Okay so I know I already wrote a nightmare thing and I lied about the whole canon time bit but my friend suggested this to me and I hope I'm doing it justice. Enjoy kids. TW for needles, self-harm references, and asylums.
Janis opened her eyes, an unusually bright white ceiling staring back at her, a single, fluorescent lamp hanging directly in the center. As she looked around groggily, her eyes fluttering open and shut, she slowly began to make out the details of her surroundings. Padded walls, as blindingly white as the ceiling. Emptiness, all except for an opaquely white, shut door and a second, open, narrow doorway leading to a toilet and sink. No food, no water. She could hear a faint ringing in her ears as she had fully woken up. This definitely wasn't her room. How could this have happened? She must have blacked out. But how? When? Why? Too many questions, her mind was failing to wrap itself around her situation. She didn't know how she got there, but all she knew was that the shut door was the way out and she needed to get out of this weird ass place as soon as possible.
Janis tried to sit up, struggling and flailing before feeling a thick, heavily buckled strap that was wrapped around her stomach, another around her ankles, tying them together, and one around each arm, all pinned against the bed.
"Hey! Let me out! Let me go!" Janis felt restrained, a feeling she loathed. Desperately, she tried to kick and scream as loud as she could, hoping she could either free herself or get someone to break her free. "Where the hell am I?!" she yelled. The ringing grew louder in her ears and her breaths were getting heavier and faster, the strap around her stomach tightening as her chest heaved. "I want out!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice squealing and squeaking. Her screams were soon followed by a loud buzz as the lock on the door turned and the door cracked open slightly. A young, blonde woman, looking like a nurse, stepped in, her back turned to Janis as she shut the door.
"Miss Janis Sarkisian?" A strangely familiar voice asked. No, it couldn't be. The blonde curls that rolled down her back bounced as she turned, in a way that Janis remembered distinctly.
"No, Janis, you're literally going crazy, it can't be," she thought. But the cadence of the woman's voice broke the ringing in her ears. Janis thrashed harder.
"Hey, calm down!" the nurse yelled, turning around to face Janis. The second their eyes met, Janis knew instantly. She immediately stopped moving as a look of shock spread across her face. "Regina? Regina George?"
"How did you know my name?" Regina drawled innocently, startled.
"It's me, Janis Sarkisian. Doesn't it say so on your chart?" How could she not remember who Janis was? The pain she'd caused her for five whole years?
"Yes, you are, congratulations, you remember your own name. That's a lot farther than most patients here get."
"Patients? Where am I?"
"North Shore Mental Asylum. Someone who wishes to remain anonymous checked you in here. History of severe panic attacks, mental and emotional collapse, severe self-harm, showing signs of hurting yourself and others. You're gonna be in here for a while. And, before you ask, psych ward isn't gonna do enough for your case."
"No, no no no, wait, I remember, we went to school together before I...ended up here. North Shore High?"
"How did you know that?!" Regina paused briefly. "I think I'd remember someone like you at my school. You seem pretty...unique, to say the least."
"We were best friends! You're telling me you don't remember any of this?!"
Regina pulled out her radio, whispering into it sharply. "Hey, Dr. Hubbard, up the dosage on Sarkisian's meds. She's gonna need them."
"Hubbard? As in Damian Hubbard?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Bring him in here! Please! He'll know me as soon as he sees me!"
"Um, fine, I guess," Regina said flatly. "Dr. Hubbard, the patient is requesting to see you," she whispered into her radio again.
"I'll be right there," the radio echoed back, the trace of Damian's deep, smooth tone amongst the static bringing tears to Janis' eyes.
"Hey, don't cry, he'll be here in a second to check you out. Chill out, okay?" Regina turned to leave.
"Wait, wait, don't go! You have to remember me! I swear, we were best friends, and then this whole...incident happened in eighth grade, with a space alien and four butts and you not inviting me to a pool party, please, you have to believe me! I may be in a fucking asylum, but I'm not crazy! Please, tell me you remember!" Janis begged Regina, staring into her icy blue eyes that somehow looked a little bit more tender.
