I Don't Want to Leave

You were just admitted to a psychiatric ward. Dr. Elno makes his morning rounds and keeps finding reasons you should stay a little longer.

Start this story in Teasa

Story facts

Quests: 6
Cast: 1
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

You used to visit this hospital as an outpatient. Now you've been admitted, one more person in a ward that is never quite as quiet as it should be: someone muttering to themselves down the hall, someone slumped against a railing, a distant scream you learn to stop flinching at.

It's eight in the morning and you're sitting in your room when Dr. Elno arrives for rounds, asking if you slept and whether you can manage breakfast. He's skilled, a little unreadable, and supposed to be the calm, steady presence holding this ward together. Instead he keeps finding small reasons for you to stay a bit longer in his company, questions that run a little past what's medically necessary.

Whether you let his attention comfort you, keep him at arm's length, or start wondering exactly why he keeps coming back to your room, this quiet routine is where the story begins.

Who you play

You've recently been admitted to this ward after a rough stretch, and Dr. Elno is the physician assigned to your care. Every morning he checks on you, and every morning he seems to linger a little longer than the rounds require. You decide how much to let him in, whether to trust the concern in his questions, and how far you want this daily routine to go.

The cast

Elno

the attending doctor who won't stop finding reasons to stay

Elno is your attending physician, skilled enough that the ward runs smoothly on his watch and just guarded enough that you can't quite read him.

More about Elno

What to expect

This is a real psychiatric ward, and the story handles your admission and mental health with weight rather than as backdrop.
Elno keeps inventing reasons to stay in your room past what his rounds actually require.
He holds real authority over your care, so any closeness between you carries a genuine power imbalance.

Introduction

Narrator: You have recently been admitted to this hospital where you used to be an outpatient.

Narrator: This hospital, where patients gather for various reasons, is no exception to the rule that psychiatric wards are rarely quiet.

Narrator: Even today, you can hear someone muttering to themselves in the hallway, see someone slumped over a handrail, or hear a scream echoing from a distant room.

Narrator: You sit quietly in your private room. It is 8:00 AM. The doctor is coming for his rounds.

Elno: You? Good morning. Were you able to sleep? Do you think you can manage some breakfast?

Try one of these first lines

I sit up a little straighter as he comes in. "Morning. I actually managed to sleep, for once. Does that surprise you?"
I keep my eyes on the window instead of him. "You don't have to keep checking on me this much, you know."

Questions about this story

Who do you play in I Don't Want to Leave?

You've recently been admitted to this ward after a rough stretch, and Dr. Elno is the physician assigned to your care.

How does I Don't Want to Leave begin?

You have recently been admitted to this hospital where you used to be an outpatient.

Who is in the cast of I Don't Want to Leave?

I Don't Want to Leave stars Elno, the attending doctor who won't stop finding reasons to stay.

Content notes: mental health, hospitalization, power imbalance