Chapter 4: IV
As the next day rolled around, Daniel and a poorly rested Rick were struggling out of bed when a tech told them to get up. Daniel rushed through his morning routine just so he could get 20 more minutes of sleep he decided he desperately needed.
He crashed back onto the bed on top of the salmon colored covers, trying to make do with the little time he had left, relying on his own internal clock to get him up in 15 minutes for breakfast.
Rather than his internal clock, it was Rick who was nice enough to practically pull him out of bed again and drag him to the cafeteria.
Once there, Daniel, Phoenix, CJ and Rick wasted no time in starting up a conversation. Daniel was a bit more active today, which Rick noticed and smiled about.
"Did you see that hot nurse?" Phoenix asked with a dumb look on his face that was intended to resemble a smirk.
"No, where?" Rick questioned excitedly. CJ just sat back and laughed at them.
"Dude, I know you like dick but you can't tell me you don't still appreciate hot girls," Phoenix said to him.
"I dunno," CJ replied with a shrug. "I can appreciate they're attractive, I don't know if hot is the word I'd choose."
All Daniel got out of that was that CJ was gay, which he was oddly happy about. It might have been because it was nice to have another gay guy here, or it might have been because he had to admit that CJ was really fucking attractive. And nice. And funny.
"Dude, there she is!" Phoenix squealed, discreetly pointing to a thin busty brunette talking to a patient who didn't appear to be eating.
While Rick and Phoenix were practically drooling over the woman, Daniel and CJ were having their own unrelated conversation.
"Have you ever read the Harry Potter books?" CJ asked him out of the blue.
"Yeah, why?" Daniel answered.
"Just wondering. I love them." CJ smiled, causing Daniel to smile as well. "Best book series ever."
Daniel nodded in agreement. "I heard Rowling is working on some more material. I don't know for sure though. I don't really read up on that stuff."
"Yeah, she is. I'm pretty excited, my brother keeps teasing me about it. He's more of a Trekkie."
"Never quite got Star Trek. I'm more of a Star Wars fan myself."
"Zak obsesses over it, man. He's a big nerd," CJ laughed, having a nostalgic moment. "I wish they'd let him visit me."
"Why won't they, if you don't mind me prying?" Daniel asked, genuinely interested.
"They're afraid I'm going to hurt him," CJ replied sadly. "I never have, I never will. I came clean about the thoughts though after the dog incident, they threw me in here and won't let me see him until I'm out."
"Man, that blows," Phoenix sighed, finally done staring at the nurse. "I can't wait for you to get out, dude. I'm hoping we can still talk and hang out when I am too."
CJ nodded, smiling a bit. "Oh yeah. All of us."
The other three nodded and muttered a variety of things in agreement, each of the four more than excited to get out and live normal lives, continuing to be friends in the "outside world."
After lunch, Daniel had a moment before community group to assess his thoughts. Most of them were related to his new friends. To think he'd have friends when he got out other than Jack made him happy beyond belief. He didn't have much experience with friends, but he figured he would manage just fine. And if not, he assumed they would be patient enough to deal with his social stupidity.
He could just hope they weren't deceiving him. To him, the possibility that they only spoke to him to be nice and because he was Rick's roommate was all too real. In fact, he decided there was a fifty percent chance of that being the absolute truth. It couldn't be farther from it, but Daniel couldn't convince himself of that.
He decided his favorite of the little group was CJ, despite knowing him for the shortest amount of time. He was incredibly likable and friendly. There was also some sort of unexplained infatuation. Not only was CJ really nice, but he was interesting. He was the type of guy you wanted to know every single thing about because he never got boring, and Daniel liked that. He liked that a lot. Now, his interests in CJ were simply platonic. That wasn't a cover up for anything, it was just the truth. He just seemed like a very nice person to have as a friend. Daniel abandoned these thoughts eventually, heading off to participate in the next therapy group they had him do.
Community group took up a bit more of his time. Again, rules were announced (Daniel paid no mind to them) and people shared why they were there. A couple of older people shared, along with all the new people. Two teens from suicide attempts, one for schizophrenia. There were four other schizophrenic patients, in addition to Daniel. One of the girls who tried to kill herself broke down in sobs so bad she had to be escorted out by a tech. That wasn't exactly abnormal. In fact, it happened about forty percent of the time with suicide attempt patients.
After that, Daniel saw Dr. Joseph. There was nothing much to discuss other than what they'd been over the day before, which Dr. Joseph had Daniel talk about more in depth. He took notes and had Daniel elaborate on everything in great detail, along with the usual questions ("Do you feel like hurting yourself? How are you feeling? How have you been sleeping and eating?") he asked everyone. Afterwards, he was to attend process group and a few of other therapies. Some flew by, but the majority seemed to drag on.
