Connor couldn't say he was surprised when Evan and Jared didn't visit him again. It wasn't like he was a very good person to be around. Yet, for some reason, it still hurt. They said they would come again, but they never showed.

He waited for there arrival for the first few days, staring at the door to his new room for minutes at a time (he had been put in the mental ward at this point), hoping they would come for just an hour and rid of the silence.

The silence was probably the worst thing about it. Silence meant that Connor had done something wrong. Silence meant Connor had snapped at Cynthia or Zoe again. Silence meant that he was sat outside the principle's office awaiting a lecture about having drugs on school property. Silence meant he was alone.

He could usually block out the silence and his thoughts with the simple press of a button. He could put his earphones in and shuffle a playlist instead of focusing on the endless quiet that surrounded him, but they had taken that away from him. Some sort of policy in this part of he hospital. It was meant to encourage him to show up to the arts and crafts sessions or come down to dinner. It didn't work. If anything discouraged him. Because the quiet meant someone was mad with him and he couldn't face people who treated people like he had treated them.

He had also been moved to the mental wing in the hospital, which he wasn't happy about. He wasn't like the other people here. They all had something happen to them to make them like they were, but he was just born fucked up. There was nothing the nurses here could do for him except make sure he stayed for a month without trying to kill himself again.

That was the only thing keeping him sane. The fact that in three weeks and 6 days he would turn 18 and he could leave on his own accord. He would finally see something other than the 4 walls that had been surrounding him for the past week. He could finally block out the silence that had been making him even more crazy than he already was. He could take a shower without wearing swimming trunks because they couldn't leave him in the bathroom alone. He could eat something other than the shit that the people here called food. He could be Connor again... Just not until the 6th of November.

"Connor, are you okay?" A familiar voice cam from the door making Connor cringe.

Nurse Taylor was one of them people who seemed annoyingly perfect. He was your typical white 20 odd year old with the iconic short, brown quiff that seemed to be glued to everybody's head this decade and crystal blue eyes. Connor hated him. Mainly because, even after he had screamed and thrown an alarm clock at the man, he still came in for ever half-hourly check up. He had never once sent the teen a glance of distaste or pity. He just, acted as if it was normal and that was different. For some reason, as good as it seemed to be treated like a human, it weirded Connor out.

"Same as ever." He replied bluntly.

"That didn't really answer my question..."  The nurse said.

"You caught me there. Honestly..." Connor hesitated and quickly thought of a suitable but still untrue answer, "I'm just a bit bored."

"Well then, why don't you come to the kitchens? Everybody else is icing cupcakes." He offered, hopefully. "You don't have to speak to anyone you don't want to. I'll stay with you if you want."

To be honest, even that sounded better than staying in his room for another three hours, but Connor was stubborn and it took a lot to persuade him. "No way."

"If you do, I'll go get us pizza for dinner. Hospital food is shitty and I bet your itching to get some greasy takeaway in your system." 

Connor's cold demeanour wavered slightly, and he finally gave in with an disapproving groan. "Only if you promise no pineapple, and you get cookies for desert!" As moody as he was, nothing sounded better than some junk food.

"I'll even put on American horror story."

"How do you know all my weaknesses?" His nurse chuckled.

"6 months working in a place like this and you can guess pretty well that teenage boys love pizza a lot. My names Asher by the way, but most people just call me Ash."

"Okay, Ash. I will be out in a few minutes. I need to get some clothes on so piss off." Connor ordered, but the was no malice behind his words.

Ash grimaced, "I think the hell not. You need a bloody shower; your hair looks worse than Severus Snape's." He wasn't wrong. Connor refused to leave his bed and so hadn't taken a shower in over a week. He was surprised he wasn't drowning in hair grease by this point.

"My parents didn't bring me any hair wash," Connor told him, "They thought they'd just be able to take me back home like the other times." He didn't elaborate on the 'other times', instead shifting round to get out 0of bed easier. Ash slowly helped him stand and supported Connor when he nearly fell over. Turns out not leaving your bed for multiple days at a time makes your legs feel a bit numb.

"I have some spare in the cupboard somewhere. Hope you like strawberry." The nurse pulled away and Connor finally managed to take a few steps without any support before leaning on a wall and waiting for Ash to find the shampoo and conditioner which it turned out was residing in locked cabinet in the far corner of the room.

They walked in silence towards the shower blocks, Connor still in his hospital gown, but carrying  pile of clothes, most of which were black or deep grey. The quiet was comfortable, not like the suffocating type Connor was used to. It was more calm. More understanding.

The corridors were mainly empty; they only passed a few other doctors and nurses. Connor was yet to see another patient in the whole wing. Presumably, they were all a tad less stubborn that he was and agreed to do the activities that Asher usually asked him to join in with. The usual strong smell of antiseptic that would attack you as soon as you step inside a hospital was almost unnoticeable in this area. Instead, it smelled like a mix of flowers and chocolates given by the families of anyone who ended up in this wing. It was a constant reminder of the guilt that the parents of these poor children felt when they realised that their baby was so unhappy that they'd rather die than live through another day on this earth with them...

They reached the showers. 

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to come in with you. Rules and regulations and shit. Just to make sure you don't hurt yourself." Connor grimaced.

"Surely that isn't safe. What if one of the nurses turned out to be a pedo?" Connor asked, genuinely curious, but also bitter that he couldn't shower in peace.

"We aren't actually allowed to look at you. We just have to be in the same room. In fact, if a nurse does look at you when you shower you have the right to report them straight away." Ash paused for a moment. "If you really don't feel comfortable with me in there with you naked, I can go look for some spare swim trunks for you."

"It's not that I don't fucking trust you. I'm fine with you being in the room," Connor's cheeks turned a little pink, "I just don't understand why I cant be trusted to put some dumb ass strawberry smelling stuff in my hair without somebody in the room!"

Asher sighed, "Do I have to look for some swimwear for you or will you save me the trouble and just go in?" 

"Fine. But I'm expecting an upgrade from cookies to cake." 

"Deal."

----------------------

Hey!

Erm... sorry I disappeared. There has been a lot of drama at home and school and play rehearsals have started up again and to be brutally honest I lost inspiration for this book. I don't really know where I'm going with this book so I've added a character that might add to the plot at some point hopefully and we'll se where what we're doing with this next chapter.

Please forgive me, not only for the vanishing act but this chapter in general. I'm a bad writer and I have no idea why anyone would actually read this garbage.

Sincerely,

The shittiest 13 year old writer you know

(PS like usual this isn't proofread.)