I chose to spend my time in the room focusing on escape and revenge. I needed to get out and my adoptive parents needed to pay.
The same nurse came to my room with a knock, and then an abrupt opening of my door. She quickly tugged me out of the room, gently but sternly , and steered me toward the hallway.
There were both male and female wards in the hospital. They were separated only by the dining room, the entrance, the nurse/orderly offices, and the showers that sat in the middle. The proud four story building also boated nearly 500 patients. It was for this reason that shower time was a dangerous time. When all the patients converged, there was no telling what would happen.
I was pushed into the front and made to go first in the shower. The feeling of being exposed haunted me as I quickly rinsed myself and reached for a towel to cover myself. Changing with lightning speed I left the vicinity.
Then I realized, with the guards concentrated at the showers I had time to roam free without being stopped. I deftly maneuvered around the corner and headed toward the men's section, against better judgement. I knew I shouldn't but I couldn't help myself. The sound of whispers and moans filled my ears, increasing my curiosity. I couldn't, I wouldn't be satisfied until I knew who or what it was.
I knew that the most dangerous patients were kept at the end of the hall but for some reason, my feet refused to stop. They kept pushing me further down that hall. The smell of something rotten wafted toward my nose and it took everything in me not to cough.
With every step I took the wooden tiles below me creaked; a result of poor building and years of overuse. The male ward was extremely unfamiliar, and intimidating. I found my self hunching my back, under the pressure of it all but my eyes remained wide, taking in everything around me. From the peeling primary green paint, to the old sturdy metal doors with one-way glass holes. They came in handy as entertainment for the guards on watch and kept visitors safe, should they ever venture this far into the hospital.
I finally stopped when I felt someone's eyes on me. The feeling of being watched had become all too familiar to me; it was unmistakable.
I swiftly turned around craning my neck left and right to find out who could possibly be hidden here amongst these empty rooms. Tom never mentioned the possibility of a dangerous patient actually being present. If there was, no one had ever seen or heard of him.
I held my breath hoping to hear the sound once more. I pinched my face together confused and upset. For some reason, it had gotten quiet. I stood up straight, from my crouched position and looked around one last time. "I should probably get back before they realize I'm gone" I said to no one in particular. But to my surprise a deep male voice responded. "Yeah you should". I whipped around fast to find two very familiar violet eyes smiling back at me.