Unfathomable

Dr. Hardy

The nurse opened the big iron door that led to the rest of the hospital. Riley watched as she passed other hospital rooms with other patients who are trapped here just like she is. She wondered what was going to happen to her. Her footsteps echoed loudly through the long hallway that never seemed to end. She could hear screams coming faintly through the walls. It felt like the sound was swallowing her. Her heartbeat quickened in her chest as her rising anxiety flooded her psyche. Her vision started to cloud and her head felt like it was floating away from her body. It felt like she was caught in a dark tidal wave, and it was thrashing her against the rocks of her subconscious mind.

"Alright here we are Riley, I'll be waiting outside to show you around after you're done talking to Dr. Hardy." Nurse Kenny brought her back to the world's reality. 

She stared blankly into Kenny's eyes that almost seemed as empty as her own. She looked to where Kenny's arm was gesturing, there was another long hallway but this hallway gave her an uneasy feeling of nostalgia. Almost like deja vu.

She told the muscles in her legs to move forward, they were basically magnetized to the floor at this point. She was fully aware that Kenny had been staring at her the entire time, waiting for her to take the plunge into the unknown. 

She looked down the hallway and saw two double doors that looked like they were made from mahogany. She forced herself to start taking steps through the hallway. She wanted to look behind her back at Kenny but she knew that there would be no comfort provided in her hollow gaze.

She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat as her shoes hit the tile floors. Her eyes never left the double doors ahead of her. She couldn't sense why but she felt like she was getting watched, not from behind but from everywhere around her. Every part of her body itched as the walls and ceiling stared at her, judging her for why she's here and what she's done to herself.

She made her way slowly to the doors, looking up above the door there was a plaque with a name inscribed in the gold.

Dr. James Hardy.

The name rang a bell in her head but she didn't know which one exactly. The door didn't move as she put her trembling hands on the handle. She looked into the dark mahogany of the wood, getting lost in the mesmerizing swirls and the natural pattern of the tree that it used to be.

Her voice slightly came through her gently parted lips. Nothing more than a soft whimper came out. The doors hinges squealed against the weight as she pulled it open.

A different smell hit her this time, it no longer smelled like alcohol and fear but a strong leather smell hit her nose. She looked around the room and saw a few leather bound books in a bookshelf that reached the high ceilings.

That's strange. There's only like five books on the entire bookshelf. The shelves reach the ceiling which is at least 10 feet above me.

She tried to brush the uneasy feeling of the empty bookshelf away as she stepped more into the large room. She looked around the room noticing more things that seemed out of place. All the furniture in the room was covered in plastic. Three leather chairs covered in plastic were settled near the entrance of the room. There was a white sheet on top of the hardwood tile in the room. She started at this for no longer than a second before a masculine voice came through the seemingly empty room.

"Ah you must be Riley Haven, I'm Dr. Hardy, I will be your personal therapist and consultant during your stay here. Please take a seat."

Riley looked around and chose the plastic covered chair nearest to her. She stared at him quizzically as he chose the seat in front of her, the plastic squeaked and crunched underneath his weight. He grinned at her with a smile that he must give to everyone. It was the same ghostly smile that Kenny had. The same one that she knew they faked every single day just to appear as friendly to their prisoners.

"I apologize about the plastic over the furniture Riley, some patients here don't know how to control themselves or their bodily fluids." he gave a soft phlegmy chuckle and cleared his throat.

What am I supposed to say to that? Is this guy crazy?

I mean they do say that the doctor is as crazy as their patients and in here, he's got plenty of people to replicate.

Riley thought to herself as Dr Hardy continued to stare at her intensely.

"So Riley, tell me why you're here." he asked her in a way she couldn't avoid him.

She cleared her throat and then she told him what had happened the night she tried to see her dad again. The night that caused her to fall into this depth of hell.