The impact crushed him under the steering wheel, the airbag did not work.
Alex tried to get out, but the pulling pain in his ribs prevented him from doing so.
– So don’t worry, kid, and sit up straight, we’ll get you out, – the firefighter continued to talk to him. The door jammed, and Fortune’s cry was heard. After a while, the door was removed, the steering wheel too, and Alex was helped out.
After inhaling fresh air, Alex felt dizzy and lost consciousness again.
He woke up in the hospital. Next to him sat a policeman in a white coat and a man, judging by his clothes and badge, a psychiatrist. The man looked at Alex and smiled:
– Welcome back, if I’m not mistaken, Alex, right?
– Why ask me about something that you already know perfectly well? – Alex replied calmly. The Doctor chuckled:
– There’s nothing wrong with his memory, it’s good. Tell me then, please, where were you yesterday?
– Where was I yesterday? Alex repeated. “By the way, where were you yesterday?” flashed through his head, memories like needles stabbed into his brain, darkness, blood, siren…
– Okay, calm down, nurse, bring gauze, the guy’s nose is bleeding, relax, Alex, it’s okay, you’re safe.
Meanwhile, the policeman was writing something down in his journal. Alex spoke softly:
– Yesterday, my friends and I went to a Quiet hill..
– Go on, – the doctor replied, wiping away the blood.
– We decided to go to school… Then…
– What?
– Something happened…
– What happened?
Alex frowned for a second. The thought that he might end up in a psychiatric hospital again haunted him, he did not know what to answer.
– My nose started bleeding. Megan ran after Bill, Tedd and Sarah to school, – he continued.
– Where are they now?
Goosebumps ran all over his body.
– They stayed in that city… at school…
– Why did you leave without them?
– The alarm went off, the city siren… darkness… it enveloped everything and haunted me… I couldn’t stay there.
The doctor stood up, sighed, took out his glasses from his pocket and, putting them on his nose, opened a magazine. After making a few notes, he nodded to the policeman and left. The policeman closed his notes, adjusted his cap, and then looked at Alex.
– Orderlies! Take him to Hospital No. 16, the boy inhaled too much gas…
His heart was pounding in his chest, and Alex jumped out of bed:
– No! There was no smell of gas! Everything was safe and sound there, this place is still cursed! Why don’t you believe me? – the fear that he would have to spend the rest of his life in a mental hospital prompted him to take actions that were not typical of him. He remembers all too well the days when he was first brought to this place.
– Don’t be nervous, it’s all right, – the policeman tried to calm him down, the nurse was already standing behind him with a syringe.
– I know! You want to take me back there! – Alex couldn’t control himself, adrenaline surged in his blood, and he tried to run out of the room. But they grabbed him and injected him with sleeping pills.
“I’m telling the truth…” were his last words before he fell asleep.
Chapter 2: Psychiatric Hospital No. 16
Alex was lying in a small room on a soft bed, covered with a large, equally soft blanket.
One hand was handcuffed to the bed. Next to her was a bedside table, on which stood a beautiful white vase with a bouquet of lush scarlet roses.
“The same walls again… white, cold…” Alex thought and realized where he was. Sunlight filtered through a small window located almost under the ceiling. There were bars on the window. The door merged with the wall. At that moment, the same doctor entered the room, carrying a tray with a variety of food.
The tray was a portable table with extendable legs, and the doctor pulled them out and put them on the floor. Then he smiled and, approaching the patient, undid the handcuffs.
– How did you sleep? – he asked.
– Very tight, – Alex replied sarcastically.
– I’m glad, but what do you say about what happened at the Quiet Hill?
Alex looked at him.
– If I tell you the same thing, I’ll be handcuffed again, am I right?
The Doctor smiled again.
– No, I see that you have calmed down, so you no longer need handcuffs. By the way, I’ve looked at your file. It’s not your first time in a place like this, is it?
– Yes, I’ve been to a place like this before…
– Well, I hope we’ll find a common language soon.
– How long will I be here?
– Due to the fact that your nervous system may have been damaged as a result of exposure to chemicals, you will be under observation for about a week, maybe a little more.
Alex didn’t say anything, he just rolled over on his side and buried himself in the blanket. The doctor stood up and said before leaving:
– If you suddenly have an appetite, there is a tray next to the bed, do not torture yourself.
The door closed and there was a click in the keyhole.
Sleep came over him again. All this was happening to him, and it could have been avoided. The smell of food got under the blanket and stuck in my nose. His mouth, dry from the injection, filled with moisture, and his stomach rumbled…
***
– Rita! What did my beauty cook for lunch? Alex hugged her from behind.
Rita, smiling and kissing her nose, replied:
– Pizza, – and kissed him again, smiling.
The smell of pizza with mushrooms, sausage, olives and onions mixed with the smell of fruits on the table…
***
Alex opened his eyes and threw off the blanket. There was a small pizza on the tray, and next to it a saucer with green apples, there was also a mug of hot tea. He grabbed an apple and, greedily biting off a piece, began to chew. The apple was juicy and slightly sour.
Now he looked like a child who had been locked in a closet, saying that the most disgusting and terrible creatures lived there. If he had friends, then he loved friends very much and was afraid of losing them, but in order to be taken seriously, you need to behave like an adult, so he tried to look serious, but in this situation it was somewhat difficult to remain calm and serious.
The pizza was warm, even a little hot. The cheese stretched like chewing gum if you pulled it with your front teeth. When he was full, he crawled back under the covers and stared at the white wall. This wall was almost the same as the one he saw for the first time…
***
…When he woke up, he was wearing a straitjacket and there were two guards in the room. When they saw that Alex had woken up, they opened the door and one of them called someone. A woman in a white lab coat entered the room.
– Leave us alone, – she told the guards. They nodded and went out the door.
– Why