They Don't Play This Song on the Radio [open]

Penny had been really hoping that this place would be different; she had hoped to meet tons of really awesome, eccentric people here, but it was the same as any other institution. Boring and filled with the usual crazy people. It was really disappointing. At least it had sun, unlike Ohio. No-one built solariums there because it was so depressing to sit in them and wait for something that would maybe happen six times a year: a nice day. And Penny really liked the sun, too; it was just a flaming ball of gas in the sky, which she deemed pretty awesome. Flaming balls of anything were awesome, actually, but the sun was the biggest flaming sphere, which made it doubly awesome.

Sprawled out in a chair, playing with her hair absently and humming to herself, Penny tried to decide what to do with herself for the rest of her likely lifelong stay here. Maybe she could lead the entire hospital in a few unlikely musical numbers and become famous; 'Asylum: The Musical'. She giggled aloud to herself at her own lame thoughts, then kept humming and twirling a strand of dark hair around her finger. She closed her eyes. Alone and serene, she might even fall asleep here, in the sunshine that she was so unused to...

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, and her smile became nearly manic. She was thinking of the last fire she had set, a farewell before she left her last hospital. She'd been saving the discarded match she'd found for weeks for just such an occasion, and she had set it afire and thrown into the flower bed as she had walked out. The last bit she'd seen of the health centre was people trying frantically to put out the flaming rose bushes while two orderlies hustled her bodily into the vehicle. That had been fun, but it was just another strike on her record; it probably wouldn't help her in the future. Worth it, though. Totally worth it. She laughed, and she had to admit that her laughing to herself alone in a room sounded a little crazy. But she was a little crazy, and she didn't really care. Penny didn' realize there was someone else standing in the room until she heard them move, she threw her head over the back of the chair and observed them upside down.

"Hey there," she smiled. "I'm Penelope Bridget Kaymann. My friends call me Penny. Hair, brown, eyes, brown, height medium, build medium, blood type AB+. Wanna talk?"

Annette had made the decision to move to Green Ridge because she was not done with her work. With her time at Hadley cut short she felt unfulfilled. It had taken her by surprise the day she came in to hear that the Hadleys had passed away and all the paperwork had gone “missing”. Well…almost all. No one needed to know about the two files that had gone home with her the night before against company policy. Said files were still with her, tucked safely away in her townhouse. So when the news came of GR Biotech taking over and moving to a new facility came Annette was all for it. The promise of living on an island with her patients was just as intriguing as living within a confined facility but this was a bit more fun. Some of them had the freedom to frequent town and that meant seeing them outside the institution setting. It would be another side of them to observe and mark down. Annette had eagerly filled out the paper work for the transfer but rather and go back to children she opted to be an adult psychiatrist. She’d started with adults and in the end she found them more rewarding to work with. More life experience meant more layers to pick through.

Since she was still settling in she hadn’t been handed a roster yet but that was okay. This gave her plenty of time to tour the facility and the town. She wanted a good feel for the place before she started seeing patients. She needed to know the ins and outs, the hiding places and what not. She planned to take a trip up through the woods as well and make a little map for herself. Annette could clearly visualize a patient with town privileges heading up to the thick wooded area and wedging under a rock, never to be found again. She wanted to know those rocks. She wanted to know everything. However, right now she’d settle with a trip to the solarium. When Annette entered she spotted a woman lounging and a smile tugged at her lips before she started closer. She would introduce herself to the lady. Who knows? She may end up as her therapist.

She paused in her steps when she heard the young woman laugh. Hm. Interesting. She continued forward and was then spotted. The girl proceeded to spill out an entire profile for her and that was worth noting. “Hello, Penny. My name is Dr. Fowler.” Yes, a therapist. She wounded how the girl would react to her now. “I’d love to talk. May I sit?” She motioned to the chair nearby as and moved toward it.

"Sure!" exclaimed Penny, still grinning. She didn't really care who it was, just as long as it was someone come to alleviate her already unbearable boredom. 'Doctor' meant that the lady was a therapist, but not necessarily that she was boring. Penny had seen her share of therapists, and they differed like the rainbow. She also knew that therapists never wanted just to talk. As she resumed speaking, her face took on a slightly more pragmatic look, and she straightened up slightly in her chair. She may have been flighty, but she was certainly not dumb; she wanted this conversation to be as friendly as possible and have the least amount of therapeutical prying she could manage. The lady probably thought she just spewed facts about her life at random, which she did...they just weren't ones a therapist, or anyone else, for that matter, would care about. The greeting she'd given was her standard greeting; it left little room for tedious introductions. If they already knew everything about her, they wouldn't have to waste time asking.

