced to him as Phoenix. Phoenix seemed oddly perky for someone in a mental hospital.
"Hi, Daniel, I'm Phoenix. Daniel's your name, right?" Daniel nodded. "Yeah, I thought that's what Rick said." He opened his mouth to say something else but he was cut off by Rick.
"Don't mind him, he can be pretty hyper sometimes. What're you in for? You don't have to say if you don't want."
"Schizophrenia," Daniel said softly.
"Suicide attempt," Phoenix announced, shocking Daniel. He seemed to be the happiest person ever, Daniel couldn't imagine him actually wanting to kill himself enough to act on it.
"Insomnia and paranoia," Rick joined in.
It may have been a tad fucked up, but Daniel felt happy being with people who were somehow sick like he was, because he could relate to them. He of course wasn't happy he was in here, or that the two friends he'd made were so sick they were in here too, but he was glad he met them.
"You don't talk a lot, do you?" Phoenix asked after a brief period of silence.
"Depends," Daniel replied with a shrug.
"Phoenix can talk enough for all three of us," Rick laughed, nudging his friend, who laughed and nodded in agreement.
Daniel smiled a bit but didn't say anything, looking around the room. He saw the boy he'd seen yesterday, laughing with some of his friends. Daniel turned back to Rick and Phoenix to avoid staring. Daniel continued not talking much, only contributing to the conversation when he felt necessary, which wasn't often.
After the rest of the meal passed (which consisted of Daniel just picking at his food and trying not to stare at the tall boy from yesterday), a couple of nurses went though a daily checkup with him. Most of it was vital signs like yesterday. After that they did a short mental checkup, which was mostly the first few questions Dr. Joseph asked him yesterday and then some. It didn't take long at all for them to wrap up.
After that, It was community group. A tech went over the rules and regulations of the hospital (Daniel noted most had already heard these rules and weren't paying attention at all) before switching gears. Everyone was asked to set a daily goal. Daniel decided his was to read a book, as a couple of the small amount of books the place offered looked decent. Daniel noted the ones from other people, including the tall boy he learned was named Caleb. The techs called him Caleb despite him insisting on being called CJ. After that, all the new people and a couple of people who'd been there a while shared why they were here. A lot of them ended up crying. A lot of them were also here for schizophrenia, Daniel learned. Failed suicide attempt was also a poplar cause.
Daniel didn't pay much attention to the stories except for the ones from CJ, Rick, and Phoenix.
"I was never really depressed," Phoenix said, looking down a little. "I don't have a clue what came over me. I just had this existential crisis I guess, and just acted on impulse. I do that a lot, do dumb things impulsively. It's kinda scary to think about where that nearly got me."
Most of Rick's issues came from his paranoia. "I was just so obsessed with these cameras I was certain were following me, or this person that was out to get me, or whatever else it was, I couldn't function. I was scared to leave my home, I was scared to talk to people- especially over the phone- I was just certain that there was something about me that somebody wanted to get rid of, or something, I really don't know. I can't make sense of it sometimes, the other times it's all I think of."
"I'm here because of homicidal ideation," CJ said. A couple of the new kids inched away or looked scared. He was the first today to be here due to that. "I've never actually murdered anyone, no need to fear. But I wound up killing my neighbor's dog. I remember panicking when I was younger because I would dream and think about hurting my big brother and I didn't know what was going on. I still panic when I think about those things, actually. I'd never forgive myself if I hurt him in any way. But I am better now, and I'm hoping to leave soon and carry on with life. I have ways to take care of those thoughts and urges without harming living things." CJ seemed very proud of that.
Daniel was asked to share as well. He was told he didn't have to, but was only encouraged to. He decided to anyways. It wouldn't hurt anything. "I'm here because of schizophrenia. My episodes were getting a lot more frequent and worse. I'd actually been imagining people, creating personalities and everything. It's kinda unsettling, because sometimes I just think about how I could be imagining anyone. But after a while my family and my friend kind of had an intervention. So now I'm here."
All four boys were thanked and applauded like everyone else before moving on. After that, Daniel went to see Dr. Joseph before attending process group. That mostly just consisted of social workers talking about combating negative thoughts. The patients were asked to do an exercise where they wrote down a negative thought, then finding three others to combat it. A couple of people began crying. Daniel noticed plenty of people cried here. He felt bad for them, in all honesty.
After an hour of that, patients were lined up and paraded down to the cafeteria for lunch. Rick noticed Daniel's interest in CJ (he was a very observant person) and invited him to sit with the small group. CJ agreed happily, greeting Rick and Phoenix like they were old friends. Daniel was just as active in the conversation as he was at breakfast that morning, keeping to himself mostly. At some point the guys brought up leaving the hospital.
"I've been here- fuck, I think it's been nearly a month. That's a long ass time," CJ sighed, shaking his head. "I think they're gonna let me leave this week, actually. I haven't even had any bad thoughts in a week and a half."
"I've only been here a week," Rick muttered. "Not been enjoying my stay. But I guess I am getting better too." He for some reason didn't look happy to admit this place was helping him.
"I think I got here the day before Rick," Phoenix joined. "Did I?"
"I think so," Rick agreed as CJ nodded.
"I think they'll let me go soon. The whole thing was like, just a one time fuck up and they believe me. No reason to keep me here or fix me."
"Any clue how long they'll be keeping me?" Daniel questioned, finally contributing to the conversation.
"Two weeks tops. Schizophrenic patients never stay too long," Phoenix answered. "But I still hope you didn't have any plans coming up."
"Man I had tickets to see Joan Jett yesterday," CJ groaned, earning sympathy from the three boys with him. "I miss my family. I think they're scared of me, actually. They haven't even visited me."
"My mom has visited every day, but my dad never has," Phoenix said sadly.
"My stepdad has visited every day too, he's trying to get close now. I don't trust him," Rick grumbled, shaking his head. "My dad was way better."
"My dad is pretty alright," Phoenix added. "We're a hell of a lot closer than I am with my stepdad."
Before anyone else could talk, it was announced that lunch was over and the patients were to carry on with their rather uneventful day, waiting to be able to sleep on their uncomfortable beds and single pillow.