Knots

Its A Long Way Down.

11. "It's a Long Way Down."

"All I can say is that you only realize how big your mountain is once you're laying motionless, helpless, and hopeless in the valley below. No one goes there on purpose...because the only way to find your personal low is to slip and roll down that mountain of yours, straight through to the bottom, no holds barred."
-Artie Lange

8:00 A.M

KU PILLAI

Ku clang to the white bed of her room as her door was yanked open by an orderly and the bright lights from days before filtered back in to her life.

"Miss Pillai, you've been released, also, the Chief of Surgery would like to see you in his office as soon as you've gathered your belongings. We hope we've been able to help you."

Ku made note of the woman's comments, responding with a curt nod and a smile she deemed appropriate. Over the last few days she had lost herself among her thoughts, been put through several hours of examination, and witness to even more therapy than she thought a person could go through in such a short amount of time. Although her black hair was plastered to all sides of her face in a messy tangle, she couldn't have been more grateful to the Chief for considering this opportunity.

When the orderly woman finally moved on to attending other patients, Ku stepped out of the door way, bare feet trembling against the cold tile, before making her way towards one of the main desks in the ward. She slowly tried to piece it back together, the life she had left behind to get the help she knew she needed. Ku knew that what was most important after gathering her things would probably be calling her father's doctor, but the bitterness she still retained urged her against it as soon as another smiling orderly bumped into her.

"Can I help you mam?" The brown haired man asked, something familiar in his formality; perhaps he had assisted her when she first arrived?

"Yes," she noted, the first conversation she had held outside of therapy, "I was looking to collect my things, the lady who released me said I could find them here?"

"Really?" He asked.

"What about me wanting to collect my things is questionable?" She shot back, glad to see she hadn't lost all of her personality in the past days.

"It's just-" He started, before pausing to bit his lip, "you're a bit too gorgeous to be crazy."

Ku was taken aback by how forward the man was, taking a moment to look him over. His eyes were a sky blue, of which seemed to beckon her for a response, but every other aspect of his body-down to his spiky brown hair and too pale skin- she just couldn't seem to take all that seriously.

"Oh I bet you say that to all of your traumatized patients," She replied, trying to maintain her dominance despite the conversation being of no legitimate competition.

"Nope, just the pretty ones."

Ku rolled her eyes, as cute as this was, her mind quickly reminded of her of the time crunch. "Can I just have my stuff please vampire boy."

"Way to be insensitive to the anemic orderly, no one likes the anemic orderly."

Ku paused entirely in her tracks, mouth unable to form a coherent sentence as she stared at the man in front of her. For once in her life, for a single undeniable moment, she finally understood her father. Everything she had done to him, every look of disgust and lack of empathy had been completely screwed up on her part. She couldn't deny it, what he had...done to her was unforgivable; but to think she was the same kind of person seemed to make the woman reconsider everything.