But We're The Same, Darling
sfw, our new lesbian story!
cw: mental hospital setting, mistreatment of mentally ill, stigma, transphobia
Mar looked around, the walls were barren and clean but the atmosphere felt filthy. They felt isolated the moment they stepped into the building. They sat in a standard-looking waiting room for a hospital, nothing about it was particularly special or stood out. They could hear their parents mumbling to one of the doctors in the next room over, they could only seem to make out their motherâs sobs. Mar sat there looking at their feet, twiddling with their fingers. They felt terrible for what they had done, they wished that everything could go back to normal, but they knew that they wouldnât be going home for a long time.Â
Their mother and father came out of the room, their mother was blotting her eyes with a handkerchief and their father's brow was furrowed, wrinkles deeply creased his forehead.Â
They never had the best relationship with their parents but they were going to miss them.Â
âMary, Iâm sorry honey, but this is gonna fix you sugar, please write usâ Mar scowled, they hated their name, they never really felt the urge to be feminine and preferred to present themselves in a more neutral and androgynous way. However, they were often forced to be âladylikeâ, wear dresses, makeup, and needed to be well-mannered.Â
Mars's father turned to their mother, âCome on, let's go honeyâ he turned back to Mar âGoodbye Mary..â they took each otherâs hand and disappeared out the door.Â
âWait, wait, no stop it please Mother please donât leave me, Father.. Please I promise Iâll be good please just let me go home!â Mar yelped and screeched and crawled but the nurses held them back. âMama, Papa, p-please donât leave me.â they were choking on their tears and saliva. All they could do was stare at the logo located on the nursesâ breast pockets reading ROCHESTER NEW YORK SANATORIUM FOR THE MENTALLY UNWELL.Â
Mar felt a sharp pain in their side, all they could process was a syringe deep in their skin, everything started to go foggy and blurry, everything was one big haze. They pulled the syringe out, a thin ribbon of blood coming out from where the needle was located, and then nothing. They couldnât remember a thing after that, just haze and darkness.Â
They woke up in an unfamiliar room like the rest of the place. They could hear a faint scratching and screaming deeper within the walls. They were strapped down tightly in a chair. The room was blank and eerie, it unsettled them as the waiting room had. There was nothing but an oil lamp in the corner of the room which made it very dimly lit due to the lack of windows. A large desk was just placed far enough away from them to reach, it looked old and worn out, and there were scratches on their side, perhaps from previous encounters with past patients. A sturdy red chair sat across from them, it looked a lot more comfortable than the one they were forcibly sat in.Â
A man walks into the room, the way he is dressed -the long white sleek lab coat clinging to his body- and the way that he carries himself shows his upper status, Mar knows that he must be one of the head doctors, or generally important for that matter.Â
âDr. Sceleratus or Dr. S, it's a pleasure to meet you MsâŚâ he looks down at a chart attached to his paperclip âMary.â
Mar shows him a look of disgust on their face and wrinkles their nose at him, Mar knows that their stubbornness was one of the reasons that they were stuck here in the first place but can't help but grimace at their name that they ask not to be called by so many times.Â
Dr. Sceleratus cocks his head, a sadistic smirk appearing on his face but just as quickly disappears. He sits down across from Mar and crosses one leg over the other, seemingly infatuated with the chart on the clipboard. Mar couldnât see the sheet but they could tell that he was thoroughly reading it from the way he was underlining each word with his finger. He stops, smiles, and composes himself.
âQuite an interesting one we have here, we're gonna take very good care of you here, youâll be back at home in no time.â Mar felt like there was something off about the doctor, although they couldnât place their finger exactly on what it was that was bothering them, they knew that their voice was off, it sounded much too high pitched for a manâs. Â
He laces his fingers together forming a bridge for his chin to rest on.Â
â I know you donât know me but Iâve learned so much about you from this little sheet right hereâÂ
Mar stared at him with blank and angry eyes, the oil lamp highlighted their soft facial features.Â
â Obsessive-compulsive disorder, hysteria, and.. Homosexuality and in-compliance with femininity.â
Mar could do nothing but stare at the doctor. They couldnât utter a word.Â
âLet me tell you a little secret sweetie, we are quite similar per se⌠so letâs stick together, I can help you get out of here evenâ
âWhat are you talking about, I donât understandâÂ
âIts ok darling youâll find out soon enough, let me take care of youâ he snickeredÂ
âW-what?â Mar pulled and tugged at their restraints trying to get themselves free to no avail.Â
He left behind an echo of sharp shoes hitting the hard floor behind him, his lab coat flowing and following along with him as we walked out of the room.
Mar was so confused and scared, all they wanted to do was get away from this place. An old, decrepit, and tired-looking nurse came into the room.
âLook, if you continue to be violent we are gonna have to use harsher methods on youâ the nurse snapped âSo I suggest you be a good little thing and behave.âÂ
Mar nodded and they were set free of their restraints just to have the bony and cold hand of the nurse wrap around their arm pulling them out of a different door than where Dr. S went. Â
They then were stripped of their clothes and their dignity having to put on a pale and washed-out blue hospital gown and matching blue socks. The nurse snickered when they saw their body. They had used bandages to wrap their chest, previous bruises from this technique stuck out from where the bandages met skin.
âWhatâs this, we canât be having this, you look like a boyâ
Mar didnât have the energy to fight people anymore, they allowed their bandages to be taken away, and they didnât want to get in trouble, compliance was the fastest way to get out of here, right?Â
They donât remember much after that, they felt like their body wasnât there like they were watching themselves from a different perspective. They remember seeing other people looking at them, they must have been the other patients, no one talked to them and they talked to no one. Before they knew it the whole day had passed.Â
âTime for lights outâ a different nurse from before spat, this one short and chubby.Â
Mar was pushed into their room. They sat down on their bed, the pillow was much too thin to allow any support and the blankets had been worn, there was no one that they could keep warm. They got into bed and wanted to escape into sleep when another patient was pushed in.Â
She was beautiful. She had thick and curly dark brown hair and the most beautiful skin. Her face was symmetrical and she had full lips and big doe eyes. Mar couldnât help but blush at the sight of her. The nurse scowled at them and slammed the door behind her.Â
âUm hi, I havenât gotten a roommate yet this whole time, my name is Cassandraâ She seemed a bit on the shy side and was picking at the skin on her fingers, not making eye contact as she introduced herself.
âThey said that they would put me with another patient because Iâm a boy, well Iâm not really a boy, Iâm a girl, I really want to be a girl and I feel like a girl inside but I know thatâs it not right, they tell me that if I keep my therapy up and keep praying that God will save me from my sins. Ah, I keep on rambling again, sorry, um whatâs your name?â
âM-mar,â Mar excitedly went up to her and grabbed her hands in theirs âI feel the same way, well not the same but I understand how you feelâ Cassandra's face was flushed from the closeness between them, tears burned the corners of Marâs eyes âFinally someone who can understand me.â Mar let out a laugh and let go of Cassandraâs hands. Â
âI donât understandâ Mar wiped their face from their tears âWhy would they put us together..âÂ
âPerhaps to make us normal, you will act more like a girl and I will act more like a boyâ Cassandra fidgeted and looked at the ground.
âI donât like boys, I am a homosexualâ Mar said with some shame in their voice.
âWell then I guess thatâs just another similarity between usâ Mar giggled âLetâs go to bed, I donât want to get yelled out anymore todayâ
They both got into their bed and faced the opposite way from each other.
âI know I just met you but you make me feel less alone, I think we are gonna be good friends, good nightâ Mar was trying to hide the fact that they had started to cry again.