Unhinge - Calia Read Page 0,9
brought you here.”
The day I arrived at Fairfax, I remember slamming the car door and shielding the sunlight away with my hand as I stared at the building. I remember grabbing Evelyn from her car seat. I remember signing the admission paperwork and thinking to myself that while everyone else around me might be here to heal, I was here to rest.
Not once do I remember being accompanied by someone.
Sinclair looks like he wants to say something. His mouth opens and closes. In his eyes I see memories. Am I those memories?
“Victoria! What are you doing in here?”
Alice. The sound of her voice is like nails on a chalkboard. How long have I been sitting here? I jump out of my chair just as she walks over. She looks between the two of us and finally focuses on me.
“I told you to wait in your room.” She doesn’t wait for a reply and glares at Sinclair. “Mr. Montgomery, you’re not allowed to be here. Who let you in?”
Sinclair stands up. He towers over Alice. The corner of my lips twitch, but I fight my smile. It’s nice to finally see someone stand face-to-face with this woman and not be fazed by her harsh glare and scowl.
He gestures to the nurse behind the front desk, who looks ready to bolt. “She did.”
“Well, you can’t be here. You have to leave.”
Not yet. No, not yet. For the first time in a while, I feel like someone’s on my side. I’m not ready to let go of that feeling.
Evelyn starts to cry. I take a step toward Sinclair, but Alice blocks me. I’m a calm, patient person, but right now I want to shove Alice aside. I want to invoke that same level of fear in her that she vindictively shoots my way every day.
Sinclair reaches out. His large hand lands gently on my shoulder. It’s only a second before it slips away, his fingers grazing my arm.
“I’ll come back soon.” Before he turns and walks away his gaze collides with mine and he says, so quietly, “If you never remember us, that’s okay; I’ll remember for the both of us.”
And then he leaves.
Alice guides me toward the front desk. She speaks to the new nurse, no doubt reprimanding her for letting Sinclair through. I take this moment to peek at the sign-in sheet. His handwriting is unintelligible, but I clearly see the S and M. I go to yesterday’s sign-in sheet and the one before that. I keep moving until I’m a month out. His name is on every single sheet.
Sinclair Montgomery is right.
Today, there’s no outburst from Reagan. Or a visitor waiting for me in the dayroom.
All morning and afternoon I’ve held out hope that something would happen until the very last second. But as I stand in front of Dr. Calloway’s door, I know I can’t put it off another second. I have to get this session over with.
Taking a deep breath, I loudly knock on her door.
“Come in,” she calls out.
I push it open and step inside her office.
I don’t hate Dr. Calloway. In fact, she’s not so bad. But I’ve never gone into depth with her about my foggy past. That’s not a hit to her personally; I don’t trust any of the doctors here. They crack open your feelings and you’re expected to let the truth spill out.
Crazy or not, that’s hard for anyone.
I can’t remember how long I’ve been seeing her. Maybe a few months? In that time span Dr. Calloway has never pushed and prodded me to get information. Not like the other doctors who ask the same questions ad nauseam. Your husband’s dead. Tell us what you know.
Some have different approaches though. Some have this astonishing ability to put me on—nodding their heads at everything I say, acting as though they understand me. Got me. Liked me. But inevitably, they always, always go in for the kill.
She doesn’t give me the kid glove treatment like all the rest. At the beginning she asked the generic doctor questions, but after a while she stopped. Now when I see her, she’ll ask how I’m doing. How Evelyn’s doing. How I’m handling my medication. And then, when I offer up nothing else, she’ll turn to lighter topics. I’ve actually had good conversations with her. Normal ones.
I know she’s been married once. Divorced. She and her first husband drifted apart. She’s been with a man named Tom for three years. Tying the knot is not in her future.