Asylum

Part 10

Crystal's P.O.V.

I had headed back to my rooms, which was a short but miserable walk. I felt as though I was walking the 'walk of shame'. I felt as though everyone could see my wrong doing, as if it were written straight across my forehead. 

I hung my head down low and opened my door. I set my book aside, not in the mood to read anymore. I sat down on my sofa and laid my head back. The scene kept replaying in my head against my will. 

I wanted to disappear. I wanted to go back in time and erase everything that happened. I wanted to start over again. I wanted to erase it and tape over it.

There was one thing I knew and didn't want.

That couldn't happen.

I was in such deep thought that I didn't notice the people who were at the door.

"Excuse me, miss. Are you Crystal Jaggs?" The lady asked.

She wore a kind smile, well, kind compared to the two gentlemen behind her, which wore grimaces that reminded me of Kelly's face. Her hair hung around her face, only falling to just below her chin. Freckles were displayed on her nose and down her throat. 

The men behind her looked almost the same. Both had black hair, both with premature gray hairs sprinkled in there. Both had broad shoulders and stood at least a head taller than the lady. 

"Yes, that's me," I whispered. They barely said anything, and I already wanted them to leave.

"I was instructed to ask you if you knew anything about what happened the last time you were with Kelly."

Even just hearing his name made my heart stop. 

"What happened?" I asked frightened. "What happened to him?"

"That's what we're hoping you'd know. Burke wouldn't tell us anything, he just told us to come to you," her eyes softened. "We need to know and report it back to Burke."

I swallowed and sat up straighter. I stared at the floor in front of her feet. My mouth hung open. I knew what I wanted to say, I just couldn't get them out. 

"She's not even answering," the man hovering over the lady's right shoulder sighed. "This is just wasting our time. Our shift was over fifteen minutes ago."

The lady, including me, looked at him. The other guy had stood, nodding his head in agreement. 

"Well, if you two don't find this important I'm sure Burke and head office would love to hear about it. Since, you know it's in your contract that you take care of ALL patients, not just the ones you're assigned to," with that she turned back around and started walking towards me.

"Geez, I just wanted to go home."

With that she turned around and placed a well deserved slap across his face. He and the other male looked shocked at her sudden actions, she stood in front of him.

"How, dare you-" he started.

"NO, how dare YOU! You know how much Kelly means to Burke, Leeann and almost everyone else. He's basically everyone's escape, everyone's little ray of sunshine in this storm of an Asylum!" she raised her voice. The men both looked like frightened puppies, looking at the woman, who they could clearly throw across the room, like if they'd made one wrong move she'd rip their heads off. "Now, either get your heads out of your asses and help me or leave."

I sat there, trying to comprehend what was happening. To my relief, they both left. The lady stayed and walked back over in front of me. She went down onto her knees in front of me and took my hands in hers. 

"Do you know what happened? Like at all?" I whispered.

"I'm afraid I don't. From what I know, Burke wants to know if he was like this previously. I'm guessing since he sent us to you, you were the last person he was with. Is that correct?"

I nodded my head. She sighed and tightened her grip on  my hands. "I don't care how long this'll take. A few minutes or hours, we just need to know what happened. You just need to know that whatever happened, it isn't your fault."

What she didn't know is that all of this was my fault. "I... I..." I took a deep breath. "We were in the going to the library, Kelly and I. Something happened, like he was remembering something he didn't want to remember. He calmed down and we entered the library, I looked for a book, as did Kelly. Once we both found our books we sat down.

"H-h-he told me he didn't want to talk about it, b-but I forced it out of him, not knowing he was going to say something like he did. Once he left I started talking to myself, he thought I was talking about him and came back and got more angry than he did sad. Next thing he ran off to I don't know where and that's all I remember."

She ran her thumb across my knuckles to calm me down. Tears slipped down my cheeks. I brought the heel of my hand to my eye and rubbed it. I let out sobs and she stayed there through all of it. 

The whole one-on-one made everything a whole lot better. 

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Delilah," she smiled.

"That's a beautiful name. What does it mean?" I asked.

"It actually means I am comforting and provide well for friends and family," her face went red. "It was my grandmother's name, I was born after she died, so my parents named me after her."

"Can you tell me what my name means?" I asked.

"You are cheerful and friendly, but have a really emotional life." she said. "And your friend Kelly, his name means that he uses his leadership for others, not for self-gain and can be very sensitive."

I smiled at her. "I never knew names could mean so much."

"Names are a big part of people's lives, even though people can and do change them, which is a shame. I think all names are beautiful in their own way." 

"Thank you."

"Well, I have to go and help out Burke. I hope we can talk again Crystal," she stood and smiled.

"I do too."