The next morning, Leah woke up to Alice giving her a nudge. Leah rolled over in her bed. "5 More Minutes." but Alice didn't stop. "Leah, you need to get up. You're gonna be late for breakfast."
Leah grumbled. She was far from a morning person. She rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed, tired as ever. She let out a yawn as she climbed out of bed. "What time is it?" she asked sleepy as she opened her dresser drawer to pick an outfit.
"6:45," Alice said as she put on her shoes.
That made Leah jump. "6:45!" she quickly began going through her drawer. "Why did you wake me sooner?" She pulled out a purple t-shirt with a yellow collar and a pair of floral leggings.
"I tried but it's not easy to wake you up," Alice explained as she tied her laces. "Now you best hurry. I'm not sure what medication schedule they have you on but if it's morning meds you need to be downstairs soon." she quickly stood. "Will see you downstairs."
Leah barely processed anything she said as she slipped out of her pajamas and into her new clothes. By the time she finished changing, she had ten minutes to prepare. Quickly she slipped on her sneakers, grabbed her toiletry case, and made her way to the women's washroom. Inside she noticed a few others still getting ready. Relief washed over her knowing she wasn't the only one running late.
She first headed to a stall, doing her business before quickly heading over to a sink. The room was relatively open except for two girls. One, who looked to be around eleven, had on a pink shirt and purple pants, the other had a very simple pink dress on and looked to be around LEah's age, maybe a year or two older. Both were at one end of the line of sinks. Leah quickly rushed over to the other end, pulling out her toothbrush, toothpaste, and hairbrush. As she squirted a glob of toothpaste onto her toothbrush, she heard one of the girls at the other end call out to her.
"You must be the new girl." the pink-top one said with a smile.
Leah glanced in their direction, nodding as she plopped her toothbrush in her mouth.
"Leah right?" the one in a pink dress greeted as they both glanced at her. "Names Aurora and this is Mary." She introduced, gesturing to the little girl beside her.
Leah spat the toothpaste into the sink in front of her. "Hello." she greeted, running her toothbrush off as she began to quickly brush the knots out of her hair.
"So what brings you here Leah?" Aurora asked as she brushed her hair back.
Leah gave her a questionable glance, why was this girl talking like she had all day? Didn't she know breakfast would be starting soon? "I'm a world believer, at least that's what I think my group is labeled as," she said quickly.
"World believer, that's cool." Mary said as she splashed some water on her face "What world do you believe in?"
"Once in space," Leah answered, turning to the two. She noticed her movements were slower than hers. "Shouldn't you both be heading downstairs?"
"We would, but we get a little more time to get ready in the morning because of our medications," Aurora stated.
"We have sleeping problems," Mary announced. "Well Aurora does, I'm just petrified that a monster is gonna come after me in my sleep again."
"Monsters?" Leah questioned, stopping mid-brush. It was then her mind clicked back to when her friends pointed out the different groups of people. She recognized Mary and Aurora as the sleep insomnias Jim described.
"Ya, he hid in my closet at home." she began fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt. "They say he can follow me here, but I swear I hear scratching at the door every night."
"And I keep telling you it's just the wind," Aurora replied.
"Well that all sounds very interesting, and as much as I would love to hear more." Leah gave her hair a slight toss as she got out the last knot, then began quickly packing her toiletry bag back up. "I really must get going." She picked up her bag and headed for the door. "Though I do hope we see each other again."
"Us as well," Mary said, giving a wave.
"Have a good day Leah," Aurora said as she continued to brush her hair.
"You as well," Leah said as she exited the bathroom and dashed back into her room. She quickly put her stuff down on the nightstand and that's when she heard the dreaded noise of the bell. Leah froze for a moment, listening to the first couple of chimes.
"No, No, No!" she muttered aloud as she scampered to the door. The fourth chine happened when she was at her door, the fifth when she was halfway down the hall, the sixth as she stepped onto the first stair of the staircase, and the seventh chine just as soon as she was about to hit the bottom step. She was officially late for breakfast now.
Quickly, she rounded the corner hoping she could just sneak in. But as soon as she did, she noticed just outside the dining hall doors were her doctor Grimhilda, and the pharmacist on site, Yzma, waiting for her. Leah gulped at the sight of them, wondering if it was too late to just hide in her room.
"Miss Leah," Grimhilda called from the other end of the hall, not very pleased with her tardiness. "How nice of you to join us this morning."
"Good morning" LEah greeted as she walked down the hall.
"You officially." she glanced down at a watch resting on her wrist "2 minutes late. Do you not know what a seven A.M. breakfast means?"
