...And They Meet Again

Chapter 6 - Do You Remember

(A/N: The patient part is inspired by http://sorryimessedupagain.tumblr.com/post/121236766423/i-spent-three-weeks-in-a-mental-hospital-and-what )

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"Do you remember the way it made you feel?

Do you remember the things it let you feel?"

-Jarryd James (Do You Remember)

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Day 5

*beep, beep*

The alarm was set at 6AM. Same routine happened to Edward. He looked at Ashley's side, but she wasn't there. "She must be in the kitchen."

But then, when he went to the kitchen, she wasn't there either.

He knocked on the door of Ashley's art room, but she didn't answer. "Where could she be?"

Edward went to every room available but she wasn't there. He worried that his anklet might alarm if he goes outside the house. But then, he remembered a spot that he didn't go to yet – the beach.

And he was right. Ashley was there, seated on the sand, maybe contemplating something. She was wearing a gray and red sweater. Her long, wavy hair was following the direction of the wind.

The sun was not up yet. Few birds pass by. The crashing waves of the beach were loud and strong. The sand was dry. There was also a sand castle somewhere on the left.

Edward sat next to Ashley. He looked at her eyes – how they were focused on the beach. "Hey, Ash."

Ashley was a bit surprised when she heard Edward's voice. She looked at him and greeted, "Oh hey, Ed. I didn't notice you there."

"In a middle of a daydream?" Edward asked.

"Contemplating, rather," Ashley answered. "I've been trying to recall what happened during the knife incident."

"What do you mean you can't recall?" Edward got confused.

"I was in a middle of a hallucination," Ashley explained. "It was around early 2015 when I had this 'psychotic' stage. After my fiancé broke up with me-"

"YOU HAD A FIANCE?!" Edward was shocked, but Ashley warned him, "Don't distract me! I don't want to divert the topic!"

Edward kept his mouth shut, then Ashley continued. "Anyway, so I kept zoning out, daydreaming, hallucinating, for months.

"Then one day, I was in the kitchen. I was cooking food for dinner. Like I said, I can't recall what actually happened.

"What I remember was that, I was in a dark forest, searching for my way out. I was using a scythe to cut the tall plants. Then I saw strangers, appearing one by one, trying to kill me with sharp tools. I tried to run away from them, but one caught me and pierced me in the stomach.

"Next thing I know was that, I'm in the ICU of a mental hospital. My sister was there outside waiting, and your cousin was my main doctor. I don't know how my hallucination became too realistic.

"I asked Sara what happened to me. She told me that I went to my sister like a psychopath, holding a knife. So I assumed that while I was hallucinating, I was about to kill my sister. Good thing it didn't happen though."

"How long have you been in the hospital?"

"A week," Ashley replied. "One day for the emergency state, six days for rehabilitation."