Finding Katherine

Chapter Seven

“Here,” Nick says, handing Ethan a glass of water, which he hesitantly takes a sip of. “Are you alright?” he asks him as he finishes the water and places the cup in the sink.

“Yeah, you don’t need to worry about me, I can take care of myself.” Ethan says, running his fingers through his messy hair. Nick nods and throws the now broken frame into the garbage bin. 

“Sorry about that,” he says, considering the fact that he broke it.

“Don’t worry about it.” Nick replies and heads over to the living room, being followed my Ethan. They both talk for a while until Ethan excuses himself to check on Ella.

He walks up the stairs again, making sure not to end up in Katherine’s room. He follows Nick’s previous directions and ends up in front of the master bedroom. He knocks once and waits for a while but there’s no response, so, he knocks twice. There’s some shuffling noises on the other end of the door, she’s probably asleep he thinks. 

“Katherine?” a raspy voice asks. 

“Uh, it’s me, Ethan.” He says, his voice cracking at the end.

After a minute or so, the door opens revealing a really pale and tired Mrs. Stewart. She welcomes him in the room and he takes a look at his surroundings. The walls are a dark red, masked with framed photos. The king sized bed is placed in the middle of the room with white blankets covering it, and there were two chairs by the window.

“How are you feeling?” he asks sympathetically, well aware of her disorder.

“I don’t know,” she sighs. “I’m always thinking of her, when I wake up, when I sleep. It’s like she’s here, but she’s gone you know.” She says, grabbing a tissue and wiping away the tears spilling down her cheeks.

“Yeah, I know how that feels. And, I know that this won’t stop until I’m sure that she’s here, and safe.”

_

That night Mia slept in an uncomfortable bed with dreams of Ethan and Katherine that made her feel even worse than she already does. The only things that kept her sane were the pictures she brought with her. Mostly of Katherine.

She opens her eyes to the darkness under the white covers that reminded her of home. Home. The word seems strange to her and it’s only been a week in this hellhole. She misses her parents, Katherine, and the person she hasn’t talked to in what feels like forever, Ethan.

She lets herself drown in her thoughts until she hears a knock on the door. The door opens wide, revealing a woman. “Wake up, darling.” She says, somehow reminding her of her mother when she used to wake her up for school.

Mia groans and goes back to bed once the door shuts. A minute later, a knock sounds on the door and without waiting for a response, the figure enters the tiny room and turns on the lights. “Wake up, child! It’s time for breakfast.” The woman says in a tone much harsher than the previous one’s.

“Are you kidding me? I’d rather have a hundred shots and wake up with a major headache than wake up and have breakfast at five in the morning!” Mia replies angrily, after taking a look at the time.

“Are you going to get up or sit there and bicker like an old lady?” the woman says again and walks over to me. She stands by the bed and crosses her arms over her chest. Mia takes a look at the badge on her uniform. Cordelia.

“Can you please leave? I need my ten hour rest,” Mia says.

“You know, here in rehab, you don’t have a choice, so get up and go have breakfast.” Cordelia snaps.

“Fine,” Mia huffs. 

Mia gets out of bed and throws on something more comfortable. Once she’s dressed in a sweater and leggings, she takes a look at herself in the mirror. To say that she lacked some sleep and her dark under eyes are prominent would be understatement.

Her brown hair was all over the place, so, she lightly smooths it down with her fingers. She brushes her teeth and heads to the cafeteria with a lady guiding her through the place.

This place reminded her of school. She passes by a gym, white boards, and a couple of classes. When they reach the cafeteria, it was so quiet. The only voices she could hear were the people’s whispers and her slippers against the floor.

A lady stood by each table, probably guarding the patients here. Mia walks in the line to get breakfast and waits until it’s her turn. 

“Hi, can I have a can of beer?” Mia asks sarcastically, earning a death glare from the lady standing behind the counter which makes her raise her hand up in surrender. “Fine, I’d like to have pancakes, please.”

The lady hands her the plate of pancakes and Mia heads to an empty seat in the room. She stabs her pancake with a fork and groans loadly, grabbing some patients’ attention. It hasn’t been a full day here and she’s already bored.