September 1st, 2006. Therapy ended early for (First Name) since she refused to speak to her therapist and her uncle. As punishment for refusing to talk to either of them, she was sent to solitary until art therapy began. (Eye Color) eyes flickered up from her lap to the sound of the door opening. "Art therapy is about to begin." Iris softly told the young girl. The nurse frowned when she saw her patient frown at her.

Iris cared for (First Name) deeply. (First Name) reminded Iris of her little sister, who had unfortunately passed away from cancer, when they spent time together. She believed that (First Name) was her true self when they would have their chats as she would notice a change in personality when (First Name) would speak to her uncle, to staff members and patients, and even Michael. Iris always noticed how patient and cautious she was around the boy, but she still had her slips because she is just a child.

"(First Name), you trust me, right?" Iris questioned. They both knew it was a dumb question as they knew the answer. (First Name) trusted Iris as much as she trusted Michael. Iris had proven herself to (First Name) by not telling her uncle about her secret scars and the letter exchange as she is the one who has been helping them communicate. (First Name) sat up from the bed and nodded her head. Iris bent to (First Name)'s height and told her, "I promise you I will persuade your uncle to let Michael come to art therapy." (Eye Color) eyes widened in both shock and excitement. "Do you really think he will listen?" "I can be very persuasive," Iris told her with a small smile that made (First Name) beam at her.

It warmed Iris seeing her patient so happy again. There was a part of her that was a bit worried that Dr. Loomis would reject her request and she wondered if she was willing to risk the chance of being fired for sneaking Michael in. However, the sight of (First Name) bright smile made all her worries dissipate into thin air. "We should get to art therapy. You being late might cause problems with your uncle." Iris told the young girl as she stood back up. (First Name) sighed and nodded her head before she followed after the nurse.

While the patients were being kept busy, Iris requested Dr. Loomis to meet her outside to speak. She could see the hesitance in his eyes, but he agreed nonetheless. "What is it you need, Ms. Garza?" He asked her impatiently. "I believe we should let Michael join for today's art therapy." Samuel narrowed his eyes at the nurse before he spoke, "You are letting your emotions affect your work decisions, Miss Garza." Iris shook her head, "Sir, I am speaking on behalf of (First Name) as her nurse. She is severely depressed and her mood will not change until you stop separating the two." She told him heatedly.

Dr. Loomis was losing his patience with the nurse and was about to walk away from her, but she stopped him by grabbing his arm. "Dr. Loomis, I understand that you are worried about her wellbeing, but (First Name) is old enough to-" "No, you don't understand a thing, Miss Garza." He interrupted her with a bitter tone. "She is brainwashed. (First Name) believed her parents loved her because they would lie to her, but after learning the news that my sister and my brother-in-law were arrested for domestic and child neglect, I understood that they never loved her. They saw her as an object, a stress ball."

Iris stood frozen as she listened to Samuel. She kept her stern expression as she already knew about (First Name)'s situation as she told Iris her story herself. The difference between Samuel's and (First Name)'s story is that (First Name) always gave her parents the benefit of the doubt. "Sometimes, whenever mommy or daddy was in a bad mood, they will drink and will call for me or look for me to hurt me... but it's okay because they were in a bad mood. I know they don't mean it because they tell me they love me when they are not drinking." (First Name)'s voice echoed inside Iris' mind.

"Sir-" "No. That is my final decision." He firmly told her before he tugged his arm out of her grip and went back to check on (First Name). Iris' throat tightened as she was upset by the outcome. She turned on her heel to head to the yard to find Michael. Iris decided she was going against Samuel's disapproval because her patient's mental health was more important than his emotional choices.

It didn't take Iris very long to find Michael as he was always secluded from the other children. He stayed under the tree and watched everyone's movement like a hawk. When Michael saw Iris, he tilted his head as he was curious as to why his friend's nurse was not by her side during art therapy. The anti-social child stared at Iris as she walked up to him and held her arm out to him, "Hi, Michael. Can I ask you something?" Michael stared at her arm before he hesitantly grabbed her arm and squeezed it once.

Iris gave him a sweet smile and asked him, "Will you come to art therapy with me?" Immediately, Michael answered no. Iris was shocked by his response as she was expecting him to say yes and come with her. "Y-You don't want to see (First Name)?" His eyebrows furrowed in response and pulled away from Iris. Iris frowned as she wasn't sure what to do. She thought Michael would come willingly, but he is doing the opposite of what she was expecting. "Please, come with me. (First Name) has been extremely depressed and I know that if she is able to see you, it will cheer her up." She begged. Instead of giving her a proper response, he only tilted his head to the side.

The nurse sighed heavily in defeat and was about to leave, but Michael stopped her by tugging on the bottom hem of her shirt. She looked down at him and saw that he was ushering her to follow him. Iris glanced at the guard that is in charge of Michael and noticed that he was watching them. "I'm taking him with me." She shouted to him. The guard nodded his head and let her take Michael.

Michael silently walked through the halls with Iris following right behind him. Once they neared the art room, Michael paused in his tracks by the door. "Okay, let me go in first, and then I'll bring you in." Michael dully stared at her and she nervously looked away to the door. She opened the door and looked for (First Name). Once she found the said girl, they made direct eye contact with each other and (First Name) got up from her seat to jog to Iris.

"Iris, why are you looking at me like that?" Iris nervously smiled and reopened the door for Michael to peek in. (Eye Color) eyes widened from both shock and joy at the sight of the dirty blond-haired boy. Without thinking, she pushed Iris out of the way to tackle Michael into a hug. Iris smiled at the sight of the sweet hug, but she was nervous as she didn't know how long they had before Dr. Loomis noticed them standing by the door.

The little girl hugged the boy tightly as if her life depended on it while he refused to hug her back. Despite him not hugging her back, he buried his face into her shoulder and let the hug happen. "I missed you so much." She mumbled. Michael was done with the hug and pushed her back. She wiped her eyes before she told him with a chirp, "I have a surprise for you!" (First Name) revealed a hand-made bracelet that was an exact replica of the original friendship bracelet she made.

Michael held out his wrist for (First Name) without needing to be asked which made her grin. She placed the bracelet on and tilted her head to the side. Michael looked at his new bracelet with interest before he copied her action by tilting his head. She giggled in response and held his hand that had the bracelet on it. "Please wrap it up you two. I think-" "Miss Garza!" Dr. Loomis' voice boomed. The three turned to see a fuming Dr. Loomis.

"Sir, I-I ca-" "Run!" (First Name) screamed as she grabbed Michael's hand and dashed away from the scene. She giggled happily as she ran hand in hand with her best friend down the hall. However, their fun came to an end when two guards tackled the kids. "Be careful, you dimwits!" Samuel shouted at the guards. One of the nurses walked to the guard that was holding Michael down and injected him with a sedative. "No!" (First Name) cried out. "Stop it!" Michael continued to struggle against the guard's grip as he kept eye contact with (First Name) until he lost consciousness. The same nurse who drugged Michael walked up to (First Name) to sedate her next. "No! Let me go! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" She screamed at the top of her lungs until the sedative kicked in.

Iris watched the entire situation go downhill with tears in her eyes. "Sir, you are emotionally abusing your niece. Please stop this madness and let those two be friends!" "Miss Garza, if you do not want to lose your job, then you will not say another word about this." Iris' jaw slacked before she spoke, "Sir-" "I will not say a word about what happened today if you do not keep suggesting those two being 'friends'." Dr. Loomis ordered the nurse. Iris frowned as she stared at the ground before she looked back up at Dr. Loomis and answered, "Yessir."