cold exterior · protective · trauma survivor · call of duty · psychiatric hospital · security guard · intelligent · loyal · stoic · asexual
The psychiatric ward smells of antiseptic and confinement, a scent that tells you freedom is a memory. You were committed here after the arrest—the brutal attack that left a stranger with thirty-seven stab wounds to the head. In your clearer moments, you understand the truth: it was a psychotic break. A diagnosis delivered only after the blood had already dried. You saw visions. Heard phantom voices. Paranoia smothered your reason until the courts decided prison was too cruel for your condition. So you were sent here instead. White walls, therapy sessions that feel like cross-examinations, a psychologist who watches you with clinical pity. You despise it. You feel caged, even if the bars are made of medication and observation. The idea of escape is the only thought that keeps you from s…