Alana sighed heavily as she walked up to the big, gloomy building, the feeling of insanity washing over her. She took out her ID card, holding it in front of the small scanner at the entrance. A few seconds passed by before it beeped, the doors opening for her. She put her ID back in her purse and she walked inside. The smell of alcohol pads floated past her, and the sound of patients mumbling was heard from the left of her in the day room. She hummed to herself as she walked through the lobby, heading towards the elevators. She pressed the button with the label "⬆" on it and she waited patiently.

The elevator doors opened shortly after and she stepped inside, pressing the button for the second floor. She was at her floor in seconds and the doors opened, revealing a lit up hallway. She stepped out of the elevator and she went left, heading towards the nurses station. The first person she saw sitting at it was Crystal, one of her coworkers and closest friends.

"Morning, Crystal," Alana said cheerily, causing Crystal to turn to her , chuckling lightly.

"I don't know how you can be so happy in the morning," she commented, shaking her head. "I got ten hours of sleep last night and I'm still tired."

Alana shrugged, walking around the the narrow entrance of the nurses station, removing her jacket. "I guess I'm just a morning person. I also like my job here, so there's that."

Crystal scoffed, frowning a little. "How can you like it here? All of the patients are crazy."

"I don't like to think of it that way," Alana replied. "I think they're misunderstood. Besides, you say that like you and I don't have a little something wrong with us."

"I don't," Crystal laughed. Alana shook her head, laughing as well. She sat down at her computer, and she logged into her email, checking to make sure she didn't miss anything from her boss.

She scrolled through her emails, one in particular catching her eye.

To all my employees,

We will be receiving another patient today. The police will be bringing him in around 3:00 this afternoon. I advise you all to be alert, especially for this man. We've done background checks on him, and he has quite the record. With that said, continue to do your regular rounds until the announcement.

Sincerely, Dr. McClain.

Alana frowned, turning to Crystal.

"Did you receive the email from Dr. McClain today?"

"Yeah," Crystal replied. "There's supposed to be a patient coming in today. I hear he's from France."

"Really? They went that far?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe he lives here," Crystal shrugged nonchalantly, typing away at her computer. Alana sighed, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.

She decided to go to the day room for a little while, to check on the patients in there. It was still early, and she didn't have to start making her rounds until one o'clock. She stood from her her chair, notifying Crystal where she was going. She walked out of the nurses station and she walked over to the elevators, pressing the button going downstairs.

When the doors opened,  she bumped into Matthew, who had a sly smirk on his face. He was one of the people who worked with her that she absolutely hated with a passion. Ever since she started working he'd try nonstop to hit on her, only to get cursed out by her every time.

"Hello, beautiful," he smirked, stepping out of the elevator. Alana scowled in disgust, pushing past him. She stepped into the elevator, pressing the button for the first floor.

"Wow, no 'thank you', sweetheart?"
He chuckled, turning to face her.

"Don't call me that." She muttered, waiting for the elevator to close. She frowned when it didn't, and she pressed the button again, folding her arms across her chest.

"Technical difficulties?"

"Fuck off."

"Ouch," he grinned, licking his lips.

Alana sighed irately, pressing the button again, damn near smashing it. Matthew grinned and he shifted a little, the elevator doors finally closing. Anger surged through her once she realized he was the one stopping the elevator, but she couldn't say anything because the doors had already closed. She ran a hand over her face, letting out a groan.

"Today's going to be a long day."

☯

Three o'clock came quicker than Alana thought, much to her dismay. She was in the middle of doing her rounds when all of the staff members were called down to the lobby. Alana, Crystal, and the rest of the nurses were standing in front of the entrance of the hospital, waiting for the arrival of their new patient.

"They need to hurry up, I have rounds to make," Crystal murmured, rolling her eyes. As if on cue, a large, black van pulled up in front of the glass doors. The doors slid open quickly, and Alana squinted a little, trying to get an early glimpse of the man. All she could see was long, twists hanging in his face. She could feel her heart racing faster as two large men held the man's arms tightly, walking him to the entrance. One of the men held up their ID to the small scanner and the doors slid open right after.

The room was silent, except for the sound of heavy footsteps emitting from the men and the patient. Now that he was closer, Alana could see that his left arm and half of his right arm were scattered with tattoos. His skin was a warm caramel color, making the white clothes that the patients were required to wear look like shit.

The closer he got, the shorter she seemed to become, and she could feel the tension in the room building up.

"Mr. Bourgeois," Dr. McClain said sternly, eyeing the man carefully. The man kept his head down, not moving an inch. His breathing was steady, and he was uncomfortably calm. Too calm to be admitted into a place like this.

"Mr. Bourgeois," Dr. McClain said louder, stepping closer to the man. He responded that time, his head snapping towards the doctors feet. Slowly, his head lifted up, as if he was scanning him up and down. His eyes met the doctors eyes, almost burning holes into his skull. A frown appeared on Mr. Bourgeois' face, and the doctor cleared his throat nervously.

"Your first name is Laurent, correct?" He asked, avoiding the patients gaze. He said nothing, still eyeing the doctor. Alana stared at the man curiously, examining his features. His face was sculpted just right, making him look very intimidating. His cheekbones were prominent, complimenting his chocolate brown eyes.

"It's written on the paper, isn't it?" Laurent replied, raising his eyebrows. He spoke low, so low that you would think he was whispering, but he had authority in his voice.

Dr. McClain sighed, reading the paper quickly. "I see that you've been admitted here because of attempting murder about five times in the past month, you've been diagnosed with Intermittent Explosive Disorder, and you've been arrested numerous times for property damage and B&E. Do you have any reason for that?"

Laurent stared at the doctor blankly, tilting his head to the right.

"I get angry," he said, a smirk playing on his lips.

