Page 22

Jessica

I bang on the room’s locked door, but it’s insulated with something. I slam my palm against it as hard as I can but don’t produce enough sound to wake up a kitten. I do it for what feels like an hour, then stop.

I’ve tried screaming, so much so that my throat is hoarse and dry, and since there’s no water in here, I’ve stopped that and am starting to have serious concerns about dehydration.

At some point, someone yelled at me to shut up. I think that’s what they said. Whatever they yelled, I was in the middle of screaming when they did it, and I stopped and shouted, “ What? ” as loud as I could, but they didn’t say anything else.

I’m certain there’s some health department rule about me having access to drinking water. Hell, at the shelter, that’s a requirement. Every dog has to have clean water available, all the time. And yet here I am. I’ve been in this room ... what? Hours? Days? Not a water bottle in sight.

I pinch the skin on my forearm, and it easily pops back into place, so I guess I’m not too dehydrated. Not yet. But how long does it take to check on someone? Shouldn’t they be doing rounds or something?

I can’t believe I’m locked in this room with no bathroom, no shower, no water, no TV, no phone, no nurse’s call button—nothing.

It’s bullshit, and I’m going to write so many complaint letters .

.. I’m going to drown this place in them.

Google reviews, Yelp reviews, Facebook posts, Better Business Bureau .

.. They are going to wish they’d never had me in here.

I can be the biggest pain in the ass when I get fired up, and right now I have nothing to do but stew.

I sit on the bed and then lie back, letting out a slow breath as I think through my situation.

This was not where I expected to be at this stage of my life: locked in a mental ward with greasy hair, adult diapers, and not a bit of technology.

I would do a variety of filthy things right now for an iPhone with Candy Crush and internet access.

Maybe I did try to kill myself. At the rate this is going, I’ll die from sheer boredom if the dehydration doesn’t get me first.