Painted Smile: The Return of Jeffery Woods

Escaping insanity...

Rushing into the emergency room on a stormy night, eighteen year old Becky lay there on a bed, her body shaking uncontrollably and violently. Doctors pulled her into the room and struggled to sedate her as she kicked and wouldn't stay still. She was having a convulsion. Her breathing was uncontrollable and the doctors had to strap her down. "Becky! Becky, breath!" The nurse breathed into her, trying to help. Just before the doctors sedated her, Becky stopped moving. Her muscles relaxed and she had her eyes on the light that was above her. The nurse put her head on her chest and felt her heart beating at a steady pace. "Becky? Becky are you alright," the nurse asked. The girl then looked at the nurse. She was expecting Becky to look at her with the eyes she normally had. The eyes of a psychopath. But this was different. Her eyes were warm. Softly Becky spoke, "What happened? Where am I?" The nurse smiled and the doctor said, "She's back. The insanity in her has fled. We've got the original girl back." The nurse unstrapped Becky and helped her up. "We'll see how she is for the next couple of days. Then we'll make the decision for if it's the time to let her go." The doctors agreed and put the bed in the corner of the room and headed back upstairs from the emergency room. The nurse helped Becky into bed and whispered, "You've been getting better by the minute. For five years we've been helping you escape the insanity that was inside you." Becky replied, "Has your help worked? What if I go crazy again? What will happen to me?" The nurse smiled and responded, "You won't go crazy again, take it from me. Now, you get some sleep. You've had a rough night." The nurse exited Becky's room and Becky layed facing her window, watching the rain. She loved watching he lightening strike and listening to the thunder growl. It helped her get to sleep as she found it relaxing. In just a few minutes, she was sound asleep. For years she's had sweet dreams and no nightmares. However she did always think about her childhood. She didn't have the best life when she was growing up. But this time she had a feeling that things were gonna get better. There was no reason why she was thinking this but, it was just something she thought about. Suddenly, she was startled by someone banging on her door. "Hey creep! You're actually going to sleep? Ha! How can you sleep knowing you're related to a PSYCHOPATH? Hahahahahaha!" Becky didn't answer, she knew it was one of the other patients just trying to wind her up. "Becky's brother's a psychopath. Becky's brother's a psychopath." The patient started singing to try and set off Becky. But she stayed calm and heard a doctor talk to the patient. "Ellie, that's enough. Come on, back to bed." Ellie could still be heard down the hallway. Then, Becky started crying. All this time Becky tried to forget about her brother since he was dead. Yet, a lot of patients that knew who she was related to, don't let her forget it. Her childhood was ruined because of Jeff, now people just keep making her whole life worse. The girl wiped the tears from her eyes and went back to sleep.

