Secrets Within - Carol x Mildred

Chapter 17

Carol Aird

It was midday when a knock on the door teared Carol out of her deep thoughts. Mildred's story was still lingering on her mind and is all that she could think about since the redhead left for work early this morning. She blew out the smoke from her cigarette and pressed the stub into the ashtray.
She wasn't expecting anyone, but it still surprised her to see Louise standing in front of her. Normally the dark-haired woman never left the foyer.
"Yes?"

"There is a call for you in the foyer. Lucia State Hospital. It sounded like Miss Ratched", she informed her and without waiting for a reply, she turned around and walked off.

Carol's mind was clouded with worry. If Mildred was calling from work it had to be very urgent. Nearly running down the hallway to the foyer, her heart started beating faster with every step. Finger shaking from nervousness, she picked up the white handset. "Mildred?"

At first, silence was all there was. The silence soon was replaced by muffled sounds. "Mildred, are you there?", Carol asked again, feeling Louise gaze burn holes into her back like a bunsen.
The muffled sounds then sound into clearly audible sobs that send shivers down Carol's spine. "What happened, Darling?"

"Carol-", was all that the woman on the other end of the line managed to force out.

"I'm here. I'm listening. What happened?"

Mildred words were barely comprehensible, muffled and interrupted by great sobs. "Pick me up, please."

"Are you hurt?", Carol wanted to know, her voice was shaking from worry and fear by now. Those sobs she just heard were different. They weren't caused by sadness or desperation like the once she already knew. They sounded like something terrible had happened. After all, Mildred was working in a psych ward, crazy things could happen at any given time, but given the state Mildred was in, it had to be something out of the ordinary madness.

The line went dead before she received an answer to her question. "Shit", she muttered and cradled the handset.

"Is everything alright, Miss Aird?", she heard Louise ask, but she didn't give her an answer. She rushed back into her room, grabbed her coat and car keys and left the motel, ignoring the brunette on her way out. She may had broken several speed limits on her way to the hospital, but she couldn't care less. Mildred needed her now.
For gods sake, she already needed her twenty minutes ago.

To Carol's surprise the iron gates were wide open when she arrived. She sped down the dusty road until the huge building came into sight.
Her heart dropped and she nearly kicked down the brake when she saw the row of police cars and ambulances in front of the hospital. Panic rose inside her, making her vision blurry for a swift moment, when her eyes fell onto a covered body on the stretcher in front of one of the ambulances. Not caring to lock her car, she sprinted up the stairs, ignoring the officers that yelled at her, that she couldn't go inside there. She did not care. No one could stop her to go inside and check on her beloved Mildred. To make sure she was okay. Unharmed.

The scene that presented itself in the common room nearly made Carol's knees give in. The normally so perfectly cleaned floor was covered in dark blood. Another body was covered by a white sheet, already drenched in more blood.
Carol desperately looked around, trying to spot the redhead, but all she could see was the same uniform over and over again. Tears welled up in her eyes as sheer panic took hold of her. She wanted to scream out her name, but her vocals were nothing but warm air.

"Back off!"

It was without doubt that the yelling belonged to no other than Mildred. Relived quickly washed over her when she finally spotted the head nurse. The relive only lasted for a short moment though and it disappeared equally fast when she took a closer look at her.