She had been pacing for two hours, and still couldn't understand what had happened. A female orderly came in, giving Claudia her most patronizing smile.
"Claudia, it's time for group therapy."
"I don't want to go." She was still pacing, not bothering to look up.
"You know, there will be consequences if you don't go."
"I said I DON'T WANT TO GO!"
"Please lower your voice. I'm going to bring you a sedative and then talk with Dr. Michener."
That got her to stop pacing.
"No, wait. Please, I'll go to group therapy, I promise. I'm ready to go right now."
"I'm still going to need to bring this up with your doctor."
"But-"
"No more stalling. Let's go."
Claudia followed the woman to the group therapy room, and what met her there almost made her shriek with excitement. There, in the group therapy room, sitting in a circle, were Pete, Myka, Artie, Leena, and Steve, alongside some other patients she had never seen before. She sat down in a chair next to Steve, glancing at him to see if he would let her know what was going on.
"Steve," She hissed.
He looked up at her for a moment, his eyes distant and defeated, then looked back down at the floor.
"Alright, shall we get started?" asked a woman Claudia presumed was the group therapist. All the nurses, orderlies, and other staff members seemed to be different from the last time Claudia was in the psych ward. All except Dr. Michener.
"Today we're going to talk about self-care and ways of exhibiting it. I'd like to go around the room and have everyone share one way that they like to practice self-care. Claudia, you start."
"I guess I like to hang out with my friends and do research. Those things make me feel good." Claudia had become a master at bullshitting in therapy during her last stint in the psych ward.
The group therapist gave her a pitying look while one of the patients Claudia had never seen before snickered.
"What?" Another patient whispered.
"She hasn't been out of here in almost 4 years. She's never had a visitor. Poor thing; she's stuck in her delusions."
A pang struck Claudia's chest, and she looked over at Steve with an alarmed expression. The man was still staring at the floor.
"Steve, you're next," the group therapist said gently.
The man looked up.
"I meditate." He said monotonously.
"Great example. How about you, Myka?"
The curly-headed woman hadn't stopped bouncing her knee since since Claudia had gotten there. She kept intertwining her fingers, and Claudia couldn't help but notice the red, raw, skin on Myka's hands.
"I take showers." She seemed to repeat the word 'showers' several times under her breath.
"Okay, Pete, how about you?"
The man grinned at the therapist, and it was the first thing Claudia had seen that was normal from the team members.
"I like going on car rides with my daddy."
Claudia's smile dropped.
"That's nice, Pete." The group therapist ran a hand through her frizzy hair, then turned to Artie, who was mumbling under his breath.
"Arthur, do you have anything to add?"
He mumbled something incoherently.
"O-kay. Moving on." The other patients contributed, and then the group therapist talked about other ways of practicing self care. Meanwhile, Claudia was trying to get the attention of anyone from the Warehouse team.
After the hour of therapy was up, Claudia quickly approached Steve.
"Steve, what's going on?"
The man looked up.
"What are you talking about?"
"Why are we here? Why don't I remember why we're here?"
"Um, these are questions you're going to have to talk about with your therapist. I can't really help you."
"Don't you dare joke around with me, Jinksy. I'm about to lose it, and I need you to act normal."
"Jinksy? Listen, Claudia, you seem like a really nice person, but this is the first time you've ever talked to me."
"Steve, STOP IT! You're freaking me out. Just talk to me about the Warehouse. Just tell me something that will show me I'm not going crazy."
"I don't know anything about a warehouse. Please, just leave me alone."
Claudia was on the verge of a panic attack, but she quickly ran up to Myka, tapping her on the shoulder. The woman turned around, eyes wide. She looked at her shoulder where Claudia had tapped her, then up at Claudia. After a moment, Myka tapped her other shoulder in the same place.
"It has to be even," she said simply.
"Myka, Steve is acting weird. I don't know what's wrong with him. Please, just… Just tell me you're the Myka I know."
Myka stared at her, biting her lip.
"Myka, please tell me you know me."
"You're Claudia, right? I've seen you around. Usually you're not," here Myka swirled her hand, "All there."
The redhead covered her mouth with her hands. Turning, she beat a hasty retreat back to her room, where she sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. Her hands were shaking, and she couldn't seem to slow her breathing. After some amount of time she couldn't work out, a nurse came in and said her name.
"What?"
"How are you feeling?"
"How old am I?" the redhead asked desperately.
"What?"
"How old am I?"
The nurse looked at her chart, then said "You're 22, Claudia."
"How long have I been here?" Her voice was filled with tears.
"You've been here for four years, sweetie."
At this, Claudia broke down into sobs. Eventually, everything sunk into grayness, and it stayed that way for a long time.
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