Hope's Hospital

Begining

White walls that seem to be present in every single hospital in existence were so old they became grey and started falling apart. Hope's hospital was mostly empty since most of the patients were transferred to the new clinic across the town. The huge corridors were quiet and the only sound was the old cleaner's murmur. There was a little girl sitting just before the section of the mentally ill. She was motionlessly staring through the window with her lifeless, empty eyes. She was only eight but appeared to have experienced things far above her age. Her face was scarred and her hand broken. He long blond hair was uncombed and wrapped around her body like a snake suffocating her victim. She had been sitting there for so long that the cleaner just started to wipe the dust of her face. The doctors gave up on Jane Hope a long time ago.

The only reason patients occasionally chose this hospital was to hide their illness. The beauty of not being seen was something many desired even though the hospital equipment was similar to medieval and the staff under qualified. As the time went by unnoticed and the seasons kept changing the hospital stayed the same.

One day a guy came to the hospital to see a therapist and sat next to Jane. He sat for a while looking ahead and nervously fidgeting on his chair and then abruptly turned towards her and greeted her. Jane remained as motionless as ever but that only encouraged him to talk. There was something about the hospital that made him very nervous and the talking was just a failed attempt to relax.

"So why are you here?"

He paused and stared at her for a moment as if he expected her to answer before her empty eyes forced him to look away. He coughed uncomfortably and started talking again.

"I don't know why I'm here. Well I am here to see a therapist but it is for no reason at all I swear. It's pointless. I don't need a therapist. I am completely fine without one. This is just a waste of my time!"

He stood up and made a couple of fast steps to the door then turned around, leaned against the wall and hid his face in his hands. He screamed in frustration and the sound echoed eerily off the walls.

"Who am I kidding! I need to be here more than anyone no matter how much I deny it. I belong in a prison cell but not for what I did but for the fact that I know that I'll do it again if I get angry."

He sighed and slumped in the nearest chair eyes bulged in a silent cry for help. Staring at an empty wall with a sneer on his face he clenched his fists in despair.

"I raped a girl. I know it's wrong and all but I still don't get why make me see a therapist. I don't even remember anything. Well I remember little pieces and anger but they don't know that, like I would tell them something like that. My parents would just pretend nothing is wrong and lie to my neighbors. They would send me away and pretend I went to college or something. Some people just aren't meant to be parents. I have a little sister. She is just about your age. Her birthday is coming up and I know just a thing to buy her. It just makes me so angry, you know? She is so smart, beautiful and tries so hard to get their attention and they ignore her anyway. I can't stand it! She is the reason I can't tell them I mean who will look for her of they send me away. Definitely not them. No, no! They would just hire a nanny and I can't let this happen. Does it make me a bad person or a good one? I am willing to risk hurting another girl but at the same time protect my sister... I remember that night. I was pissed at my parents. I drank a bit and she was standing there looking judgmental. Who the hell was she to judge?! We fought, verbally at first. It was only later when I dragged her away from people when she- I remember the exact moment she switched from furious to afraid. I remember how her expression changed and the feeling of sick satisfaction because of it. At time her screams and cries of pain meant something that made me feel good. Calmer. I was using her to get rid of all that anger I bottled inside my soul. I fed of her pain. The more pain she was in the less I felt. Stupid her just had to anger me after the fight with my parents." 

He searches for understanding in her eyes. But they were as empty as ever. Her eyes seeing something nobody else could.

He would continue his story but got interrupted by a door opening. There was a nurse that looked right at him with interest. She most likely believed he was talking to himself, not that what he was doing was much better. The girl didn't seem to hear him and still stared ahead like always. "Mr. Walker? It's your turn." He nodded and stood up grimacing as he got another look at the hospital. "She is acting like there was somebody before me. I am willing to bet they were only drinking coffee. This place has almost no patients anyway. One day very soon this hospital will crash everybody that is going to be inside." He thought to himself but all he said out loud was. "Of course, lead the way!"

The girl was alone once more. She was used to being alone. The hospital was quiet once again. It was so quiet you could hear the voices coming from the office. You could even hear the politeness in the therapist's voice and weariness in the patient's if you tried hard enough.

"So, Mr. Walker, why are you here today?" The therapist asked looking at the patient and sipping the tea she was addicted to. "No, I don't know... Are you supposed to work in a hospital? I always thought therapists work in some kind of offices with a couch not hospitals." He then looked her questioningly as she shook her head at him. "I can see what you are doing Patrick, may I call you Patrick? You are diverting the attention from yourself and your problem. If you don't have a reason for being here then, explain to why you are here today?" She smiled satisfied and raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, I had a run in with cops and they accused me of something I didn't do." He stopped talking stubbornly because he knew she would analyze every little thing he said. If that was the case he'd rather stay quiet.

"Okay. We are making progress." Now, he was the one who raised an eyebrow at her. She called that progress?" She must have been one really lousy therapist." He concluded and leaned back in his seat staring at her like she was an animal in a zoo. "What did the police accuse you of doing?" He sank his fingers deep in the chair. "I am more than sure that your file already informed you of that." He grimaced at the thought but otherwise remained stoic. He didn't want to be there or talk to her about the event. It was ironic that he spilled everything to a small girl in front of her door in a matter of minutes and she was a therapist and couldn't achieve that. He never believed in therapy and apparently for a good reason. "It does. But I would like it for you to say it." He sat in his chair quiet for a couple of minutes and checked the clock. There was still half an hour left and all he wanted to do was to leave the damn office and go anywhere but here.

"I was arrested one night for raping a girl. I DID NOT DO IT!" He started talking really loudly and put extra emphasis on the words to make sure she believed them. He prepared himself for a response but all she did was stare at his with knowing eyes. It didn't take long before he averted his gaze with a guilty look in his eyes. He came to a decision then. "No matter what happens or what she says to me I am not going to tell her." He silently promised to himself and looked back into her eyes determined.

"I can see that you are in denial about the whole thing so we will return to it a couple of therapy sessions later. Right now we are going to focus on your life. Tell me something about your family, please." He discreetly checked the time. Fifteen minutes to go. "Our family is not big. I live with my parents and a little sister. My mother and father married 20 years ago and have been happily married ever since... Well, my sister is ten and is turning eleven in a week." He paused here trying to procrastinate. He made sure he talked very slowly and thought twice before he said anything. "We live in a small house outside the city. My sister and I are close and we have no pets."

He subtly looked at the clock and smiled happily. "Well it looks like the session is over, so it's time for me to leave." He stood up abruptly and speed walked through the hospital and only slowed down after he was finally outside. The therapist sat on her chair in shock with her moth hung open a goodbye forming on her lips as the door slammed closed.

Jane remained motionless appearing to be unaware of what was going on.