Institutionalized Part 6

 I pass out on the way into the room, so I am saved from having to go through the torture of that blaring bright light above my head.  A small bit of pity for me on God's part...if there is a God.

~~~~~~~~~~

 When I finally wake back up, I feel as if I've been asleep for roughly a week.  My eyes don't want to stay open, they're amazingly sensitive to the light now, and my arms and legs are, of course, strapped down to the bed.  I groan a bit and attempt to move some portion of my body just to make sure it's still capable of mobility.

 I lift my butt off the bed and feel an amazing relief of pressure.  My entire back is numb and tingly.  Just how long have I been in here?

 Lucky me, I get my answers in the form of a female nursing intern.  She's young, in college, not yet sure of herself in this field of study.  So easy to recognize and even easier to manipulate.  I can't help but grin as she taps her thin-rimmed glasses up her nose and flips her mousey brown hair over her shoulder.

 "Hello there,"  I say with a grin in a sing-song voice.  I think I'll go for sympathy with this girl.  She seems to be just oh-so-sweet.  Probably ignored in high school and would drool over any guy who shows interest.  Poor thing, but we gotta do what we gotta do, right?

 She smiles at me and extends her hand, before realizing I'm still strapped down to the bed.  She saves herself from embarassment by pretending to brush off her pant leg.  "Hello, I'm Sarah.  I'm an intern for the University of..."

 I don't care about where she's from, what she's doing here, or why she's talking to me.  I feel like being selfish today, so I interrupt her.  "How long have I been strapped down here?"

 She blinks at me a few times, seemingly startled by my rudeness, and flips through some pages on the plastic clipboard she's carrying.  "Ummm, since yesterday.  Around four o'clock.  You missed dinner and breakfast this morning because you were asleep."

 I close my eyes and try to pout a bit, "I wasn't asleep.  They drugged me."

 She nibbles on her bottom lip a bit.  I think I may already be getting to her.  "Sorry," she says with very little sincerity.

 "So, Sarah,  what would you say to getting these straps off of me, huh?"  I flash her an overly large and cheery grin.

 She doesn't seem to have a problem with it and quickly removes the cuffs and straps and buckles.  They were all too tight and they all left pinkish, raw marks on my skin.  I wink at her and she blushes a bit.  I love flirting with these susceptible females.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not some sort of cheuvanistic male who cheats in every relationship.  It's just that when I get the opportunity to fuck with someone's head, I take it.  Game on!

 Maybe I can get some good things out of this girl.  She seems to like me enough for some small favors.  We have a nice, long conversation wherein I mention how much I miss chocolate, the fact that they'd stolen my sole posession, the cross around my neck, the fact that the food here is awful and I've already lost five pounds.  I don't specifically ask her to do anything.  I just hint and nudge and play with words.  I also flirt shamelessly.  Within minutes, she's puddy in my hand.  Damn I'm good.  I have no doubt I'll be getting some special deliveries sometime soon.

~~~~~~~~~~

 After spending nearly half an hour in the seclusion room talking to Sarah, I'm released.  It's almost lunch time and my stomach is roaring.  I think I'll forcefeed myself today, if I have to.  I need food!

 When lunch finally arrives, I grab my tray of thick spaghetti noodles topped with a strange reddish sauce and sit at mine and Heero's table, though he's nowhere to be seen.  I'm beginning to worry about him by now.  What if they bruise him again.  I silently vow to myself that if he's hurt in any way, I'll kill every last one of these sons of bitches here.

 For the first time ever, some people come and sit in the chairs around me.  I look up as they're scratching them out away from the table and taking their seats in them.  It's Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei.  I smile at them for a moment before resuming the picking-at of my plump spaghetti noodles.

 Quatre smiles at me, "How are you doing, Duo?"  For a minute I wonder how he knew my name.  Did I even tell him?  I don't think I've told anyone but Wufei and Heero.  That's it.  Wufei must have told them my name.

 I look up at him over my plastic spoon piled with pasta.  "Fine, I guess."  I begin to wonder what they want from me, coming over here like they're my friends.  I hardly even like them. I dislike everyone in this place, besides Heero, that is.  Heero's okay.  I begin to wonder and worry about Heero again.  What Wufei said is really getting to me.  The idea that they could rape him just refuses to register with me.  Never in my life would I ever be able to imagine Heero being raped by anyone.  It's all too much for my brain to digest.

 "I want to get out of here."  It was the first thought that came over me when I started thinking about Heero again.  I wanted us both out of here.

 Quatre and Trowa both look at me oddly, "What?"

 "He said he wants to get out of here!"  Wufei yells at them as if they were deaf.  "I think it's a good idea, but tell me...How exactly do you plan on getting out?  You've already seen that Heero can't even..."

