Sorry for such a long hiatus! I realize that that was probably one of the worst chapters to leave you hanging on, but life happened.
SPOV
I didn't leave my room for a few more days. It hurt to move too much. Mom or Dad would come up and bring me food but other than that I was left alone. I needed some alone time. What was I supposed to do now? I just went through a hellacious experience for basically nothing. How was I supposed to get back to living a semi normal life? I had missed too much school to go back this year, and what was I supposed to say when people asked why I had been gone so long?
There was a knock on my door and Seth came in.
"How are you?" He asked.
"Awful." I responded. I didn't see the point in lying.
"Is there anything I can do?" He asked.
"I doubt there's anything anyone can do at this point."
"Yeah, I guess that's true." He said awkwardly. I could tell he wanted to help in some way, but I didn't know what he could do.
After a day or two, Dad told me that I needed to try to walk around and move. He helped me sit up slowly on the edge of my bed. I was able to pop my neck and back to loosen up my joints. I held on to my father as I stood up and began to take small steps. I was still weak from malnutrition and lack of movement.
"Take it slow, you're doing fine." He encouraged softly. "That's it, you got it."
Once I was able to walk on my own for the most part, I was able to go downstairs. I still leaned on Dad for support; suddenly a spiral staircase didn't seem like such a good idea anymore. We walked down the hallway and eventually made it to the living room. I sat down next to Jasper on the couch and curled my legs under me. Jasper put a blanket over me and his arm around me while he watched the History Channel.
As I drifted off, I was transported to a large building with white walls and floors. The patients wore white, but it didn't seem like a regular hospital. I walked down the corridor and into one of the rooms. There, I saw Alice laying back in a chair with wires and sensors hooked up to her body. I could hear the sound of the volts as they surged through her, followed by the scream she tried to stifle. The doctors injected her with serums and medicines. They turned up the voltage and Alice could no longer hold it in. Her scream pierced through the room.
I was awakened by that piercing scream and soon realized that it actually belonged to me. Jasper had his arms around me tighter than before to keep me from thrashing around and hurting myself. Mom was by my side trying to wake me up. I realized that I was back in the living room and that everything was alright. I sat up a little too quickly and I became dizzy. I closed my eyes until the room stopped spinning.
"What was it, Sydney?" Jasper asked.
"Alice," I responded tiredly. "Electroshock therapy in the asylum she was sent to."
I stood up, slower this time, and walked out onto the porch for some fresh air. I breathed in slowly and sat down on the steps. It wasn't long before I heard my mother's heels clicking along behind me. She sat down quietly and smoothed her skirt out over her knees. We sat together without saying a word for a while, which was nice.
"Your father and I were talking earlier," She said finally. " And we were thinking that maybe it would be best for all of us to get away for a little bit while we figure out what we're going to do."
"Yeah?" I said, leaning my head on her shoulder.
"Yeah, we think everyone needs sometime to relax." She explained. "Do you think you'd be up to going to the Island?"
"That sounds perfect, actually." I nodded.