Seeking Asylum

The Article

Charlotte rushed in before I woke up. "It's published. You need to get up. Ridgeway read the article. He's enraged."

"What am I supposed to do? I can't go near him!"

"I know. You need to hide," she panics.

"He's the head and only Doctor here! I can't hide from him forever!"

"I called the police and told them he was still here. They should be here any minute," as soon as she said that we saw, through the window, a police wagon pull up. She rushed out to get them in here quietly.

George rushes in. He grabs my hand without a word and leads me down the hall. We were going in the direction of Ridgeway's office. I began to get nervous, but then we turned the corner.  I heard the footsteps of the police running behind us. George takes me down a hallway I've never been before. It looks like the hallway where all the patient's rooms are. He opens a door and pulls me in with him. It's a bedroom. It's complete with its own separate bathroom and kitchenette.

"Where are we?" I question.

"This is my room. Every staff member is given a room like this regardless of if they have their own home or not. You are to stay here until it's safe. I'm going to go see what's going on. Stay here," he rushes out of the room.

A few minutes pass and I hear a loud bang. My heart begins to race. I hear running coming down the hallway. George comes in quickly and shuts the door behind him. There are red specks on his forehead. He rushes to the bathroom and washes his face.

"What's going on, George?"

"Did you hear the bang?"

"Yes. How could I not?"

"Ridgeway shot himself as the police began to question him. They're hauling his body out. So, you're safe," he says shakily.

"It's over?" I smile. "It's finally over?"

"He must've done some terrible, unspeakable things if he shot himself before the police could get to him," he looks like he's going back to puke.

"Does this mean I can leave?" I ask.

"Yes, I'll sign your release papers. The others will stay here until we find another residential doctor though," he takes a seat on the bed. "I know it's really none of my business, but I want to know what he did."

I take a seat next to him. "George, you should just read the paper."

"I want to hear it from the primary source." His bright green eyes pierced me. It's like he knew everything about me without a single word being uttered.

•

Charlotte came into my room.

"I'm beginning to feel like the famous prisoner with the frequent visits from the staff," I laughed.

"What? Who else has been seeing you?"

"Well, John actually apologized the other day for the hell that has ensued here lately. George has talked to me nearly every day since I lost Aurelia," I told her.

"You're the girl George has been speaking with so frequently?"

I disregard her question, "You know George?"

"Of course I do. I know everyone that works here. As you know, we're understaffed so it's a little hard not to know everyone personally. Let's back up for a second, though. How long have you two been speaking?"

"Well, he was the one that brought me here from the port, so we met my first day here. We've only been talking again for about two months," I smile.

"Oh my god," she puts a hand on her chest and sits on the bed. "He likes you, Caroline."

"I hope so. It would be awkward to not like someone you call your friend," I joked.

"No, I mean he's been telling me about this girl that he thinks is beautiful and how some day he plans to court her. This started two months ago. Anyway, we'll have to deal with this later. I came to ask you if you wanted me to try to remove the wire."

"You can do that?"

"I'm trained to be a nurse, so I do have some ideas about getting it out. As soon as it's out, we can sign your release papers and you'll be good to go."

"George already signed my release papers. We're just waiting to get a doctor's signature from another asylum since Ridgeway is gone," I said.

"You two really have been getting close, haven't you?" She said.

"I guess so."

"Let me know when you're ready," she goes to leave.

"How about now?"

"Are you sure?" She looks confused.

"More than anything."