Apparently, I drove faster than Amber’s mom, so I ended up waiting for her outside the front entrance, not wanting to go in without her, since I had no idea where Amber was. While I waited, I had the urge to light up a cigarette, but resisted, pulling out my orange Tic-Tacs instead. For the past week, I sounded like the lead musician in a maraca band, if there even was such a thing. I’d picked one hell of a time to stop smoking.

I shook a few more into my mouth when I saw her crossing the parking lot, almost choking on them when she walked out in front of a car, causing the driver to slam their breaks on. She motioned an apology to them as she put her phone back in her purse.

She forced a nervous smile as she approached me. “I guess I need to pay more attention to what I’m doing,” she admitted.

“Ya think?” is what I wanted to say, but simply said, “You’ve got a lot on your mind,” instead.

“She’s on the second floor,” she said as she led the way. “We’ll have to check in at the security desk and they’ll give you a pass to use. Only one person is allowed back there at a time, and you can only stay five minutes.”

“Security desk?” It sounded more like we were at a prison than a hospital.

“Yes, where she’s in isolation… for being violent… they have security. You’ll be escorted in and someone will have to be outside the door while you’re in there.”

“Are you serious?” I asked, wondering how this was supposed to help Amber. “How long will she be in there?”

“Yes, it’s highly monitored, for her own protection, they said. She’ll be in there until her doctor can figure out what’s going on and a plan of action.”

The elevator ride up was silent, but not in an awkward way. It was the kind of silence that leaves those in it able to think. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that Amber was here, in isolation, and they weren’t sure when she’d be getting out. The silence was broken once the doors opened, like they were spreading their metal arms out and welcoming us to insanity.

It was surprisingly quiet, almost calm, as we walked down the hallway. I felt myself start to relax a little the closer we got to the isolation area… until a loud scream echoed down the hall toward us. Her mom jumped, but quickly composed herself, trying not to seem affected by it. I, on the other hand, had been affected by it. Hearing another human scream like that, crazy or not, unnerved me.

“Does that happen often?” I asked as we rounded a corner.

“I’ve heard it a few times,” was all she said.

As we approached the security desk, I was relieved that it looked like any other nurse’s desk, except for the large man sitting behind it. “Can I help you?” he asked, glancing up from the monitor in front of him.

“We’re here to see Amber Davis,” her mom replied.

“Only one of you can go back at a time,” he explained.

“Oh, I know. He’s going back,” she said, pointing at me.

The man looked at me. “And your name?”

“Nick Bradley.”

“Your relationship to the patient?”

“Just a friend.”

“And I’m her mom. Dr. Wellington wanted Nick to see Amber today.”

He nodded, never looking up at her as he typed a few things into his computer. He printed a pass for me and told us to have a seat, that someone would take me back shortly. Thankfully, the wait was short.

“Nick Bradley?”

I looked up to see a woman in a long, white coat, not the security guy I’d imagined would come get me. “Yes, I’m Nick.”

She held her hand out and smiled at me. “Nice to meet you. I’m Dr. Wellington, the resident Psychiatrist.” When she let go of my hand, she quickly shook Amber’s mom’s. “Hello, Mrs. Davis.” They smiled and nodded at each other before the doctor turned back to me. “As I’m sure Mrs. Davis has told you, Amber has not been talking to anyone for the past several days, even her family, however, she started talking this morning, saying your name.”

“Yeah, I was there when she got the phone call.”

“I’m hoping we have a breakthrough today and that Amber will open up to you, since you’re the one she seems to want to talk to.” I nodded, not knowing what to say. “Shall we go on back?” I nodded again as she turned and scanned her badge on the wall, causing the doors to open. “There will be a guard outside the door at all times, should you need assistance. Amber has been really calm since being moved to isolation, though, so I doubt you’ll have any problems.” It was hard to believe this was Amber she was talking about.

She stopped outside a room and scanned her badge again, opening the door up and stepping inside. “Amber, you have a visitor.”

When I saw her, my heart clinched up. If I wasn’t still standing, I’d have thought it had stopped beating altogether. “Oh, my God.” The sight of her was too much, and my emotions poured out of my mouth without permission.

She was sitting on the end of her bed, her legs folded up to her chest, rocking back and forth. Her back was to us, since she was staring out the window, and she didn’t move as we walked in. Her hair didn’t look like it had been brushed, or even washed, and I could see her spine protruding through her gown. If the doctor hadn’t said it was her, I would’ve thought I was in the wrong room.

“Amber,” the doctor said again. “Nick is here.” She stopped rocking but didn’t turn to look at us or say anything. “You were asking for Nick all morning, and he’s here, now.”

The doctor motioned towards me, so I assumed she wanted me to say something. “Oh, um, hey.” I sounded like an idiot. “Hey, Amber. How ya feeling?” I took a step toward her bed and actually felt… scared? Or maybe it was just dread, not wanting to see her like this. “Amber, I’m here.”

“I’ll leave you two alone so you can talk,” the doctor said, “but, Amber, I’ll be right outside the door, okay?” Amber never acknowledged her. “I’ll come back in in a few minutes.”

“Okay,” I said, suddenly feeling a bit apprehensive about being left alone with her. What if I said the wrong thing? “Hey,” I said again, taking a step closer to her bed.

As soon as I went to take another step, her head snapped around toward me. I jumped back, feeling like an idiot again, but when I saw the look on her face, I didn’t feel so stupid.

Her once hazel eyes—green with warm, golden brown flecks in them—were dull and lifeless. Dark circles surrounded them, sinking in a little bit, making her look sick. She’d seemed to age by several years, looking even older than I was, and her skin had taken on a pale, greenish tinge. She looked like hell, or like hell was living inside her.

“Amber.” Despite the look she was giving me, I took another step toward her. “I’m here, Amber. We’ll fix this. Erik and I, the rest of the group, we’ll find a way to make this right.” I reached out to touch her, but she jerked away.

“Oh, but it is right, Niiiiick,” she hissed. “Sssssssoooo riiiiight.” When she smiled up at me and licked her dry, cracking lips, a chill ran down my spine, causing me to shiver, every hair on my body standing on end. “Eleanor fought it, too.” She started rocking again, looking back out the window. “And we know how that turned out, don’t we?”

“What do you mean Eleanor fought it, too?”

Instead of answering me, she started singing softly to herself. “Crazy, crazy….”

“What do you mean about Eleanor fighting it, too? What are you talking about?”

As much as I pushed, she never answered me but continued to sing some freaky song. Then, right before the doctor came back in, she flung herself back against the bed and reached out toward me, making a sound that made my skin crawl.

“Heeelp meeee….” she moaned. Not a breathy moan, but one that sounded like all the air was being sucked out of her.

Her eyes rolled back in her head right before they closed and she went limp. “Amber.” I ran to her, afraid she was dead, but she wasn’t, her chest slowly rising and falling. “Amber,” I whispered, running my finger down her cheek. “I’ll make it better. I’ll get you out of here.”

It was like I’d been thrown in some freaking horror movie and I couldn’t do anything but sit back and wait to see how it ended. Well, I was too impatient to wait, and I sure as hell wasn’t gonna sit back and do nothing while I did.

As I stood there, staring down at Amber, feeling things I couldn't explain, I knew what had to be done; I was going back to the asylum.