The Reckless and the Brave 1

It was the first day of therapy and I was loathing every minute of it. My parents checked me in and told me to have fun. Who wouldn't have fun with a bunch of freaks complaining about their problems? I mean, I do have depression and want to die but I don't belong here. This is for the people who want to get better and I have no intentions of doing that anytime soon. I would rather be this way for the rest of my life than to not feel anything at all. I tried explaining this to my parents but yet here I am. I walk in and sit down in the most uncomfortable chair I've ever sat in. That's when I realized there is only one other person in the room. He's got short brown hair and tattoos covering his arms, and he's kind of cute. He's not looking at me though, he's staring at the man walking through the door holding a clipboard and a pen.

"Hey guys, My name's Dr. Orien." He sat down in the only available chair left. Dr. Orien was wearing a white lab coat and looked like he just swallowed a pumpkin. He smoothed over his hair like he was trying to cover a bald spot and clicked his pen. "So, let's get down to business. Both your parents admitted you to this hospital because they believed you needed help. Yes or no?" We both nodded. "Alright, so why don't we get to know each other since we'll be spending a lot of time together and you guys will be roommates."

The other boy stood up. "Wait a minute. My parents said nothing about staying. They said this was a weekly thing. I didn't bring any other clothes."

"Well yes, therapy is going to be weekly but you have to live here so we can keep an eye on your...condition. As for clothes the hospital provides them along with meals and a room. I think you'll enjoy it here. Now would you please sit down, we have some things to discuss." The boy sat down. "Frank this is Gerard, and Gerard this is Frank. You guys will be roommates."

"For how long?" Frank cut in.

"For however long your recovery takes." Dr. Orien replied. "Activities are on the first floor. Girls rooms are on the second and guys on the third. You will have room 319." He tossed us each a roomkey. "When you get there I want you to change into your new clothes and come down for lunch. You will meet lots of new people but just remember everyone is temporary. Don't get upset if you don't see someone anymore. The first group therapy session will be at 4 and don't be late." He then got up and left through the door he had entered leaving me and Frank alone.

"That guy will be dead by the time I get out of here." My parents didn't tell me I was staying either and I was pissed.

Frank laughed. "I like you already. You wanna go find our room?" I nodded.

We walked down the hall and all I saw was white everywhere. White walls, white floor, and a lot of people dressed in bleach white clothes. I stuck out like a sore thumb in my black skinny jeans and plain black t-shirt so I was glad when we stepped into the elevator and it was just me and him. I punched the number 3 key and up we went.

"So your name's Gerard?" Frank asked as soon as the doors shut.

"That's what they've called me my whole life."

"Wow you have sassy little attitude don't you? I think we'll be good friends here Gee." He poked my stomach playfully.

"We will be if you quit poking me." I smiled and poked him back.

The elevator doors opened and Frank got out first tugging my hand. "Come on let's go find our room." We ended up at the end of the hall by the stairs labeled emergency exit and I opened the door. Inside the walls were painted mint green along with the pillows and blankets on our bed. Everything else was white and it made me wanna throw up. I looked over to two neatly folded piles on each bed assuming they were our new clothes. I went over and looked in one of the dressers and there were the same sets of clothes all perfectly bleach white. A huge sign with all the rules was hanging on the back of our door. Now I was really going to puke but Frank grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the window. "Look at the view!" He pulled back the curtain to reveal a forest that went on for miles and a small river flowing through the center. In the distance I could see a row of mountains. It looked perfect.

"Wow, this doesn't look anything like the dirty parking lot my parents dropped me off in." It seemed strange to me that this was just behind the building. In a middle of a city. Something wasn't right...I punched the window so fast Frank let out a small scream. The window flashed and shattered revealing a solid brick wall. "Ugly behind the beauty. I knew something was off about this place." We both didn't say anything for a solid fifteen minutes and jumped when a buzzer went off and a voice over the loudspeaker announced it was time for lunch. We quickly got dressed into the hospital garbage and took the stairs to the first floor. We were still a little shaky when we sat down at a table together to eat what looked like plastic on our trays. "What even is this?" Frank asked to break the silence. I looked down at my tray to see a bowl filled with soup, but it was shiney. I tried to stir it but it was so gooey. Frank flipped his bowl upside down and not a drop fell out. "You know what I'm not that hungry."

"Agreed." There was no way I was eating something suspicious after breaking the window in our room.

Two guys sat down at our table with their trays. "Hey, are you the new guys?" the one with the giant 'fro asked.

"Yea, I'm Gerard and this is Frank."

"Cool, I'm Ray and that's Bob. Listen, I'm just gonna straight up ask if anything strange has been happening to you guys."

"Yea there has. I kinda broke the window in our room and behind it there's a brick wall. Why? Is this place really a hospital?"

"No, I'm afraid not." Bob spoke this time. "We've been in this place for a couple weeks now and we seem to be the only people who don't look like zombies. Look around at the people here. Do you notice something different?" I took a good hard look at the people mindlessly eating their soup. They had dark rings around their eyes like they hadn't slept in years and had a glassy stare. Their skin was so pale it matched their clothes. None of them talked to each other, they were all into whatever they were watching on T.V.

"What happened to them?" Frank asked. "And why aren't you like them?"

"That is a very good question my newfound friend. We aren't completely sure yet. All we know is at night they pump a bunch of funny smelling air into the entire hospital while we sleep. It messes with your mind and makes you believe everything they tell you here is true. Ray and I snuck out of our rooms the first night here and saw all the nurses and doctors wearing masks. That's when we found out about it. Also don't eat any of the food here. It's filled with meds that drain you of your blood and fill you with artificial life."

"Wait, how have you guys escaped the air? And how have you been surviving if you don't eat the food here?"

"Behind the giant rules sign on your doors is an opening and in there are gas masks. They're supposed to be for the nurses who check up on you during the night but they never actually do. As for food, we've been stealing from the pantry the doctors eat from. We can't promise we'll get you food everyday but we'll get enough to keep you alive." A buzzer went off again and a voice announced it was time for therapy. "Just remember to act like everyone else until we can meet again, okay?"

Frank and I both nodded and started to walk with the crowd down the hallway to our therapy session acting as if nothing happened.