The evaluation was not something that was done by the last therapist, well apparently not it had to be done again by them with all the processes and that meant all the payments again. This was something I guess I was prepared for now but like I stated before what followed was not something I had imagined in the wildest of my dreams. 

My daughter had been inside the room for more than an hour when I was called and asked to go inside. I reached the room she was in, and as soon as I stepped inside my daughter came running toward me. 

She was crying and embraced me tightly. “I don’t want to stay here; I don’t want to stay here”; something she was repeating to me. 

I was not able to comprehend the situation. What was going on, what happened in the last hour that I want aware of. 

I calmed her down and asked her what had happened. She pointed towards a lady and stated that she told her, after her evaluation, they concluded that she was not in a state where she could take the decisions and so they had to step in for her. 

I thought ok maybe they finally understood the problems of the parents and was happy that they were willing to overcome the pathetic system in place. 

Well, hold on not so fast the situation was much different when I came to know of it. My daughter explained that the lady was stating that her case was bad and as she was in this state, they could not let her go home. 

She had a choice of staying in that facility voluntarily or else they would have to get a restraining order from the judge, who will make her stay there till they feel fit to release her.

My baby was hugging me and around my arms, I haven’t felt so helpless in my life. 

I did, once before too. Not wanting to remember that incident.

 This was the second time I felt so helpless. My daughter was crying asking me to take her home and I was standing there trying to make heads and tails of that situation. 

I can’t describe how helpless I felt.  

The one thing that my daughter wanted was something I did not have control over, something I could not give to her. 

The lady explained, “She has stated that she had thought of taking her like in the past and so had to have therapy by staying in the facility”. 

“Length of the stay was subjective, it all depended on how she responded to it. It would be a week it could be two weeks or even more”.

When I understood the situation, I made my daughter sit in the chair and talked to her. 

We did not have a choice anymore. The system was designed in such a way that it was the facility that had the final choice not us as parents. 

There may have been many instances where this would have been needed, I guess but using the same paintbrush for everyone and every situation was not right, in my opinion. 

I could just think of it all as a medical system, which was broken from the inside. 

The lady explained in detail how it was a part of the normal system. 

I thought “normal there was nothing normal about it”. 

Having no choice, we had to accept the volunteer admission to the facility.

 I started the process of her admittance to the system there and then left her, in the room I left for home to get her clothes.

I was told no strings, simple clothes nothing which can be used as a weapon. 

All four of us, part of the family, were part of a group within an app where we could look at the location of the person at any time.  

My wife was worried about her and has not heard back from us she was thinking about where she was. She looked at the app and saw that I was driving back toward the house, while my daughter was still at the facility. 

“This was odd,” she thought. 

When I reached home, I told her what had happened. 

I let her absorb the shock of the initial news and then got to packing the clothes for my daughter. The task was much tougher than we had thought. 

Look for clothes minus any strings, ropes, or anything that can be used as a weapon. What clothes do not have strings these days? 

Pajamas were out, skirts with strings were out, and ultimately, we got a bag together and this time both of us left for the facility. 

Parking the car outside we went in to be given more forms to fill in, new people warranted the whole COVID drill again for Sachi. 

Temperature check done, forms filled in we were able to finally go inside and meet Patty in the room. 

She was a lot calmer now from the outside, but I was sure that it just needed a nudge, and all the emotions would come bubbling out. 

As soon as Sachi saw her she was out of control, crying like a baby and wailing about what we would have to go through. 

Seeing her in such a state patty was also crying with her, hugging her, and letting the tears flow from her eyes. 

No one was saying a word, a lot was being said through the tears. 

My case was a little different I wasn’t crying but I was angry at the system. 

The system was separating my daughter from us. 

How can someone explain to me that what was being done was for the good of my daughter? 

I did not want to go into the reason at this time. 

After a couple of hours, Becky the nurse assistant broke the silence. “My son went through a similar episode and after the therapy, he was much better. Today he is 25 and I think this program was pivotal in his life at that time. 

“He is now aware of the things around him and better able to deal with things. This is just a phase and will pass for her too”. 

At your daughter’s age, the cortex in the brain is still being formed. Next few years it would be developing and so she needs all the help she can get. We have a wonderful program; I am sure she will get all the tools she needs for navigating through this stage”, she continued.

Becky completed all the formalities and assigned her to a room. A room that already had another person living in it. It was supposed to be a semi-private room.

The facility in charge for that day came in and asked us if there was anything we wanted to ask her. 

It was a cue for us that it was finally time for goodbyes. 

We handed over the bag to the assistant, as they would have to review all the clothes first. 

All things were removed from patty’s pockets. 

The assistant then asked her to remove the thin chain that was around her neck.