Chapter 2: The Psychiatric Hospital
Chyna opened her eyes to a dark, gloomy atmosphere. She wondered if she was in a dream. Suddenly her eyes widened and she sat up. She had been sleeping for at least 7 hours. Her eyes suddenly darted around the room, scanning everything. "W-where am I?" The door of the room she was in suddenly creaked opened and Roxanne entered. "Hello Chyna." Roxanne said in a soft tone. "Did you sleep well?"
Chyna stayed silent. She was too busy wondering why she was in a place much different to where she was used to. "M-Mom, what is this place, why am I here? This isn't home..."
Roxanne let out a sigh. "Sweetie...you're in the psychiatric hosptial. Now I know things seem really scary but I promise you that-"
"I wanna go home...I don't want to be here..." Chyna said, proceeding to get out of bed.
Roxanna cleared her throat and said "Chyna, you need to understand that you need to remain here-"
"I WANNA GO HOME!" Chyna yelled, rushing out the door.
Roxanne quickly turned and went out after her. "Chyna!"
This caught the attention of a group of doctors. One of them ran into a nearby office. "One of the patients is trying to escape!"
"Who is it?" A voice responded.
"Chyna Parks!" The doctor answered. He then noticed Roxanne trying to catch up to her daughter. "Mrs. Parks!"
Roxanne stopped and turned around. "Oh Doctor, my daughter..."
"Rest assured Mrs. Parks, my colleagues will get her back to her room safely and no harm will come to her." The doctor stated.
"Thank you Doctor..." Roxanne said.
"Call me Dr. Peterson." The doctor said.
Roxanne nodded.
Just then, Darryl came running. "Honey, what's was the commotion?"
"Chyna's run off and the doctors are trying to get her back to her room." Roxanne explained.
"Oh no..." Darryl said, burying his face in his hands.
"It was my fault, I should have stopped her!" Roxanne said with a gulitly expression on her face.
"It's OK honey, you tried." Darryl reassured her, giving her a hug.
Back at Webster High, Olive and Fletcher were occupied in the ANT farm. Olive was writing a book report while Fletcher was finishing painting a portrait. It was another portrait of Chyna and he had also painted the words 'Stay Strong Chyna'. "What do you think, Olive?I made it for Chyna."
Olive looked up and put her paper down and looked at the portrait. "Wow Fletcher, it look's great. Chyna will love it."
"You really think so?" Fletcher asked hopefully.
"Yeah, it's nice of you to do that." Olive said with a smile.
Fletcher nodded but then his smile soon turned to worry. "I hope she's OK..."
"Me too." Olive said in agreement.
Back at the psychiatric hospital...
Chyna had stopped running and was now sitting in a corner hugging her legs and rocking back and forth in fright. Suddenly one of the doctors that had been sent to look for her emerged from the other corner of the hallway. "Miss Parks?" He approached her slowly, careful not to frighten her.
Chyna's eyes widened in horror. She began to hyperventilate. "S-stay away from me!"
"It's alright Miss Parks, I'm not going to hurt you, I've been sent to escort you back to your hospital room." The doctor reassured her. He slowly took a few steps closer.
Chyna quickly got to her feet and backed against the wall. "G-get away f-from me!"
"We're trying to help you get well again Miss Parks...so please let me take you back to you hospital room." The doctor explained. "Come on, let's go shall we?"
Chyna slowly approached him and began to walk slowly behind him back down the hallway. As they walked, Chyna stared at the various posters that were hanging on the cream-coloured walls. Most of them had information on mental health problems and other illnesses. There was one poster in particular that had pictures of a person that had a similar image of of mental health problem. This made her gasp in shock. It was bad enough that she thought of the place as a nut house, but to see such images scared her. Finally she and the doctor reached her room and she slowly walked in and laid down on her bed. A tear formed in her eye and slid down her cheek.
Roxanne and Darryl suddenly emerged, both relieved that their daughter was unharmed. They both turned to the doctor who had escorted Chyna back. "Thank you for bringing her back safely." Darryl said.
"We were very afraid that something had happened..." Roxanne said with tears in her eyes.
(Inside Dr. Peterson's office)
"We will be making sure that Chyna doesn't attempt to sneak out again." Dr. Peterson explained. "We'll observe her every hour."
"So she'll be watched every hour?" Roxanne asked.
"Yes." Dr. Peterson replied. "It's important that she doesn't end up hurting herself or others, for her sake."
"We understand." Darryl said. "Thank you."