 "That's just it!"  I interrupt excitedly.  A wonderous plan suddenly bubbles up in my head, ideas pouring from a plethora of intelligence I never knew I had. "The fact that he could leave the building.  That fact alone gives us a chance!  If we all help each other..."

 "We who?"  Quatre looks at me as if I'm talking in tongues.

 "Well, I thought maybe you guys would want to get out with us.  Heero and I."

 Wufei immediately agrees with me, though he seems the kind of crazy person who'd try anything just to cause problems.  Trowa seems to disect the proposition, weighing the good with the bad, before answering, "This place is not really helping anyone anyway.  Perhaps it would be better if we all left.  If we don't, we could very well be here for months."

 Quatre begins to bite his bottom lip and fiddle with the food on his tray.  "Well, I have no reason to leave.  I'm getting plenty of help."

 Wufei immediately interjects, "That's because you're rich, Quatre!"  I raise my eyebrows in surprise.

 "No one was supposed to know about that."  He seems to get a little nervous under all the staring eyes.

 I can't help but wonder, "If you're rich, what the hell are you doing in a piss-ass place like this?"

 "It's the closest one to my home.  It was actually recommended."

 "By who?"  Wufei crosses his arms over his chest in disbelief.

 "Umm...actually, I don't know."

 "Well, that settles it!  We all need to break out of here!  I just can't stand it anymore.  Wufei, you said no one can get far on foot, but what about in a vehicle!?  I can hotwire a car!  I know how.  We can do that.  When Heero gets out, I'll find out how he escaped and we'll just try that way.  And we'll keep trying.  If we get caught, we'll just try it again and again until we get out for good!"  The words were literally pouring out of my mouth and everyone else sat in awe as I went on babbling mindlessly.

 "That settles it, right?"  I smile and place my hand in the middle of our small circle surrounding the table.  "We're all getting out of here together?"

 Wufei immediately puts his hand on top of mine, "Right!"  Trowa follows and places his hand on Wufei's with a nod of his head.

 Quatre drops his spoon to his plate, picks it back up, and drops it again.  Trowa looks at him a moment before giving him an encouraging smile.  Quatre smiles weakly back and timidly places his hand over Trowa's.

 I smile triumphantly.  So, they're all with me.  And now I promise we'll all get out of here soon before adding, "All of us!  Heero especially."

~~~~~~~~~

 That night, after dinner, Heero is released from the seclusion room.  I'm alone on the small porch, looking through the screens and bars at the traffic that roars by on the road nearby.  How I wish to be one of those people.  I want to be normal and just go driving down the road to nowhere.  Just get in a car and drive, the unknown future plummeting towards me, and I, Shinigami, embracing it with my wide open arms of death.

 Heero walks onto the porch silently and sits down in a chair next to me.  They're huge plastic rocking chairs, though they don't rock very well.  They're too heavy, I suppose.  He sits quietly with his arms crossed and stares at me.  I feel his eyes burning into me, so I turn around to stare back.  "Are you okay?"  I ask when he doesn't move.  He's not bruised and he doesn't look hurt in any way, but he's silent and still.  His eyes look as if they're too tired to even close.  Like that action alone would wear him out.  I feel waves of anger radiating off him.  He reminds me of a rubber band being stretched, he's just about ready to snap.

 "Hai."

 "Heero, listen,"  I begin, resting my hands atop the table sitting between us.  "We're getting out of here."  He doesn't seem to care much.  He just stares at me as if I haven't been speaking at all.

 "We, who?"  he finally asks after awhile.

 "Me, you, Quatre, Trowa and Wufei,"  I reply.  I can't help but smile proudly.  He stares at me a few more moments as I stare back into his eyes.  I listen to the sounds outside.  A light rain has started to fall and it's getting colder out here.  The rain makes pattering sounds on the moist ground and the leaves outside and it turns into a hypnotic type of music that relaxes me greatly.

 "When?"  he asks me, knocking me out of my rainy daze.

 "Well, as soon as we can.  All I need is to find out how you got out of here the first time, then we're going to hot wire a car, well, I am, and we're going to drive the hell out of here."  Again, I'm excited by my idea and the words spill out hastenedly.

 He stares at me a little longer and I begin to wonder if I have something stuck on my face from dinner, so I rub at my chin.  That reminds me.  "Heero, you didn't get dinner, so I saved this for you from mine."  I reach into my pocket and pull out the wad of bread with crusty cheese melted on top that came with my spaghetti.  Spaghetti for lunch, spaghetti for dinner.  Yummy... leftovers.  He gives me a glimpse of a smile and takes the bread.  I watch him eat it slowly.  I can only imagine how hungry he must be.  He's eaten even less than me, having been in seclusion so long.

 That something else I don't like about this place;  They'll starve you.  If you're not there to eat, you don't eat.  Simple as that.  Well, screw them.  They're not going to starve *this* guy!  They can kiss my bony ass.  And it is bony.  It's getting even bonier in this place.  I've noticed I've been losing weight.  They do weigh us, but they don't let us look at the scale as they do.  We have to turn our backs to it.  I'm not that easy to keep a secret from, though.  I snuck in and read my chart.  I have lost around five pounds.  My face is getting thinner; my cheekbones are becoming defined.  They used to be chubby.  It was baby fat, I swear!

 Well, maybe they'll realize I'm starving to death and give me some real food.  Maybe not.

 After Heero finishes mousily nibbling the bread I gave him, he looks at me as if he expects me to say something important and meaningful.  Of course, I don't.  I jsut stare back at him.  I don't know what to say.  I thought it was his turn to talk.  He needs to tell me how the hell he snuck out of here, and tell me that he *wants* to sneak out of here again.  I hope more than almost anything that he does.

 "We'll go in three days during the time they're switching shifts.  That's six o'clock,"  he says flatly while staring down at the table.

 "Really?  You really want to?"  I ask and he nods.  "Great!"  I shout.  This is great we're getting out!  I can hardly contain my excitement.  I can't wait.  "I'll go get the other three.  We'll plan it out."  I say and I get up from my chair and start walking to the door.

 "No need,"  he calls to me from behind.  "I already know what to do.  All you need is to follow me.  Just let them know when.  I'll do the rest."

 I stop where I am and turn around to look at him.  He looks back and gives me a nod to come over, so I sit back down in my chair and rest my arms on the table.  He reaches over and puts his hand timidly on mine and my heart starts to race.  I think my face turns red, but not from embarrassment.  I'm excited and happy.

 He looks into my startled eyes and says, "Are you going to stay with me once we're out?"  I can hardly think enough to answer, so I slowly nod my head.  He smiles in return and stands up.  I watch him leave the room, his muscled arms swaying tightly by his sides, his entire form being enveloped by the light shining through the door from inside.  He's beautiful.

