"My name is NUDGE!" Monique said and ran out of the therapist's office. The therapist sighed and pressed a button labeled 'security'.
A blond guy from security came running into the room.
"What's wrong, Jim?"
"Monique ran away again," he said. "Mike, we can't have a repeat of what happened last time, so run!"
"Okay!" He said defensively, and ran out the door to find the kid.
Mike found the kid on the roof.
"Just step away from the ledge, and everything is going to be okay, N-Monique."
"My name isn't Monique!"
"Okay, Nudge. Whatever you say..." He said while slowly creeping closer to her.
"Why did you call me Nudge? How do you know my name? Everyone calls me Monique..."
"It doesn't matter. Now, would you mind stepping away from the railing?" He said, still creeping closer.
"Yes I would mind. I don't follow orders from white coats, okay? Especially ones who won't tell me how they know stuff." she said, and climbed higher on the railing.
"Nudge, we all have problems in life, but jumping off a ten story building isn't going to help anything." He was only three feet away. She laughed.
"Do you really think that I'm going to kill myself?"
He didn't answer, just moved a bit closer. Only two feet to go he thought to himself.
"No, I'm not going to kill myself, I have beautiful wings, so I can fly anywhere, anywhere I want to-"
He grabbed her off the railing, and slung her over one of his shoulders.
"Put me down!" She screamed, while hitting his back.
"No, I have to do this, it's my job. And you don't have your wings anymore, you know that!" He said while carrying her through the stairwell.
"Let go of me, you white coat!"
"Er...I'm wearing a gray shirt and blue jeans, no coat." He reached a landing and opened the door.
"Then you work for the white coats!"
"Just calm down, everything is going to be alright, okay?" He approached a cream colored door.
"No!"
"Your mother is in the waiting room, do you want to see her?"
"No!"
"Do you want to see your therapist?"
"No!"
"Do you want to see your therapist, or Jean?"
"No!"
"You have to pick one."
"But-"
"No buts, just pick one." She sighed in defeat.
"I miss Max..."
So do I... He thought. "Please, just pick one."
"Jean."
He nodded and opened the door that lead into a small room, with chairs, magazines, and a few toys for small kids, where her mother was pacing. She looked at the door, and saw her baby being carried. Mike put her down in front of her mother.
"Monique! Monique! What's wrong!"
"Nothing."
"Why aren't you talking?"
"I am talking."
"Not as much as usual."
"So?" Her mother hugged her.
"My baby...My baby...everything is going to be alright..."
"Can I talk to you alone for a minute?" Jim asked.
"I can take her." Mike offered, while picking the child up. "Nudge, why don't we go play with the toys?"
She shrugged, even though she was upside down. They sat down and Mike played with the toys and tried to get her to play along, all the while quietly talking to her and slowly calming her down.
"The thing is, if she stays at your house, without a professional, she will hurt herself. The only option right now is to keep her here."
"My baby is going to be staying in a crazy house?"
"For her own good."
"I...I just..."
"If she stays at your home she will hurt herself, but here we have a place for her that she won't bee able to hurt herself, and you can visit as much as you want."
"When ever I feel like it?"
"The only time that you might not be able to, would be if she didn't want you there."
"She's my baby, she always wants me around..."
"I'm sure, but you have to make a choice right now."
She thought for a minute. "Okay...she can stay."
"Jim, when I went to go get Monique off the roof, she was going to jump, but she didn't want to die, she thought that she had wings. She doesn't want to kill herself, she just thinks that she can fly." Mike said.
"Yes, I know that. When I talk to her, all she talks about is flying. And there's this person that she calls Max. Sometimes when I talk to her, it seems like she thinks of her as a sister, but at other times, it's like Max is her mother," Jim said, "Oh, I wanted to show you something."
"What?" Jim pulled a picture out of the drawer, it was a picture of Monique's back, and labeled as such.
"You see the scars on her back?"
"Yeah?"
"Where do you think she got them? It doesn't look like a couple of birthmarks like her mom said, it looks more like two scars."
"So?"
"So, that's where wings would be. See? Right from the top of the shoulder blade to a bit more than half way down her back... I've looked at some bird books, that's how tall the wings would have to be to support her weight, and she looks healthy, but she's only 57 pounds. The only reason for that would be if she had hollow bones, like birds, and were meant to fly! I bet she is some kind of... missing link, or something like that."
"It's none of our business, and for your information, if you would just look in her file, there are explanations for everything you've mentioned. Now, I have to get back to work." He turned to leave.
"One more thing?" Jim said.
"Yes?"
"Where did you work before you came here? You said you worked for the government? Or was it a school?"
"Yes, it was a school, of sorts."
"In Wisconsin?"
"Yeah, why?"
"It doesn't matter. I was just wondering... She said something about her school in Wisconsin, and I'm trying to remember what it was..."
"Okay, whatever you say..." He said, and left. If only he knew how close to the truth he really is... We've been called several things, but missing link? That's not one we get every day... If only Max knew I betrayed the flock for some colorblind eyes... Maybe Nudge would understand. She was always a good listener, no matter how much she talked. And what is she going to do from inside a mental institution?
Author's note:
I could make this into a multichapter story, or I could leave it as a one shot. What do you think?