Back at Webster High, Lexi was sitting in the packed cafeteria, fiddling with her phone. Despite looking occupied, she couldn't help but think about what happened yesterday. She could remember being shocked by Chyna's behaviour after she was confronted. She wondered why it happened and why she couldn't get it out of her head. "I wonder..." She muttered to herself. "Have I really gone too far?"
Just then, Olive and Fletcher entered. They immediately noticed Lexi who had resumed fiddling with her phone. "I can't believe Lexi even has the nerve to sit in here knowing fully well what she did!" Olive said, her voice laced with pure anger.
"Let's not start getting any ideas of violence..." Fletcher told her, slightly worried that Olive was planning a revenge attack. "Because technically, she didn't do anything yesterday."
"She did said some nasty things yesterday to Chyna to make her lash out at her!" Olive reminded him furiously.
"Oh yeah..." Fletcher said, remembering yesterday's events.
Before he could continue, he noticed that Olive no longer standing next to him. He then lookd before him. "Uh oh!"
He watched as Olive stormed over to the table where Lexi was sitting and slammed her hands onto the table with great anger. "Enjoying yourself Lexi!?"
Lexi lifted her head up to see Olive glaring at her with fire in her eyes. "W-what do you want, Olive?"
"Do you have ANY idea what you've done?!" Olive asked her angrily.
"Not that I know of..." Was Lexi's answer.
"Don't you DARE play dumb! Did you know that Chyna is now in a psychiatric hospital all because of the horrible, nasty things you've done to her in the past!?" Olive said, trying to put fear into Lexi's mind.
Lexi paused for a moment, hearing what Olive had just revealed to her. "You're saying that it's all my fault?"
Hearing this question, Olive got even more angry. "OK you're doing this on purpose!"
"Huh?" Lexi asked in confusion.
"You're trying to deny everything that I just told you!" Olive snapped.
"Hey Olive, why don't you leave it!" Fletcher intervened, trying to pull her away from the table.
"Stay out of this Fletcher!" Olive ordered, fixing her glare onto him.
"Don't you see what you're doing, Olive? If you carry on, you could end up like Chyna!" Fletcher tried to convince her.
Olive's face suddenly fell upon hearing this. "Like Chyna?" She took a deep breath. "You're right Fletcher. But there's just one more thing I need to say to Lexi and I promise I won't go berserk this time." She turned back to Lexi with a stern expression. "Listen here Lexi..." She began. "Once Chyna recovers and returns here, you better NOT mess with her EVER again, or else!"
Lexi froze. "Is that supposed to be a threat?"
"Maybe." Olive replied subtly.
"Are you done now?" Lexi asked cautiously.
"Yes, I am." Olive said sternly. She turned back to Fletcher. "Let's go."
Fletcher nodded and the two ANTS left the cafeteria together. Once they had gone, Lexi let out a long sigh. "Am I supposed to feel guilty about what happened yesterday?" She thought to herself. "Wait..." She placed her hand on her chest. "W-what is this feeling?" Lexi seemed to be feeling something she never thought she would have to feel before. "C-could it be...no...it can't be..." She removed her hand from her chest. "Suddenly...I need some fresh air!" She got up from her seat and dashed out the cafeteria towards the exit of the school.
Olive and Fletcher were now back in the ANT Farm, sitting on the couch. "I wonder if we should visit Chyna after school today and see how she's doing." Olive suggested.
"What if we're not allowed to? What if Chyna..." Fletcher began to say but trailed off, worried her was going say something wrong.
"I know what you mean, but we're her friends, and don't you think she would be upset if we didn't come to see her?" Olive asked.
"I guess we could go today after school." Fletcher said, sounding more cheerful.
"Alright then it's settled." Olive declared.
3 hours later...
Back at the psychatric hospital, Chyna was now sound asleep in her bed. After the commotion hours ago, she had seemed to have settled in. Her parents Darryl and Roxanne had gone home and now her safety was left in the hands of the doctors. At one point, Chyna tossed and turned. It seemed her peaceful slumber was about to be halted. She began to toss and turn again. "No..." She began mumbling. Suddenly she quickly moved her head to one side. Her face was now sweating. "S-stay away from me...n-no...leave me a-alone!"
In the hallway, Dr. Peterson was speaking to another doctor. A loud shriek was suddenly heard which caught their attention. It had come from Chyna's room. "Look's like Miss Parks is awake!" Dr. Peterson rushed to the door of Chyna's room and wrenched it opened and the first thing he saw was Chyna, sitting up in bed, looking terrified.
"D-Doctor...please h-help me..."
"It's alright Miss Parks, just take it easy..." Dr. Peterson said, trying to calm her.
"W-where are my parents?" Chyna asked nervously.
