Crooked ❤ Leslie Withers ❤

1.

Nina Biscotti never saw herself helping with research at Beacon Mental Hospital.

She guessed she couldn't complain, being how close she lived to begin with. She was already a Krimson City girl, and found an affordable apartment decently close to her new job. It was still a lot to deal with. She was a young girl that had to grow up fast. A child gifted with the intelligence to do anything she desired - well, with the right computer. And that was why they reached out to her. The pay would be /fantastic/, and they were willing to completely overlook her age. Quality over quantity, in this case quantity was in how many years she had been alive. Nina was really only 15... going on 16.

She didn't question where they found her - she didn't have a lot of friends or acquaintances even. Maybe it was her blog. She never asked. She was either too surprised, or too afraid. She just took the offer. She'd be out of her mother's hair, considering she was almost never home, and her brother and sister were off to college. They were all hard workers... And then there was Nina.

Biting her lip, she shoo'd away the thoughts, and opened one of the doors to the hospital. To be honest, it didn't really look like a hospital... or an institution... She didn't know what it looked like. There were a few patients in their uniforms, walking around and doing whatever they did, with some staff members and nurses keeping watch. Noting their mental states, Nina made sure she closed the door behind her completely.

The petite girl walked to what seemed like a help desk, or something. The woman behind it looked up from her papers, humming at Nina. "Can I help you?"

Nina's breath hitched, and her eyes darted to anywhere but the lady's face. "Um, uh, yes, hi, I'm Nina Biscotti... I work here... I mean, um, it's my first day, and... I'm not sure... where..." The woman shook her head and Nina stopped her babbling. "That hallway, over there," she said blankly, tilting her head in the direction. "Tech girl, right? They'll be able to help you down there."

Wide-eyed, Nina simply nodded, bowing slightly in thanks, as well as mumbling it, and she quickly made her way past the curious people to the darker hall. It wasn't too long, but it was cold. This whole place was cold. Why wasn't there more heat? It was the middle of winter. She was soon shaken from her thoughts as a man cleared his throat. "Excuse me, miss, are you... Biscotti?"

"Oh! O-oh - oh, yes... I'm her. I mean, I'm Biscotti. Nina." She answered fearfully, holding out her slightly sweaty hand to the older man. He smiled in a friendly manner and took her hand, shaking it. "I am Doctor Jimenez. It's good to meet you. Unfortunately, we're quite short-handed today. The staff to properly introduce you to your job are not here today. They've requested I show you around and ensure you're comfortable until they can be here tomorrow."

This was pretty relieving. She was so afraid, but this man seemed alright. A little scary... Professional, definitely. She nodded all the same, grinning shyly. "Thank you... Doctor. I-I appreciate it." She must have sound like an idiot, stuttering so much. "There's no need to thank me, Miss Biscotti. Follow me, this way." Jimenez replied politely, starting to walk in a different direction. Nina eagerly complied.

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Doctor Jimenez's tour took around an hour, but they went all around the hospital as Nina tried to keep every inch of it familiar in her mind. It was awkward, what with her awful social skills and all, but she appreciated it. "I have a patient to tend to now, Miss Biscotti, but seeing as you won't have much to do today, would you like to meet him? He isn't quite fond of people, but a new face might be good for him. You seem to be a very nice girl."

This caught Nina off-guard. Her light sea green eyes turned big and she shrugged nervously, smiling. "Ah, y-yeah, sure." A patient? She didn't want to be judgmental, but this was a mental hospital... Of course different people had different problems, but if he didn't like other people... Would she upset him, or set him off somehow? She was no nurse or therapist... Even though she really did love taking care of people.

She was soon led to a corridor of living chambers. Yes, chambers, that's what they reminded her of. They weren't too nice, and those little windows on the doors made her nervous. She watched as Jimenez unlocked and opened the door. At first she didn't see anyone. Were they cowering in a corner somewhere, ready to strike?

Nina followed timidly when Jimenez entered the room, and her jaw dropped while the doctor closed the door behind her. There was a boy, sitting on his bed, with a small toy bear in his hand. A little panda, to be exact. He was white, everywhere. His hair, his skin, and of course the Beacon patient uniform. Even his eyelashes were snowy colored. He was definitely an albino. He looked long, in a tall way, but he had the face of a shy young boy. The only thought that came to the small female's mind was, 'He's so beautiful'!

"Leslie, this is Miss Biscotti," Doctor Jimenez spoke in a softer way when he introduced her to the boy. He looked back at Nina, seeming slightly nervous of Leslie's reaction to her, "This is Leslie Withers, my patient. He's... a very special boy."

Nina could only nod slowly, blinking and smiling gently at Leslie. "Nice to meet you Leslie... You can call me Nina - o-or Miss Biscotti, or whatever you'd like!" She waved a hand anxiously, her smile not fading. Leslie's dark eyes stopped darting and locked onto Nina's as he lifted his head. He was quiet for a moment. However, when he spoke, his voice crawled into her chest and melted her heart.

"... Nina... Nina... Nina..."