Hey guys! This is my first story, so any feedback that you could give me would be greatly appreciated. srsly, do it, faggot. D:
There was a definite air of mystery in the atmosphere surrounding the Destiny Islands Mental Hospital. It was a little strange, really, that the beautiful islands, which were a huge tourist attraction, should have a mental facility at all.
Luckily for the tourists (and the business owners whose shops and such depended upon them), however, the asylum was hidden rather well in plain sight. To anyone who didn't already know, the hospital appeared simply to be the estate of a rich old coot who didn't want any children messing up his lawn. Hence the iron fence and the security cameras.
Cecilia Valentin had found this out the hard way just yesterday when she found herself on the main island of the Destiny Islands, aiming to take on an internship at the hospital. After roughly twenty minutes of unsuccessful searching, however, she had decided to ask a local, who looked at her funny and pointed her in the right direction.
The receptionist of the place (if you could call her that) was nice enough. She was a young lady with short-cropped black hair and a habit of smiling entirely too much, and somehow managed to forget Cecilia's name a grand total of six times. Of course, Cecilia hadn't remembered her name, either, so it was alright.
A few hurried phone calls and a brief meeting with the owner and head psychiatrist of the place, Ansem, later, Cecilia had a map of the facility and an ugly uniform to show for her efforts.
Now, the next day, was her first day officially on the job, though it was still just a training day. Honestly, what could there be to learn that she hadn't already studied in school?
Regardless, she entered the building at seven o' clock sharp, still yawning when the receptionist (whose name was Yuffie, according to the shiny badge pinned to her chest) bustled over, looking very giggly.
"Morning," Cecilia grumbled groggily, knuckling sleep from her pale grey eyes.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Yuffie replied cheerfully. Much too happy for this early in the morning... "Kate is waiting upstairs for you. Or was it Kristen... or maybe Lucy..."
Cecilia thanked her quickly and left her to her ponderings, taking the steps two at a time as she bolted upstairs. What she found was apparently some sort of magical mirror that showed you exactly what you were not: facing her was a tall, thin young woman with brown hair and matching eyes, and tanned skin. Though she must have been about average height for her age, she dwarfed Cecilia, who was short and rather pale, with a slight build and shoulder-length white blonde hair.
"I expect you're Cecilia, then?" she said, adjusting the white uniform skirt hanging from her hips. Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "I'm Minerva, but you can call me Minnie, if you'd like. I hope you're not superstitious, because you're going to be working in Ward 13 with me."
"Lucky number thirteen," observed Cecilia. "Nice to meet you, Minnie. No relation to the Queen, I presume?"
Minerva laughed hollowly. "Never heard that one before," she said sarcastically, turning and heading for the elevator, motioning for Cecilia to follow.
"There's a few things that you should know about Ward 13 before we get up there," she said as they stepped into the elevator. Cecilia hid a smile. This was where the current employees tried to freak out the newbie, of course. Minerva hit number 13 and they began to ascend. "For one, every single patient in there is dangerous. You have to remember, these people have disorders that affect the way their minds work. Even the most docile ones have the potential to hurt you if you don't handle them properly.
"Secondly, on a similar note, you shouldn't bring anything with you into the rooms that the patients could use to hurt you or themselves."
"Are there suicide risks in there?" Cecilia inquired, frowning.
Minnie thought about this for a moment, then replied, "Two, I believe. And there's one who doesn't really care. At least, we think so. He's tough to figure out. We don't really know."
"Fabulous," she grunted sarcastically. Minerva probably thought that she was referring to the fact that there were suicidal patients, who were, indeed, rather difficult to reason with considering that they had nothing to lose, but she was more worried about the prospect of incompetent psychiatrists. Really. Who had ever heard of a trained mental health doctor describing a patient as 'tough to figure out'? That was their job; to figure it out.
"This isn't the profession for pickyness regarding other peoples' personality traits," Minnie pointed out as a ding sounded and the elevator doors slid open. "Keep in mind that these are the official rules of the hospital, not mine, and that I will probably not adhere to them. I am a bad role model," she added, seemingly out of the blue.
When Cecilia looked up and stepped off the elevator, though, she noticed a large whitish plaque with red letters proclaiming 'RULES', not unlike the signs commonly seen inside community pools.
"Number one, I already told you: don't bring anything into the cells – er - rooms unless it's been approved by security," Minerva half read, half made up on the spot. Her eyes flashed mischievously and she reached into the pocket on the chest of her white uniform polo, withdrawing a carton of Marlboro cigarettes and a yellow lighter with a pink dinosaur on it. "Like this," she said, flailing them vaguely then stuffing them back into her pocket.
"I hope there's no pyromaniacs here," Cecilia joked, choosing not to empty the contents of her own pocket. The headphones of her iPod could easily be used to strangle someone...
Minnie laughed somewhat unpleasantly at Cecilia's pyromaniac comment and turned back to the rule board. "It's all pretty much standard stuff, really. Don't antagonize patients with anger management issues, don't slip the patients extra doses of their medication as a substitute for tranquilizer, don't take the meds yourself..." She trailed off and glanced up.
"Is there anything other than Cecilia that I could call you? I mean, it's kinda... long..."
The smallish blonde pondered this for a moment before saying, "Well, a couple of my brother's friends call me Vegas."
"Mind if I ask why?" snorted Minnie, imagining reasons for the awkward nickname. Maybe she had a gambling problem. Or maybe she was really really lucky with slots or something. Or maybe she had a husband that she had met when she was drunk and barely knew...
"My middle name is Vega," she clarified, dispelling whatever thoughts Minerva had. Seeing the look on her face, she added, "It's Swedish. Like me."
"Like Swedish Fish," Minerva intoned wisely. "Anyways, I'm going to take you around to meet all the patients. That will take most of the day, so you'll just have to watch and learn as we go. We might have a bit of time for Q&A before our shift ends. If not, feel free to ask me anything any time."
"Okay, thank you," said Cecilia, nodding. "So how many patients are there in this ward?"
"Take a wild guess," said Minerva, gesturing to the large 13 in peeling red paint on the wall. "There's thirteen at the moment, but we may or may not be getting another patient soon. It all depends on... some things...
"I guess me might as well go in order," she said, walking a little ways down the hall and stopping in front of a door numbered '1'. "Prepare to meet Patient No. 1," she said, unlocking the door. "Xemnas." Minnie stepped away, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "After you."
FANGS 4 READIN N IF U HATE IT THIN UR A PREP IM GOFFIK SO DERE
Just kidding. Leave a review, please?
Also, I would like to hear it straight from you guys: Which characters would you like to see pop up in roles as doctors, patients, interns, security guards, janitors...? Can't wait to hear your ideas.
-smush.