Hope's Hospital

Affair

It was just another dreaded day in Hope's hospital and the hospital's stuff was still outside chattering sadly. Another doctor had been fired in the morning and they all wandered to themselves if they would be the one that would be fired tomorrow.

Jane sat on her chair as always. The nurse and the therapist walked through the corridor passing the girl staring at her curiously.

"I sometimes wonder about her. I am tempted to put a camera to watch what people do when they wait for a session with me. They are always talking to her and I wonder what they are telling her. I mean, do they tell her their secrets and come clean about everything or do they just talk about the weather to pass the time?"

They closed the door behind them and sat down drinking their morning coffee. They discussed today's schedule. There were two patients coming to a session today. The first one had an appointment in an hour and the other one was coming in the afternoon.

The client was a twenty-three years old lady that came almost twenty minutes too early. She was dressed elegantly and looked calm and collected. All in all she looked like a responsible adult -dull and boring. Like she spent her whole day taking care of others, worked, carefully handled her many problems and forgot how to live. It was just a carefully built façade that crumbled after the first five minutes when she spoke to Jane and unknowingly showed the child inside her that she so carefully hid.

"You remind me of a girl that I saw in a horror movie once; I think it's the eyes that hold the resemblance."

She blurted out and giggled as she switched seats so she was closer to Jane and sent her a conspiratorial wink.

"Can I tell you a secret and trust that you aren't going to tell anyone?"

She whispered in Jane's ear loudly and looked around if anyone was watching. She studied Jane's face before seemingly satisfied with the result nodded.

"I don't believe you would love to gossip even if you were able to. You don't look like that kind of girl. You look trustworthy. Anyway, let's get back to what I was going to say. I have a secret that I did not going to tell anyone. A secret so important not even my best friend knows and that I am not telling the therapist! Hey! I'm not explaining this properly! What you need to know is that I am having an affair with a married man but that is not the part I am hiding. I am proud of it! It's kind of exciting in a forbidden kind of way."

Her whispers became quieter and quieter and she leaned even close to ensure she was heard. She made sure her secret wouldn't end up being revealed to the whole world and she was right to be cautious. The hospital was a quiet place and even the slightest whisper could be heard far away. Her eyes shone with life she hid before when she pretended to had lost the child in her a long time ago.

"He is wonderful. We always got along and we always had chemistry. One day we just decided to have a little bit of fun but nothing serious. The secret is that I always tell people that we couldn't resist and that we weren't thinking in the moment and then it was too late. I claim we couldn't help ourselves and then it was too late. That's bullshit. We knew exactly what we were doing and did it anyway. It was different and exciting. It still is with all the secretive behavior and hiding and everything. I am thinking about stopping, though. We are still lying and he is cheating on her and he is doing it with me. It's fun to have an affair before you really fall in love and I must not fall in love with him. I don't want him to leave his wife for me and it was always meant to be a short term thing. I really don't see our relationship going anywhere so I have to break it off because I am getting attached to him now. We have been together for two months so it's understandable. Plus it's boring to act so damn mature all the time."

She moved away and stopped with the whispering and stood up walking to the widow and opened it. I breathed in the fresh air and resumed talking.

"He makes me act older it's partly how he unconsciously affects me and partly because he tells me to and that is the part that annoys me. He told me that I make him feel old, so and he liked me more when I dressed elegantly and he bought me stuff like that. I don't like it. I like things that are fun and I don't like to be controlled. I am old enough to make my decisions but not old enough to dress like I am a stuck up b*tch...The therapist probably won't even mention it. All she is interested in is my childhood that was apparently bad enough to need a therapist. She pokes around every memory I have and acts surprised when some of them are painful. No sh*t, Sherlock!"

She rolled her eyes and sat back on the chair again. She stared at Jane intently and curiously.

"You really are creepy. You have that creepy all-knowing look about you. It's like you are watching something that I can't see, like you can see beyond the obvious without even moving. And you have to admit that your hair is creepy."

She stared at Jane without blinking.

"I am going to miss being a mistress. I like feeling special and getting gifts all the time. It's like having a really attentive boyfriend. He is always acting like he has to make up for something and acts all nice and brings you gifts. Do you think it is worth the risk of getting attached? You don't have to answer that. I know it's not I am just being a coward. I have to break up with him and it won't be pretty. I can tell he won't take it well. He grew attached."

"Ms. Beake?"

She acknowledged the nurse but turned to Jane and smiled looking elegant again.

"I have to go now. It was nice meeting you, I hope whatever is wrong with you gets better. Bye!"

She left her alone and went to the therapist that was already waiting for her. Ms. Beake sent a fake smile at the therapist that looked at her notes thoughtful and then said.

"Today, we are going to talk about your father. You and he had a very unusual relationship from what I gathered. Tell me..."