"I assume the fact that you're a therapist means you'll want to talk about my early childhood or something, but pshhh, who wants to hear that shit? Not in the mood for that sort of thing today. Hey, does anything interesting ever happen around here? I hear I get to leave on the weekends; that seems fun. And new. I guess this island is pretty hardcore, if they're letting the crazies out of the asylum, huh?" This was all spoken with hardly a breath between sentences; the doctor couldn't have gotten a word in edgewise if she tried. Penny talked far too much and far too quickly; it was as if she was trying to get it all out before someone cut her off. Suddenly, her eyebrows went up, and she said,

"Oh, dude, I'm sorry! When you said you'd like to talk you probably envisioned yourself, like, talking. I'll shut up, because I could totally go for hours. I haven't talked to anyone since I got here, and that's not really weird, because people don't want to talk to me sometimes because of the whole like crazy thing. But usually my best friend calls me when I go away, but she didn't this time because, you know, she can't...I mean, writing isn't the same..." She trailed off, looking at her feet for a moment as if thinking, then her head popped back up and she smiled. "So what's up with you?"

Annette took the seat beside the girl, a pleasant smile on her face. Penelope may think that everything she just tossed out at her was useless but a good therapist looked not just what was said, but how it was said. Word choice was only a part of breaking down a statement. Body language, tone, and facial expressions were just as important. The fact that Penelope didn’t even know who she was talking to when she threw out the highlights of who she was told Annette a great deal. It was difficult to turn off the therapist even when having a casual conversation with someone but as far as Annette was concerned she was on the clock and this may as well be a session in her office. Penelope was here for a reason after all and just as much could be accomplished in this casual session. She didn’t need to be behind a desk with a notepad to help someone. In fact, if Annette played her cards right she may be able to help better sitting here in the sun soaked room than behind the closed door of her office. Penelope may be more willing to open up to her out here.

As Penelope continued to talk Annette listened, making mental notes on everything she said. She would not interrupt her. If Penelope wanted to talk all day Annette wouldn’t say a word. It was rather interesting to hear the girl talk on and on without even breaking to consider the other person sitting there. Most people took pauses if they were looking for a response to what they said. Then again, if someone couldn’t stop themselves from rambling it could be a sign of impulse control issues. Annette did not know what this girl’s issues were but she would as soon as she walked away. Her file would be in Annette’s hand before the sun set. She wanted to know what medications she was on and what ward she was in. She also would be keen to find out whose patient she was.

Opening her mouth to speak Annette found herself cut off once again as the girl started back up. Hm…Interesting. Annette just let the girl babble once again before she finally silenced herself and gave the red headed doctor a minute to get something out. “Not so much with me. I recently transferred here and I’m trying to get the lay of it out. I think I’m going to enjoy it though. “ She had a gut feeling that if she asked a question the girl would begin on another rant. “So, how long have you been at St. Christina’s?”

"I haven't been here very long at all, actually. I just got here too. They were reeeeally anxious to get rid of me at the care centre, like...they had a party when I left. Well, I'm pretty sure they didn't actually have a party, but they were pretty psyched. They totally didn't know what to do with me. No-one does, you know, but they're pretty sure you guys can straighten me out. I'm not so sure, though, because I kind of like my non-straightened out self. I guess it's all perspective. Like, I really don't think there's anything wrong with me; I'm just kind of fruity. But everyone else thinks I'm like this big badass...it's sort of a problem," Penny spouted, her face becoming more and more pensive as she went on. She smoothed her pink skirt over her knees and bit her lip, thinking.

"I mean...yeah. That's about it for me, I think. So, why did you decide to come to this desert island? I guess it's not a desert island, but it's sunny...not like Ohio. I come from Ohio, by the way. Where did you come from? God, now I'm just being nosy...sorry..." Penny smiled apologetically at the woman and paused in her neverending speech for breath, leaving some room for some sort of reply, however scant it would be, before she started babbling again.

The babbling was a problem as much as the firestarting was, though it was actually a reaction to her trying not to set something on fire as hard as she possibly could. It had just become a habit; once the words started coming out of her mouth there was no stopping them. Pushing dark hair out of her face, Penny wondered, not for the first time, how she could get her hands on something flammable. She supposed that, since she was allowed out on weekends, she could buy some matches or a lighter, but she'd have to throw it away before she came back to the hospital; no sense in creating needless trouble, no matter how much fun it was to create. Anyway, they probably had her picture up in the stores: do not sell anything related to fire to this girl. She wrinkled her nose slightly at that thought...why were people always trying to keep her from the one thing she needed?