Amelia had felt her smile falter at his words and the unkindness in his voice had made her furrow her eyebrows. “I understand that. And it’s kind of irrational to think I’d misuse antibiotics but I don’t question you. If you don’t want antibiotics then that’s completely fine.” Amelia had crossed her arms over her stomach while she spoke, studying the boy’s face as he started at her. 

“Whatever.” he rolled his eyes. Devon, the always kind hypochondriac, actually was acting like a stubborn child. It was beyond the reach of his understanding, but she just grated against his nerves. 

“That’d be fun, I think.. I-I think we sh-should, um, we should be friends t-too, yeah,” Emerson actually smiled a real smile for the first time during his stay here, this boy seemed really nice and he was more than glad to know that the person he would be rooming with wasn’t intimidating or rude or anything like that. He wouldn’t know what to do if he was roomed with someone mean. Devon seemed like he’d be a good friend.

Devon stuck out his hand for Emerson to shake. You know, to make it official? He could see them having a lot of fun times, even in such a gloomy dismal place, and it gave him a small dose of hope for his future there. “Awesome. I’m lookin’ forward to it.”

“ You’re a tour guide for this place? “ She asked him, looking him up and down. It wasn’t her judging him but more observing him, taking what he looked like. “ Couldn’t get a better job or what? “

“Not officially a tour guide, but I know the place really well.” Devon turned around just when he was ready to leave her alone, and smiled again brightly. “I’m a patient, but I’ll take tips.” 

   “  God — how did my parents think this was a good idea? They’re such idiots.  “ Echo muttered to no one in particular as she sat alone at one of the picnic tables outside reading a pamphlet for Northwick. When someone approached her she looked up at them with pursed lips.“ What? Do you want something? “

“Thought you might want something. Maybe a tour from someone who’s memorized the floor plan?” Devon answered, all smiles. His grin faded when he realized she didn’t look very happy by his company. He cleared his throat. “You need anything, I’m just gonna be over here.”

“Really?” Emerson looked at him, kind of surprised, a small smile growing on his face.

“Yeah, anytime man, anytime. I know some cool pizza joints and a guy that works at the Statue of Liberty- he used to know my mom before she got sick. I could get him to sneak us in maybe. I think we might as well be friends, being roommates and all.”

“Emerson… I don’t think I’ve met him. I’m glad to hear that your roommate is nice, though. You catch onto things pretty easily, don’t you?” Finley chuckled quietly, looking at the boy in front of him. He didn’t mind that he was rambling, ramblers were better than people who hardly said a word. “I’m gonna enjoy being roomed with myself while I can,” he shrugged his shoulders lightly, hoping he didn’t sound rude or anything of the sort.

“I don’t go anywhere I don’t feel confident about first. Fire exits, washrooms, you name it.” Devon agreed, nodding his head. “If you need help unpacking I’m free whenever.”

“Oh, that’s neat… n-never b-been there.”

“When all of this shit is sorted out I’d love to give you the real insider tour.” Devon offered, smiling at Emerson. 

“You do? You know, being a counselor isn’t my only job. I can always play nurse until we have one, I have enough antibiotics on my desk I’m sure I have some sort of cream.” The blonde had slowly nodded, an eyebrow raising. “What’s your name? I’m Miss Henry– or Amelia.”

“If you misuse antibiotics your body can create an immunity to it’s affects, or something. This is probably a rash I got from allergies. I have tons of allergies.” Devon answered, a twinge of hostility in his cheery voice. He was so used to seeing nurses and doctors treating his mother, so being in conflict with the closest thing to a resident nurse was just his way of regressing to that little kid who didn’t know why his mother couldn’t get out of bed. Devon stared Amelia down unkindly.

“It’s an asylum type thing, so, probably,” Finley gave a shrug of his shoulders, small smile on his face. “I’m Finley, it’s nice to meet you. Just trying to find my way to my room.” 

“My room is with Emerson, this kid that has a speech problem or something. He’s really nice. You probably have a free room until the numbers get even again. I haven’t been here long, but I figured out how as the system works for roommates pretty well already.” Devon answered, not rambling out of nervousness but rather more from excitement at meeting another person. He went quite stir crazy on his own sometimes.

“Looks like you’ve got it all mapped out then.” He’d hoped the boy knew what he was doing. He hated sending people to a nurse or doctor. It seemed to Daxton that everyone here hated seeing them anyway. “I have quite a few, actually. But recently, I’ve been re-reading The Catcher In The Rye.”

“That’s a sick book. When I was younger all I did was read mostly, and I still do a lot. I’m pretty sure I called everyone ‘phony’ for ages after I read The Catcher In The Rye for the first time. I thought I was so cool.” he laughed. Devon spent a lot of time in hospitals as a kid, whether it was for himself of his mother, and reading was one of the only things a kid could do in a sterile smelling place like that. 

“I agree with that, you have no idea what kind of cooties people have been carrying around.” He joked. “I’m Asher by the way.” 

“Asher. Ill name.” Devon nodded slightly. “Oh my God. I remember when I was seven I refused to go to school because I thought cooties were real. It really freaked me out. That’s probably why I still made an ass of myself in front of girls. Childhood trauma, right?” he laughed, his cheeks turning pink.

“Where are you f-from?”

“NYC. It’s a very chill city. If you know it well enough, anyways.” he answered slowly. “I’ve never been out of New York really.”

“If you’re sure. Neosporin or something might help.” Dax nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m the librarian here. Hence the reasoning behind why I read some medical things.”

“Yeah, I pack my own.” Devon nodded, thinking about his bag of first aid supplies back in his room. He didn’t think the man looked like a librarian, but everyone here was weird looking to Devon. “What’s your favorite book?”

“Sorry.. I wasn’t watching where I was going,” Finley looked up from the ground and to the person in front of him, whom he’d just bumped into.

“Be more careful mate. There are some wild characters around here- or so I’ve been told.” Devon winked, laughing to himself. “I’m Devon. What’s up?”

Dax looked over his arm and shook his head at the scratches. “Like I’ve said, I’m no doctor. But I can tell you right now that it’s not an allergy to dust mites or anything. It just looks as if you’ve been scratching a lot. So the itch could most likely just be your brain sending signals to that bit of your skin. I’d clean up the scratches, though, if I were you.”

“Yeah. This happens a lot, it’s not a big deal. I can make sure it won’t get infected.” Devon replied, rolling his sleeve down. “What do you do here? Like, if you’re not a doctor.”

“Irvine.”

“California? Cool. I wanna go there one day.”