"They've gone home, but don't worry you will see them again later." Dr. Peterson explained to her.
"Oh." Chyna simply spoke.
Outside the hospital, Olive and Fletcher had arrived to visit Chyna. Fletcher had the portrait he had painted for her in his arms. "Well, we're here." Olive was the first to speak.
"Yep." Fletcher said, looking at the entrance. "Let's go inside."
The two kids entered the building and walked up to the front desk where a young-looking female clerk was standing. "Hello may I help you kids?"
Olive cleared her throat to speak. "Hello, we're here to see our friend Chyna Parks."
"Ah, well I'm not sure if it's a good time right now, but I page Dr. Peterson and see if you can." The clerk pressed a button on the pager nearby. "Dr. Peterson, there are two children here who are friends of young Chyna Parks. Is it OK for them to visit?"
"Well Miss Parks has calmed down so I don't see why not. Please escort them to Miss Parks' room." Dr. Peterson's voice was heard over the speaker of the pager.
"Please follow me." The clerk said to Olive and Fletcher, as exited the desk. "Thank you." Olive and Fletcher said to the clerk in unison. as they were led down the hallway. Olive was looking at all the various posters while Fletcher had a focused expression on his face.
They continued walking until they saw Dr. Peterson standing outside Chyna's door. "Ah, thank you for escorting them here." He said to the clerk who nodded and left to go back to the front desk. "So then..." He looked at Olive and Fletcher. "You are good friends of Miss Parks?"
"Yes, really good friends." Olive said.
"Best friends in fact." Fletcher chimed in.
"Right before I let you two in, I should warn you, that Miss Parks has just awoken after a possible bad dream." Dr. Peterson explained, referring to what had happened hours ago.
"A bad dream?" Olive gasped.
"I-Is she OK?" Fletcher asked anixously.
"She's fine, for now." Dr. Peterson reassured them with a smile.
"What do you mean 'for now'?" Olive questioned the doctor.
"Well we're concerned that Miss Parks might experience more bad dreams so we have to keep watch on her." Dr. Peterson explained.
"Poor Chyna." Fletcher commented.
Dr. Peterson walked to the door and slowly opened it. Chyna was sitting in bed, looking out the window. "Miss Parks?"
Chyna turned her head to face him. "Y-yes?"
"You have visitors." Dr. Peterson said with a smile. He stood aside so that Olive and Fletcher could walk in.
Chyna smiled a little upon seeing her friends. She suddenly felt more comfortable.
"Hi Chyna." Olive greeted.
"How are you feeling?" Fletcher asked.
"OK." Was Chyna's reply.
There was a moment of silence for a moment. "School hasn't been the same since you left." Fletcher said, breaking the temporary silence.
"Yeah." Olive said in agreement. "It doesn't feel right without you there, Chyna."
"I'm so glad you guys came here..." Chyna spoke.
"We're your friends Chyna, we'd do anything for you." Olive said hugging her.
"Same here Chyna. Oh by the way, I have something for you." Fletcher said. He brought the portrait in front of him for Chyna to see. "It's to help you feel better, at least I hope it will..."
Upon seeing the beautifully painted portrait of herself with the words "Stay Strong Chyna" painted above, Chyna began to smile a little more. The fear in her heart seemed to have immediately disappeared upon being surrounded by her best friends. At that moment she began to feel a little better. "It's great Fletcher. Thank you."
"You're welcome." Fletcher smiled.
"You know, before you guys came here..." Chyna began. "...I felt scared, but now I'm starting to feel better."
"I'm sure you'll be out of here in no time." Fletcher said.
"Thanks Fletcher, but I don't think I'll be leaving here anytime soon..." Chyna said.
"Oh well, we kinda figured..." Fletcher said sadly.
"But once you're all better and back at school, no matter what, we'll be by your side." Olive declared. "Because after what happened, we're gonna make sure no one hurts you."
Chyna suddenly felt tears form in her eyes. "You guys..."
"Chyna..." Olive said.
"Chyna, what's wrong?" Fletcher asked.
"No, I-I'm not upset, I'm just overwhelmed, that's all..." Chyna said in between sobs. She then enveloped her best friends into a hug.
(A/N: Since I'm running out of ideas, I'm skipping to the part where Olive and Fletcher leave...)
After what had been a pleasant visit, Olive and Fletcher soon said goodbye to Chyna and left the hospital. Chyna laid down in her bed, deep in thought. She then looked over at the portrait Fletcher gave her which was stood by the table next to her bed. She smiled a little, thankful have such a nice gift.
Sorry for the wait, guys! What did you think? Chapter 3 will be posted soon! Until then, Read and Review!