It's the next day. After they checked vitals and stuff, I was sent to my room for the night. I woke up having nightmares all night because of the flashbacks the gas caused.
"Hello Miss Laurier, final day hm? Here's your pancake meal as a goodbye. I recommend putting all the condiments on so it's actually edible."
"Thanks." I said, being passed the pancake meal, orange juice, and the mandarin fruit cup. I quickly ate it all. It was pretty bad but more edible than the other meals.
I decided to stay in today rather than go to the rec room. I wanted to think more about last night. Maybe Dr. Crane ran into the Scarecrow and knew something about it. Maybe I was hallucinating. I'm not sure.
I started examining my body in the bathroom to see any needle puncture wounds and found one on my arm. I knew it was real! But who would listen to me?
Soon, I was escorted to Dr Crane's office. I could feel my heart pumping out of my chest. Should I tell him about yesterday? What if he's in danger now? What if Scarecrow is actually good? But Scarecrow wouldn't be cause they hurt Lydia, right?
I was taken out of my thoughts as I was shoved into his office.
"Sorry." I said as I took a seat.
"What for?"
"I wasn't paying attention. The whole time, we were walking here, not even on the elevator."
"Let's start there then. What's on your mind, Miss Laurier?" Dr Crane smirked while opening his notebook.
"I think, no, I know that Scarecrow escaped before you came to stop Jerry. And I know I sound crazy but I have a wound on my arm from when Scarecrow injected me after spraying us with something." I said super quickly.
"Miss Laurier, that's impossible. Scarecrow isn't real."
"Okay, then look at my arm." I said, pulling my arm up. "And explain how each time I was attacked the most they did, my maybe grab my wrists. I think Scarecrow is good. It saved me, I mean, I was scared but really quickly passed out because of the antidote."
"May I see your arm?" He asked, I nodded, and he stood up and walked over and pulled up my slave to explain it. "Hm, I guess it's true."
"We should tell someone, right? I mean, then people won't get worse."
"I mean, it's Arkham. Bad people come in and out all the time. Let's talk about what happened when he supposedly came in. Did he have a shiv or anything?"
"No. I asked to go to the bathroom, went down the hall, and then to the bathroom hall. He came up behind me and grabbed my arm. I screamed and yelled at him and went to throw a punch, but he caught that hand. He said that 'nobody was gonna save me', and then someone said 'I will' or something, and the lights turned off. Gas was then in the air, we both inhaled it but then he started screaming and let go of me. I was then injected with a needle right after the gas was in the air, making the effects ware off quickly but also make me very tired. The lights turned back on, and then I passed out."
"How did you react to this 'gas'?"
"It was terrifing. I saw things I thought I got rid of. I forgot about all of these things up until last night." I said, stuttering as my eyes started flooding again.
"What do you mean?"
"I remember when my dad would abuse me or my mom. I remember visiting him in prison. I remember having to watch my uncle kill people, then make me do it. I got rid of those memories. I swear I did. I had nightmares of people leaving me."
"Do you have a fear of abandonment?" Dr Crane asked, cleaning his glasses.
"I- I don't know! I mean, when I feel like someone is leaving me, I have panic attacks and do everything to stop it. Everyone I've ever loved has left me or died. Nobody who was supposed to love me ever has, not correctly. But it's my fault. If I wasn't born, nothing would've happened."
"It's not your fault."
"Yes, it is!" I yelled, I quickly became shocked by my actions and froze. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, Dr Crane."
"Would you like to stay a few more days? You don't seem too mentally well."
"No, I have so much work to get back to." I said, making Crane somewhat annoyed.
For the rest of the session, we walked about ways to cope with stuff. Just normal therapy work.
-
I grabbed my slop for lunch and made my way to our usual table. Lyds is still not out.
"Hey, Doll."
"Hey, clown." I replied before taking a bite from my apple.
"Darn, no snacks today?"
"Actually, I brought some from my locker in my room." I smiled, pulling out the box from under the table. "Last day, not staying for supper, so I thought I'd let you guys have it. Even got Crane to agree to sneak the rest to you two."
"I could kiss you right now, doll."
"Same." Eddie said. I then kissed them both on the cheek.
"How's that?" I said, going back to my original seating position.
