Room 303

Chapter 10

                                   Rachel

    Rachel opened her eyes to the golden rays of the sun shooting into her room surrounded by a trail of dust. She smiled at the sight of the rays. She slept the night peacefully. It must have been the effect of the drugs Stella had given her. She wanted to stretch her arms and legs after a good sleep, but she was unable because she was strapped. She was still in the white padded room. She felt home sick. She thought of her family. Of the smile on her daughter's face every morning. Her daughter was a morning person. She always woke up with a smile on her face unlike Kevin who wakes up grumpy every morning. Rachel used to laugh at the way he looked when he woke up. His hair all messed up like he'd been electrocuted and his face covered with traces of lines from the pillow. She loved the sight of him.

     The door creaked and Rachel pretended to be asleep after hearing Maria's voice. Maria's heavy footsteps were getting closer to her. She could feel her heart beat faster and her breaths getting deeper.
  "Rise and shine," said Maria with crossed arms. Rachel doesn't budge. She hoped Maria would understand that she was asleep and leave her alone, but she was wrong. Maria would never give up. She would never leave her alone. She was a mean person and a bully. She got joy out of people's misery. That was the kind of image Rachel had about Maria. She couldn't be blamed. Maria had shown her no mercy ever since their first encounter. Rachel wanted her to go away. She wanted everything to go away. She wanted to be back home with her husband and daughter. She wanted to hold her daughter tight and tell her that she would never leave her again. She wanted to tuck her into bed and read her bedtime stories. There were a lot of things she wanted to do, but she couldn't. She had to focus on getting out of the asylum no matter what it takes. She had to think carefully, plan, and act. She couldn't give up. She built a rough image in her mind about each of the personnel who attended to her. She knew one of them could be her card out, but who? Who can she trust? What if she trusted the wrong person and ended up dead instead? What if she never got back to her family? Blood was rushing through her veins at an abnormal rate.

  "I said rise and shine," said Maria kicking Rachel on her back just below the ribcage. Rachel felt a deep pain curling up around her ribs. The pain was intense. Everything she experienced lately had been intense. She had no idea what was happening to her. Her body was messed up.
  She sat up quickly gulping the pain of both the kick and the effort to sit up without using her palms.
  "What do you want?"
  "It is time for your morning meds."
  "I don't want to take them." Rachel fixed her eyes on Maria ignoring Stella who was standing next to her. 
  "Are we going to go through this every time? You should get used to this by now," said Maria throwing her hands in the air pointing to her surrounding.

  "Let me be clear here. You are going to take the meds whether you like it or not, so be a good girl and obey. Don't make me do things my way. You wouldn't like it especially when I get angry. Soon enough this pretty smart brain of yours will be fried up. You will end up being another forgotten lunatic in this pit, and that would be a day to remember." She puffed out air and cupped Rachel's face. Rachel pushed her face away disgusted by the waft of Maria's breathe.

  "Stella, give me the pills," ordered Maria.
  Stella approached Rachel with a white plastic cup full of water in one hand, and the pills in the other. She avoided Rachel's eyes. Rachel opened her mouth and gulped down the pills.
  "Get up. Doctor Steven wants to see you."
  "Now?"
  "Yes now. I don't have time to waste. Stella help her up."
  Stella got closer to Rachel and helped her up.
  "It is okay," she whispered into Rachel's ear.
  Rachel was relieved. She was finally trying to establish someone on her side. She wanted to gamble her chances.

    Doctor Steven's office was exactly the same as she left it the previous time. Doesn't this doctor use his office more often? Or doesn't it get cleaned and dusted regularly? Rachel sat on the chair waiting for Doctor Steven to arrive. She examined the room more carefully this time. Lots of scientific books were aligned in the bookshelf from side to side.

  "Sorry to keep you waiting Rachel."
  Rachel nodded with a faint smile. She wanted to keep the conversation minimal. She didn't trust anyone, especially not doctor Steven. A memory of the other day came crashing down on her. The last thing she could remember was trembling on the patient's bed and Doctor Steven trying to calm her down after injecting her with some drug.
  "Maria please unstrap Rachel. There is no need for this anymore," he said pointing at the straitjacket.
  "Does that mean that I won't be strapped anymore?" Asked Rachel hoping for the answer she wanted to hear.
  Doctor Steven laughed. "Yes Rachel, that means you won't be strapped anymore. You can take good care of yourself, and there is nothing to fear at the moment."
  This was the only positive thing since she arrived.
  "At the moment?"
  "I..meant as long as you keep yourself in check." He rubbed his chin and knotted his eye brows for a split second.
  Rachel noticed that, but decided to let it pass unnoticed. She knew there was much more than the eye can see. She had to be careful.
  "Why am I here?" She asked.
  "I need to inform you about the plan we are going to carry out to keep you on track to recovery."
  Rachel ignored his sentence and pressed. "Can I ask for a favour?"
  "Sure."
  "I would like to be more familiar with the reason I was brought here."
  "I am afraid I don't understand."
  "I need to see documents or CCTV camera or anything that proves I did what you said I did at the hospital."

    He shifted in his seat. Good, I am making him uncomfortable.
  "Rachel I told you what happened. I am a doctor and I told you what happened, you should believe me."
  There was a moment of silence before she decided to speak.
  "I would just like to see it for myself if you don't mind. I have a tendency not to believe anything unless I see with my own eyes," said Rachel forcing a smile that went unnoticed.

     He smiled nervously. "I will show you a proof I promise, but right now we need to finish this conversation because I have things to do. Maybe next time okay?"

    Rachel nodded with doubt. She knew there was something fishy about the whole story, but now she was certain.
   "Let us go through details of the plan shall we?"
  "Yes."

    Doctor Steven went over a list of tests, precautions, and procedures to carry out in case of any change in the outcome. He explained to Rachel that with the help of the pills and some random harmless procedures, she would recover in a short period of time. Rachel nodded every now and then to indicate that she was following up with what he was saying. She didn't understand half of the things he said.

  "Rachel, we are going to start the first official session tomorrow. Today I want you to rest and regain your energy. You would need that."
  "What session?"
  "It is complicated. You wouldn't understand, but don't worry, tomorrow I'll explain to you everything as we go through it. It was nice talking to you Rachel."   

    He extended his arm to shake Rachel's. She hesitated before stretching forward a tired arm to shake his. His long fingers felt soft and strong at the same time as they wrapped themselves around her bony hand. Despite his figure and his age, he still had strength in him.

  "Doctor? Can I make a phone call please?"
  "Of course you can." He ushered her towards the landline.
  "Take your time," he said.

    Rachel was puzzled. She didn't expect him to allow her to make a call. Maria, who was standing there the whole time, also looked at the doctor with a puzzled face. He ignored her completely fixing his eyes on Rachel who held the phone and dialled Kevin's number.

Chapters 11-15 coming this weekend. Thank you for reading