Behind Sanity

Chapter Eight

                                                                     Behind Sanity 

                                                                     Chapter Eight 

                                                                                1 

                “Welcome home, Alice.”

                Heavy eyelids opening unwillingly, Alice awoke to a soft stroking of her hair.  The warmth of a hand was felt brushing across her forehead, sliding fingers through the strands.  It was a perfectly desirable sensation, but she curled her nose and became disgusted with it quickly.  In her grogginess, she slapped the hand away lightly to free her from contact.  She didn’t want to be touched now.

                “Awake finally?  I was beginning to get worried,” came a soothing male voice.

                Alice rolled her eyes slowly around the room.  Different ceiling.  Different walls.  Everything was different.  She was not in the place she had fallen; at her home no longer. 

                “Where am I?” she uttered through distant lips.

                “Rutledge’s,” came the reply.

                Alice’s body shot up from the bed sheets immediately.  Just as swiftly, hands were restraining her.

                “Rutledge’s?  Why?  What am I doing back here?!” she demanded frantically with wide eyes.

                Alice became still enough to focus on the man beside her, who sat in a chair at the bedside as he attempted to hold her down.  Dark hair, small glasses; she knew this man.

                “Calm down, Alice…er, Miss Liddell.  Let me explain,” Dr. Robertson said.

                The young woman managed to take a deep breath and still herself, focusing on the doctor.  His face was calm, and her panic began to subside.  When she had regained herself, he released her thin shoulders and sat back a bit.

                “You were found unconscious on the floor of your room.  You’ve been that way for a few hours, but I thought you’d pull out of it.  At least, I had hoped.”

                “If I simply fainted, why…  Did I hurt myself?”

                She examined herself quickly, noticing that she wore no bandages, only a drab hospital gown.

                “You do have a nasty knot on the side of your head, but other than that you seem perfectly fine.”

                Alice sighed in relief – mainly that she was only in a hospital bed.  She could deal with a knot on the head, even a broken bone, but not another night of asylum life.  Sadly, her relief only lasted until Robertson spoke up again.

                 “But, your niece…” 

                Alice’s eyes widened with fear and her heart began to speed. 

                “What?  Morgan?  What’s wrong with Morgan?” she asked, her panic rising once again.

                The doctor took a deep breath, his expression grave.