And that's how they found themselves outside of Bay City's Mental Asylum.
"This is a bad idea," Mark warned, falling behind as Ryan made his way into the building, Grace on his tail.
He followed after the door closed behind his brother and his mom.
The were greeted by a tired looking woman with a warm smile.
"Welcome, are you by any chance," She glanced at her paper, "Ryan Walker?"
"Yes," Grace answered, a hand on each of Ryan's shoulders, "He is."
The woman's smile brightened, "Welcome, we've been expecting you."
Another person, this one a man, appeared out of a hall they didn't know existed. He gestured for them to follow.
"Hello, I'm Eric and I'm here to help you settle in, 'm-kay?"
Ryan nodded, but didn't say anything.
They sat down in a small, crowded office, with Ryan's backpack on the floor by Grace's side.
"Now, let's start off with some basic questions. If they're too hard to answer, one of your family members can answer for you, is that okay?" Eric asked, directing his attention on Ryan.
Ryan nodded 'yes'.
"Excellent! So let's begin, how long have you been feeling this way?"
A shrug.
"Can either of you specify?"
"About two mon-" Grace was cut off by Mark.
"Five and a half months," Mark stated before going quiet, fidgeting with his hoodie strings.
Eric scribbled something on the paper as Grace gave Mark a look that screamed question after accusation.
A few questions later, and they moved on to more specified questions.
"Have you ever smoked?"
Head shake 'no'.
"Done illegal drugs or misused prescription drugs?"
He began to shake his head 'no' but looked to his mom with sorrowful eyes.
She let out a long, steady breath, "When he tried to... kill himself, he... He sliced his wrists and attempted to overdose."
"Ryan," Eric looked at the boy with shoulders shaking and head down, "Would you do it again, even if you knew it wouldn't work?"
A nod 'yes'.
"You were right to bring him here," Eric soothed, "Some parents just assume it's a phase and wait for their kids to grow out of it, and by then it's too late. Others don't even know it's going on in the first place. But you found out, not it the best way, but you found out and you took the correct actions to ensure Ryan's safety. His safety is the main priority."
In his mind, Mark chuckled darkly. 'Main priority', that's why he's been letting his baby brother pilot a gigantic robot this whole time. Some brother he is...
"Now, onto the lighter stuff. What all have you brought with you, Ryan?"
Ryan stood and made his way over to his bag, opening it to reveal four sets of clothes (underwear included), a pair of pajamas, a toothbrush, toothpaste, his hoodie, a small throw blanket to remind him of home, and a spiral ring and composition notebook so he could communicate with others.
Eric looked, and asked Ryan to pull out anything with strings not stitched in.
Ryan did as instructed, pulling out his hoodie, pajama pants, and another top.
"Okay, can you pull the strings out of them and give them to your mom, it's against our policy seeing as they could be used in an attempt to harm oneself or others."
"Of course," Grace complied, pulling the hoodie gently from her son's hands.
She was careful while pulling out the strings, as not to rip the fabric. Soon enough she was finished and Eric moved onto the next item.
"The journal," Grace picked up the composition book, and Eric specified, "The spiral notebook, we're not allowed to have metal either. We'll supply Ryan with pencils once we deem him safe enough."
"But-" Mark began and Grace shot him a look.
"Ryan is currently... struggling with speech. He's gone mute. This is one of his few means of communication."
"I understand," Eric soothed, "But its policy, he can keep the composition book, but you'll have to either take or throw out the spiral notebook."
"I understand," Grace stated dejectedly.
Eric gave her a pitying look, "I am truly sorry... But one more item must go. Is there a tag still on the blanket that's how's it's new?"
Grace looked confused, "It's not new."
Eric sighed slightly, "Then I'm sorry, but to make sure there's not a lice problem, we're only permitted to allow new items with the tags or cover still attached."
"It's alright," Grace stated unhappily, "I understand."
Mark, on the other hand, was silently fuming. First they took his brother, now they're not even letting him keep comforting objects? What kind of place is this?
"Well," Eric said, closing his book, "That's all for now. I'll send Ryan with Cindy to get checked out and I'll have his items checked before given back to him within a seventy-two hour time period."
"Seventy-two hours?" Grace exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yes, our staff is very thorough," Eric stated simply, "It's all for the safety of our patients."
Grace, with a look of irkness plastered on her face, stood and made her way to say her goodbyes to Ryan.
Mark went next and pulled him into his arms, whispering something into his ear before pulling back and kissing him on the head.
And with that, a Cindy came into the room and led Ryan away.
The family short of one member stood, watching as Ryan disappeared out of sight before Eric cleared his threat and spoke again, leading them to the exit, "Please come visit soon, just make sure if and when you visit that it's only immediate family. Brothers, sisters, parents, and even grandparents are allowed on occasion, but you may have to fill out an application."
They reached the door that separated the world and his family from Ryan.
With a breath and strength they didn't have, Grace and Mark crossed the threshold with Eric calling after them.
"Visiting hours are from four to eight, see you then!" And the door was slammed in their faces.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay so I tried to be as true as possible, but the last line was completely fictional. That never happened to my parents. Everyone was welcoming and warm and honestly made me feel a tiny bit better seeing as I was an hour from home without my family. So yeah... true story, kinda.
Now these experiences will be based solely on my experience. Yes, yes, I was in a mental hospital. It was actually this past January. Anyways, if you ever have any questions about what you think may be depression, you can ask me. I'm not certified or anything but I've lived through it and I think that counts for a little something by means of advice.
So yeah... trigger warning, there will be minor OCs (hopefully not many and they'll all go away at the end of this arc), and thanks for reading! Don't forget to live life and love PINEAPPLES!!!