The next afternoon, each holding an overnight bag, the two exited the private suite they'd been in for days. Escorted down the hall by Rebecca Fine, they entered a small room next to the nurse's station.
One wall of the room had a large mirror on it, which Janice faithfully checked herself in. She smoothed her dress and decided she looked great for her age.
She looked at her companion. "Aren't you glad we'll finally be going home?"
"This place sucks," was the only response she got.
Rebecca sat them both down. "You'll need to fill out some release forms, of course." She handed them to Janice along with a pen.
Janice filled them out and signed and handed them back to Rebecca. "Now we can go."
"Actually, she needs to sign the second page too. Read it over and sign in the box," she said, handing it to Linda.
Linda focused on the page. The numbers seemed to blur...she was having trouble focusing on them. Then suddenly, she could focus and everything came into harsh focus.
Patient's Name: Taylor Logan Adams
DOB: 2/17/95 Age: 14
Parent or Guardian's Name: Janice Elizabeth Adams
DOB: 8/6/72 Age: 37
Relationship to Patient: Mother
Linda looked down at herself and saw a skinny, teenaged body clad in a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. She saw a pair of earbuds hanging at her throat, connected into an iPod at her waist. She looked at herself in the mirror hanging across the room, and saw a teenager sitting next to an older woman...that was Jon. What had happened? They'd never said anything about this? How could she have not noticed they were doing this to her? How could...?
"Taylor?" Janice said. "What are you waiting for?"
Taylor blinked, and signed the document, never wanting to be gone from a place more than now. The teenager put on the earbuds and pressed play on the music player.
Janice looked at Rebecca. Rebecca smiled a bubbly smile, one that made her look innocent and not quite so intelligent. "Have a nice day!"
Janice took Taylor's hand, grabbed her bag, and left.
