Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sweet Serendipity ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

“Way to humor me, Nathanial.” John said dryly as he gathered up the admission forms at the nurse's station. “With sarcasm like that, I'm certain you're going to fit in just fine here.” From where he was positioned, Nathanial could see a huge room just past the nurse's station. “That there's the Day Room. We hold most of our groups and activities in there.” Nathanial could hear a cacophony of voices, which he could only assume where the other patients. “All the other nurse's have strict orders to keep the rest of the kids in there until you and the other new admit get settled.” He thumbed through the papers to make sure he didn't miss any. “But don't worry about not making friends.” He fastened the stack of papers to his clipboard and smiled down at Nathanial. “You'll get to meet and greet with all of them later after you've had time to rest.” The mere thought of having to interact with the psychos made Nathanial shiver. He reached down and pinched the back of his hand. Hard. “Shit..!” He muttered quietly under his breath. It hurt. He wasn't dreaming this... It was real.

“Alright, Nathanial. Let's go take care of business.” John's voice made Nathanial jump, bringing him back to reality. “Just follow me and we'll get you checked out, OK?” Nathanial nodded and the two of them started down the hallway. “So… Nathanial.” John began, trying to stir up conversation. “It says here on your chart that you were born on February 29th. That must be…” Suddenly, the door directly in front of them flew open and out fell a petite blonde wrapped in a blanket. At first glance, Nathanial thought it was a girl, but then he noticed it was, in fact, a boy. “And just what the fuck are you looking at?” He heard the boy snarl as a buxom nurse ushered him back into the room. Nathanial shook his head in slight disbelief. 'I'm actually in a place full of fucking crazy people. I can't believe they put me here!' He thought as he followed John into a room similar to the one the boy fell out of.

"To start things off, I'm going to need you to put down your bag and take off your clothes." Nathanial didn't move. He tried to cover up that he was uncomfortable with the idea. Despite his desperate effort to sound calm, he timidly asked, "Why?" John looked at him. "Well I need to make sure that you don't have any contraband or anything that might jeopardize yourself or your treatment..." Nathanial gave John a blank stare then a shrug. "I don't." John gave a big, strong belly laugh. The kind you would expect from an Irishman who was having a good night down at a pub. "Well, I hate to break it to you, kid, but I still need to check." Nathanial rolled his eyes and placed his bag down, watching as the nurse sifted through his belongings. "OK. There's nothing in there that is dangerous, but I'm still going to need you to get undressed." Nathanial reluctantly slipped off his hoodie and shirt. He handed them over to John. "… Pants too?"

John nodded. "Everything. Pants, shoes, underwear and all." Nathanial stopped at that. "What the fuck? Why? I'm wearing boxers... how the hell do you hide something in those?" John sighed and shook his head. "Fine, fine. You can keep your underwear on. I trust you.” Nathanial undid his laces and slipped off his shoes. “What? I can't keep my shoes cause you think I'll hang myself with the laces?” John bent down and scooped them up. “Bingo. Health hazard. Your safety is our priority.” Then Nathanial pulled off his jeans and handed them over to John. “Y'know, kid,” John flipped the pockets of Nathanial's jeans inside-out. “You're lucky I like you. Some nurses here aren't so nice. They make you take everything off; no matter how uncomfortable it makes you feel.” Nathanial forced an obviously fake smile, and in a bitterly sarcastic tone said, “Gee, don't I feel special?”

"Your clothes seemed to check out just fine. If you don't mind, I'm going to wand you now." John said as he set down the clothes on a metal table. He picked up the wand and passed it over Nathanial's body. He stopped and looked at Nathanial for a minute before putting down the wand. "You're going to need to take your lip piercing out." Nathanial glared at him for a second before pulling out the lip ring and handing it to John. "Now what?"

"Well, put on these and we'll get you put up in a room." John said, handing Nathanial a pair of raspberry scrubs. The teen slipped them on, gave himself a once-over and made a disgusted face. “Why can't I wear my clothes? What was the point in checking them if I can't even wear them? I mean, you said it yourself… My clothes checked out fine.”

John picked up Nathanial's bag and clothes he'd previously worn. “That's true. Your clothes checked out fine. But everyone has to wear scrubs on their first day. It's the rules.” He walked over to the door and grabbed the handle with his free hand. “Some of your clothes had strings, so I'll need to properly dispose of them at the nurse's station. The strings, I mean. Not the clothes. Then I can give everything back to you and you can wear whatever you want tomorrow. I promise.” He turned the handle and opened the door. “Let me show you where your room is.”

“Um… John?” Nathanial pointed to the clipboard on the table. “Paperwork?”