Altered States - Chapter 32
As much as I tried, I just couldn't place myself in the therapy session, my mind was elsewhere. I pride myself in being able to focus when asked a question while my head is some place else thanks to years of boring interviews, so as far as I knew, the therapist never noticed the difference.
My mind was back in the cafeteria. I had that urgent need to find that guy in the blue scrubs that resembled Brian. It was becoming an obsession and every minute that ticked away in that sesson, was stealing precious time from me.
"Hey, we can go now," Peter announced as he pushed down on my left shoulder.
My head shot up, "Go where?"
"Back to our rooms or you can go down to the rec room for an hour before they tell us to go to bed."
I looked at the clock on the wall. "Bed in an hour? It's only 8 o'clock!"
Peter pushed his glasses up. "Rules Nickolas, those are the rules."
As we walked down the hall I told Peter I was going to go to the rec room. "Hey, do they let the other people mix in there?"
"You mean teals with blues?"
"Yeah, unless they're totally psycho or something. Why? You scared of someone?"
I didn't bother to say anything, I just shook my head. Inwardly, I was relieved when Peter announced that he was heading to his room to read. I didn't want him hanging by me if I saw that guy again.
There was an assortment of colored scrubs milling around in the recreational room. A group of people in blue scrubs were sitting on the couch, watching an animal documentary on the tv. My heart skipped a beat when I saw that person sitting on the couch and the seat next to him was vacant. Without hesitating, I folded my arms over my chest, almost like it was going to give me the courage I needed, and approached the vacant seat.
I was going over 'ice breakers' to say something to this guy. I briefly licked my lips before I plunged into a conversation.
"Is this chair taken?" Okay, I admit, that wasn't the most clever line I could have used, hell, maybe that's why I've been single so much, but at any rate, all I got out of the guy was a grumble and a shrug of the shoulders.
"My name's Nick, what are you watching?"
The guy never took the time to look at my face, he mumbled something that sounded like the word 'Wild Kingdom.'
"What did you say your name was again?"
"I didn't."
Finally, he said something other than mumbling to me.
"You look like someone I know," I started to strike up a conversation again. The man only shrugged his shoulders and mumbled something to the effect that millions of people look like someone else. Finally, I got my reward and he looked at my face, his eyes a familiar haunting blue....
Chapter 33