Lunch came around, where Daniel could finally have a conversation with his friends again. In reality, it hadn't been that long since the little group had talked, but those longer group therapy sessions made it seem like it was.
"Jenna left earlier today," Phoenix announced at some point.
"Who?" Daniel asked.
"Real pretty girl. I think she was here on an attempt or depression or something. Maybe OCD. She was so sweet."
"Sounds like Phoenix's got a crush," CJ teased at the way he spoke so fondly of her.
"Yeah, no," Phoenix giggled. "She was cool and all but I'm not into that."
"Mmmkay," CJ hummed, not believing his story.
"Anyways, she told me she'd still like to talk when I get out," Phoenix said proudly. "First person aside from you all to say so."
"Congrats, lover boy," Rick joined in, causing Daniel and CJ to laugh.
The conversation held nothing significant (not many did), but Daniel loved being a small part of it anyways. It felt great actually opening up. He never knew how helpful that was for his mental health.
After a while, it was visiting hour. Daniel's parents showed up for the first time since he'd been sent here, giving him mixed feelings. He was slightly upset upon realizing they hadn't visited before now, but was happy they showed up anyways.
"Daniel," his mom gasped over dramatically. "We've missed you so much." Daniel tried to reply, but she cut him off.
"So how are they treating you here?"
"Fine. My psychiatrist is really nice. And actually, I've made a couple of friends too."
"Oh, that's so great!" his mom squealed. "So you're okay?" He nodded. "Good, good. I'm so glad you're okay here."
"So tell us about it," Daniel's dad butted in.
"Not much to tell," Daniel shrugged. "Pretty plain. Every day we go to the same group therapies. Same routine."
"What are your new friends like?" his mother asked.
"They're nice," Daniel smiled. "Rick, my roommate, introduced me to a couple of his friends and we've been getting along."
"And have you gotten any better yet?"
Daniel just shrugged and muttered an "I dunno."
His mom sighed. "Better than a 'no' I suppose."
The family talked for a bit longer before exchanging an unnecessarily emotional goodbye like all the other families. Daniel didn't quite get the emotional thing. He would see them in a few days at most, so there was no need to get teary eyed.
After visiting hour, it was dinner time. CJ was more than happy to announce his father had shown up for visitation for the first time.
"He'd been told I was getting better and was likely leaving soon, so he decided he was able to visit. Of course he left Zak at home. I guess I don't blame him, but it sucks still," CJ rambled.
"I'm sorry man, you must miss him like hell," Rick said with a frown.
"Yeah, but I'm getting out soon. God I can't wait."
"My mom brought my step dad to see me today, for the third time. I don't dislike him but I don't like him either," Phoenix contributed, shifting the focus a bit.
"My parents visited for the first time. My mom kept getting all emotional," Daniel said with a laugh. "My dad was just stiff and awkward."
"So was mine," CJ chuckled. "Looked like he thought I'd take his head off." His high spirits fell a bit after actually realizing his family was afraid of him, but he didn't say anything more on the matter and carried on the conversation.
"My stepdad tried to dab during visitation," Rick muttered with a mortified look on his face. "It was the worst attempt at being cool I've ever seen." This sent the others into fits of laughter, which caused Phoenix to nearly fall over.
"Oh my god," the curly haired boy choked, still not fully recovered. "That's fucking hilarious."
A tech scolded him for swearing as she was passing by, giving him a dirty look before moving on.
"So did he fail or what?" CJ asked, grinning.
"I hate to say he didn't," Rick answered.
"Mind sharing what brought dabbing up?" Daniel questioned, not sure why a fully grown man might attempt to dab for no reason.
"He was trying to prove he was 'cool and hip,'" Rick said with finger quotes.
The guys laughed over Rick's step dad and various other things before dinner was over and they were to attend their nightly therapy sessions and such. During recreational therapy (which was mostly movie watching) the group watched Disney's Hercules, which Phoenix was very excited about.
Nightly meds were taken by many patients, Daniel included. He'd received a new prescription from Dr. Joseph that was to be taken in the evening rather than in the morning.
There was a bit of free time, in which an eighteen year old boy with anxiety showed the rest of the patients his amazing break dancing skills. He got a great applause, and a standing ovation from a couple of people.
Around 11, everyone was sent to sleep as techs paced the halls, making sure nobody was up. Daniel slipped into a dreamless sleep (as did Rick on new medication), thinking about home already.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone