His callous brown eyes traced along the bottle, staring at what's inside. Liam hesitates, frantically opening it without thinking. Tears stream down his face, landing on the bathroom floor. He cries as he drops each tablet inside his mouth, flooding away the light of the room. After each pill was swallowed, he crawled against the bathroom wall, waiting for his end. Liam's eye lids became heavy, his sight slowly drifting away into darkness. He could smile now, knowing he wouldn't have to face tomorrow. As Liam's vision blurred more and more, he can hear distorted screams. Liam's limp body was dragged away from the bathroom onto the living room floor. A tight pressure on his chest, a heavy set of fingers shoved into his mouth. Liam gagged. No he thought as the light begun to fade away, Please let me die his head cries as his vision gained.

. . .

Liam kicked at the man in white, "Get that thing away from me." He yelled.

Another man in white grabbed onto Liam's arms, giving access for another to stab his neck with a needle. Liam felt light on his feet suddenly. Liam's body fell against the metal table, "Fuu..." he tries to say, his body failing him. Liam's eyes gazed up at the man in white holding out a thin metal collar with an orange light. Liam felt the thin collar wrap around his neck, sending a shiver down his body. It was cold and tight.

After an hour of being tied down to a metal table covered in smeared blood, the men in white finally let him out. Liam noticed they only let him out when the drugs had worn off. He was able to move his body correctly now--but it was a flicker of light in complete darkness. He was stripped from his clothes and dosed with a heavy amount of cold water. Liam shivered and cried to how much the cold water burned. He covered his exposed groin, wincing at the water's touch. He was then dragged into another room, given a hospital gown. He was able to wear shorts underneath along with white socks.

Liam was shoved into the hall, where he was immediately met with other patients. Liam bumped shoulders, not sure where to go or what to do. He was directed suddenly by a man in white, "Your room number is 19. You'll be roomed with another patient." The man in white grinned, "Enjoy your stay, patient 2036."

Patient 2036.

That's his name now.

Patient 2036--I mean, Liam, walked down the hall. He spotted a few looks of crazy, a few looks of sadness, and a few more looks of a mixture of both. Liam continued walking toward his room. He wondered just how crazy his roommate would be. Liam didn't want a loud roommate but he also didn't want a dangerously quiet one. During this mental hospital, he couldn't hope for the best. He knew he wouldn't have the perfect roommate.

Liam spotted room 19 with its door wide open. He slowly turned the corner, spotting a man writing in what seemed to be a journal. Liam stepped inside, catching the man's attention. The man had short curled hair and bright green eyes. He looked normal for the most part but then again, he wouldn't have been here if he were. Liam looked at him, "Hi."

"Hello." The man tapped his pen against the journal, "What's your number?"

"My...number? Not my name?"

The man shook his head, "The men in white will have a fit if they catch us calling each other by our names and not our numbers." He stood up from the chair, holding his hand out to
Liam, "I'm patient 3419."

"I'm patient 2036..." Liam shook his hand.

Patient 3419 looked at him, "What are you in for?"

"Suicide attempt."

Patient 3419 grinned, "Damn." He sat back down on the chair, "I hear voices sometimes, but my mum says there's something much more wrong with me. She calls me a sociopath...you kill the cat once using wire, and suddenly labels just start to piling onto you." He rolled his eyes with a grin, making Liam feel uneasy. Liam found it dangerously odd that Patient 3419 was calm but had so much going on in his head. Patient 3419 said, "There's a few guidelines you should know if you want to survive in here."

Patient 3419 looked at Liam, "If you step out of line, the staff will shock you. It's easy for them to trigger the shock with a switch of a button." Patient 3419 tisked, mimicking the sound of a button, "Your collar will beep once before sending shocks that will have you on the floor. If you talk back, they will shock you. If you say our names, they will shock you. Just kiss their ass basically." He chuckled.

Liam asked, "Have you been shocked?"

"A lot of times. I don't keep track, they do." Patient 3419 looked over to the bunk-beds, "I already have top bunk. You get bottom."

Liam nodded, "Okay."

Patient 3419 said, "It's cool that you're easy to talk to. I usually am roomed up with a screamed or someone who doesn't make any sense."

Liam paused, "What happened to your last roommate?"

"He was shocked and had a seizure until his body completely stopped moving." Patient 3419 said bluntly.

Liam looked away, "The men in white love to take advantage of their power, don't they?"

"Men in white? I like that. I should say that more often." He laughed.

Liam didn't talk much anymore. His roommate wrote in his journal, non-stop. Liam noticed how he would scribble from time to time, crossing stuff out. Liam didn't have much to do, only lay in his bed and think. I was so close to finally dying He thought. Liam laid still with only the sound of pen against paper filling the room. Liam looked over to Patient 3419, "So you won't ever tell me your name?"

Patient 3419 said without looking away from his page, "If I tell you my name, I'll just assume we're friends." He stopped writing and stared at the wall in front of him, "And you don't want to be friends with me." He looked over to Liam, "Do you?"

Liam met his gaze. He wasn't sure himself. Patient 3419 looked as though he was the only calm person he could talk to, but something was weird about him. Liam hesitated, "Sure."

Patient 3419 stared at him, "Really...?" He looked down to his pen, "Like best friends?"
Liam shrugged, "It could come to that."

Patient 3419 grinned down to his journal. An abrupt vibrate of the walls caused the lights to shut off. Liam didn't notice it before, but there was a red small light barely lighting up the room. He managed to see Patient 3419 scurry up his bed with the journal in his hand. He stuffed it under his pillow, "It's bed time." The doors rung before they automatically shut, slamming. Liam grabbed the blanket and rose it up against his chin. He was scared of the red light, he was scared of the hospital.

He was better off dead.

Liam heard his roommate say, "My name's Harry."

Liam mumbled, "My name's Liam."

Harry grinned, "I can already tell we're going to be close, Liam."

Notes

Enjoy xo