The Escape Attempt

I stayed overnight in a psychiatric Emergency Room. I have so many stories about this experience, but I want to start with a funny one…as most are much heavier. This story demonstrates the odd behavior that hospital staff deals with.

The majority of my stay was spent spinning in circles. The nurses let me leave my shared room early in the morning to occupy the end of a hallway. The ER ward was sterile, tiled and worn out. It was also full of what I assumed to be homeless patients. But I was so occupied with my delusions and hallucinations that I barely noticed them.

With each circle I was saving humanity. I passed through phases of being a good witch, a princess, an angel, a goddess, and then an alien. By mid-morning I was tired of this Earthy prison and decided to use my super-vision to melt a door handle and escape. When the door at the end of the hallway failed to disintegrate I was frustrated. It was still locked. At that moment I saw the janitor open his broom closet and put a new liner into his large rolling garbage can. A lightbulb went off in my head. He turned away to grab something and I carefully crawled into the escape pod. To my great disappointment the man’s amused face appeared above me. He laughed a bit and told me I couldn’t leave this way. I was relieved he wasn’t upset and lazily clambered out.

I spent the following phase of my stay watching for opportunities to run out the front door. The nurses watched me pace and warned me to stay away from the doors. I never succeeded. What happened next is the toughest part. But I will save it for another time.

There were people who worked in that ER, like that janitor, who were kind to me even though I was completely mad. They made a lasting impression and saved me some grief. I wish I could thank them. ❤️