Medication (boyxboy)

III

Daniel took a great interest in the patient he saw earlier. He wasn't sure why, since he was just another insignificant person. There wasn't anything special about him that Daniel knew of, so he just supposed he was only interested in him because he was the first person he saw in here that didn't work here. He looked completely normal as well, so that was some sort of reassurance to Daniel that people in here weren't completely insane. He really needed that, too.

Daniel also took note of the fact that he was very attractive. It wasn't at all like Daniel saw him for half a second and was obsessed and in love, it wasn't like that at all. It was just like one of those moments where you might see an attractive person you didn't really know and just appreciate their face in that moment, thinking nothing else of it and moving on. That's just what Daniel did. He moved on to worry about being stuck in here.

His list of worries and concerns was a mile long. He moved through his first day like a zombie, not paying attention to anything or anyone. He was too occupied by his thoughts to even eat. A tech told him that he'd lose points for not eating, which didn't have any effect on him. It just meant he might have to stay longer, but Daniel simply didn't care. He probably should have cared, but he didn't. He wasn't putting up a fight, at least. That was all he promised.

The tech that stood near him assumed he was just anorexic (she'd seen a lot of them during her time there) and started talking to him about the dangers of not eating and why he shouldn't skip meals. Daniel didn't pay attention and continued essentially being mute. He wasn't anorexic anyways.

Later that night, Daniel wasn't done worrying. It kept him up all night. Rick was up too (he was an insomniac in need of better medication) so he tried to spark up a conversation after a while.

"Can't sleep? Neither can I. Sorry if I'm keeping you up, though. Am I?" Rick whispered. Daniel shook his head, sitting up a little. "I'm Rick. You?"

Daniel just stared blankly for a moment before replying "Daniel." He moved so he was laying down again and closed his eyes, trying his very best to shut off his thoughts so he could sleep. Rick got the message and left him alone, trying to get at least a little sleep as well.

Daniel ended up staying awake for another two hours worrying. He was sure everyone knew he was here already and was going to be talking about him. They'd probably treat him like he was crazy now. They already did, but he was concerned they'd think even less of him and get more people to think of him as crazy. He wasn't crazy, not at all. He didn't want people to think of him like that.

Daniel finally was able to fall asleep (as well as Rick). It may have only been a couple of hours until a nurse was banging on the door at 7am, but he cherished those hours of sleep. The nurse informed the two boys in the room that they had to be up and ready for breakfast in ten minutes before moving on to the next door.

Daniel rushed through his morning routine, hoping to get some more sleep. He also wanted to complain about his neck hurting due to sleeping on one stiff pillow to Rick (he would need a medical note to get another).

Before long, all the patients were being led down to the cafeteria. Apparently, today was pancake day, so everyone was cheery about that despite it being very early in the morning. Daniel got his food and joined Rick upon invitation. He seemed very nice. He was sitting with one other boy with spiked hair that was introduced to him as Phoenix. Phoenix seemed oddly perky for someone in a mental hospital.

"Hi, Daniel, I'm Phoenix. Daniel's your name, right?" Daniel nodded. "Yeah, I thought that's what Rick said." He opened his mouth to say something else but he was cut off by Rick.

"Don't mind him, he can be pretty hyper sometimes. What're you in for? You don't have to say if you don't want."

"Schizophrenia," Daniel said softly.