~~~~~~

 I stay outside on the porch for a long while, just staring at the rain falling on the leaves outside.  Outside, where I want to be.  Where I will be in three days.  It seems like an eternity I've been in here.  I can't even remember how long.  A week?  Two?  A month?  The days seem to flow together like watercolors.  The nights come and I sleep, only to wake up in the morning for another day.  Another week to lay catatonic in a chair and stare at the ceiling as everyone else's life speeds by me.  I feel as if I'm so alone here.  I'm in this tiny little room with no one around and I scream, but no one's there to hear me.  No one's inside with me.  I'm all alone.  Why the fuck do I have to be so alone?

 I start to notice just how angry I am.  I've been twisting my braid around my clenched hands and they cramp up.  I release the braid and straighten my fingers out.  They ache.  Just how long had I been doing that?

 I hear a scream from inside and the same monotonous voice comes over the intercom, "Code pink.  Code pink. South wing."  I immediately have a feeling of dread as I rise from my chair to take a peek inside.

 Of course, there he is, Heero.  He's fighting off some more of those guys.  I've come to really hate those bulky men that gang up on us.  Of course, they wouldn't do that if we just gave in and acted like good little boys and girls.  But, what would be the fun in that?

 I'm really not in the mood for this right now, so I choose to just watch for a moment while Heero swings at another patient, but misses when he's pulled backwards off his feet and onto the floor.  I wonder what that other guy did to deserve Heero hitting him.

 Heero's on the floor now, kicking and squirming under, what looks like, four guys.  They're all piled ontop of each other, so it's hard to tell.  I sigh loudly.  I'm just not in the mood for a fight right now.  Maybe I'll sit this one out.  I mean, I just got out of seclusion.  Why the hell should I go back.  I turn away for a moment and try to concentrate on the sounds of the drizzling rain, but it's too cold out here and there's too much noise inside.  I cover my ears from the noise and shiver to stay warm.  I start humming a little tune that I make up as I go along.

 I continue with this for all of one minute before a loud crash comes from inside.  I can't stand it anymore and I turn back to the door.  Heero's being slammed repeatedly against the now bloodied windows of the nurses' station.  I catch a glimpse of his face.  That's where the blood is coming from and it's streaming down his face.  He seems to have passed out, because he doesn't put up much of a fight as they continue to toss him against the glass.

 I suddenly feel absolutely furiated.  I don't think I've ever been as angry as I am right now.  My vision blurs and my thoughts become small and simple and hazy.  Kill them.  Kill them.

 It seems slow motion as I charge through the door and tackle two of the men onto the floor.  The other two are ontop of me now, trying to pin me down.  Not this time.  There's no restraining me this time.

 I shove them off of me using my legs as leverage and they go plummeting backwards.  Hah!  You sons of bitches!  Come and get me!