"I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about, or how you know all this stuff. I've honestly never seen you before in my life."
Janis had lost control of her mouth by now. "This whole thing, all the stuff you just listed, it's...it's all because of you! You, you did all this, every day you made my life a living hell, so bad that I couldn't take it anymore, and...and..." Janis choked back sobs, but the tears were already flowing down her pale cheeks. "No, no, it's all your fault! It's all your fault!" She was screaming at Regina now, sobbing profusely. She had never intended for Regina, of all people, to see even a single tear slip down her cheek, but now she was getting the full freak show and there was nothing Janis could do about it.
"Hey, hey, Dr. Hubbard, she's breaking fast! You'd better hurry down here!" Regina frantically yelled into her radio. If Janis' arms weren't restrained, she would have snatched the radio out of Regina's pink nail polish painted fingers and smashed it to bits against the hard tile floor. "Get me out of here! I never want to see you again, bitch!" Janis fidgeted awkwardly underneath the straps, her mouth being the only weapon she could use to attack Regina.
Dr. Hubbard burst through the door, the loud buzz returning momentarily until the door was slammed shut. He carried a large, black medical bag, overflowing with supplies, and he brought in an IV, which was already filled to the brim with medications that Janis had no idea what they were. He knelt beside the restless girl, his presence mysteriously calming her. "Hey, calm down, okay? There, there you go. We're just gonna give you a little something to make you feel a little more relaxed. It'll only pinch a little."
"Wait, Damian, no, please, don't!" Janis wailed desperately. "I can't, I hate that bitch, she can't remember! She has to! I'm not crazy!"
Damian stared at her, his mouth agape. He was confused, and frankly a little frightened, as to how Janis could possibly know his name. Janis looked into his eyes, pleading, and something in him caused him to give up. Seeing this girl in such a frantic state broke him. It was one of the worst parts of being a doctor in an asylum. Especially when they're as young as she was. Seeing someone collapse so quickly, and be so sure that they're right when they're completely not and there was little he could do to convince them otherwise was heartbreaking.
"Dr. Hubbard, what are you doing? Give her the IV!" Regina waved a hand in front of his face, wondering how he got hired as the head doctor while she was just a measly RN. She had gone from being queen bee in high school, through college and med school, and somehow, now, there was someone above her, someone completely unqualified, and it baffled her.
"No, no, she doesn't need the IV. That'll only stress her out more."
"She's fucking delirious, Doctor. She thinks you're her best friend."
"Regina, just let me do my job, please." Damian spoke coldly, glaring at Regina while placing a hand on the screaming girl's restrained wrist.
"Should be my job," Regina muttered to herself.
"Pardon?" Damian snapped.
"Nothing," she grumbled immediately. "The IV is supposed to calm her down."
"Fine. Fine, she's restrained anyway. Set it up. Anything to get you off my case," he muttered, just out of both girls' earshot.
He turned back to face Janis, who was still frantically sobbing, talking to herself incoherently. "Okay, listen, sweet. You're gonna feel a little pinch, and then you'll be fine. I promise."
Janis weakly reached her hand out for Damian's, desperate for the touch that had always calmed her down before, even if he had no idea who she was.
"You want me to...? Okay, okay." Damian whispered, awkwardly placing his hand in hers. Janis nodded frantically, her head flailing, as it was the only body part that wasn't pinned down. "Gina, you do the IV, since you're so eager."
Regina knelt beside Janis' thin bed, holding a scarily sharp needle that looked to be almost a foot long. It would have terrified anyone, but it especially terrified Janis, who was petrified of any sort of needle or needle-like object. Her skin immediately went as white as the room around her. She shut her eyes tightly as Regina swabbed Janis' wrist.
