Love, Always by Yessi Smith Page A

struggle with the gun, but eventually she takes it away from me and squirts me in the face until I am choking on my own laughter.  
    I push Hayley off of me and we lie on the dirty hospital floor, still laughing. The new guy crouches down in front of us, watching us with a perplexed look on his face which only sends us into a greater fit of laughter.
    “Are you two okay?” he asks when we finally sit up.
    “We’re in a hospital with crazy people,” Hayley whispers in response. “None of us are okay.”
    I stand up, helping Hayley up in the process. We ignore the stares from our fellow crazies as we guide the new guy to our regular table.
    “I’m Dee,” I offer once we’re sitting.
    “Max.”
    “So what brings you here, Max?” Hayley asks, as if we were having a normal conversation in a normal location.
    Max looks around as if he’s afraid the others might hear him so we lean in closer to the table. “You can’t tell anyone,” he whispers, and we both dutifully nod our heads. “The CIA wants me.”
    “Yeah, what for?” I ask, playing along.
    “I was workin’ undercover, tryin’ to help them get their next big bust and—”
    “You saw too much,” I finish for him, and he grins. “I’d say you’re safe here, but you may want to ask yourself how I know so much.”
    “And you saw her shooting,” Hayley adds, twirling my water gun with her index finger.
    “She’s a good shot,” he admits and eyes me curiously. “But you’re no spy,” he decides, and I shrug my shoulders. “How long you been here for?”
    “I’m going on two months,” Hayley admits. “And Dee for about a month and a half.”
    “So are they really strict on their rules here?”
    Hayley looks under the table and back at Max. “Your shoes don’t have any strings, do they? What do you think?”
    He looks back at her, confused. “They never had strings.”
    “The CIA too cheap to get you shoestrings?”
    “Somethin’ like that.” He grins. “What’s wrong with strings?”
    “They take them away. Dental floss too. Razors, cell phones,” I add.
    “Why?”
    “So you don’t off yourself with them. But we’re veterans here,” Hayley gloats, and I laugh. Being a veteran at a psych ward isn’t exactly something to be proud about. “We’ve got all our privileges back.”
    “Except for the dental floss.”
    “Yeah, well, you can’t be too careful.” Max smirks.

    I spoke to Dr. Rios about the probability of me becoming a writer, so she gave me links to several colleges for journalism. Only journalism doesn’t interest me. Since receiving the email earlier today, all I can think about is writing for a living. Not journalist type writing, but writing from my heart, from my experiences, and maybe from my imagination.
    I’m tempted to email the messenger back, but want to hear back from Adam first. I want his input. His mom came by today like she usually does since Adam left on tour and thinks I should give it a try. And she’s right, there’s no loss in trying and failing. Loss comes from giving up before giving yourself a real shot. I like his mom, she knows the true value of loss and she understands my depression, but I want Adam’s input. I want to know if he thinks this is feasible or just some stupid childish dream. I pace the room as I wait for my screen to light up with his and Josie’s face. I can’t wait for them to come back home in two days. They’ll only be here for a week, but a week is better than nothing. I smile at my laptop when it rings and sit on the bed that no longer feels as uncomfortable as it did my first day here.
    “Hey.” I smile at Adam.
    “Hey back.” He looks beyond the computer and laughs as he shakes his head.
    “What’s going on?”
    “Amber,” he says, talking about the nanny he hired to watch Josie when he can’t. I wait for him to elaborate, but he doesn’t.
    “Where’s Josie?” I ask, slightly annoyed. Normally she’d be in his arms where I can see her, but I