Altered States - Chapter 31
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I picked at the dinner which consisted of some type of hash, peaches and a glass of milk. I
swear this was more like food that would be served in a prison. I pretty much assumed I
was in a prison.
I looked over the sea of faces that were in the cafeteria. There were some very young
faces and some that were up there in the years. So much for Cortez being a youth society,
I surmized. Then, out of the corner of the room, I saw someone that looked familiar to me.
Although I could only see his back, I could have sworn it was Brian, but what would Brian
be doing in a nuthouse? I decided then and there I had to go look this person in the face. I
needed reassurance that he wasn’t here too.
“Nickolas, where do you think you’re going? You are to only be in this section of the
cafeteria!”
I stopped in my tracks hearing the voice with the thick German accent. How the heck did
this person know my name? I never laid eyes on him before. I glanced down at the badge
that was pinned to my scrubs. Shit.. yep there it was in color - my “mug shot” taken hours
ago and my name “NICKOLAS” in bold black capital letters.
“I, um, well I need to see someone,” I pled my case to the huge mass of flesh with a badge
that read - “WERNER, SECURITY”.
Werner only shook his head as he gestured back to the seat I had vacated. I hung my head
when I saw the gesture. I quickly looked back over towards where this guy had been,
making a mental note on the color of the scrubs he had been wearing since it seemed that
the colors we wore indicated the section we were staying in. He was wearing a deep blue
color. I had to find out not only what that meant, but where he was staying.
As I sat back down into my seat, the guy next to me was very intent on finishing up every
last crumb of his food on the metal tray. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.
“Better eat up buddy, there’s no snacks in this place and breakfast will be a long time
away.”
I shoved my untouched tray over towards the kid. I needed to take off some weight, I
guessed that this would be a good time to do it. “You can have mine, I’m not into hash.”
“Gee thanks, but you’re gonna be sorry later on tonight,” he replied as he stacked my tray
ontop of his finished one. I glanced over at his badge, the name read “PETER.” I smirked
thinking stupid thoughts about the name I had just read.
“So... um, Peter? How long have you been here?”
“God, I think it’s been a little over two years,” Peter replied, between bites of hash.
“Wow, that’s a long time. I’m only going to be here a few days---”
“That’s what they got you believing?” he asked incrediously.
“That’s what’s going to happen,” I defended. There was no way in hell I was going to be
staying past the alotted time we agreed upon. “Anyway, I noticed that the scrubs they
have us in are in different colors. Like yours and mine are teal and we all have to sit
together and I’m assuming go to therapy together?”
Peter nodded, pushing the thick rimmed glasses up his nose. “Yep, you got that right.”
“So, do you know what the teal ones are for?”
“Ours?”
“No Bob Jones down the hall, yeah ours,” I spat back with a sarcastic tone. I think I
scared him a little because he sort of backed away when I replied.
“Touchy? Jeeze.”
“I’m sorry, my nerves are kinda fried, I mean I need a cigarette and I get a little antzy.
So, anyways, what does our color mean?”
“Teal is for psychiatric.”
Okay, I guess that would be acceptable. Before I could ask him anything else, he droned on
with all the information.
“Yellow is for depression, green is for drug abuse, white is for schizophrenics...”
“What about blue?” I interrupted, I didn’t really care about any of the other colors but
the blue ones.
“Blue is for alcohol abuse,” Peter stated in a matter-of-fact, monotoned voice.
“Alcohol abuse?” I wondered outloud. Okay, no way could that have been Brian. He would
never drink. The rest of us, yeah, sure thing, but Brian? No way.
A bell rang and everyone stood up.
“Where do we go now?”
“Group,” Peter grunted as he shoved his chair into the table.
“But I don’t know where to go,” I replied as I followed him out of the cafeteria.
Peter motioned with his hand. “Just follow me, all the teals go to the same room.”
Chapter 32