 "Come get me, assholes!"  I scream.  They all seem a bit startled by this, but come at me anyway.  They're grabbing me from all sides, but I am somehow able to fight them off this time.  I get free and run to one of the bulky pink plastic covered chairs.  Then I do something I never dreamed I would be able to do.  I pick up the chair and quickly hurl it at all four of the advancing men.  I knock them all over with the blow.

 The lights that were flashing on the ceiling have turned red now.  Another voice comes over the intercom.  It's hurried and panicked.  "Code Red.  Code Red.  South wing!  Get some people down here fast!"

 Shit.  Nurses and doctors stand by watching behind the safety of their plexiglass windows as four more men come barging through the doors.  I start to panick.  Maybe I can take on four, but eight?  There's no way!

 Suddenly, Wufei is beside me.  He gives me a look as all eight of the men advance on us in a circle.  They're holding their hands out, telling us to calm down.  No way!  This place reeks of shit, and you're it!  Game on!

 I laugh maniacally as I punch one of the guys square in the jaw and send him reeling.  Wufei's got my back, apparently, so I continue to concentrate on killing my four guys.  It's not that easy.  They come at me all at once.  Two grab my arms, the other two go for my legs and waist.  I kick at them and squirm free and away.  I run to the chairs and push one of them at the men.  One of the guys gets tripped up on it, but the other four continue coming as I back away.

 Out of the corner out of my eye, I see two things in a single instant.  Heero's gotten up from the floor and is wiping at his face and holding his head, Wufei's gotten pinned to the floor by his four.  I can't take this anymore.

 I run over to the nurses' station and bust open the door.  If it was locked, it didn't do much good.  My adrenalin was flowing madly and there was no stopping me now.  I run into the room and search around frantically for some sort of weapon as everyone backs away from me like I'm some kind of crazy, diseased animal.  I am!  I am an animal!  Stay the fuck away from me, or I'll bite your leg of!

 The four men are in the station and are running at me.  They grab me from behind around the waist, but they miss one of my arms.  Hah!  Then, in plain site, there's a needle.  A needle, on the desk right in front of me.  Nothing but air in it, but still.  I strain to reach it.  When I finally have it in my free hand, I relax a little.  Those idiots think I've given up.  As soon as they loosen their grips to get better grips on me, I lift my arms up and slide down out of their grasp.  Shit!

 I run to that smart ass bitch, Doctor Shryl Taylor and grab her arm, jerking it behind her.  She screams, panincking.  I don't care.  I suck air into the needle and jam it into the vein in her throat.  Everything goes still and silent.  Heero's staring at me through the glass, his eyes wide with surprise.

 "Get back!"  I scream at everyone nearby.  "Get back or I'll kill this damn bitch!"  They don't seem to be listening.  They've stopped advancing, but they're not getting back!  "If I squeeze this needle, air goes into her blood and straight to her brain and she dies," I say calmly.  "Now get the fuck BACK!"  They comply and are slowly retreating, still asking me to let her go, to calm down, I'll not get away with this.  Bull shit.  I am, aren't I?

 "Heero!  Get Wufei and Trowa and Quatre!  Now!"  He stares at me a minute before running to retrieve the three.  In an instant, they're being shuffled through the nurses' station by Heero.  Quatre looks as if he's ready to cry and Trowa looks pissed that I would go to such extreme measures.

 "Change of plans.  We're leaving now,"  Heero says as he pushes them forward and stands beside me.

 "Here, take over this,"  I say and shove the doctor over to Heero.  He grabs the needle and wraps an arm around her neck.  I look around for a momentm then I spot it.  On the wall, there's a map of the entire building.  I find my way out and the exit and the parking lot before turing to the head nurse.  At least, I think that's who she is.

 "I want all the doors open from here to the exit,"  I say as I search through some filing cabinets.  I get to the bottom drawer and there it is, my precious possession.  I grab my cross out of the draw with some other junk and place it around my neck.  I kiss it and drop it to my chest.

 "Why are you still standing there!?"  I scream at her.  She panicks and runs over to a little control box with buttons and switches and lights that flash frantically.  She punches in a few codes and pushes a few buttons, then turns around to nod at me.  I flash her a grin as I hear a buzzer behind me sound.  The door is unlocked.

 Wufei opens the door and shouts,  "Let's get the fuck out of here!"  I charge through ahead of them and lead the way.  Heero takes up the rear, still dragging Doctor Sheryl with a needle jabbed into her vein.  After rounding a few corners and threatening the doctor's life more than a few times to anyone who tried to stop us, we reach the exit and I fling open the glass doors.

 I take a deep breath of the icy air and feel the rain that blasts my face.  It seems forever that I stand there, just feeling free.  It's like being released from prison, or hell.  I don't even know if either of those places would compare to this "mental health facility."

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