We talked a bit more before we all had to go back. I went to my room and was told to start packing and was given bags. I started shoving everything in the cabinet into the bags before taking a seat on my bed to nap.
-
"Miss Laurier, we have to have a chat before I let you go." Dr Crane said, waking me up.
"What's up, Dr C?" I asked, sitting up and rubbing my tired eyes.
"Its protocol that I chat with patients before sending them off. Basically, here's your papers to leave. It's mandatory to have outpatient after inpatient, usually referred to online call therapy, but since you are already a patient of mine, that doesn't matter. You just have to read that, use tools that we have provided off unit, blah, blah, blah."
"Thank you so much, Dr. Crane. Could I make a call? I don't have a way of getting home since I was taken here in a police car."
"About that, I decided for you that I would drive you home. I get off right now anyways, it'd be best." He said, adjusting his posture and brief case.
"Oh, okay. No problem."
"Oh, and here's your belongings. They washed your clothes. You may get dressed in there. Here's your phone and other stuff." Dr Crane said, pointing to the bathroom.
I quickly got into the bathroom and changed. Finally, no more having to wear scrubs, back to my comfy clothes. "Bye Psych-ward bathroom." I smiled before leaving.
"Just put your scrubs on the bed. They will clean up."
"Okay." I said, picking up my two bags and following Crane out. We signed some papers as I left and he showed me to his car. "I live in the,"
"I know where you live, Miss Laurier. I've got connections, and I'm your psychiatrist."
"Of course." I smiled lightly, taking a seat as he put my bags in the back. "Do you mind if I call Bruce? I should tell him I am back out and will return to work tomorrow."
"Go ahead." Dr Crane said, stiffening his jaw as he clicked his seatbelt and started the ride to my apartment.
I dialed Bruce's number, and within seconds, he picked up. "Y/n? Are you out? Are you okay?"
"Yes, Bruce, I'm okay. I'm out and free from the psych ward. Dr Crane is driving me home currently. Maybe we can meet up soon and have that dinner we planned soon?"
"Crane is driving you home? I could've picked you up."
"I didn't want to be a bother. Anyways I'll be back at work tomorrow. I'll see you then, bye Bruce." I said, hanging up.
"Everything okay?"
"Yes, it's just that he's so protective. He acts as if, as if he's some sort of superhero who will be able to save me. I am very capable of keeping myself safe. I worked day and night for over half a year, training so I can protect myself because of my family's business." I said, clenching my jaw. "I've survived the worst of the worst, I can take some mental asylum, I can take the chance of dying."
"Sometimes it's good to have people that care."
"I know it is. I mean, I don't know what I'd do if my friends left me. I feel like I'm going to have a breakdown at the thought of losing my friends."
"How long would you say you've had this fear of abandonment?"
"Fear? I'm not afraid to lose people. They can leave me for all I care. They wanna leave? Fine, leave me. It's not like I haven't been through it before." I said, crossing my arms and shifting to look out the window. "It's not even therapy right now anyway. Why do you care?"
"I care about how you feel because I care about you, and it's my job to make sure you are mentally stable enough."
"I'm terrified of losing people I care about. I'm terrified of being vulnerable again and getting hurt. I'm scared of having kids because I'll just be like my parents. I'm scared I'll never be enough for anyone. I don't even really know who I am." I said, shaking my head as the tears came down. "I constantly have nightmares about when I was younger."
"We can work on that."
The rest of the drive was just small talk. Or silence, I mean, it's kinda weird to have your psychiatrist driving you home.
"Thank you so much for driving me." I smiled, pulling my bags from the car.
"Here, let me help you." He said, taking the bags from me and walking towards the front doors. I followed quickly behind him, we got in the elevator and went up to the top floor, to my apartment. "This it?" Dr Crane asked as we stopped.
"Yep, thank you so much!" I said, unlocking the door.
"Here's my business card. If you ever need anything or have another nightmare, call me, okay? Or if you ever feel like harming yourself."
"Okay. Do you want a coffee or anything?"
"I should let you settle back in, goodbye, Miss Laurier."
"Goodbye, Dr Crane." I smiled before closing the door and then locking it. My uncle taught me to always have doors locked, to save yourself and others.