"Get here by seven," Leah said sheepishly, stopping in front of the two.
"And do we dare ask, why are you late?" Yzma said, rummaging through her cart full of bottles, probably to get Leah's medicine.
"I overslept." Leah felt her shoulders rise as she tried to bury her head.
The two ladies exchanged a look. "Miss Leah, do you know what it means when you're late?" Grimhilda asked, folding her arms as she gave Leah a curious look.
Leah shook her head, but she knew that it couldn't be anything good.
"It means we can't enjoy our meals until we have every patient accounted for," Yzma said as if it were something Leah was supposed to know. "I can't eat until I have given every patient their prescribed meds, and Grimhilda here can't eat until all her patients are accounted for." Yzam then placed a plastic cup on the top shelf of her cart. "And since you have morning med, you should be getting here by at least six fifty-five."
Leah shark further "I'm sorry, I didn't know I had-"
"Enough," Grimhilda stated, holding up at hand as if to say she wasn't interested in hearing another word out of Leah's mouth. "I'll admit that was a mistake on my end, but that is still not an excuse for sleeping in in the mornings. We have a schedule here Leah, and all residents are expected to follow it to a T, do I make myself clear?"
Leah gulped. "Yes Dr Grimhilda."
Grimhilda nodded as she turned to the cart, picking up two plastic cups. One with two small pills, and another with water inside. She then turned back to Leah and handed them to her. "Take them."
Leah took both cups. She looked into the plastic cup with the pills and observed them. One was a small orange one, the other a circular pink one. She placed the cup to her lips and dumped them in before chasing them both down with water.
"We have a three-strike policy here Miss Leah" Grimhilde explained as Leah swallowed the water in her mouth. "Three strikes means leaving up, and depending on the circumstance, each strike has a consequence. Normally this offense is punishable by a solitary meal, but since this is only your second day and I have matters to discuss with my other colleagues, I will let you off with a warning."
Leah's eyes winded at this new information, three strikes meant a level up and she had just gotten herself one strike. Thankfully she had gotten herself out of a punishable offence. She would need to find a way to make sure she would wake up on time. But that would prove to be a challenge without an alarm clock to use. "Thank you, Dr Grimhilda."
"Don't thank me yet, you still have a long way to go in this facility and you're already proving to be more trouble than I agreed to." with that she turned for the door, pushing it open. "I don't want you to be late again, am I clear?"
"Yes, Dr Grimhilda," Leah responded as she followed her inside the dining hall. As she entered, the room itself was full of its usual chatter. "Go sit down at your usual spot," Grimhilda said from behind her, making Leah jump "I'll have an orderly bring you your meal."
Leah was about to counter, saying she could get her own meal. But as she looked over at the serving counter, she found it empty of staff. So Leah shut her mouth and hastily made her way over to the table with her friends. As she did, she could feel people glancing at her, making her slightly embraced for arriving late. When she arrived at the table, she took an open seat at the end, her friend giving her concerned glances.
"You ok, Leah? You're ten minutes late." Jim questioned, who was sitting to her left.
"I'm fine this time." She said, looking up at the table. "Thankfully Grimhlda let me off with a warning, but I did receive my first strike."
"Just be glad you didn't get stuck eating lunch with her," Alice responded, shoving a fork full of scrambled eggs into her mouth. "Happened to me and it was brutal."
"It can't be that bad." she glanced around the table "Can it?"
"Oh, you would be surprised," Louise added, taking a sip of water.
"It's like a therapy session, except this time they're lecturing you on punctuality," Wendy added.
Leah sighed as she looked at her lap. "If I can't start waking up earlier, I'm gonna be screwed!"
Alice leaned across the table and placed a comforting hand over Leah's. "Hey, don't stress too much. It's only your second day, you're still getting used to everything."
Leah raised her head back up and was about to respond when one of the orderlies, John Smith, came over and placed a tray in front of Leah. Leaving without saying a word. Leah looked down at the tray, on it was a piece of toast and some water. A far cry from the helpings of scrambled eggs, sausages, fresh fruit, and french toast the other residents had chosen from.
Leah picked up her piece of toast, examining it as if it were a foreign object. "That's it."
"Meet the Yen Sid's home special" Jane said, getting to the tray in front of Leah.
"Or as we call it." Miguel said before they all spoke in unison "The misfit special." they all then chuckled together.
"Misfit is right," Leah mumbled as she took a bite of her toast. Thankfully it was cooked perfectly, she just hoped it would last her till lunch. "Today I feel." She said with her mouth full, "It's gonna be a very long day."