The next morning, the nurse came into Becky's room to wake her up. The girl sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Here, have these. They'll help you feel a lot better." Becky looked at the pills and the water that was in the nurse's hand. "I don't need them. I'm fine." Becky didn't feel like she needed medication anymore. "I think you're fine too but unfortunately I have to give you them," replied the nurse. The teen sighed and took the pills and water. She then handed back the empty cup. "Good girl. Like I said, you're getting better every minute. Come on then, time to get dressed." A few minutes later, Becky was dressed and a doctor pulled her into a room where they kept all the documents of the patients. She sat down at a desk where the doctor sat opposite her. "Ok Becky, I need you tell me your story again." Becky's eyes stared at the doctor. She hated talking about her childhood. All she wanted was a fresh start but then there's always someone that has to bring it up. "I already told you. I'm not telling you again," replied Becky. The doctor responded, "Becky I know you don't like talking about this. You told me yourself. But I need this for your file." The girl sighed and replied quietly, "Fine, I'll tell you. But after this, I'm not talking about it again." The doctor agreed to it and nodded his head. Becky then again, explained her life as a child, including every detail. Half an hour later, Becky was in the dining hall. She wasn't eating, instead she was drawing on a piece of paper. Someone she always loved and made sure she never forgot. Her beloved companion, Baxter. Nobody understood how much she missed him. Knowing that he could be in an adoption centre or living with another family didn't sit right her. Once she finished drawing, she stared at her portrait. If only the dog in the drawing could jump out to her and lick her face and never leave her side. A memory flashed in her head. Baxter's happy face looking up at her. How happy he was when she was around. Becky felt tears behind her eyes as memories came into her mind. The ones where Baxter used to always tackle her to the floor and lick her face. She took a deep breath and slowly breathed out. This normally helped her to stop crying. The girl folded the piece of paper, put it in her pocket and went to get some food. A few hours later, the nurse came in Becky's room and told her with a smile on her face, "Becky, I've got some news for you." Becky looked at her with a straight face and the nurse continued, "Due to the fact that you've gotten so much better lately and haven't done anything violent, we've decided to, let you go." Becky's eyes widened and she stood up from her bed. "Wait so, what are you saying exactly," she asked. The nurse replied, "What I'm saying is that, we're letting you out of here. You can get out of this place and start a new life." A smile appeared on Becky's face. "Are you being serious?" The nurse nodded her head. Becky stood there not knowing what to say. "You can get your things and go to reception, I'll be waiting for you to see you out," said the nurse. Then she left the room. Becky quickly got her things and walked out of her room, heading towards reception. She suddenly stopped as a patient stood in her way. "So you're leaving? I don't see why I'm not allowed to leave, I'm more sane than you, psycho girl. Aren't you worried that, you'll snap again and totally lose control of yourself?" The patient started circling her. Becky replied, "I'm not worried, not like you are. That's why you're still here. But don't go crying when you find out that I'm living my life outside of this loony bin and not locked away from the world." She then started walking away but stopped when the patient shouted, "No one cares about you! I hope you know that!" The teen looked at the patient again and replied calmly, "Oh yeah? Well, if YOU didn't care about me, then you wouldn't waste one minute of your life talking to me, would you?" The patient glared at Becky whilst Becky smiled back. Then she continued to head towards reception where the nurse was waiting for her.

"Are you ready to leave," asked the nurse. Becky nodded her head with a smile. "I'm ready." However, she was a little nervous. For five years she had been locked away from the outside world, and now she's facing it again. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. I know you'll be. No one has to be scared of you now. They should know that if you were still a bit crazy, we wouldn't have let you go." As the nurse opened the door, the breeze slipped through Becky's hair. "Go ahead. Show the world that you're a sane and changed girl." Becky stepped out and the nurse waved goodbye to her. Becky smiled and waved back and started heading back out into the world. As she walked down a street, she saw a house that looked huge. She quickly walked up to a man that put the house up for sale. "Excuse me, how much is this house?" The man looked at her and replied, "It's about, £650." Becky's eyes widened and examined the house. "I can see why it's that much. It looks like a nice house." The man chuckled and said, "I'm Marcus by the way." Becky shook his hand and replied, "Becky Woods." Marcus then looked at her suspiciously and replied, "Wait, Becky Woods? I'm sure I've heard of you before." The girl looked towards the floor and back up at Marcus. "Yeah, everyone's heard of me." Marcus replied, "No, I'm sure I've seen you somewhere. That's right, when you were thirteen, you were on the tv. You were with a dog and had a stab wound. I think your parents had been killed." Unfortunately, Becky never forgot this memory. It always haunted her since she was thirteen. However what confused Becky, was the fact that she remembered that, that was a dream. It wasn't real. So why did Marcus say this to her? Becky told Marcus that he was correct and what he did next astonished her. "You know what, after all you've been through, I'll let you have this for free." Becky stared at him and said, "Really? You don't want the money?" Marcus replied with a smile, "No not at all. You've suffered and been through a lot of things as a child. You've had a rough childhood. I won't put pressure on you, I'll let you have it for free." Becky thanked Marcus and went inside the house. The furniture was still inside and everything looked just right to her. She dropped her bags and flung herself onto the brown, soft sofa. Now, she was finally happy. A lovely and cosy home for free, friendly people surrounding her. Becky knew that now, her new life was going to be best one she'd ever had.