FicWad

I got a call from my boss telling me where my next assignment would be. Turns out it was some place called: St. Mary's Mental Hospital. I've been to many of these places, so I don't really get too freaked out by the patients. They all really seem to like me, that or they're just haven't seen anyone new in a really long time. I drove my shiny black BMW to the place and am now strolling through the hallways looking for room 2B. When I found it, I knocked on the door, but nobody answered. A man walked past me and I stopped him.

"Excuse me, do you know where Cassandra Mariah Eltics is?" I asked him.

The man was old and had a small gray beard along with some hair on his head. He wasn't the tallest guy, and he certainly wasn't the shortest, standing at medium sized and wearing a white uniform. His expression was sad.

"I do, but I really wish I didn't." he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Come with me and I'll show you."

I followed the man slowly down the corridors, passing by the other patients rooms. From inside, I could hear a few mumbling to themselves. But, mostly I heard screams. I always felt upset when I heard their voices ringing out and there was no one there to care. At last, we came to a room with a big, black door.

The old man took out a key chain filled with several keys. Once he had found the right key, he put it in the key hole and opened the door. Inside I saw, a middle aged woman hitting the back of a young girl with a whip. She wasn't moving, I hope she wasn't dead, I really need some more money to pay off my monthly rent. When the door opened, the lady turned around.

"Who do you think you are to just come and barge into a private room?" the lady said.

"My name is Dr. James McGregor and I am here to see Miss Cassandra Mariah Eltics." I stated.

She didn't say anything after that, instead she just whipped the girl one last time and walked out the door. The girl was still on the ground, lifeless as a rock.

"Cassandra, Cassandra, sweetheart, get up!" the old man rushed to her side.

The girl slowly did and then sat back down. I couldn't see her face, because her back was to me.

"Cassandra, are you alright?" he asked.

"You know I'm always alright." a soft voice answered back.

"Cassandra, dear, you have a visitor."

"Is it another one of those doctors here to 'try to cure' me?"

"Yes."

"Of course it is. Who is it this time?"

The girl, Cassandra, turned around without getting up. She wasn't like the other patients I've ever had, she was far different from them. For instance, most of the patients that I have had that were girls had their hair or blood all over their faces. She had her long, black hair pushed behind her ears. And she had the whitest face I have ever seen, almost as white as a blank sheet of printer paper. Her eyes were a light blue, also the lightest I have ever seen. She looked like she has had the color drained from her like in the old movies where everything was black and white. She was actually really pretty and she didn't seem crazy at all.

"Hi, my name is Dr. James McGregor." I said for the second time today.

"I know, I heard you say so before." she replied.

I walked over and sat down across from her.

"Your bleeding!" I put a hand on her head and some of the blood got on my fingers, I wiped them on my jeans.

"I'll be alright."

I saw the old man come up to us with a first aid kit, he started bandaging her.

"You don't seem crazy." I blurted out. I've been thinking of this for a really long time and I just had to say it.

"That's because I'm not." she said.

"I'll leave you alone to talk." the old man cut in.

He was all done bandaging and was now getting up to go.

"Bye, Uncle John." so, that's what his name is.

"Bye, sweetheart." Uncle John kissed the top of Cassandra's head and then left.

"So, if you're not crazy, then why are you here?" I asked. That was another question I've been really thinking about.

"It's very simple: people think I'm crazy, but they're wrong, I'm not!" she answered.

"Ok."

I had a theory, I always knew how to break my patients down and then get to know their secrets and about their past out of them, after befriending them. And that's exactly what I planned to do with her. But, I always felt bad at the end when I had to leave them. I got so attached with them, especially the ones that took longer.

"So, tell me about yourself." I continued.

"There's not much to tell I been here for a long time, been visited by..." she trailed off as she got up and walked to some dark corner in the room. "Fifty two doctors; twenty six men and twenty five women."

"But, that's only fifty one."

"Oh, once there was this man lady."

"Oh."

There was this long moment where we were both silent. The only noise I could hear was a drip, drip, dripping, probably coming from the sink. The room we were in was really dark, there was only a light over our heads on.

"Tell me about you, why did you decide to become a doctor?" she finally asked.

"Well, I've always been interested in this and I just decided to follow my dreams. I didn't have the greatest past and that's one of the very few things I have in common with my patients." I answered.

"What happened in your past?"

"Um, it's getting late, I should go."

I stood up and waited for her to get up, when she did, I followed her out the door. We went our separate ways, she went to her room and I went out the front door and to my car. I sat in the driver's seat for a while, thinking. I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. I shook my head and started the car. I drove home and then went straight to bed. It was still pretty early, but I really didn't care.

Even when I got to bed, I couldn't stop thinking about two things: my past and Cassandra. I just couldn't get her beautiful face out of my head. Snap out of it, James! You are not supposed to be thinking about your patients like that. I just met her and besides she's a patient and I'm a doctor. If I ended up falling for my patients, then I wouldn't be doing my job and I wouldn't be getting any money. I soon fell asleep and as hard as I tried, I still ended up having her in my dreams.