The next day was unusually cheerful for everyone. All of the patients seemed to take comfort in the fact that the awful teacher was no longer going to treat them with the cruelty that had plagued them for so long. When breakfast rolled around, Nick decided to sit with Jason, Cas, and Sammy, but not before inviting Ellie to join them. He looked around until he spotted her slowly walking out of her room. His eyes widened as she approached him. She looked like she didn't sleep at all. Her eyes were bloodshot, her fur was disheveled, and she had her signature frown, but it was much more prominent.
"Hey, Ellie… You alright?" He asked, putting a paw on her shoulder.
She yawned and nodded, looking up at him with a small smile. With some gentle persuading, he had convinced the little raccoon to join him and his other friends for breakfast. When she sat down, the tension in the room seemed to multiply. What happened with Jason the previous day still burned in her mind and it was clear that she was afraid of him. Jason took a breath, as if to say something, but looked away and picked at his food. After the awkward breakfast, Dr. Small strolled into the room. All of the animals had to look up at the massive elephant, but he had no problem keeping eye contact with the patients.
"As you all know…" He started. "Miss Tarsa wasn't a… proficient instructor for this hospital."
"Down right fucking terrible is more like it!" Mason growled.
Dr. Small ignored the vulgar language. "SO, for the time being, you will have a new instructor. Everyone say hello to Mr. Carson. A big pit bull walked into the room and silently nodded his head as if to say 'hello'.
"Now, since today is a Monday, we will be having our class in the morning. Mr. Carson, I'll leave you to it."
Dr. Small left the room and it was dead silent.
"Alright… Let's get this over with, guys." Mr. Carson said in a bored tone. "Now, I ain't gonna baby any of you. I assume most of you are or almost are adults, so I'll treat you like one."
Nick liked this guy already.
"Now, I'm gonna be real with y'all for a second. Life can suck, right? Right?"
Everyone in the room nodded in agreement.
"So, how do you handle it? Well, it's simple. Don't let life drag you down. When it gives you lemons, don't just make nasty lemonade. Make a whole damn lemon farm. A lemon farm starts with a lemon tree. A lemon tree starts with a lemon seed. Get what I'm saying? Start off small when you try to improve your life. Don't immediately make a whole lemon farm! Plant a tree first. Then another. Then another! Little by little, you'll have more lemon trees. Then you'll have a farm."
For the first time, everyone listened intently to what a teacher had to say in that hospital. Nick especially liked the lemon farm metaphor. When the lesson was over, the patients had free time. Nick, of course, sat with Ellie and talked to her while she colored and nodded in agreement every so often. After another hour, it was about 10:45 AM and a phone could be heard ringing. A nurse picked it up and Nick overheard him speaking with someone.
"19? Okay… Do you have any sort of insurance?"
"I see… Then it will most likely be covered."
"Self harm. Alright… Drug abuse… yes, we offer drug rehab…"
" We can't force your son into this hospital if he doesn't want to be here, ma'am. He's 19, therefore a legal adult…. "
"Hmm… okay… Bring him in then. I'll set up an appointment for 5:00 PM"
Nick wondered if a new patient would arrive, but the thought went into the back of his mind when he felt Ellie tug on his shirt.
"Yeah, El?"
She discreetly pointed behind Nick. Sammy and Cas were eyeing him while Jason kept his head down.
"Wonder what's up with them…" He mumbled quietly.
He shrugged and continued his one sided conversation with Ellie. Soon lunch came, then it was time for a "special surprise" as the nurses called it. The whole room of patients nearly flipped their shit with joy when a poodle who made snowcones decided to come in and give everyone a free one with a flavor of their choice. Nick chose blueberry flavored unsurprisingly. He sat down with Ellie and looked at her dark green and black snowcone.
"Uh… No offense Ellie, but that looks sorta gross, heh…" Nick said with a chuckle.
Ellie stuck her tongue out at him in mock anger and took a big bite of her treat. She offered some to Nick.
"Sure, why not."
He took a spoon and ate a small amount. After about 3 seconds, his face twisted into a pucker and his eyes watered.
"O-oh my god. That's really sour." He noted, trying to hide the fact that he was in severe pain from the citric acid that was practically dumped onto the snowcone.
Ellie stifled a laugh and took a huge bite, not even changing her facial expression.
"Holy shit, Ellie. You're a God."
She shrugged and took another bite. After that and more free time, it was recreational therapy again. Nick noticed how the schedule here was never definite, but he like it that way. He and Ellie spent a portion of their time playing poptropica before painting and playing catch with a soft ball. After that, it was room time. When he was about to go into his room, a nurse stopped him.
"Nick, you have a visitor. Let's go."
She took him down to the visiting quarters and lo and behold, the man Nick never hoped to see stood right before him.
"Dad?..."
AYE LMAO! Shitty plot twist, I know. But yeah, here's a chapter. Sorry about… you know… not updating for a while. I'll try to be better about that, my dudes. Man, so much happened, but I finally got off my lazy butt and updated!
