The Death of Colleen Rivers

Chapter 45: Colleen

I had only been able to visit Baylor once before—when he was still asleep. I had to sneak by the wandering staff to get into his room because they weren't letting me leave the Psych Ward. I wasn't sick. I didn't need help. What I needed was to find my boyfriend.

When I escaped the first time, I was able to be with him for about two solid minutes before they found out I was missing and locked me back up. Those two minutes were the only time I was able to stay a little sane.

I saw Baylor lying on the bed, his ankle in a cast and crutches in the corner of the room. I sat down beside him and held his hand which happened to be very cold. I tried to warm it up but it didn't really work. I kissed his hand and waited for his eyes to flutter open and a smirk to appear on his face.

But that didn't happen.

He still lied there, cold and knocked out, not even flinching at my touch. I wish he would have woken up. I needed to talk to him.

But before I could do anything else, my psychiatrist found me and took me back to my room with the help of two very large men.

Gosh I hated that so much.

They put me in an all white room with cushions on all four walls, the ceiling, and the floor. It was plushy, but I still didn't like being confined to this white space.

"I'm fine!" I screamed into the camera that I knew was in the corner of the room.

"Miss Rivers," the intercom lady said, "please understand we are trying our best to help you. Calm down and we will bring you food shortly."

Oh I calmed down alright. After they sedated me with drugs. Yeah, that probably wasn't the greatest move to make, but they already thought I was going mental, might as well let them know it.

It wasn't my fault I was this way. I had been through more in the past few months than I have in my entire life.

So to take out all my anger, I screamed at the top of my lungs, kicked the walls with my bare feet, punched the floor with a clenched fist, and shed many angry tears.

Someone finally had to come in and drug me before I went insane. I didn't pass out, but my vision blurred and I couldn't concentrate on what I was saying just five minutes before.

I decided to go to sleep on my own, and the intercom finally put on soothing, relaxing music for me that put me to sleep instantly.

When I woke up, I was in the same room and there was a tray of food laying beside me.

I quickly slopped it up, thinking I was looking and acting like a savage animal instead of the famous Colleen Rivers. I couldn't have cared less by that point, though. I had a boyfriend and brother to get to and nothing was going to get in my way.

I walked over to the "hidden" door and push to let myself out, finding the door jammed. Apparently this door was going to get in my way.

I walked over to one of the corners of the room and looked up. Sure enough, a camera was trying to hide there. "Look here," I said to it. "I am not crazy. I just want to see my loved ones and go home."

I waited for a reply but there wasn't one. I gave up and plopped down in the center of the room.

"Miss Rivers," a voice said calmly over the intercom."We know you aren't crazy. We are just evaluating you for further...experiments..." she trailed off, seeming iffy about telling me that information.

I turned back to the camera, my mouth turned into a frown. "What do you mean, 'experiments'?"

"We don't mean bad experiments," she tried to explain. "We mean that we are trying to evaluate you and how you miraculously survived in that coffin for so long. By all of our data and research, you shouldn't have made it. There was absolutely no chance you could have survived in there for that long."

"Well look right here, lady," I sassed, throwing my arms out to my sides. "I'm alive and kicking and I am perfectly fine. Now, if you will excuse me, I have other — more important — matters to attend to."

I kicked open the door, finding it actually opening this time. They must be letting me leave. But why? I didn't question it for much longer because I was afraid they would change their minds.

I sprinted down the hall, my sock feet causing me to slip and slide every time I made a turn. I kept running until I found a familiar corridor and continued on that wing of the hospital. I knew Baylor's room was down this hall. I needed to talk to him about this place and what they were doing to me. We needed to get out of here.

I composed myself before walking down the rest of the hallway. I saw that Baylor's door was open but I still knocked, waiting for him to look at me. He looked me up and down before giving me his full attention. His expression showed worry and sympathy.

"Can we talk?" I asked.

He nodded and sat up, patting the space on his bed for me to join him.

I laid down beside him, curling up in his arms and laying my head on his chest. I could hear the steady beat of his heart, telling me he's strong and healthy again, that he's here to stay.

"Go ahead, Colleen. I'm all ears," Baylor said, kissing me on the forehead.

I took a deep breath. I didn't want to say this or talk about it, but I had to. "I'm sick, Baylor."

He wrapped his arms around me tighter. "I know. And it'll be okay, sweetheart. We can get through this together."

"And my brother—"

"He's going to be fine," Baylor assured me.

I looked up to his face to see a wide smile spread across it. His smiles were always contagious. Especially know that I want any reason to be able to smile again.

I needed to rest so that's what I did. "Baylor if they come for me, don't let them take me," I whispered.

"No worries. Hakuna Mutata, my
girl."

And with that, I drifted off to sleep, Baylor still holding me in his arms.