As Donny walked in he was already filled with fear. He had already called Heritage Oaks and made an appointment to converse with his mother, so he knew what to do. On his way walking hesitantly from the doors to the front desk, he witnessed a man in what looked almost like a butcher's outfit, beating a screaming girl about the age of 20. The girl had bags under the bags in her eyes. Either that or they were two black eyes. Her hair was thin and fragile. Her skin looked pale and weak like she hasn't eaten in months. The next person Donny walked by was an old man. He was staring at Donny with a grin upon his chapped, bitten lips. The man gave Donny a look of, "Get out of here kid. Go. You don't want to be in here." It sent shivers down his spine. He hurried to the front desk and cleared his throat, before telling the lady to guide him to "Irene Vianelli".
Donny sat down and waited to see his mother. He took a look around him. "This place really gives me the creeps," he thought. He just now started to regret putting his mother in here. He only wanted her to get better. A door slamming startled him. He heard footsteps getting closer and closer. The buzz of someone putting a card into a wall slot was the revealing key to know he was about to see his mother. "It's only been a few days. How bad can she look? The people I saw in the lobby must have been in here for at least 20 years," he thought to himself.
Donny closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He prepared himself for what he was about to see, and how he was going to act. Any thoughts he had were pushed aside as he focused on the moment now.
Irene was placed down in the chair across from him by a doctor. The doctor stood behind Irene, not giving her any privacy with her son. She had nothing to say to Donny. Donny didn't know what to say to her. The only noise was the fuzzed sound of other screaming, crying patients. "This was a bad choice. I'm so sorry," Donny began. "I'm so f*cking stupid. Why? Why did I seriously think it would be a good idea to place you in this mad house? This living hell? You need to get out of here right now". Irene was about to speak. Say she knows. Tell him she wishes she could say she's fine, and she can wait a few days to have things sorted out, but she can't because this place is a living hell, and she cannot stand it a moment longer. She can't say anything to him. She begins to cry. A soft tear whimpers out of her eye, then another, then another. Until there is a puddle of tears laying on her hospital gown. Donny wants to get up and hug her, but that is not allowed. Instead, he asks, "What may I bring with me tomorrow when I visit?" Irene was confused. She wipes her tears from her face and asks Donny, "What?" the doctor tells them both they have a minute left to speak. Donny gives him a mean look, then brushes it off and continues talking to his mother.
"That's right. I want to bring you something from home. Cheer you up a bit. So if there's anything-" He gets cut off by Irene's quick answer.
"In my room, in the top draw of my jewelery box there is a locket. You'll see it, it is the only locket in there. I want you to bring it to me. I know I cannot wear it but just seeing it will be enough."
"Mother I've never heard you speak of a locket before. Are you sure this is what you want?"
"Time is up," interrupted the orderly. He paused a moment then grabbed Irene's arm.
Irene knew she was ill, but she was sure of this locket. Her husband gave it to her when they were a young couple, and she has always kept it. That is the only thing left of him now, so when she needs him she holds the locket close to her heart. Though she has never opened it. It didn't matter to her what was inside. Sometimes she would wonder about it, if it was even filled with anything at all. Her final assumption was that it was empty.
***
Donny's journal entry number 5
My mother was as someone would assume. She cried a lot. But I wanted to cheer her up, so I am going to bring her a locket she told me she wanted. I've never heard of the locket she speaks of, but I went to find it anyway.The moment was set like this: I unlocked the front door of her house. I went straight into her bedroom, paying no attention to everything else in the home. When I was in there I headed straight to the dresser she mentioned and saw the jewelry box. It was wooden, with glass doors, but very dusty so it was hard to see the items inside without opening it. So I opened it. My fingers grazed over different shapes of silvers and golds and expensive rocks. I had to pick them up to find a locket. Everything I saw at first was either a fancy necklace, bracelet, or an earring. I was in the top draw like she said, so where could it have been? I ended up searching the draw below it to see if my mother messed up her wording. Besides, we were in a rushed situation. When I opened the draw there was a folded piece of paper. I stared at it for a bit, then shook my head. This wasn't what I needed. This is snooping. So I opened the last draw in the jewelery box and to my satisfaction, sat the locket. It was quite beautiful. The chain and body of it was gold. On the locket itself there were speckles and lines of black. I brushed my thumb across the top of it as I held it in my hand. It was beautiful. I took a sigh and put it in my pocket, ready to leave. And then my mind remembered that piece of paper. It could have just been something silly, but something was telling me it wasn't. So I opened the tiny draw again and took out the paper. I began to unfold it, peeking at the words inside.
***
YOU ARE READING
Nosocomephobia
Misterio / Suspenso"The sound of sirens muzzled, and the scent in the air was similar to a doctor's office. Irene was getting a headache from the bumpy roads. The crunchy blue pillows were no big help to that either. She wanted to speak, but something was disabling he...