"Don't tense up, you're screwing up your blood flow." Regina ordered, and Janis half-relaxed. The needle went in sharply, and she screamed, feeling all pain yet no pain at the same time. She couldn't tell if the room was spinning or if she was just moving her head, everything looked exactly the same. The room started fading in and out, the scene switching between it and her living room. Her chest heaved as the white room started to blur and fade into nothingness, leaving only Janis lying awake on her own couch, in her own living room.
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She felt like there was a ten pound weight sitting on top of her chest. Her body was shaking and she was panting as she looked around at the now darkened room. She still couldn't will herself to move. Now, she wasn't sure what was reality until she turned her head to the side, seeing Cady and Damian sleeping peacefully, Cady on the other section of the couch, and Damian on the unforgiving shag carpet after graciously volunteering to sleep on the floor so the girls could have the couch to themselves. She had absolutely no idea what time it was, still scared and mostly weirded out by the horrors that her brain had conjured up. Comforted by their presence and not wanting to wake them up since it was probably super late, maybe even early by this point, she turned back over, facing the back of the couch. Though she was shaking violently, she did her best to convince herself that it was just a dream, and shut her eyes again.
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Several hours, or maybe minutes later, Janis felt a gentle rub on her back. She had slept restlessly the rest of the night. As she opened her eyes, she could see that it was much brighter out now, and she could just about make out the familiar mane of auburn curls attached to the soothing hand.
"Hey, Jan, wake up. Damian's making pancakes."
"Caddy..." Janis murmured, her voice unsteady from a mixture of grogginess and lingering fear.
"Aw, babe, what's the matter?" Cady whispered so Damian wouldn't hear. She knows how he gets when Janis is upset, and that's the last thing Cady wants to see this early.
"Last night was...weird." Janis said, sitting up slowly, a little confused that she could now move her body.
"Nightmare?" Cady whispered again, even softer than before. Janis nodded slightly. Not even Damian knew about her nightmares, despite the many sleepovers they'd had together. Janis always tried to play it off like she'd slept well, even when her eye-bags were so large they couldn't fit as airplane carryons. The only reason Cady knew about them was because Janis had screamed until her vocal cords snapped one night when she was sleeping over at Cady's, and Cady basically forced her to confess.
"What about?" Cady asked.
"It was really fucking weird, I ended up in one of those padded rooms like in the movies and I couldn't move and Regina was my nurse and Damian was my doctor and neither of them knew who I was and they gave me this giant shot that freaked me out and then I woke up," Janis summarized as quietly as possible.
"Aw, Jan, don't worry. It was only a dream, I promise, you're not that crazy," Cady giggled a little, taking Janis' hand in hers and pressing little tender kisses to her knuckles.
"You think I'm crazy, you should see yourself the day before a Mathletes competition," Janis snapped back jokingly, stroking Cady's hair and pulling her in for a kiss.
Their lips crashed together peacefully, professionally, as they'd done this what felt like a million times before, and any inkling of the nightmare in Janis' mind disappeared. Cady climbed onto Janis' lap and entangled her hands in Janis' dark-rooted hair.
"Hey, lovebirds! Stop eating each other and eat some pancakes!" Damian yelled from the kitchen.
"I can't help it if the only thing I'm crazy about is my girlfriend!" Janis yelled back, knowing Damian wouldn't get it but still saying it anyway
"That doesn't even make any sense! Now get your gay asses out here and eat some pancakes before I shove them down your throats! God, I do EVERYTHING around here, you'd think I'd get a little appreciation, but noooo!" Damian exclaimed in his usual theatrical way, performing like what he was saying was a monologue.
Cady clambered off of Janis' lap as the two took their seats next to each other at the table. Both girls ate ravenously so they could pick up where they left off sooner rather than later, slamming their forks down at exactly the same time. Damian stared at them in shock. "It took me 20 minutes to make those, and you both just finished them in 20 seconds!" Cady and Janis both rolled their eyes, giggling.
"Shall we?" Cady asked.
"Let's."