My Favorite Color is Red:Chapters 5 and 6

Chapter 5

I stared blankly at him for a moment and felt my jaw drop. Not being able to gather enough strength to talk all that came out was a noise that resembled something like "whaaggghh" . I tightened my lips out of embarassment and he strided over,smiled politely and unlocked the handcuffs that dug painfully into my wrists. He brought them over to his desk and I massaged the reddened somewhat raw skin where they had previously been. "t..thank y-y.." I put my hands on my head and groaned. I felt so weak and was in so much pain,the simplest words were difficult to say. I looked up and hoped he understood. "You're quite welcome" he said in a creamy voice. A forced smile crawled onto my face and I finally was able to say. "Who are you?" He pushed his chair back from his desk and began to pace around the room,looking at random objects, occasionally looking at me. "My name is Dr. Leo Fink,we've been testing you to find what exactly is going on with you. Meanwhile, I'll be your personal therapist.You can tell me exactly what you've been feeling or even seeing without any worries. I just want you to feel comfortable and know you're in the right hands here-" I began laughing as he took another breathe. "The right hands! HA..that's hilarious..that's really..just funny.Did you not see what just happened to me?" I raised my hand and felt the caked blood all over the back of my head, bringing my arm back and showing him my crimson hand. He stopped pacing and looked at me with a stern expression. "That was an accident. You must understand that when you're considered a dangerous patient we have to take certain precautions. Mr.Murphy thought you were going to do something violent towards me and so was protecting me..though it was over the top I'm sure even you know you can be unpredictable." He glanced at me from the corner of his eye,and I cracked a genuine smile.

We chatted for awhile about random sorts of things, like the weather and what I

think about so-and-so and what exactly is wrong with the world today. He'd occasionally laugh at the things I said, but usually listened with a smile and

attentive green eyes. Meanwhile, he was bandaging my head and offered me candy. Dr. Fink was an amazing person, full of intelligence and understanding and though I had only known him for maybe an hour or two, I felt like I could tell him anything. The time crept by quickly and eventually Dr.Fink looked at his watch. "Ah,I'm sorry our session is over for today..or,it was supposed to be an hour ago but who's counting?" He smiled. I thanked him and he escorted me to my room, and quietly

locked the door. It wasn't until I saw my fluffy, beautiful bed did I realize how exhausted I was. I literally sprinted towards the bed and jumped onto it. This was difficult

considering it was about a foot and a half off the ground. After knocking the wind out of myself, I collapsed onto my favorite pillow; then sliding my hand on the cool underside. I stared at the tiled ceiling and the rather plain creme walls around me. With no colors to inspire my imagination I thought for awhile about my exciting day.

Eventually, a continous buzz from the light above me lulled me into a deep satisfying sleep.

Chapter 6

When I woke up my internal clock told me it was 6 at night. My stomach told me that too. I looked at the door waiting for the nurse to unlock it and stride in as always,

like clockwork. Just as I began thinking about clocks, and the fabric of space and time I heard the door click open. Nurse Bellingway walked in with clipboard

in hand, and ushered me to follow her with the other. "Hungry?" she said in a chipper voice. "Starving." I nodded. We walked out of the room and others began following us in a beeline towards the cafeteria. I casually looked at the back of the line when I saw him. A boy a little older than me, looking towards the floor and trudging with a thoughtful look on his face. I've been watching him from across the cafeteria, gathering up the courage to talk to him but I could never do it. He was the only person

that I actually knew in this place. We had known eachother in Elementary school,or maybe middle school but soon forgot the other existed. I could never remember his name, but I had to talk to him somehow. It's not hard to go up and talk to someone, or maybe it is, but..I needed to. It was this fluttery feeling I got in my stomach,

and this ticking noise that erupted from the back of my head when I saw him, like a bomb implanted in my head. Not to mention a nagging voice that urged me day

after day to talk to him. As we marched through the heavy cafeteria doors I decided today was the day. Moving a step out of line and walking backwards I

quietly slipped into line behind him. Few shot a glance at me at this sudden change and then lost interest. Nurse Bellingway didn't seem to notice as she went about ushering us in. He turned his head and looked at me. Our eyes lingered within the others and the connection was broken when he turned his head quickly,avoiding my stare and missing that smile I meant to execute.

We fell into line at the "Food Stop" in the cafeteria. The smell of day old lasagna and steamy garlic bread infiltrated my nostrils, and my stomach was desperate for food. It growled like a rabid dog and I could have swore everyone around me had heard it. I jerked around quickly trying to quiet it down and smiled nervously at the heavily medicated faces around me. They had yet to master the technique of hiding the pills under their tongues,where I had it down on day one. If you could act the part you were fine. A blue plastic tray was handed to me and the lunch lady gave me a strange look from beneath her hairnet. I smiled politely and gripped the tray tightly,grabbing a fork off the table and looked around the small room for somewhere to sit. Voices echoed off the walls and few seemed to pay attention to me as I stood there awkwardly. Then I spotted the boy,sitting alone at a table on the other side of the room. He was picking at his food with the plastic fork and paid no attention to me as my tray clattered on the table.

A big lump emerged from my throat and I couldn't find the words to say.

It was quite obvious I had went out of my way to sit there,so any words would be helpful. Finally,I had found the right ones.

" Umm..hi." I squeaked with a small wave. I covered my mouth and my face grew red with embarrassment. He looked up at me blankly and smiled.

"Nevermind,I'm going to go.." I said grabbing my tray,and tears welling up in my eyes.As I began to stand up he grabbed my hand. "Please don't go." he said with a pleading look on his face. I searched his eyes looking for a reason to stay and a genuine kindness through a blanket over me. "Ok" I said,wiping my nose and sitting down. I stared at the table avoiding his stare. "So..what's your name?" I said quietly with a cough. "Ben." He said, "and yours?" "That's a nice name, mine is Micaela..stupid name I know."A look of surprise came over his face. "That's not a stupid name at all,I really like it." "Really?" I looked up hopefully to find him smiling at me. He held his fork in midair and I stared at it for a moment. "Are you going to eat?" He looked down at it."Uh,no. My stomach's not feeling very well."

My own stomach was turning and making me feel sick. "Mine either."

A screeching buzzer went off and broke the silence between us and Nurse Bellingway began to shepard everyone back together. I glanced at Ben quickly. "Meet me here tomorrow?" He nodded and we ran into line,leaving the uneaten slop on the table.

When I was back in my room, I collapsed on the bed and sighed.

My first friend.