The Sisters of Castle Stone

#12 Hysteria In the Highlands

The time on the clock that hung on the wall of Charlotte's hospital room inched closer to nine o'clock in the morning. She sat in a chair, dressed and ready for the day. A plate waited on a table in front of her, with the remains of her toast and jam still there.

The muffled sound of the television was the only noise in the room. Charlotte's attention switched from the screen to the door, and then back again as she waited for her parents to arrive, and at five minutes past the hour, Mr and Mrs Greyson walked in. Her father held a brightly coloured bouquet of pretty flowers in his hand, and her mother carried an overnight bag. Charlotte smiled at her parents, but the second she noticed the bag it quickly faded.

"Mum?" She said, looking at the bag, "what's that?"

Mum placed the bag down on the end of her daughter's bed, "a change of clothes for you. You don't want to come home in your nightclothes."

"You mean I can go?"

Mum nodded, "why don't you get changed while we speak to the doctor?"

A sudden wave of delight came over her, finally, she was allowed to leave. Although the pain still lingered in her arm, and her head still ached a little, it didn't take Charlotte long to change. After brushing all the knots and tangles out of her long dark hair, she finally felt ready to go. She carefully packed away the pyjamas she'd worn during her stay back inside the hold-all, as a few minutes later her parents walked back into the room.

"I've got your prescription." Said Mum, as she carried a little paper bag which she placed inside Charlotte's bag.

"Have you got everything?" Dad asked, "phone? Phone charger? Toothbrush?"

"Yes Dad, I've got everything."

"Yes, right, let's go."

***
Dad placed Charlotte's heavy overnight bag in the boot of his car, as Mum opened the back door. Charlotte climbed into the back seat and sat down. Mum reached forward into the car, and pulled her daughter's seatbelt forward, making sure she had enough.

"Mum, I can manage." She said as she pulled more of the seatbelt. With an audible click, she managed to do it up securely without causing too much pain to her broken arm.

A cold wet Scottish drizzle leaked from the miserably grey skies. Damp condensation tricked down the windscreen and clouded the window. Charlotte sat in the back and sighed. Strange thoughts entered her mind, and the vision from that night still clung to her memory. But no. Charlotte needed to focus on one thing at a time and at that moment her attention needed to be on recovering. All the drive and ambition inside her screamed not to let go of her dream to become an Olympic rider. It was something she'd wanted to do ever since she could remember. But no rider jumped fences with a slight concussion, migraines and a broken arm.

She reached inside the pocket of her jeans and pulled out her phone. Instead of checking her social media accounts, or messages from her friends, she put on her wireless headphones and turned the music on ready for the long journey home. Her eyelids felt like each lash contained a lead weight, pulling them down and making them close. As the music played softly, it didn't take her long to drift off to sleep.

But as she slept the memories from the previous night flooded back into her mind and it felt as if she was there again back in her hospital bed, talking to... what was her name again...

"Charlotte."

The girl blinked, and carefully sat up into a more sitting position. She pulled her sleeve down over her hand which she used to get rid of the condensation clinging to the back window of Dad's car. Charlotte rubbed her eyes and shifted her lengthy fringe away so she could see clearer. Mum stood in the doorway, the girl's overnight bag in her hand. As she peered out of the window, a brilliant sight came into view and for the first time in a while, Charlotte felt she could finally relax. Castle Stone may have been a lot of things, but one thing was certain, it began to feel like home.