"So angry that you attempt to kill people?" The doctor bit back, earning a chuckle from Laurent.

Laurent turned his head to the front, eyeing the nurses one by one. He sighed, his eyes landing on the last nurse; Alana.

"Don't piss me off, and maybe everyone will be okay."

He said, looking directly at her. For the first time, Alana felt intimidated under a patient's gaze, and the more she looked at him, the smaller she felt. She looked away from him after a few seconds of staring, her feet suddenly becoming the most interesting thing in the world.

"Yeah, yeah," Dr. McClain said, shaking his head. Laurent's head snapped towards him, anger surging through him already. He didn't like when people sassed him. It never ended well for them, and right now, this doctor was on thin ice. The men holding him wouldn't even phase him if he tried to get his hands on the doctor.

Dr. McClain opened his mouth to speak, but once he met Laurent's eyes, he choked up, a regretful look spreading across his features.

"Alright," he said, peeling his eyes away from him. "Alana, you're going to be tending to Mr. Bourgeois, since you do rounds on the floor he'll be put on."

Alana frowned deeply, her eyes meeting Laurent's nervously. He looked at her in amusement. He could tell she was nervous to be tending to him, and to be honest, she should be. If he wasn't being held back by those big ass men, he'd have ripped the doctors throat out without even breaking the skin.

"Okay," Alana said quietly.

"Laurent, the rest of these nurses will be working 12 hour shifts, every day, unless told otherwise. While they're here, you will respect them, and do as they ask, whatever it may be. Do you understand?"

"Respect is earned not given," Laurent stated. "And I'm not a slave."

The doctor said nothing, a sigh leaving his lips. "Alright, can you two men take him up to the second floor to room 213? Alana, follow them and make sure he's settled in right."

Alana nodded slowly, leading the guards towards the elevators. She pressed the '⬆' button, waiting patiently. The doors opened afterwards, and the guards took Laurent in first, and then she stepped in after. She pressed the button for the second floor and the doors closed.

Alana could feel his presence radiating behind her, and the vibe he gave off sent chills down her spine. It was like he was a walking time bomb that was going to explode any minute, and she just met him that day.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened, and Alana let out a sigh of relief. She turned right out of the elevator, looking at the room numbers.

205, 207, 209, 211..

213.

She stopped in front of the door, and so did the men. She held her ID in front of the scanner and the door opened. She let the guards in first, and they walked him to the bed.

"I'll take it from here guys," Alana said. They looked at her cautiously, wondering if they should let her be alone with him

"I'm good, I promise," she said, giving them a small smile. They nodded and they looked back at Laurent, letting go of his arms. They left the room quietly, and she closed the door, turning towards him. She went over to the clear, rectangular, box nailed to the wall.

"Okay," she said, opening his file. "Your name is Laurent Nicolas Bourgeois. You were born on December 6, 1988, making you 28 years old. You're from Sarcelles, Val d'Oise, France. Is all of this correct?"

Laurent looked at her curiously, folding his hands together. He nodded slowly, scanning her from her head to her toes.

"Alright," she said, looking through the rest of his file. They had some pretty bad stuff written about him in it, and it made her stomach twist in knots. She put his paperwork back in the folder after looking through it once, and she sighed.

"I'm Alana," she said. "I'm going to be your nurse for the rest of the time that you're here. Uh, I make my rounds from one o'clock to five o'clock everyday, and I'll give you your breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You will be able to use the bathroom whenever you feel like, but you are required to ring the bell and wait for me to assist you."

She pointed to the bell above the bed he was sitting on, but he seemed to be uninterested in what she was talking about.

"Uh," she said. "You can go to the day room when you're finished eating, but you'll have to be under supervision specifically. Do you have any issues with anything I said?"

Laurent frowned, running a hand through his hair. "Do you have a hair tie?"

Alana frowned but she nodded, reaching into her pockets, taking out a black hair tie. She walked over to him and she handed it to him, waiting for him to take it. He reached out his hand and he took the hair tie, grabbing her hand as well. She gasped a little as he pulled her toward him, almost losing her balance and falling into him. He hummed quietly, his eyes scanning her features. She looked scared, and he could feel her hand begin to shake in his.

"Are you afraid of me?" He asked, looking directly into her light brown, almost blue, eyes.

"N-No.." she stammered, blinking wildly.

"Don't lie, sweetheart," he chuckled. "You shouldn't be afraid. I'm a nice person, I promise."

"You can't be, you attempted murder plenty of times," she said.

"I get angry," he smirked, repeating the same thing he said to the doctor.

"And that's why you're here," she said, snatching her hand away from him. He glared at her, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Watch your tone," he said.

"Or what?" She asked, stepping away from him. She was afraid of him, and she knew that he could tell. But one thing she wasn't, was quiet. She wasn't afraid to say what she wanted, or challenge the patients. At the end of the day, they couldn't hurt her. Not that she wanted them to. She just wanted them to know that she was the one who would ensure that they get the proper care, or someone else would. She was the nicest nurse out of all of them, anyways.

"The door is closed, ma fille," he said, gesturing towards it. "Do you really want to test me now?"

Alana searched his face for any sign to tell he was bluffing, but she could tell he wasn't. His face was stone cold hard, and his expression told her that she should shut up. She really didn't want to, but for her safety, she decided to.

She walked over to the box and she took his paperwork out again, walking towards the door. As she left, a smirk played on Laurent's lips, and he laid back on his bed. He wasn't even bothered by being at that place. In fact, he was doing just fine.

☯

Aaaaand that's the first chapter ! I hope you guys enjoyed it, as much as I did writing it. There will be quick updates most of the time, so expect a new chapter at least veery other day or every two days. Byeeeeee ❤❤ x Rose