Hm... I can see that bug still has yet to be fixed. And what is up with this new layout? It's unleashing all hell on my computer.

---

Keely nervously approached her sister, who was sitting at a table, looking straight back at her. After hearing of Ashley's hospitalization, Mandy and Keely made an unplanned trip north to Stockton. They ended up driving north, in separate cars, so that they could leave Ashley's car in Stockton with her, as per her request.

"Hey, Ashley," Keely said, trying to hide her nervousness.

"Hey, Keely," Ashley returned, though in a rather somber tone. "How've you been?"

"Uh… can't complain, really," Keely replied, nervously looking around.

Ashley let out a cold laugh. "No, I guess you can't. I've got to tell you, Keely, of all the places I pictured myself at age 19, a mental hospital was not one of them.

"Schizophrenia, Keely. How the hell did I get schizophrenia?"

Keely stammered. "I… I, I don't know… the doctors said--"

"Doctors… I don't want to hear anything from the doctors anymore. So they think I got it because I was stressed. So they think I was likely to get it from my past history with mental illness. Big deal! What do they know? They just examine us, ask us questions, and from their little tests and scans, they can tell what's wrong with us? They can figure out the inner workings of my mind by just a few tests? They pretend to know what they're talking about, they can slap on their little labels and say everything's fine and dandy, but do they really know? Is it really possible to find out just what is going on in everybody's head here? Of course it isn't…"

"Okay… sorry…"

"No need to be sorry. You're not the one trying to figure it out…"

"Oh…"

"You remember the time I told you about the person calling my name in the library, right? When nobody was around?"

"Yeah, of course."

"That was just one of the voices… at least, that's what the doctors say. Hell, I guess I agree with them, even."

"One of the voices… wait, one of them? Like, there's more?"

"Yeah… I guess that was the first time I had an auditory hallucination. The so-called experts say that it's odd I had visual hallucinations first, but whatever…"

"So Molly's just--"

"Complete fabrication," Ashley said, leaning back in her chair, her black hair falling in front of her face, hiding her black eyes.

"Oh…" Keely looked around, trying to find a topic to talk about.

"She's sitting next to you right now."

Keely straightened up. "What?"

"Molly. She's sitting right next to you…"

"Oh…" Looking at her sister's expression, Keely felt sorry for her.

"The doctors say that with treatment, these visions will stop… that is, if they're completely successful… but I don't care…"

"What? Why not?"

"Keely… it's like sending away my best friend…" Ashley said, glancing to Keely's right side. I mean, you may not be able to see her, but I've known Molly for a while now…over a year… she's one of my best friends… she may not be real to you, or to anybody else, but she's real to me, Keely… she's real to me… and they're just going to try and send her away… like being forced to watch a friend move away at any time, and not having anything to say about it… but I guess you'll never understand what I'm talking about…"

"I'll understand more than you'll never know…" Keely muttered.

"What's that?"

"Nothing…"

Ashley sighed and sat back. She was about to speak up when the intercom turned on. "Attention, please. Will the owner of a lime-green Volkswagen beetle please move your car away from the entrance of the hospital? Your car is not being cited, your car is not being towed. Your car is just really, really ugly."

"Ooh… somebody has bad taste… wait… is Phil here, too?" Ashley asked.

"Oh, oh ouch…" Keely said. "C'mon… Phil knows better than that…"

"Yeah, but he was crazy enough to go out with you. BA-ZINGG!"

Keely just shook her head and laughed. "Alright, a point for you…"

"Damn straight…"

Keely smiled. "I don't know why I was so nervous to come here…"

"You were… nervous?"

"Sure was."

"Huh…"

"I don't know… I guess I shouldn't have been… but I was… not sure why…"

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I'm in a sanitarium?"

"Maybe…"

Ashley let out a cold laugh. Keely shivered. That laugh scared her. It sounded so… so dead to her. Completely unlike how her laugh used to be… it frightened her.

"I've got to say, Keely, some people, it's pretty obvious why they're here. But some of these people seem so normal to me, I can't understand what they're doing here. Of course, then again, I used to meet people all the time at work that I'd like to throw in here, so… yeah. I don't know. But it's nothing to be nervous about…"

"Right…"

Ashley switched her focus to a spot two feet above Keely's head. Keely frowned and turned around. "What are you looking at?"

"You mean you don't see that six-foot-tall bunny rabbit behind you?"

Keely turned back around, a concerned look on her face. Ashley just burst out into that same, cold laughter. "Relax, Keely. Just messing with ya."

"That's not funny…" Keely muttered.

"Lighten up, Keels. This is a sanitarium. Not a funeral."

"Oh, right. So much cheerier…" she said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, well, at least I have a chance of getting out of here alive… not exactly where I pictured myself when I was your age."

"I guess…"

Ashley sighed. "They say that my little suicide attempt was because of the illness… apparently, they think that that's causing me to become depressed, and that's why I tried to do it…"

"Do you think they're right?"

"I don't know what to think, Keely… I mean, even if it was, I'm not really happy right now. Sure, I'm not depressed like I was, but it's only chemical happiness, Keely. It's not real. It's about as real as Molly or Frank… Is that really going to end up doing any good in the long run? My chemical happiness is supposed to keep me from doing anything brash? Is that it?"

"Come on… they'll give you them until the disease stops eating away at you…"

"And what if the disease never does quit? Hmm? What then?"

"Well, I guess you'd just have to take it for life… I mean, would that really be any worse than dying?"

"Sometimes I wonder…"

---

Argh, I hate, HATE when my internet acts the fool...

Dammit. Gotta headache again. Dunno why, but I haven't been feeling great at about this time for the past few days. Weirdest frickin' thing…